Christie ends his presidential campaign

Governor Chris Christie publicly suspended his presidential campaign moments ago with the following statement posted on facebook:

• Tweet

Opinion: Hope and Optimism Killed Christie’s Chances

By Art Gallagher

Governor Chris Christie has been called, by friend and foes alike, the best political communicator since Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton. Yet, after abandoning his post in New Jersey for the better part of two years in his quest for the presidency, the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire were unmoved by his talent.

As pundits and strategists dissect Christie’s failure, so far none have pointed to the obvious: Christie’s entitlement reform plan. Christie promised a harder future.

Donald Trump’s campaign in a variation of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.  “Yes we can” has been replaced by “Make America Great Again.”
Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Property tax relief bill passes N.J. Assembly committee

Assemblyman Jay Webber sponsored property tax relief legislation

TRENTON — A bill to restore hundreds of millions of dollars paid by utilities to local governments for property tax relief advanced through a state committee on Monday. The legislation, ( A302), would restore $331 million in cuts to energy tax receipts and Consolidated Municipal Property Tax Relief Aid over five years. But there’s a catch:… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Christie in N.H.: ‘I’m not going to increase the gas tax’ in N.J.

SALEM, N.H. — Speaking on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Christie said he has no plans to raise New Jersey’s gas tax. The governor, fielding a heated question from a former New Jersey resident angered for being forced to leave the Garden State because he said the cost of living was too high,… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Muslims fight Islamophobia by ‘showing up’ for others

They recently sent 3,000 bottles of water to Flint, Michigan, a struggling city rocked when it was discovered that state officials allowed residents to drink toxic water from the Flint River for two years. After the San Bernardino terror attacks in California, they began a campaign to raise $50,000 for victims and collected more than $180,000.… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Who’s the Governor of New Jersey When the Governor’s Out-of-Town?

When Gov. Chris Christie left New Jersey to return to the presidential campaign trail immediately after a major winter storm walloped the state last week, it was Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno who personally visited barrier-island communities where the storm’s floodwaters had caused the most damage. Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

N.J. sets a goal for number of kids it wants in charter schools

JERSEY CITY — During his State of the State address earlier this month, Gov. Chris Christie pledged to pursue the expansion of charter school opportunities for New Jersey students. On Friday, his education commission put a number on that goal. New Jersey hopes to expand to 50,000 charter schools seats, about a 9 percent increase from… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Surprise walkout by dockworkers shuts down the N.J., N.Y. ports

NEWARK–More than 4,000 longshoremen unexpectedly walked off the job this morning, shutting down the port terminals both in New Jersey and New York, causing truck traffic to immediately start backing up throughout Port Newark and Port Elizabeth. Port officials were taken by surprise by the labor action, and were unsure what precipitated it. “We do know… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

N.J. man found guilty in killing of 3 bears outside his home

ANDOVER — A Sparta man has been found guilty of illegally killing three bears outside his home and ordered to pay a total of $4,332 in fines and restitution, according to a report in the New Jersey Herald. During a trial in Andover Joint Municipal Court in November and December, Robert Ehling, 78, had claimed he… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Should the state investigate questionable behavior by local government officials?

Professor Paula A. Franzese, Seton Hall Law.

TRENTON — A Senate committee Thursday voted 5-0 to dissolve local and county ethics boards and turn the responsibility of investigating the questionable behavior of any government official to the State Ethic Commission. The bill scraps local ethics boards that are “a hoge-podge” in many communities because they are not active or do not exist, said… Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet