Serena DiMaso measures up well as a freeholder

Takes on the weighty issues

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5 million YouTube views

Governor Chris Christie’s YouTube channel reached the 5 million viewer milestone yesterday.   His office released a reprise video in celebration:

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Name that lawyer/politican Poll Closed

That decorated tricep belongs to Marlboro Council President Frank LaRoccaMMM received an emotional email from Frank LaRocca this morning asking that we not make political fodder of his new tattoo.

The tattoo is a tribute to LaRocca’s recently passed law partner, Andrew Hegt, who died suddenly at the age of 35 on June 14.  Hegt was the father of five children, including newborn twins.

“My tattoo is St. Andrew’s Cross and the Scales of Justice,” said LaRocca, “it is an artistic tribute to a man I loved dearly and who died tragically.”

LaRocca has created the Hegt Memorial Fund with an initial goal of raising $100,000.  LaRocca says he’s raised $40 thousand so far. $6,506 has been raised on the fund’s website.

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Outdoor water ban lifted for some; conservation urged

NJAW customers still under strict non-watering mandate

TINTON FALLS, NJ – The Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management, in consultation with New Jersey American Water (NJAW), lifted the outdoor watering ban today for all non-NJAW customers.

However, the mandatory outdoor watering ban remains in effect for all NJAW customers in order to maintain water pressure and supply throughout the lines as repairs continue.

“Even though the ban has been lifted for many residents, public safety officials urge everyone to continue conserving water,” Freeholder Director John P. Curley said. “We look forward to further progress in the days ahead.”

The state of emergency remains in effect for all NJAW customers. The ongoing water emergency means that:

• Customers of New Jersey American Water are under a mandatory water restriction that bans all outdoor water use and encourages indoor water conservation. It is illegal for NJAW customer to water lawns, shrubs or gardens, fill swimming pools and wash cars;
• All restrictions for non-NJAW customers have been lifted, although conservation is urged.
• New sod or newly seeded lawns and planted shrubs can be watered to an appropriate level;
• Indoor conservation measures include refraining from using washing machines and dishwashers, limiting showering times and flushing toilets less frequently; and
• Commercial businesses that rely on water for their operations are not subject to these restrictions.

Because a state of emergency still exists, law enforcement will continue to enforce the ban for NJAW customers.

“Monmouth County residents should be commended for their cooperation and support during this critical time,” Sheriff Shaun Golden said. “Their efforts helped improve the situation enough to remove some of the bans that had been put in place.”   

The emergency was created by the collapse of three large water pipes June 29 at the water company’s water treatment plant at Swimming River Reservoir.

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America’s Sacred Scriptures

By John D’Amico

The American people are “demanding that we realign our country’s compass with its founding principles” in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution! So says the Republican Party’s “Pledge toAmerica,” which champions smaller, more accountable government, economic freedom, lower taxes, and fiscal responsibility. The Tea Party’s “Contract fromAmerica” calls for fiscal responsibility and limited government “consistent with the U.S. Constitution’s meaning,” asserting that “our moral, political, and economic liberties are inherent, not granted by our government.”

Republicans and Tea Partiers want the smallest possible federal government that taxes the least and interferes in daily life the least. Toward that end, they want to slash government spending, privatize and curtail Social Security and Medicare, defund and repeal the Affordable Care Act (deridingly referred to as “Obamacare”), eliminate Environmental Protection Agency regulations, and cut programs that mainly serve low-income Americans.

Are these policies and programs consistent with the core values and ideals underlying the Declaration and the Constitution? Only a probing analysis of the meaning and intent of our founding documents can help us answer this question. In We Hold These Truths (Macmillan 1987), the renowned 20th Century philosopher and educator Mortimer J. Adler called the Declaration of Independence, “the architectural blueprint” of theUnited States, from which “we can derive the fundamental principles of republican or constitutional government.” He wrote that from the Preamble of the Constitution, the articles that follow it, and their subsequent amendments, “we can come to understand the elaboration of those articles of political faith in terms of governmental aims, governmental structures, and governmental policies.”

