Atlantic City will change under new laws approved by the New Jersey Senate

Atlantic City Casino Bills Up For Votes
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Two of the most important changes to the way Atlantic City has done business for the past 30-plus years are up for votes in the New Jersey Senate Monday. Bills to create a casino district with much greater state Oversight and to loosen the amount of Regulation that govern the city’s 11 casinos will be considered. They’re part of Gov. Chris Christie’s push to assert greater control over the nation’s second-largest gambling market. It has been ree...

A.M. Roundup: NY will lose two seats in Congress
Good morning! It’s an early Christmas for data geeks, who now have Census figures to play with. And the battle over redistricting can now being in earnest. Here are some headlines… Census data show New York will lose two Congressional Seats, dropping the total size of our delegation to 27. (TU) The locus of population shifted south and west, to states that traditionally vote Republican. (AP) Rep. Bill Owens expects his district, the 23rd, to expand. (WDT) There are three bills left...

Christie: No Fast Track For Smaller Casino Bill
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie said he won’t sign a bill that would allow smaller casinos to be built in Atlantic City before the rest of an ambitious package to rejuvenate the nation’s second-largest gambling market is also approved. The so-called “boutique casinos” bill has passed both houses of the New Jersey legislature. Hard Rock International has said it would start drawing up blueprints for a new boardwalk casino immediately after the law is signed ...

Waste in US Afghan aid seen at billions of dollars
Stumble This! WASHINGTON - Waste and Fraud in U.S. efforts to rebuild Afghanistan while fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban may have cost Taxpayers billions of dollars, a special investigator said on Monday. Arnold Fields, special Inspector General for Afghanistan reconstruction, said the cost of U.S. assistance funding diverted or squandered since 2002 could reach "well into the millions, if not billions, of dollars." "There are no controls in place sufficient enough to ensure taxpayers' money i...

Video: How real men celebrate Christmas
We haven’t had any palate cleansers lately and, judging from our comment numbers, most of our readers have checked out for Christmas anyway, so let’s get festive. How manly is this dish? It’s manlier than a bunch of Marines watching football while Smoking cigars. It’s manlier than a cowboy hunting lions with a knife. It’s manlier than a genetically engineered hybrid of Chris Christie, Dale Peterson, and Ted Nugent. Even a single bite would instantly transform even...

2011 Virginia travel guide released
The 2011 Virginia is for Lovers travel guide is now available. The Virginia Tourism Corporation says the 200-page publication provides a listing of amusement parks, beach getaways, wineries, history and outdoor adventure Vacation ideas. Four different cover designs feature the beach, history and heritage, wine travel and kayaking. Special 2011 milestones covered in the travel guide include the 75th anniversaries of Shenandoah National Park and Virginia State Parks. Also listed are events and exh...

New Jersey Senate Supports Bill Funding Planned Parenthood
The New Jersey state Senate on Monday approved a bill that would restore the state Taxpayer funding of the family planning efforts run by the Planned Parenthood Abortion business. Last month, the state Assembly approved a pair of bills to restore the funding pro-life Gov. Chris Christie revoked for financial reasons. However, the passage of the bills came seven votes shy of what is needed to override another expected gubernatorial Veto. Yesterday, senators voted for S2393/A3273, which transfers ...

Joe Manchin Apologizes for Missing Key Senate Votes, Cites Family Gathering
West Virginia freshman Sen. Joe Manchin, sworn in only five weeks ago, had to apologize for missing key votes last weekend on Immigration Reform and Repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the Military. It seems the holidays got in the way. Manchin, the former Governor of the Mountain State, took office on Nov. 15, replacing interim Sen. Carte Godwin, the lawmaker he had appointed to fill a vacancy left by the death of Robert Byrd. "Let me apologize to anybody and everybody within our listen...

Slope rage bubbles over again at Beaver Creek
‘Tis the season to beat the crap out of someone (allegedly) on the ski slopes. Friday’s incident at Beaver Creek ski area — in which a Georgia man was charged with Misdemeanor Child Abuse for punching a teenage girl who bumped into his 4-year-old son - is reminiscent of another slope rage case at Beaver Creek that resulted in a federal Lawsuit. Governor-elect John Hickenlooper today announced that State Sen. Al White will be director of the Colorado Tourism Office and Joa...

Pentagon, State blasted over Kyrgyz jet-fuel deals
To keep U.S. warplanes flying over Afghanistan, the Pentagon allowed a "secrecy obsessed" business group to supply jet fuel to a U.S. Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, turning a blind eye to an elaborate Fraud involving fuel deliveries from Russia, according to congressional investigators. In a report due to be released Tuesday, the House subcommittee on National Security and foreign affairs hammers the Pentagon as well as State Department Diplomats for ignoring red flags raised by jet fuel c...

Lax enforcement of ID requirement at the border
Image via Wikipedia Houston Chronicle: More than 18 months after U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors were supposed to start enforcing stringent ID requirements at the nation's land borders, millions of travelers are still being admitted without passports or other secure IDs, a new government audit shows. An Office of Inspector General report released Monday found that CBP remains unprepared to fully implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which officially took effect in J...

Outgoing State Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. Put In Papers For $9K Pension: UPDATED
Maybe you CAN take it with you. "Sen. Pedro Espada may be leaving office and also facing federal Corruption charges, but he made sure to put in his Retirement papers so he can start collecting his roughly $9,000 a year State Pension... "In fact, Espada put in for Retirement on Dec. 13, the state Comptroller’s Office confirmed," a day before his indictment on six federal counts of embezzlement and theft, Spector writes. Because he has only eight years in the state system, E...

