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Op-Ed: The Opioid-Addiction Industrial Complex – America’s Dirty Secret

Scott Rudder Turn on any radio or television channel and you will hear a report or an advertisement about the opioid addiction crisis in New Jersey and across the United States. If you continue to stay tuned to that channel, you will hear an advertisement promoting a prescription drug to help you with your pain issues.… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 25th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Health Care, Heroin, Medical Marijuana, Monmouth County News, Opinion | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on Op-Ed: The Opioid-Addiction Industrial Complex – America’s Dirty Secret

Activists take dissent in dangerous direction

By Congressman Chris Smith

Congressman Chris Smith

Who can argue that in 2017, we face an unprecedented number of seemingly insurmountable problems both domestic and international that require wise leadership and sustained problem solving by Congress, the president — and everyone of good will.

Perhaps as in no previous time, however, we live in the age of the perpetual campaign where truth and the common good too often take a back seat to political expediency and personal gain. Enabled by distortion, hyperbole, surface appeal argument and the 24-hour, seven days a week cable news cycle, the public is increasingly ill-served and resolving tough issues has become more elusive.

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Posted: May 23rd, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Chris Smith, Monmouth County News, New Jersey, Opinion | Tags: , , , , , | 7 Comments »

Guadagno: My plan would cut property taxes immediately

By Kim Guadagno Right on cue, hours after proposing a robust and bold plan to cut property taxes for the middle class in New Jersey, Phil Murphy and some in the media attacked my proposal. My plan is not only the most substantive and detailed plan that has been released by any candidate to date, it… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 16th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: 2017 NJ Gubernatorial Politics, Kim Guadagno, New Jersey, Opinion | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Guadagno: My plan would cut property taxes immediately

Ex-N.J. congressman: Why I support Betsy DeVos and school choice | Opinion

Credit: Amanda Brown

 Dick Zimmer Shortly after Betsy DeVos was sworn into office as U.S. Secretary of Education, I was invited, as a trustee of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), to meet with her at the Department of Education. I accepted the invitation with pleasure. When I posted a picture of myself with DeVos on Facebook,…… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: April 19th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Education, Opinion | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Sen Jennifer Beck: Sick leave reform is due, our property taxes depend on it | Opinion

By Jennifer Beck Ending egregious sick and vacation leave payouts is an effort that has been years in the making, but the overtaxed residents of New Jersey have waited long enough. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation that takes aim at these abuses, and we were even able to pass $15,000 sick… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: April 8th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: 2017 Elections, Jennifer Beck, Monmouth County News, Opinion | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Opinion: Heads They Win, Tails You Lose

Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff In 1866, Surrogate Gideon J. Tucker wrote that “[n]o man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.” Over a hundred years later, the New Jersey Legislature is doing its very best to keep Surrogate Tucker’s warning pertinent by once again advancing special-interest legislation that reaches for a new low… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: March 22nd, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: New Jersey, Opinion | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Dr. Maureen Murphy resigns as Brookdale President

Dr. Maureen Murphy PhD

For the third time in seven years, Brookdale Community College is looking for a new president.

Dr. Maureen Murphy resigned today, effective June 30.  She will become president of College of Southern Maryland effective July 1.

Murphy took the helm of Brookdale in 2012 when she replaced interim President William M. Toms.  Toms led the college after Peter Burnham, who had been president for about 20 years, resigned in March of 2011 due a scandal over his padding his expense reports and a student loan for his son.

In 2015, Murphy was a finalist for the presidency of Blinn College’s Bryan, Texas campus.

Murphy said she took the College of Southern Maryland job “for personal reasons,” according to The Asbury Park Press.  She has changed jobs every 4-5 years since 1999, according to her LinkedIn profile.

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Posted: March 17th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Brookdale Community College, Monmouth County News, Opinion | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Is Christie setting Guadagno up for failure?

If Governor Chris Christie was still popular in New Jersey, or Washington, the New Jersey press corps would be pushing a narrative that Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno “is no Chris Christie.”

But Christie is less popular in New Jersey than Anthony Weiner is with Hillary Clinton supporters. Thus the narrative is that Guadagno has been Christie’s second in command and has stood behind him (literally and figuratively) for seven years while New Jersey’s economy has remained stagnant, our credit rating downgraded continuously, and traffic was a mess in Fort Lee for a few days in 2013.

Thus, as Guadagno is running to replace Christie next January, she has to show New Jersey voters that she is no Chris Christie while threading a needle to avoid Christie’s famously vindictive wrath. That’s a difficult endeavor.

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Posted: February 27th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: 2017 Elections, 2017 NJ Gubernatorial Politics, Chris Christie, Kim Guadagno, New Jersey, Opinion | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Opinion: The Coming Federalization of NJ Pension and Benefits Crisis

Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff Prediction: Sometime in the foreseeable future, the federal government will step in to address the self-inflicted crisis in state and local government pension and health-benefits funding. The only real question for us in New Jersey is whether it will happen soon enough to save us from ourselves. How and why? Let’s review where we… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: February 23rd, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Opinion | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off on Opinion: The Coming Federalization of NJ Pension and Benefits Crisis

O’Scanlon: We must decide if addiction is like a bad habit or like cancer

By Declan O’Scanlon

(Editor’s note: This is the original unedited edition of an OpEd published in The Asbury Park Press. “They edited out some good stuff,” O’Scanlon said)

Last month, my brother passed away…..almost exactly 33 years from the day our mother died. He was the same age as my mother when she died, and he died of exactly the same cause – addiction.

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Posted: February 19th, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Declan O'Scanlon, Monmouth County News, Opinion | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment »