Power Still Out For 92,451 Customers in Monmouth County

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Christie Updates On Hurricane Recovery

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Hey Guv! Here’s a business assistance plan: Get the frickin power on!

3-5 Days Without Power Is Devastating to Seasonal Businesses

Hey Governor Christie!   Even though it makes you seem like a Democrat, I appreciate where you’re coming from with your Hurricane Irene Business Assistance. 

Those $500K lines of credit while waiting for insurance proceeds will come in handy for many, but let’s be real, this is a subsidy to the insurance companies.  Issue an executive order that the insurance companies must pay the interests on those loans and the claims will be paid faster.

If those banks we bailed out were lending, we wouldn’t need this program.  I don’t expect you to fix that problem until you are President.  Thanks for stepping in now.

By the way, Governor, your did a great job this weekend.  You still are.  The business assistance plan is needed, and it is wonderful that the Lt. Governor is out at the shore campaigning for people to come back for the rest of the season (rest of the week.)

BUT THEY WON’T COME BACK IF THERE IS NO POWER!

I know you have a lot on your plate. Did I mention that you’re doing a great job?  I also know you’re talking to CEO’s of the public utilities companies, because you said so during one of your briefings before I lost power.  When you’re talking to the CEO of First Energy, that guy in Ohio, tell him there are thousands of seasonal businesses and seasonal employees serviced by his JCP&L subsidiary that are counting on this week and this coming weekend for a large portion of there annual income.

In Highlands, the small town on the Shrewsbury River where I live, we have 23 restaurants and all of their employees who would rather be earning this week than applying for loans or unemployment benefits.

The lack of information coming from JCP&L to the public is unacceptable:

That a lowly blogger can find out that JCP&L is telling OEM that we’ll be without power for 3-5 days before the main stream press knows is an indictment of both the press and the utility.

It seems to me that JCP&L’s response to outages has been wanting the last few years.  I appreciate the magnitude of Irene, but I wonder if they’d be doing a better job if they weren’t owned by an Ohio company.  Two business owners mentioned to me today how much better the service was before JCPL’s Belford location closed.  We’d wonder about that less, and make less noise about it, if the lights go in the bayshore today.

3-5 days without power at this time of  year is devastating to seasonal businesses and their employees.  It’s like pulling the plug on the week before Christmas for Macy’s.

Governor, you got the Jets-Giants game switched to tonight, but no one will be watching the game at bars in Highlands.

I know you can influence that guy in Ohio’s priorities.  Please do so.  Monmouth County businesses need the lights on.

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CASAGRANDE: OUR COMMUNITY CAN BE PROUD OF ITS SELFLESS NATURE AND COMMUNAL SPIRIT

VOLUNTEERS CAME TOGETHER AND HELPED MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE AT COLTS NECK HIGH SCHOOL SHELTER

Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande congratulated all the volunteers who helped more than 1,000 people seeking shelter from Hurricane Irene at Colts Neck High School this weekend.

“You learn a lot about a community during times of distress, and ours did an exceptional job coming together to help people during one of the worst storms ever to land in New Jersey,” Casagrande, R-Monmouth and Mercer, said. “Many volunteers stayed the entire weekend, whether cooking meals for hundreds of people or tending to health concerns. It was amazing to watch all the coordination and effort involved to protect very vulnerable people from nature’s fury. Our community can be proud of its selfless nature and communal spirit.”

Casagrande volunteered at the Red Cross shelter set up at Colts Neck High School, along with student members of the sports foundation, staff from Colts Neck and Freehold Regional high schools, the Visiting Nurse Association of Central New Jersey and Red Cross volunteers.

“There were so many volunteers helping so many people that it’s impossible to remember them all, but everyone deserves thanks and congratulations for a job well done,” Casagrande said. “I hope we never need another shelter like this, but if we do, everyone should consider helping out because it was such a rewarding experience.”

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Governor Christie and Lt. Governor Guadagno Announce Statewide Hurricane Irene Business Recovery Assistance

Trenton, NJ – To support the recovery of New Jersey’s businesses and protect the overall economic interests of our state in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno have announced a series of business assistance services for those affected by the storm.  Among these vital services are those related to financial support, information on temporary space, and technical assistance for impacted businesses.   Information for all services may be easily accessed through New Jersey’s Business Action Center (BAC), by calling 1-866-534-7789 or through the state’s business portal at www. nj.gov/njbusiness/, the “one-stop” shop for business resources.  

“In response to this natural disaster, New Jersey has coordinated a range of multi-agency resources to assist impacted businesses and ensure they are operational quickly,” said Governor Christie.  “We have worked hard to grow our state’s economy by working to meet the needs of our business community.  Providing a thorough and inter-departmental business recovery assistance program is another demonstration of our support for our business community and their workers.”

