Corzine to donate Madoff campaign contributions
TRENTON – Gov. Corzine says he'll donate to charity his campaign donations from disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff. Madoff donated $2,000 to Corzine's U.S. Senate campaign in 1999 and $1,000 to his gubernatorial campaign in 2005. Corzine says that he wasn't aware of the donations until recently. (AP)
Corzine to staff: Plan for layoffs
TRENTON – Gov. Corzine, who has threatened to slash the state work force by up to 7,000 positions if labor unions do not agree to wage concessions, yesterday ordered cabinet members to plan for the layoffs. (AP)
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20090306_Corzine_to_staff__Plan_for_layoffs.html
NJ Assembly passes restrictions on teen drivers
TRENTON, N.J. – Parents in New Jersey would have to go to class before their children could get learner's permits to drive. That's one of the provisions in four bills passed by the Assembly Thursday aimed at tightening driving privileges for motorists between 16 and 20 years old. (AP)
Newark Mayor Cory Booker and D.C.'s Adrian Fenty team for Washington fundraiser
Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Adrian Fenty, his counterpart in the nation's capital, are teaming up next week for a joint fundraiser — an unusual pairing that could prove to be a lucrative boost to the 2010 re-election campaigns of both men. (Ortega, Star-Ledger)
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/booker_and_dc_mayor_fenty_team.html
N.J. voters back Obama, think direction is correct, poll finds A poll finds a majority of New Jerseyans think the country is headed in the right direction — a result that hasn't been seen since April 2003. The Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll released today said 51 percent of Garden Staters agree with the way things are going under President Obama. That's up from up from a low of 13 percent before November's elections. (AP)
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/nj_voters_back_obama_think_dir.html
Manzo adds three more candidates to slate
In a meeting with The Jersey Journal yesterday, mayoral candidate Louis Manzo announced three more candidates to his slate in the May 12 municipal elections, leaving only the Ward E slot to be filled.(Clark, Jersey Journal)
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/03/manzo_adds_two_more_to_slate.html
Jersey City councilman briefly hospitalized after falling down stairs
Jersey City Ward D Councilman William Gaughan had an overnight stay at Christ Hospital earlier this week after he tripped and fell down the stairs in his home Monday morning, the councilman confirmed today. "I missed a step and fell," he said. (Jersey Journal)
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/03/jersey_city_councilman_briefly.html
Lonegan funding reply a few weeks off
Steve Lonegan won’t know for weeks whether he’s entitled to public funding to run for governor — or if he must repay the more than half-million dollars he’s received so far. On Thursday, members of the Election Law Enforcement Commission met privately to consider Lonegan’s affiliation with Americans for Prosperity, a national non-profit, anti-tax lobbying group. Fred Herrmann, executive director of the commission, said a public report on the meeting won’t be issued until at least March 18. (Young, Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/njpolitics/40832012.html
South Jersey gets $250M in transportation stimulus funds
Federal stimulus funds will underwrite more than $250 million in transportation improvements for South Jersey, including a $40 million train transfer station in Pennsauken, Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Thursday. The stimulus money, part of a statewide package worth $894 million, also includes $86 million to upgrade Interstate 295 in Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties. It provides $24 million to upgrade signals along the Camden-Trenton RiverLINE and $13 million for flood-control work on the Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden and Pennsauken. (Walsh, Courier Post)
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090306/NEWS01/903060350
N.J. election officials say Lonegan eligible for matching funds
State election officials today determined Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan is still eligible for matching funds, his campaign said. Lonegan was under the microscope for his role as New Jersey director of Americans for Prosperity. (Megerian, Star-Ledger)
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/nj_election_officials_say_lone.html
Corzine signs law limiting unpaid suspensions for police, firefighters
Police and firefighters in New Jersey can't be indefinitely suspended without pay. Gov. Jon S. Corzine today signed a bill into law that limits unpaid suspensions to 180 days. (AP)
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/corzine_signs_law_limiting_unp.html
Fisher king for a day as he departs for ag post
TRENTON Members of the General Assembly gave Doug Fisher a sendoff Thursday, his last day as a legislator before taking on his new role as New Jersey's secretary of agriculture. (Graber, Gloucester County Times)
http://www.nj.com/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-4/123632612066730.xml&coll=8
Freeholders weigh drop in tax for open space
FREEHOLD — Democrats on the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders said they will consider reducing the open space tax by $7.8 million — money earmarked for purchasing and preserving undeveloped land — to offset any general tax increases needed to pay higher costs of other county government programs and services. (Jordan, Asbury Park Press)
http://app.com/article/20090306/NEWS/903060384
Corzine creates horse racing study panel
TRENTON — Finding ways to keep horse racing viable in New Jersey is the mission of a new state panel created by Gov. Jon S. Corzine. The 15-member Governor's Commission on the Horse Racing Industry will have representatives from both the horse racing and casino industries, as well as state government. They will serve without compensation. (AP, Asbury Park Press)
http://app.com/article/20090305/NEWS/90305145
Route 52 among projects to get chunk of N.J. stimulus money
Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Thursday the state will invest $894 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds in what he called "critical" highway and transit projects throughout New Jersey. Included in those investments are almost $88 million for the Route 52 causeway project in Atlantic and Cape May counties, upgrading the Route 72 bay bridge in Ocean County and repaving a section of Route 30 in Atlantic County. (Barlas, Press of Atlantic City)
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/287/story/420755.html
Rothman urges more scrutiny of Palestinian aid
A U.N. agency that provides humanitarian relief to Palestinians needs to open its books so Congress can be sure that federal money is not going to support terrorists, Rep. Steve Rothman said Thursday. (Jackson, Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/njpolitics/40831987.html
In the 19th, Vas fights for political survival
In any political weather, the name “Vas” on a campaign sign would inspire a particular dynamism, as in “you go” in the Spanish familiar form – and so the name went for 18 years as the formidable Joe Vas, Perth Amboy’s first Puerto Rican mayor, ran the waterfront town. (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)
http://www.politickernj.com/max/27919/19th-vas-fights-political-survival