The Declaration of Independence proclaims that:

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Time to stop whining about Roberts’ decision and think about what’s next

By Harold Kane

On this our Independence Day I think that it is time for the Republican geldings to stop their whining over the Roberts Supreme Court decision and to think about what can be done with the decision. He reigned in the Medicaid expansion. That ruling stopped the Federal government from extorting the states. This portion of the ruling could have implications that we have not yet discovered.

The Obama Administration has granted ObamaCare waivers to 1,200 organizations. These were “thank you” to their supporters. They were granted under the false notion that ObamaCare was constitutional under article 8, the “commerce clause”. Apparently the regulation of commerce was construed to mean giving out goodies to your friends. However since ObamaCare was found to be constitutional under article 7, the taxing power, are the exemptions still valid? Under the tax laws enforced by the IRS we are all treated equally. If I get a deduction for dependent children, so do all citizens who meet the dependent child test. The IRS cannot arbitrarily decide who will get the child exemption based upon political favoritism. The question now becomes are all of the 1,200 exemptions null and void. If they are null and void I’m sure that Obama’s supporters that received them are going to be very unhappy and some of this unhappiness could exhibit itself on Election Day

Just as a note, Fox News played the tape of the Solicitor General making the case for article 7. Apparently this was plan B if the commerce clause was going to fall apart, which it did.

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Water main repairs going better than expected

Well water nourishing the Asbury Park Press grass roots

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden told MMM that repairs to the water mains at NJWAC’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant are going better than expected and that the restrictions on outdoor water usage may not last weeks as many have feared.

If NJAWC’s progress continues at the present pace, alternate day outdoor usage could be permitted in towns serviced by NJAWC next week. 

Golden said the outdoor ban is a public safety measure in the event of a fire. NJAWC is bringing water in from neighboring water companies to service its Monmouth County customers and water pressure remains below normal.  Monmouth County and State officials are requiring water conservation to ensure that resources are available to respond to a life threaten event if necessary.

Only properties with well water, like the Asbury Park Press in Nepture Township, are permitted to water lawns, wash cars, etc.

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Bayshore Tea Party Promises Primaries

Monmouth GOP Chairman John O. Bennett III invited Bayshore Tea Party Group Co-Founder Barbara Gonzalez to speak at the GOP Unity Breakfast last Saturday.

Gonzalez and fellow co-founder Robert Gordon responded on Monday by issuing a statement to say something that Gonzalez forgot to say to the Unity gathering on Saturday:  Every Republican can expect a primary if they don’t do what the Tea Party wants them to do.

Here’s the statement:

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Scudiery: Democratic County Candidates Should Resign

Former Monmouth Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery

Former Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery told MMM that he thinks his party’s nominees for freeholder and county surrogate should resign their candidacies and let the new Chairman, Vin Gopal, and the Democratic County Committee select new candidates.

The freeholder candidates, former Hazlet Mayor Kevin Lavan and former State Trooper William Shea, along with surrogate nominee Michael Steinhorn, all supported Gopal’s opponent, Marlboro Council President Frank LaRocca, in last month’s Chairman’s race.  Gopal won the chairmanship with over 70% of the vote, over 80% excluding Marlboro.

“I don’t know why they did that (took a position in the Chairman’s race),” said Scudiery, “LaRocca must have promised them something.  I don’t see how the rank and file supports them now.”

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Judge Michael Guadagno elevelated to Appellate Court

Photo credit: The Monmouth Journal

Judge Michael A. Guadagno, the presiding judge of the Monmouth County Court’s family division, has been elevated to the Appellate Division of the State Superior Court effective August 1, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced today.

Judge Guadangno is Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s husband.

The Appellate Division of the Superior Court is New Jersey’s intermediate appellate court. The 32 Appellate Division judges hear appeals from decisions of the trial courts, the Tax Court and state administrative agencies.  The Appellate Division decides approximately 6,500 appeals and 7,500 motions each year.

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