“Through the collective efforts of the Partnership for Action, which includes the Business Action Center, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Choose New Jersey,  in addition to the Departments of Banking and Insurance, Community Affairs and Labor and Workforce Development, we will work to protect the assets of our state’s businesses, provide the necessary temporary support to our workforce and sustain our economic vibrancy,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno. 

The business recovery assistance services are designed to support businesses and workers who may be temporarily unable to perform their jobs due to the storm.  These services include:

·         Access to lines of credit of up to $500,000 for businesses that need access to cash to improve their damaged property while awaiting insurance proceeds;

·         Grant awards for businesses to assist with on-the-job training costs for new workers hired specifically to assist in disaster-related activities, such as landscaping and tree removal, construction, insurance claims, building supplies sales, materials transport, utility work, call and claims centers staffing, and infrastructure clearing and repair.

·         Availability of the Business Resource Centers at any of the 17 local One-Stop Career Centers across the state as temporary hubs for businesses to access telephone and internet services  as well as for job seekers and displaced workers seeking workforce development and unemployment assistance.

·         The availability of Disaster Unemployment Benefits to provide income security for those displaced workers suffering temporary storm-related job loss.

·         Dispatch of Rapid Response team members to identified Disaster Recovery Centers to assist displaced workers

·         Availability of services through New Jersey Youth Corps to assist non-profit, public and governmental entities in a variety of ways for disaster relief and clean-up. 

In addition, BAC’s Business Call Center is also the one-stop resource for more information on how to get businesses back up and running.  The Call Center staff can assist with the following services:  

·         Arranging business facility inspections for buildings suffering major flood damage, as such conditions require structural integrity inspections before utility service can be restored.  These inspections are handled in local code enforcement offices and by local code enforcement officials.   Anticipating an enormous increase in such work, the Department of Community Affairs has mobilized all qualified personnel to assist local governments in this effort.

·         Advocate for businesses seeking assistance from local utilities to restore electric, phone, gas and water services.

·         Advocate with insurance carriers to file and expedite claims.

·         Provide information on how to qualify for federal recovery assistance, and 

·         Connect businesses to the other county and local business services and to the services offered by the Small Business Administration and Small Business Development Centers that include assistance with insurance claims, as well as loans and business plan revisions.

For further information about best practices in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, please visit www.ready.nj.gov for continual updates.

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Back Online

Expect 3-5 Days without power in parts of Monmouth County

Live from McDonalds on Rt 35 in Middletown, ITS MOREMONMOUTHMUSINGS!

It would have been cooler to blog from Starbucks, but there is not a seat in the house at Starbucks.

Wifi users take over Middletown Starbucks

I’m sharing a table here with Romeo from Port Monmouth, one of the other 129,998 Monmouth County residents without power.  Romeo was generous enough to let me join him at the only table with an electrical outlet.  McDonlads has free wifi from ATT, which is a better deal than using my ATT aircard.

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden tells me that it will be 3-5 days before the power comes back on for the 130,000 of us without.  There’s a problem somewhere with the grid, which is why there are no JCP&L trucks out, according to Highlands Councilwoman Becky Kane, who got the information on a conference call this morning.

I’ve got lot of catching up to do.  Most of the information I’ve received since Saturday night has been via facebook…that goodness for by Blackberry and car charger, and 1010 WINS.

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Quotes from MMM readers

“First time this many New Jersey Mayors are on television and no one is in handcuffs.” ~ Grace Cangemi’s friend Satch

“The Governor closed the state because it rained.” ~ Tommy DeSeno, who added, “I hope I’m not premature.”

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Hurricane Photos

Send your photos to artvg AT aol Dot com or upload them to facebook and tag me.

West Front St in Keyport. Photo credit: Russ Cote

Salvation Army volunteers preparing meals at Holmdel High School shelter. 200 lunches and 500 dinners were served today. Photo credit: John Gallagher, a Salvation Army volunteer.

Salvation Army Equipment at Holmdel High School Shelter. Photo credit John Gallagher, a Salvation Army volunteer.

Surfers in Monmouth Beach. Photo credit: Joe Irace

Photo credit withheld to protect the guilty

Beans, bullets and bandages. Photo credit: James Hogan. See averagenoone.blogspot.com for more of Hogan's photos

Governor Chris Christie greeting evacuees at Rutgers, Piscataway. Photo credit: Tim Larsen/Governor's Office

Photo credit: Mike Halfacre

Flood preparations?

Farmer's Market Die Hard

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Recording Of Governor Christie’s Saturday Hurricane Update

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Hurricane Irene Update From Governor Christie

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