Pa. panel finds 'pattern' that Greene sexually harassed PHA employees
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission ruled Tuesday that there was Probable Cause that Elizabeth Helm was sexually harassed by then-Philadelphia Housing Authority Executive Director Carl R. Greene. In the first outside review of his behavior, the agency also concluded that Greene, 54, "engaged in a pattern and practice of sexually harassing conduct" toward female employees "throughout the course of his employment." In addition to examining the charges made by Helm, 29, ...

New Jersey Wants to Spare the Rest of the Country From Chris Christies Emotional Abuse
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a rising star in the Republican Party and possible Candidate for higher office in a few years, would not make a good president, according to 63 percent of New Jersey voters, including 36 percent of Republicans. Christie was compared to Pepsi by the Washington Post's Ezra Klein yesterday — good in sips, but too much is overwhelming. [Quinnipiac] ...

New York and New Jersey Lose Congressional Seats
WASHINGTON — New York will lose 2 of its 29 seats in the House, while New Jersey will lose 1 of its 13 seats, because of population shifts reported by the Census Bureau on Tuesday. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey says redistricting will be very partisan “because someone’s going to lose a seat.” Upstate New York districts held by Brian Higgins and Louise M. Slaughter, both Democrats, had big population losses, but seats that will be under Republican control also had de...

NJ Voters: Governor More Scrooge Than Santa
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - They could call him Gov. Scrooge. A new poll from Quinnipiac University finds New Jersey voters think Gov. Chris Christie is more like Scrooge than Santa by a 54 to 28 margin. Republicans saw him as Santa-like, 47 to 36. Democrats and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly found the Republican Governor to resemble Charles Dickens’ bah-humbugging character. Not everyone seems to mind that the Governor is a bit Scrooge-like. In another Quinnipiac Poll released Tuesday,...

Preparing for next round of park closings
Once again, upstate New York is being shortchanged. Despite the strong public opposition to last year's threat to close parks, some sites are already back on the chopping block for 2011. The apparent closing of several upstate parks will hurt local economies while reducing Taxpayers' quality of life. It has been reported that as of Jan. 1, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation will close three parks located outside of Buffalo including: Knox Farm State Park in...

Political Impact of New Census Numbers
Fox News Republican-leaning states all across the South and West will gain Congressional Seats based on the results of the 2010 Census, according to population counts released Tuesday. The Census Bureau announced that eight states will gain a total of 12 seats, while 10 states — mostly in the Northeast and Midwest — will lose seats. The population shift sets the stage for potential GOP gains in Congress in 2012, while changing the political landscape ahead of a presidential race which in...

In 8 years, RI AG dealt with club fire, lead paint
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Patrick Lynch was a boyish-looking 37 when he became Attorney General, a former Brown Basketball star who parlayed positions as a gang prosecutor and Lobbyist into becoming the state’s top lawyer eight years ago. He leaves office with noticeable flecks of gray hair, as much as a reflection of his job as his age. During his tenure, Lynch won a landmark Lawsuit against former lead paint companies — but saw the verdict overturned and was held in contempt for int...

Cuomo pick for top investigator
ALBANY -- Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo is expected to name Ellen Biben, for the past four years his special deputy Attorney General for public integrity, as the state's new Corruption-fighting Inspector General, The Post learned yesterday. Biben would replace hard-charging IG Joseph Fisch in the $155,000-a-year position. Biben, a former deputy chief of the rackets bureau in the Manhattan DA's Office, has overseen key investigations during Attorney General Cuomo's four years in office, including t...

Pennsylvania and New Jersey will each lose a seat in Congress
Pennsylvania and New Jersey each will lose a seat in Congress as a result of slow Population Growth over the last decade. The losses, announced Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, reflect the decades-long shift of political clout from the Northeast and Midwest to faster-growing areas of the West and South. In other words, Florida's and Texas' gain are Pennsylvania's and New Jersey's loss. With 435 seats in the House of Representatives to be apportioned on the basis of the 2010 Census, Pennsylvani...

Sweeney Talks Impeachment, New Laws For New Year
N.J. Sen. Stephen Sweeney (credit: NJLegDistrict3.com) TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney says he’ll push for new laws to force towns to share services and to change some Gun Laws in the new year. In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday on Radio Station New Jersey 101.5, Sweeney also reiterated Impeachment proceedings are being talked about concerning Supreme Court Justice Rivera-Soto. The justice is refusing to participate in court decisions as long as a ...

Steroid Abuse At New Jersey State Police?
TRENTON, NJ (WCBS 880) -  There could be civil or Criminal Charges as the New Jersey State Police are being investigated for steroid use. A newly formed Task Force is looking into steroid abuse among hundreds of Law Enforcement officers statewide. “Certainly [we] are very thankful for their willingness to cooperate,” says New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, who gave kudos to police union heads as the investigation ramps up. “Not only are they looking at the violato...

On the Trail of Christmas: Advent Tourism Booming in Germany
Christmas-related Tourism is Big Business in Germany. The country's Christmas markets are famous throughout the world, and thousands of visitors head to towns where traditional baubles and decorations are made every December. But the old-fashioned image of Advent Tourism may be about to change. The road to the ancient home of the glass Christmas Tree bauble is a long and treacherous one. ...

Hickenlooper taps Republican Sen. Al White to lead Colorado Tourism Office
Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, says Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper's past puts him in a prime position to understand Tourism. ( Hyoung Chang, Denver Post file photo ) Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper crossed party lines Tuesday to tap one of the legislature's fiercest tourism advocates to oversee the Colorado Tourism Office. Republican state Sen. Al White is a former ski-shop owner who has continually touted tourism and its impact on Colorado's economy during his decade in the legislature. "For 10 years I'v...