A Monmouth University Poll released this morning indicates that 73% of New Jersey residents are satisfied, (31% very satisfied and 42% somewhat satisfied) with the state’s effort to recover from Superstorm Sandy.
78% say they have fully recovered or were not impacted by Sandy. 67% of those from the areas hardest hit by the storm say they have fully recovered. 15% of those in the hardest hit areas say they have barely recovered or have not recovered at all.
Governor Chris Christie will be back on Monmouth County on Monday morning.
At 7 am, the governor is scheduled to appear on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Show which will be broadcast live from the Five Ave Pavilion in Asbury Park.
At 11am, Christie and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan are scheduled to visit businesses and greet patrons along Bay Avenue in Highlands, starting from The Memoria Project in Veterans’ Park. At 11:45, he will hold a press conference at Moby’s, 2 South Bay Ave.
Christie is expected to announce federal approval of $1.8 billion in relief funds for housing, infrastructure and business recovery activities, according to a report in The Star Ledger.
At his press conference in Long Branch on April 18, the governor said he was waiting on federal funds for a grant program that would award up $500,000 to businesses and $150,000 to homeowners.
The Monmouth County Department of Consumers Affairs has resolved $1.6 million in disputes since Superstorm Sandy, Freeholder Lillian Burry reported last night, according to NJ.com.
For the entire year of 2012, the department resolved only a little over $1 million in disputes.
Burry said the Department has taken a proactive approach to combatting fraud, answering calls related to price gouging, used cars sold with flood damage, fake charities and illegitimate contractors.
Earlier this year, the Department repeated warnings to consumers of home improvement and repair schemes in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker is not officially a candidate for U.S. Senate, but his Booker for Senate exploratory fund is raking in the Hollywood cash.
Last night Booker had a $5,000 per person fundraiser at the Beverly Hills home of producer Jerry Weintraub and Susan Elkins. Jersey guy Bruce Willis was on the host committee, as were the Capshaw-Spielbergs and Meathead.
Tonight Booker raises funds in the office of prominent San Francisco law firm Keker & Van Nest.
Next week Booker is off to Chicago for twofundraisers scheduled to overlap on Tuesday.
We often complain about the leftist slant of the mainstream media here at MMM. However, now is a time for those of us who live and do business at the Jersey Shore to say thank you in advance, and least to Comcast’s NBC properties.
NBC’s Today Show is broadcasting from Highlands on Saturday morning (Hint for Greg, put that on the list.) and 300 Comcast and Sherman Williams employees will volunteer to help Highlands business and homeowners rebuild their properties.
On Monday the 29th, MSNBC’s Morning Joe will broadcast from the Fifth Avenue Pavilion in Asbury Park, according to a report on Asbury Pulp.
It’s not just a problem of attracting ‘bennies’ to come back with their money. A few weeks back, a local elected official called me to ask for a recommendation for a Highlands restaurant on the water to hold an event. For years his group gathered at Bahrs. Where can he go on the water now that Bahrs is closed? “Bahrs Landing is Still Standing“, I told my friend.
This kind of news coverage does not happen by accident. I’d bet Christie’s team had something to do with it happening. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him appear on his two favorite morning shows. I’d love to see him in Highlands on Saturday morning, but I would guess he’s more likely to hang with Mika and Joe on Monday. Maybe he will bring his bff Bruce with him.
Chief Victor “Buddy” Amato of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (SPCA) is asking for help from the public in the investigation of a dog suspected of being burnt to death in Eatontown on Tuesday evening.
Eatontown firefighters responded to a report of smoke and possible fire in the wooded area behind the Country Club Apartments off Tinton Ave between 7:00pm and 7:30pm where they found the burning remains of what is believed to be a beagle.
The animal’s remains were taken to the Red Bank Animal Hospital were a necropsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Amato asks that anyone with any information about the dog call him at 732-312-7153.
Yet, good news for Trenton Democrats—the NJ Republicans are trying to lose
By Art Gallagher
State Senator Barbara Buono, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, received two doses of bad news today (so far) for her fledgling campaign to unseat Governor Chris Christie in November.
1) A Quinnipiac poll released today indicates that Buono has made no progress over the last month in increasing her dismal name recognition. 78% of those polled don’t know enough about Buono to form an opinion. That compares to 79% last month. Of the few who recognize her name, 43% have an unfavorable opinion.
Christie’s numbers remain amazingly strong. 67% approve of the job he is doing as governor. 66% says he deserves to be reelected. In a head to head match up with Buono, Christie wins 58%-26%, with 13% out to lunch.
2) Even worse for Buono, PolitickerNJ reports that she is likely to be the only major party gubernatorial candidate in the history of New Jersey’s matching funds campaign program not to qualify for the maximum amount. PolitickerNJ said that Buono has raised only $29,000 per week since she declared her candidacy in December. In order to earn the maximum $2 million in state matching funds for the primary, she would have to raise $216,000 per week over the next six weeks of the primary campaign.
Christie has opted out of the state matching funds program and has raised upwards of $5 million to date for the primary.
Trenton Republicans Trying to Lose
With Chrisite’s polling and financial numbers so strong, one would think that the Trenton Democrats that control the legislature would be concerned about Christie coattails. Trenton Republicans seem enthused about the prospect of taking control of the legislature, but so far their campaign is deploying the stupidest strategy imaginable.
I’m not a professional political strategist, I just play one of the Internet. In my not so humble opinion the NJ GOP‘s campaign against Corzine Democrats is the dumbest political strategy since Christine O’Donnell declared she is not a witch.
Bellew for State Senate campaign manager Dwayne Horner called from Texas to say that the campaign polled 5,000 Republican voters in LD 13 on Sunday evening and that 83% said they favored replacing the incumbents. Horner refused to name the polling firm, saying only that its a well respected Republican firm that worked for the Romney campaign in Florida and several Texas congressional campaigns.
Horner declined to say what questions were asked of those polled, saying he would not get into the specifics of the poll. Twice MMM asked if the incumbents were named in the polling questions. Twice Horner declined to answer.
“83% said the incumbents should not be re-elected,” Horner said. “Did you tell them who the incumbents are?” we asked. “I’m not getting into the specifics of the poll, but Leigh-Ann Bellew’s name was mentioned,” Horner responded.
Horner challenged Senator Joe Kyrillos and the anonymous Republican political operative quoted below to go door to door and find 8 of 10 voters who plan to reelect Kryillos.
~~
The slate of candidates challenging LD 13 legislative incumbents, Senator Joe Kyrillos, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon claim they have polling data that indicates “voters overwhelming want to fire the incumbents.”
An email sent to Bayshore Tea Party Group members by co-founder Barbara Gonzalez reads, in part, as follows:
Momentum is on the side of the candidates of R4CL. Voters overwhelmingly say they are ready to fire the current incumbents. Internal polls show that voters are ready to support a new slate of candidates.
Gonzalez told MoreMonmouthMusings that she does not know who is conducting polls for the primary challengers led by state senate candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew or what the numbers say. “That message was sent over by the campaign, I just cut and paste and sent it out,” said Gonzalez, “but my internal poll agrees with it. Everyone I talk to wants a change.”
The Judge presiding over the Philadelphia trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell has dismissed three of the eight murder charges against the abortionist after agreeing with defense attorney Jack McMahon that the prosecution failed to prove that any of the slaughtered infants were born alive, according to reports at LifeNews, WND and The Blaze.
Five counts of corpse abuse were also dismissed.
Gosnell still faces charges that he killed a mother and four babies born alive. The prosecution rested its case last Friday after five weeks of testimony. The defense started presenting its case today.
