Ethical question

Is it unethical to clear the cookies on your computer in order to gain access to information on a website that limits free content?

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Water distribution update

Tom Stokes reports that New Jersey American Water Company is limiting bottled water distribution to one gallon per vehicle at Middletown High School North.  Once the gallon bottles are gone, they will be giving out smaller bottles, but not likely a full case per vehicle.

Stokes says that there are water tanks at North brought in by the National Guard.  Residents can bring their own containers to fill.   Best Market in Holmdel is selling water for $2.99 per case, according to Stokes.

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Thanks for a great month

June was by far the most active month in MMM’s history.  There have been 32,000 visits and 57,000 page views so far month.  71% of those visitors were repeats.  Google analytics says that all of that traffic came from 8700 computers.  Unbelievably to me, the average visit is for 11 minutes, which is longer than it takes to read an entire issue of the Asbury Park Press.

According to alexa.com, only 15,850 websites in the New York area and 125,439 in the United States get more traffic than MMM.

Special thanks go out to Anna Little, Ernesto Cullari, John Bennett, Christine Hanlon, Vin Gopal, Frank LaRocca, Barbara Gonzalez, Bob Gordon, Linda Baum  Rachel Alintoff, Judge Paul Escandon, Louise Murray and everyone who wears bathing suits on the Asbury Park Boardwalk.  I can’t forget Bob Menendez’s opposition research team.

I doing my monthly review, I couldn’t help but notice the success of my friends in Asbury Park.

Congratulations to Dan Jacobson and Molly Mulshine at the AsburyParkSun.  In only three months they have made a significant impact in the local media market.  Alexa.com says that APS is in the top 200,000 of all websites nationally and in the top 35,000 in the New York area.   Mulshine was the first to report the Asbury Park Boardwalk beach attire controversy, a story that went national.

UPDATE: July 1

Wow!  I haven’t had such a busy last day of the month since I was in the car business.  The final numbers for June are 32,959 visitors fromm 9,194 unique IPs and 58,768 page views.  Ranked 120,646 in the U.S. on Alexa.

As Lois mentioned in the comments, thank you so much to all the commenters, especially the “congregation” as Lois called the regulars.  I won’t name them all because I’m sure to leave an important one out.

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Water Emergency Will Last Until At Least Sunday Evening

The water emergency caused by “a major infrastructure failure” at the New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant in Middletown will last until at least Sunday evening, according to an announcement on the Borough of Rumson’s website.

All Monmouth County residents are advised to refrain from non-essential use of water and to boil water before consumption.  Outdoor water use is banned until the state of emergency is lifted.

Governor Chris Christie and Cabinet Officials will be holding a press conference this afternoon, 1:45, at the Wolf Hill Recreation Area, Oceanport to update the public on the water main break situation.  MMM will be there.

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Point Pleasant Beach Bars Allowed Stay Open To 2 AM

Michael Halfacre, the Director of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division of the State Department of Law and Public Safety has issued a stay to Point Pleasant Beach’s Ordinance establishing a midnight closing time for bars in the borough.  The bars can stay open till 2 am pending a hearing and final ruling.

Halfacre ordered that a hearing on the matter be conducted by an Administrative Law Judge.  Halfacre will make a final determination, as provided by law, of the hours of operation of Point Pleasant Beach bars after review the Administrative Law Judge’s findings.   The hearing date is yet to be set.

In his order granting the stay, Halfacre noted that the 2 am closing time maintains the status quo, that should the bars prevail in their appeal that they would be unable to recover the lost business that would have resulted from a midnight closing time while the case was pending, and that the borough has several methods available to preserve the public safety until the final resolution of the appeal.

Jenkinson’s Pavilion Inc, Ocean Dunes, Inc, and Martell’s Tiki Bar, Inc are the companies that filed the appeal with ABC.

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Tropical Storm Irene said to be cause of bridge damage at NJAWC water treatment plant

New Jersey American Water Company and Monmouth County OEM are distributing water at three locations

New Jersey American Water and the Monmouth County OEM have established three water distribution locations where customers may go to receive bottled water. Those locations are:

Middletown High School North
63 Tindall Road, Middletown Township

Middletown High School South
900 Nut Swamp Road Middletown

Oceanport Fire House
Mertyl Ave and Monmouth Ave, Oceanport

The bottled water will be distributed until 11PM or until they run out.

