Botched Process Denied Thousands of NJ Residents Millions in Sandy Relief

Botched Process Denied Thousands of NJ Residents Millions in Sandy Relief (via NJSpotlight)

Three-quarters of all those who appealed denial of federal Sandy aid from two popular housing assistance programs administered by the state of New Jersey wound up winning their appeals, raising new questions about the distribution of the funds. As a…

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Joint Super Bowl Operation Targeting Commercial Child Sex Trafficking Rescue 25 Minors, Apprehends 45 Suspects

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of U.S. and New Jersey law enforcement agencies who took part in a Joint Super Bowl Operation deserve tremendous credit for rescuing 25 children ages 13-17 from lives of misery and sexual abuse, and for arresting 45 suspects who allegedly exploited the children for commercial sex, said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees global human rights, and author of the landmark law, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386).

According to the FBI, which announced the arrests yesterday, some suspects claimed to have traveled to New Jersey from other states specifically for the purpose of prostituting women and children at the Super Bowl. High-profile special events, which draw large crowds, have become lucrative opportunities for child prostitution criminal enterprises, the FBI said.

“This unprecedented effort by federal agencies in collaboration with local law enforcement from New Jersey aggressively focused on combating commercial child sex trafficking,” said Smith. “The joint efforts and the extraordinary leadership shown by Governor Christie and the New Jersey Human Trafficking Task force is to be applauded for working effectively to help save lives. 

“Young victims now have a chance for a new start thanks to these arrests and rescues. Those who took advantage of young runaways and women forced or mislead into a life of sex trafficking and abuse must now face justice. Hopefully this effective effort will become a prototype and have a chilling effect on perpetrators across the nation and around the globe.”

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Opinion: NJ Republicans and U.S. Senate — The Five-Decade Losing Streak

Opinion: NJ Republicans and U.S. Senate — The Five-Decade Losing Streak (via NJSpotlight)

In any field of human endeavor, a half century of futility, of reaching for a goal, coming tantalizingly close but ultimately falling short, is understandable cause for frustration, discouragement, and a temptation to throw up one’s hands, surrender…

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, Feb 7-9, 2014

By Greg Kelly

Friday, February 7

• National Wear Red Day – MORE INFO

• The Stone Pony 40th Anniversary Celebration (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO

• Explore Celestial Wonders (Lincroft) – MORE INFO

• Ms. Lauryn Hill at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) – MORE INFO

• CBA Fine Art & Antiques Show/Sale (Lincroft) – MORE INFO

• Admit One at NJ Repertory Theater (Long Branch) – MORE INFO

• Pajama Tops at First Ave Playhouse (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO

• College Women’s Basketball: Monmouth U vs. Quinnipiac (WLB) – MORE INFO

Wear Red Pajama Tops

• Baby the Musical at Center Playhouse (Freehold) – MORE INFO

• Shakespeare’s As You Like It at TRT (Red Bank) – MORE INFO

• Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound by Monmouth Players (Middletown) – MORE INFO

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Aberdeen) – MORE INFO

• Special Needs Night Out: Dinner & a Movie (Colts Neck departure) – MORE INFO

• Health Info on the Internet (Long Branch) – MORE INFO

• Daughters by South Street Players (Spring Lake) – MORE INFO

• Yoga for Adults (Red Bank) – MORE INFO

• Healthy Eating Habits (Howell) – MORE INFO

• Four Legal Documents Everyone Should Have (Shrewsbury) – MORE INFO

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Little not running against Pallone

Party leaders are encouraging Sheriff Shaun Golden to challenge entrenched ObamaCare defender

Former Highlands Mayor Anna Little told MMM yesterday that she is not running for Congress in New Jersey’s 6th congressional district this year and that she never had plans to do so.

The GOP nominee against Congressman Frank Pallone  in 2010 and 2012 said that her November 1, 2012 email to supporters wherein she announced “I want to work for YOU in Washington” and asked supporters for contributions to help her “finish the job” was not an announcement of her candidacy, but rather a reaction to Pallone’s over the top defense of ObamaCare .  In October, Pallone called a congressional hearing into ObamaCare that he was participating in a “Monkey Court.”  Appearing on FoxNews with Megyn Kelly, Pallone shouted, insisting that President Obama had kept his, “If you like your healthcare, you can keep it, period, I guarantee it,” promise and said insurance companies were practicing capitalism by cancelling “lousy” “scam” insurance plans that people didn’t want to buy.

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden

Sheriff Shaun Golden’s strong performance in last November’s election …a 64%-36% reelection victory with over 100,000 votes… was noticed by state and national Republican leaders, many of whom are encouraging Golden to take on Pallone.

