Press of Atlantic City

PTI deal and Schultz: Attorney general should get involved

Published: Jul 24, 2008

Atlantic City is a town where the political scum flows as predictably as the tides. Yet it's hard to think of a sleazier, more repulsive political crime than the 2006 blackmail attempt of Councilman Eugene Robinson - who was set up with a prostitute, videotaped having oral sex and threatened with release of the videotape if he didn't resign his council seat.

He didn't resign. The tape was released. The thud was the sound of Atlantic City politics hitting bottom.

Five people were charged with the blackmail scheme, but only one defendant in the case currently holds public office - Councilman John Schultz. The very idea that Schultz could walk away from these serious allegations without a trial, without admitting guilt and still in public office is outrageous.

Yet that's what may happen. The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office apparently is looking favorably on such a pre-trial intervention deal. More

Jul 23, 2008

• Hospital errors / Transparency needed

The AARP and the Consumers Union are pushing state legislation that would, as one newspaper put it, identify "which hospitals are making life-threatening mistakes."

Jul 22, 2008

• ACHS athletic fields / Dedication rewarded

Dedication rewardedMany sports facilities these days get named for the highest bidder.

Jul 22, 2008

• Testing transportation security / Help make air travel safe

Help make travel safeIsn't it great to be a lab rat?

Jul 21, 2008

• A 'green' sales tax break / Tempting ... but no

New Jersey deserves credit for aggressively pursuing green power - from promoting wind farms along the coast to offering solar incentives that have made the state the nation's second-largest solar market, surpassed only by California.

Jul 20, 2008

• Residency ruling / Sex-offender laws better left to state

Officials in Galloway Township and other towns should have known when they first considered local laws restricting where sex offenders can live that their approach was fundamentally flawed.

Jul 18, 2008

• N.J. and poverty guidelines / Change the formula

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing a different way to measure poverty in the United States that adjusts for geographic cost-of-living differences such as housing costs.

Jul 17, 2008

• Not a good idea

In theory, state Assemblyman John Wisniewski's proposal to revamp beach fees has a certain appeal: Establish a statewide beach tag with a set fee that's good on any beach in the state. The Middlesex County Democrat's plan would eliminate the wide range of fees now charged by various towns, as well as the temptation for some resorts to hike fees in order to discourage day-trippers.

Jul 16, 2008

• Government mileage / Enact standards

Ocean County's Republican state legislators - Sen. Christopher Connors and Assemblymen Brian Rumpf and Daniel M. Van Pelt - have a knack for picking up on relatively minor concerns of constituents and quickly sponsoring a bill to address the alleged "issue."

Jul 15, 2008

• NJ STARS program / Changes should come

The popular NJ STARS program got a reprieve from budget cuts this year that would have limited the program to students whose families earn less than $100,000 per year.

Jul 14, 2008

• The Dennis Hotel / Thanks, Bally's, CRDA

Opening up the courtyard of the Dennis Hotel -now part of the Bally's Atlantic City complex - is a dramatic, downright breathtaking transformation. The magnificent old hotel had been hidden for decades by a long, two-story retail pavilion.

Jul 14, 2008

• Shore tourism / Resiliant, creative

Long ago, the U.S. dollar was so strong against Canadian currency that a Wildwoods official - fearing Canadian tourists would stay home that year - hatched a scheme to offer Canadians a better exchange rate in the Wildwoods.

Jul 11, 2008

• New Jersey Motorsports Park / Cause for optimism

Economic news lately has mostly been the gloom-and-doom variety: Soaring energy prices. Falling real estate prices. Unemployment. Cutbacks.

Jul 10, 2008

• Atlantic County Clerk's experiment / Watchdogs in the wings

Would you like the option of working a 10-hour-day, four-day workweek - as well as some flexibility about which day off you take? Sounds like a pretty good deal, doesn't it?

Jul 09, 2008

• Open-space funding / Don't panic yet

New Jersey's environmental groups are doing what they do best - squawking like a mother osprey trying to protect her nest.

Jul 08, 2008

• Tightening pay-to-play ban / Action not taken

The deluge of legislation passed before the summer recess in Trenton is hard to follow, even for political junkies. But sometimes, the actions not taken in Trenton before a session ends are as notable as the ones that were taken.

Jul 07, 2008

• Atlantic County vo-tech / What do you think?

Should Atlantic County borrow $24 million to help fund a $40 million expansion of the Atlantic County Institute of Technology?

Jul 06, 2008

• Inspecting games of chance / Check the lottery

Our view: Inspecting games of chanceCheck the lotteryNew Jersey is no slouch at making sure games of chance are on the up and up.

Jul 04, 2008

• The Fourth of July / Read the Declaration

Every couple of years on the Fourth of July, the nation's birthday, it's a good idea to remember what started it all.

Jul 03, 2008

• Court ruling on developer fees / Change the law

For years, many southern New Jersey towns have required builders either to include open space and recreation in their subdivisions or to pay into a recreation fund for offsite improvements such as municipal parks and playgrounds.

Jul 02, 2008

• Prison work crews / They were never free

There's no such thing as a free work crew.

Jul 01, 2008

• A.C. rail line: Time right to boost service

We get a little nervous any time there's news about the number of riders dropping on NJ Transit's Atlantic City line.

Jun 30, 2008

• Merging schools / Law makes it hard

A proposal to close Sea Isle City's elementary school and send its 80 or so K-8 students to Ocean City seemed like a win-win plan.

Jun 29, 2008

• Litter at Corson's Inlet State Park / Policy, people, politics

Corson's Inlet State Park, at the southern end of Ocean City, is one of the more beautiful spots in southern New Jersey - a spot made all the more beautiful by the fact that its sandy trails and secluded bay and ocean beaches are so close to Ocean City's more commercial, tourist-packed areas.

Jun 27, 2008

• Property-tax rebate fraud / Good news (kind of)

Lost amid the frenzy of activity in Trenton in recent days was news about an audit of the state's property-tax rebate program in 2007.

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