UPDATE 8PM: MMM reader Tom Stokes just called in to report that 1 gallon of water per household is being distrubted at Middletown High School North, regardless of the size of the household. Proof of residency is required to get bottled water.

UPDATE 9:20: Tom Stokes reports the there is no more bottled water to be distributed at Middletown North. NJAWC is waiting for more bottled water to be delivered.  They will be at North throughout the night and all day tomorrow, according to Stokes.

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Click on the map for a full view of the area affected by the NJAWC water shutdown.

The bridge that collasped this afternoon as part of the “major infrastructure failure” at New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant sustained damage during Tropical Storm Irene last August.

Nearby residents are claiming that repairs were not done after Irene and that the bridge was bound to collapse.

Former Tinton Falls GOP Chairman Michael Laffey, an attorney who practices in Holmdel said, “NO work has been done to repair the bridge in the last year. This mess was completely avoidable and someone should be held accountable.”

Richard Barnes, NJAWC’s External Affairs Manager, told MMM that he had no information on the cause of the infrastructure failure.  “Right now we’re concentrating on restoring service to our customers.  We’ll have more information at a later time.”   Peter Eschbach, Director of Communications and External Affairs for NJAWC told a MMM reader who prefers not to be named that “small repairs to the wood” were performed on the bridge after Irene.

Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore told MMM that “this doesn’t look like a quick fix,” after he inspected the site of the infrastructure failure this afternoon.  “Irene appears to be the gift that keeps on giving.  We don’t know for sure that the storm caused today’s incident, but we remember pointing out the damage to NJAWC last summer and don’t recall repairs being made since.”

The Asbury Park Press pay site is reporting that there is another water main break in Neptune that has left 1600 residences without water.

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Bridge collapse, water main break, reduces water for 55,000 Monmouth residents

Photo credit: Holmdel-Hazlet Patch

A “major infrastructure failure” at the Swimming River Water Treatment Plant in the Lincroft section of Middletown has shut the water off for 3,000 Holmdel residences and closed Brookdale Community College until further notice.

Holmdel-Hazlet Patch was the first to report the story, scooping the Asbury Park Press pay site by an hour.

A statement from New Jersey American Water Company that was emailed by the Borough of Tinton Falls to its residents and forwarded to MMM by a reader states that the failure includes the loss of two transmission mains leaving the plant and well as the raw water main coming into the plant.  New Jersey American Water customers in Monmouth County may be experiencing low water pressure or no pressure at this time.

Photo credit: lostcreekquarnberg blog

Residents of Middletown, Holmdel, Aberdeen, Highlands, Seabright, Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Oceanport, Shrewsbury Township and Borough, Tinton Falls and Long Branch are requested to limit all non-essential water use while NJAW works to restore service.

Save water, shower with friends.

UPDATE  4:32

Middletown Township sent out an automated phone call at 4:30 to residents and businesses announcing that all outdoor water usage is restricted.

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Legal Attire Outside The U.S. Supreme Court But Not On The Asbury Park Boardwalk

Photo Credit: Andy LoCascio, SCOTUSblog.com

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Christie: SCOTUS confirmed what we knew all along–ObamaCare is a tax

Governor Chris Christie issued the following statement about the Supreme Court’s decision on ObamaCare:

“I’ve been clear from the very beginning that I do not believe a one-size-fits-all health care program works for the entire country and that each governor should have the ability to make decisions about what works best for their state. Today’s Supreme Court decision is disappointing and I still believe this is the wrong approach for the people of New Jersey who should be able to make their own judgments about health care. Most importantly, the Supreme Court is confirming what we knew all along about this law – it is a tax on middle class Americans.”

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Supreme Court: ObamaCare Individual Mandate Is Constitutional As Tax

Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberal wing of the Court in the 5-4 decision. Or was it a 6-3 decision?

Bush appointed Roberts.  Therefore, ObamaCare is Bush’s fault.

It will take time for legal scholars to figure out what the decision really means. 

Now we’ll have an election about it.

Bad news for the country.  Good news for the Romney campaign.

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