The two Republican leaders who matter the most in determining who receives the GOP nomination, Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett and Middlesex County Republican Chairman Sam Thompson, like the idea of Golden running against Pallone.

“I would love to see Shaun Golden run for Congress, ” Bennett said, ‘Not only is popular and a demonstrated vote getter, he has an outstanding record with a documented ability to get things done.”

Thompson said, “Shaun would be a great candidate.”

Little said she would support Golden if he runs.

Golden wouldn’t comment when we asked if he was running.

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Analysis: U.S. Attorney’s Trail Shows Hoboken Charges More Serious

Analysis: U.S. Attorney’s Trail Shows Hoboken Charges More Serious (via NJSpotlight)

With subpoenaed documents trickling in to investigators and a third Christie appointee taking the Fifth Amendment, legal experts are debating which charges Christie appointees are likely to face, how evidence of a coverup could bolster a corruption…

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Christie in Keansburg: Sandy Relief Will Fall $17 Billion Short

Photo by Paul Scharff

Governor Chris Christie came to the bayshore with members of his cabinet yesterday with a sobering message for residents battered by Superstorm Sandy who a waiting for government assistance to rebuild their homes and to comply with new government imposed requirements for those homes.

New Jersey sustained $37 billion in damage from Sandy.  Federal assistance to New Jersey will tap out at between $15 and $20 billion, Christie said.

It’s been 15 months since Superstorm Sandy ravaged New Jersey. The first $1.83 billion in relief from the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been spent or is committed.  Another $1.46 billion is being applied for, but it will be another three months at least before that money starts to flow.

The HUD Community Block Development Grants (CBDG) grants are the last resort funding for homeowners and renters/landlords, designed to fill needs not covered by insurance proceeds, FEMA assistance, Small Business Administration loans and other sources.

Before New Jersey receives the $1.46 billion second round of funding, there is a 30 day public comment period on the CDBG Disaster Recovery Action Plan.  The public comment period runs through March 5.  In Monmouth County, there will be a public hearing on February 13 at Brookdale Community College, Robert J. Collins Arena, 765 Newman Springs Rd, Lincroft from 4pm-7pm.  There will be hearing is Atlantic County at Stockton University on February 11 and in Essex County at the New Jersey Institute of Technology on the 12th.  Written comments can be submitted via email to [email protected] or can be provided by mail to the attention of Gabrielle Gallagher, NJ Department of Community Affairs, 101 South Broad Street, Post Office Box 800, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0800.  All comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. on March 5, 2014.

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O’Scanlon: Red Light Camera Corruption Warrants Investigations By Fishman, Wisniewski

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said today that he is asking U.S Attorney Paul Fishman to open criminal investigations into the municipal clients of Redflex Traffic Systems, an Arizona based red light camera company, due to legal claims by a former executive that the company routinely bribed municipal officials in 13 states, including New Jersey, in order to obtain the lucrative contracts to operate camera systems that issue summonses for red light infractions.

Additionally, O’Scanlon is writing to Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski to ask that the committee open an investigation into New Jersey’s red light camera program in light of the recent bribery allegations and scientific proof commissioned by O’Scanlon that red light cameras are a detriment to public safety that are rigged to cheat motorists.

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Andrews to retire from Congress

Congressman Robert Andrews will resign as a representative of the southern jersey 1st congressional district, according to a reports in Poltico and The Philadephia Inquirer.

Once a Democratic contender for statewide office who competed in primaries for Governor and U.S. Senate, Andrews’s career has apparently been derailed by an ethics investigation into the misuse of campaign funds.  He is taking a job with a Philadelphia law firm, according to The Inquirer.

The Inquirer, majority owned by South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, is reporting that State Senator Donald Norcross, the boss’s brother, will be the Democratic nominee for Andrew’s seat in the House.

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Murray Sabrin Seeking Support For U.S. Senate Bid

Murray Sabrin, right, with Jay Lassiter, Jeff Gardner, then BlueJersey bloggers, Michael Aron, then of NJN, and MMM publisher Art Gallagher at a November 2010 shooting of Reporters Roundtable.

Murray Sabrin, PhD, the Ramapo College finance professor who challenged Governor Christine Whitman’s 1997 reelection as a Libertarian candidate and sought the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 2000 and 2008, wants another shot at the seat now occupied by Senator Cory Booker.

The professor has started the process of reaching out to party leaders, previous Republican Senate candidates and county chairmen to gauge and seek their support for the nomination that no mainstream Republican seems to want. Thus far, only little known small businessmen have taken steps to secure the nomination.

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