Perez to run with Healy ticket in Jersey City

Ward F Democratic Committeeman Omar Perez will run for an at-large Jersey City Council seat on the Healy 2013 ticket. 

A veteran of Menendez and Sires's campaigns, Perez has a local reputation as a political organizer. (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)

http://www.politickernj.com/61438/jersey-city-p...

Newark City Council, Booker reaffirm Speight for at-large seat

The result at this afternoon's Newark City Council meeting was the same as it was last week, as Mayor Cory Booker broke a deadlocked council and affirmed Shanique Davis Speight as a replacement for U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10). (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)

http://www.politickernj.com/61457/newark-city-c...

Prieto, Dems thank store owners

TRENTON - Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Vincent  Prieto (D-32) of Secaucus, thanked several people from the Asian American Retailers Association for taking time out today to attend the hearing regarding the Lottery monetization plan. (Hassan, State Street Wire)

http://www.politickernj.com/61464/prieto-dems-t...

Latest from State Street Wire

Ratepayer advocate: Keep eye on profits utilities ship out-of-state

TRENTON – Ensuring a portion of utility companies’ profits are used to improve infrastructure should be another concern of officials moving forward post-superstorm Sandy, according to a ratepayer advocate. (Arco, State Street Wire)

http://www.politickernj.com/61458/ratepayer-adv...

Via letter, Lottery director defends monetization

TRENTON - The Lottery’s executive director sought to set straight the record on what she termed misrepresentations that have been made regarding partial monetization, saying the state will continue to oversee all contractor performances. (Hassan, State Street Wire)

http://www.politickernj.com/61453/letter-lotter...

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Portion of Brick barrier island will reopen today

The portion of the barrier island from Mantoloking Bridge south to the Toms River boundary will reopen beginning at 7 a.m. this morning, the Brick Township Office of Emergency Management announced. (Asbury Park Press)

http://www.app.com/viewart/20121205/NJNEWS/3120...

Republican defectors weigh deal on tax-rate hike

House Speaker John Boehner is under pressure to defy Republican Party orthodoxy on income taxes to rein in the U.S. deficit, with an increasing number of his rank- and-file members saying they’re willing to discuss raising rates for top earners. (Przybyla, Bloomberg)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-05/republ...

Residents angry, confused about Paulsboro train derailment

Anger and frustration were evident in the faces and voices of residents of Paulsboro Wednesday night as they gathered at Nehaunsey Middle School for an meeting to discuss the train derailment, chemical release and evacuation disrupting the lives of every borough resident for close to a week. (Forand, South Jersey Times)

http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2...

Jersey Shore recovery a priority, White House official tells Senate hearing

President Obama’s point man for superstorm Sandy recovery said Wednesday that the administration is working to get the Jersey Shore open for business next summer and pledged to help the state rebuild better and stronger as they try to make sense of damage assessment figures.  (Hayes/Jackson, Record)

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Obama_administr...

First N.J. medical marijuana dispensary to open

Nearly three years after New Jersey legalized medical marijuana, the state's first dispensary will open Thursday.

Health Commissioner Mary E. O'Dowd announced Wednesday that Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair, Essex County, would begin seeing patients by appointment only. (Hefler, Inquirer)

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/2012120...

States cut antismoking outlays despite record tobacco revenue

Faced with tight budgets, states have spent less on tobacco prevention over the past two years than in any period since the national tobacco settlement in 1998, despite record high revenues from the settlement and tobacco taxes, according to a report to be released on Thursday. (Tavernise, N.Y. Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/health/antism...

Casinos showing signs of quicker than expected recovery

Atlantic City’s casinos likely will take months, not years, as some fear, to recover from Hurricane Sandy, top executives predicted Wednesday in a rare dose of optimism for the struggling gambling industry. (Wittkowski, Atlantic City Press)

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/...

Judge refuses to shut down Morris County landfill

Despite complaints from 100 residents over the past three weeks about offensive new odors coming from the Fenimore Landfill in Roxbury, a Superior Court judge today denied a request to shut down the facility temporarily. (Horowitz, Star-Ledger)

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2012/12/judg...

Presents come early for this Hunterdon County farmer

Meredith Compton, a fruit and vegetable farmer and co-owner of Peaceful Valley Orchards in Pittstown, has been named New Jersey’s 2013 Outstanding Young Farmer by the State Board of Agriculture and will be honored at the February 2013 New Jersey State Agricultural Convention in Atlantic City. (Polanin, Home News Tribune)

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20121206...

Rutgers admitted to research consortium

Beginning July 1, Rutgers University will be a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a consortium of research universities consisting of members of the Big Ten Conference and the University of Chicago. (Caliendo, NJBiz)

http://www.njbiz.com/article/20121205/NJBIZ01/1...

Bill seeks to exempt Purple Heart recipients from paying parking meters

TRENTON — Veterans who were wounded in combat or permanently injured as a result of their military service would be granted free parking at any metered spot in New Jersey if a bill working its way through the state Legislature becomes law.

The measure, sponsored by Assembly Democrats Wayne P. DeAngelo, D-14th of Hamilton, and Cleopatra Tucker, D-28th of Newark, would exempt disabled veterans and Purple Heart recipients from having to pay for metered municipal parking provided their vehicle displays the state’s Disabled Veteran or Purple Heart specialty license plate. (Lavinsky, Burlington County Times)

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlingto...

Offshore wind developer may set up shop in N.J.

The developer of a proposed offshore wind transmission backbone is looking at putting a manufacturing facility in the port of Paulsboro, a move that might bolster New Jersey’s efforts to become the hub of the offshore wind sector along the Eastern Seaboard. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/12/05/off...

Opinion

Cliff diving

As the nation eagerly awaits Washington’s solution to the so-called fiscal cliff, and as the negotiations continue back and forth in both the media and in reality, here are a few thoughts for consideration. (Gov. Bobby Jindal, Politico)

http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/bobby-jin...

Paulsboro spill preventable

Nearly a week after a freight train fell into the Mantua Creek, releasing toxic vinyl chloride gas into air, schools in the tiny Gloucester County town of Paulsboro remain closed. Hundreds of homes are still evacuated. (Star-Ledger)

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2012/12/p...

N.J. towns must embrace shared services

The state Senate is trying again on a measure to get New Jersey’s 565 municipalities to do away with costly duplicative services. (Trenton Times)

http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2012/...