Christie: This is an unspeakable tradegy

Governor Chris Christie has order flags lowered to half-staff to mourn the victims of the Connecticutt school shooting.

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Mayan Calendar

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Christie and Guadagno will visit Sea Bright today

Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno will be the Sea Bright this afternoon to make an announcement regarding small business recovery and relief from Hurricane Sandy.

The 3PM event will be at the Sea Bright Fire House, 1099 East Ocean Ave.  A press conference will follow the announcement.

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Don’t Count Codey Out Of Democratic Race For Gubernatorial Nomination

Hat tip to Capitol Quickies:

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JCP&L Executive Admits Company Does Not Prepare For Major Storms

What did JCP&L’s parent company learn from Hurricane Irene and the October 2011 Nor’easter? Nothing.  They just assumed their great grandchildren would have to just deal with the next one.

The president of First Energy Utilities (parent company of JCP&L) told financial analysts  that the company doesn’t plan for 100 year storms, according to a report on NJSpotLight.

“And I think we really understood that these storms are — I mean I tell Tony [Anthony Alexander, chief executive officer and executive director of FirstEnergy]  they are 100-year storms.’’

“So he’s not going to have to worry about them again, hopefully. But they can’t be prevented and you can’t plan for them,” Jones said.

“And I’ve gotten questions at the board [of directors] several times about how we’re going to increase our storm budget because of them and the answer is no. I mean, they are literally events that I don’t think we should plan for. When they come, we will deal with them,’’ Jones said.

Charles E Jones was speaking on a earnings call on February 29, 2012.

From First Energy’s website:

Charles E. Jones President, FirstEnergy Utilities

Charles E. Jones is president, FirstEnergy Utilities, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. He has responsibility for Energy Delivery, Customer Service, compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission transmission requirements, and Energy Efficiency activities, while leading FirstEnergy’s 10 regulated electric utility companies and other regulated operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.

Chuck began his career with Ohio Edison as a substation engineer in 1978. He held a variety of positions in the Akron, Marion and Elyria areas, and in 1995 was named president of Ohio Edison’s Penn Power subsidiary. He returned to Akron in 1996 as division manager. Chuck was named president of FirstEnergy’s Northern Region in 1997, vice president of Regional Operations in 2001, senior vice president of Energy Delivery and Customer Service in 2003, and president, FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., in 2007. He was named senior vice president, Energy Delivery and Customer Service, in 2009, and senior vice president and president, FirstEnergy Utilities, in February 2010.

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Belmar Boardwalk Bid Comes In $10.4 million under expectations

Belmar’s engineering firm, Birdsall Services Group, told the Mayor and Council of the Borough to expect their new boardwalk to cost $17 million.  The winning bid came in at $6.6 million.

The winning bidder, Epic Construction of Piscataway is no fly by night.  Mayor Matt Doherty says the borough checked them out thoroughly because they came in so much lower than expectations and lower than the other 22 bidders.  The highest bid was $19 million, according to NJ.com.

Doherty told MMM that the borough benefited by getting the project out fast after the Hurricane Sandy, thereby attracting 23 bidders.

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How does Menendez not know that his intern is a sex offender and an illegal immigrant?

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez says he did not know that his 18 year old intern, Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaleta, was an illegal immigrant and a registered sex offender.

How does the senator’s staff check to see if their interns are in the United States legally?  They ask them.

The senator’s office said a background check didn’t show Zavaleta’s registration as a sex offender because he was a juvenille in 2010 when he was arrested in Hudson County.  Zavaelta’s name does not appear on the NJ State Police registry of sex offenders.  So where is he registered?

The Homeland Security Department has strongly denied media reports that they instructed ICE not to arrest Zavaleta until after the November 6 election.  The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office tipped ICE off about Zavaleta in October.

How does Homeland Security or a prosecutor not tell a U. S. Senator that an illegal immigrant and sex offender are working in his office.  Maybe there’s an ongoing investigation.  One can hope.

How does a teenager from Peru get to be an intern for a U. S. Senator?  Does he show up at the office in a suit and say “Me gustaría trabajar gratis como su interno”?

Or is the kid related to a campaign donor or maybe an executive of a bank that Menendez invests in or oversees as a member of the Senate Banking Committee?

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da Unions

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Governor Christie: Sitting on the sidelines is not an option

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O’Scanlon: Displaced residents in need of temporary housing should visit FEMA, even if they’ve been turned down before

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon told MMM that FEMA is bring temporary housing online at that New Jersey residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy and in need of temporary housing should visit a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center, even if they have previously been turned down for assistance by the agency.

In Monmouth County the DRCs are located at:

Belmar Municipal Bldg., 601 Main St., Belmar, N.J. 07719

Henry Hudson Trail Activity Center, 945 Highway 36, Leonardo, N.J. 07737

Long Branch Fire Station #4, 199-205 Union Ave., Long Branch, N.J. 07740

Union Beach Municipal Building, 650 Poole Ave., Union Beach, N.J. 07735

Click here for DRC locations elsewhere in New Jersey.

O’Scanlon said that any resident in need of temporary housing that is not satisfied after visiting a DRC should call his office at 732-933-1591 for assistance.

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