Beck agrees to co-sponsor bill that would require special prosecutor to investigate Christie

Senator Jennifer Beck has signed on to a bill that would require the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate any criminal complaint against New Jersey’s governor.

Mike Hughes, Beck’s Chief of Staff, verified the story first reported by Politico.  “The Senator’s thinking is that the legislation makes sense for the public’s trust,” Hughes said. “The Attorney General and the County Prosecutors are appointed by the Governor.  Criminal complaints should be investigated independently.”

Hughes noted that if passed, the legislation to would apply to all future governors, not just Governor Chris Christie. Read the rest of this entry »

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7 things to know about Trump Bedminster golf club, center of political world right now

BEDMINSTER — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to spend the weekend holding meetings with his transition team at his upscale private golf club in the bucolic hills of Somerset County. Here are five things to know about Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster: 1. The property once belonged to another celebrity mogul. Much of the course… Read the rest of this entry »

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Long Branch Man Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting 7 Year Old Eatontown Girl

Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni

Edgar Mejia, 54, of Long Branch, was found guilty on Wednesday by a Monmouth County jury of sexually assaulting a seven year old Eatontown girl in 2014, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Mejia faces possible incarceration of 30 years to life when Judge David F. Bauman imposes his sentence on March 17, 2017. Mejia has been in the custody of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution with bail set at $300,000 since his arrest on July 21, 2014.

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Did Christie veto big Guadagno speech at the last minute?

ATLANTIC CITY — Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno was ready to give the keynote speech at the annual New Jersey State League of Municipalities just like she has for the past three years, but she said Thursday “the schedule was changed” after the text was reviewed by Gov. Chris Christie’s office. Instead, Christie, who was not originally… Read the rest of this entry »

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New hope for a Republican Majority in New Jersey

With the news that Governor Chris Christie saying that he is staying in his current job until his term in expires in January of 2018, New Jersey Republicans are rethinking what little hope they had to winning the governorship and gaining seats in the legislature next year.

Don’t give up, New Jersey Republicans. There is hope.

PolitickerNJ’s 2016 list of the 100 most powerful people in New Jersey tabs Monmouth County Democrat Chairman Vin Gopal #50.  PolitickerNJ says Gopal is slated to become the next Chairman of the New Jersey Democratic Party.

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Christie says he will complete his term

Governor Chris Christie says he’s not joining the Trump Administration any time soon.

file photo

According to a report on Observer-PolitickerNJ,  Christie told the closing luncheon of the annual New Jersey League of Municipalities Convention, that he intend to serve his full term.

“I have every intention of serving out my full term as governor. I have said that from the beginning,” Christie said. “I hope that you notice the words that he used on election night. They were his and he chose them carefully. He wants to unite this country and bring people together,” he added of Trump.

“I’m not worried and I’m not nearly as preoccupied as the people who cover me and some of the people who are attempting to follow me about where exactly this will go,” he said.

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Hornik blames bias incidents on post-election enviroment

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik

Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik says that two alleged bias incidents in his Township are a product of a post-election environment that allows people “with hate in their heart” to express that hatred in ways that are not appropriate.

Hornik said that since Election Day, a sidewalk on Ryan Road has been vandalized with a swastika and that a customer of the Costco on Texas Road was questioned by another customer about his religion.  “Are you a muslim?” the man was asked twice in a firm manner, according to a facebook post that the mayor referenced.

Both incidents are being investigate by the Marlboro Police Department.

In a letter to the Marlboro Community posted on facebook, Hornik celebrated the religious and ethic diversity of Marlboro and expressed his sadness and disappointment in recent incidents demonstrating “hate based on this same diversity.”

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Houghtaling votes to ban cat declawing

photo courtesy of Freya’s Cat Resuce

Freshman Assemlyman Eric Houghtaling wants to ban New Jersey veterinarians from declawing cats.

The assemblyman from Neptune Township is a member of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  The committee passed bill A3899, a bill that prohibits the surgical declawing of cats and other animals, 3-1 with one abstention, on Monday. Houghtaling voted in favor of the bill, which if passed in the full Assembly and Senate and signed by the Governor, would make New Jersey the only state that bans the procedure.

The proposed law exempts declawing cats for therapeutic and medically necessary procedures.  Violators, both veterinarians and pet owners seeking the procedure will be subject to a fine of $1000 or six months in jail in the bill becomes law.

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Golden Days: Monmouth GOP dominated county races

Surrogate Rosemarie Peters, Sheriff Shaun Golden, Congressman Chris Smith, Freeholder Serena DiMaso and Freeholder Tom Arnone celebrate their victories on Election Night

By Art Gallagher

Monmouth County’s Democrat leadership is spinning the shellacking they took last week from Sheriff Shaun Golden, Surrogate Rosemarie Peters, Freeholder Director Tom Arnone and Freeholder Deputy Director Serena DiMaso as a function of President-elect Donald Trump’s performance in the county.

Vin’s spin is laughable on many levels.  Let’s hope he believes it.

The Monmouth GOP swept the county races because, under Golden’s leadership, they campaign the same way the govern.  They work smarter and harder with less money.

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Trump’s election won’t make Christie great again

By Art Gallagher

With the news that President-elect Trump demoted Governor Chris Christie to a secondary role on the Presidential Transition Team, thousands of New Jerseyans breathed a sigh of relief.

The narrative that Christie was demoted because he was stacking the new administration with his own loyalists and had been doing the job with the belief that Trump would lose the election is entirely believable to observers and participants of Christie’s governance of New Jersey.

That Trump quickly and decisively put Vice President-elect Pence in charge of the transition should give comfort to anyone who fears that the Trump Administration will be a reckless frat party.

Yet, New Jerseyans are hopeful that Christie will land and accept a job in the Trump Administration.  The best thing for New Jersey and Christie is for him to get out of Trenton.  The sooner the better.

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