Poll: Christie’s Numbers Not Good In New Jersey

Voters in New Jersey disapprove of the job Chris Christie is doing as governor 56 percent to 38 percent, according to a new poll out by Quinnipiac University on Monday.

According to Politico, the numbers mark his lowest Quinnipiac approval rating ever and are the worst rating for any governor this year in states surveyed by the university.

New Jersey voters commented on Christie’s 2016 presidential aspirations as well, with 65 percent saying he would not make a good president, compared with 29 percent who think he would.  64 percent say he should not jump into the race for president.

In a general election matchup, Hillary Clinton leads Christie 51 percent to 36 percent.

The poll was conducted April 9-14, surveying 1,428 New Jersey voters via landlines and cellphones, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 percentage points, states Politico.  The poll included 444 Republican voters with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.7 percentage points.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/chris-christie-new-low-new-jersey-poll-117136.html#ixzz3XrSYzVEg

MRI Machine Explodes At New Jersey Animal Hospital, Several Workers Injured

Several construction workers were injured when an MRI machine they were disassembling in a New Jersey animal hospital exploded on Friday morning, authorities say.

None of the 60 or so animals in the Oradell Animal Hospital in Paramus, New Jersey, were hurt during the explosion, claims NBC New York.

Charlotte, a five-month old cat, was being spayed on an operating table when the explosion occurred, said her owner Cheryl Dearborn of Northvale, NJ.  To wrap Charlotte’s surgery up quickly, the veterinarians told Dearborn that they had to use staples instead of stitches.  The cat was fine, Dearborn said, according to NorthJersey.com

One of the workers was taken to the hospital in critical condition with lacerations and crushing-related injuries to his body; the two others had respiratory complaints and other, mostly minor injuries, police said.

After the explosion there was a small leak of helium, which is used as a cooling agent inside of the MRI machine.

MRI explosions are rare but can be deadly, said Wlad Sobol, Ph.D., a medical physicist and professor of radiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, according to NorthJersey.com.

Sobol, who has studied MRI explosions, said that there are two potential causes.

An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine is a superconductive device, meaning it contains wire that can conduct electrical current without generating resistance, or heat, according to NorthJersey.com.

Superconductivity happens at extremely cold temperatures, made possible by bathing the wire in liquid helium.

If one of the magnets in the device is dropped or the helium runs out, superconductivity is lost, and the large amount of energy stored inside the magnet quickly encounters resistance and releases heat.  This can cause an explosion.

The other possible scenario is that the ventilation system for the liquid helium becomes clogged. “The pressure will build up and the magnet will explode,” Sobol said.

“The amount of energy stored in a magnet like that is not trivial,” Sobol said, adding that it is equivalent to several kilograms of TNT — “It’s like a bomb in its ability to destroy stuff.”

More here

Did Governor Chris Christie Cut A Deal With Exxon?

There is a controversy out of New Jersey which continues to get more interesting by the day, according to MSNBC.  Years ago, after decades of misuse, Exxon had damaged more than 1,500 acres of wetlands in northern New Jersey.

The state of New Jersey filed an $8.9 billion lawsuit about a decade ago.  The case progressed in the state’s favor — Exxon’s culpability was finally effectively decided.  The only remaining question was how much the oil giant would pay in damages.

Last week, however, New Jersey settled the case.

Why?  After seeking $8.9 billion — $2.6 billion for environmental restoration and $6.3 billion for compensatory damages — the state agreed to accept just $250 million. That’s roughly 3% of the original amount.  Most of that total would go towards closing the governor’s budget shortfall, rather than environmental repair.

New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak (D) said to MSNBC, “We want to find out who engineered this. Was it the attorney general’s office? Was it [the state’s Department of Environmental Protection] or was it maybe someone in the governor’s office?”

The New York Times seeks to answer that question as well:

“For more than a decade, the New Jersey attorney general’s office conducted a hard-fought legal battle to hold Exxon Mobil Corporation responsible for decades of environmental contamination in northern New Jersey.

“But when the news came that the state had reached a deal to settle its $8.9 billion claim for about $250 million, the driving force behind the settlement was not the attorney general’s office — it was Gov. Chris Christie’s chief counsel, Christopher S. Porrino, two people familiar with the negotiations said.”

Christie’s chief counsel “inserted himself into the case, elbowed aside the attorney general and career employees who had developed and prosecuted the litigation, and cut the deal favorable to Exxon,” according to Bradley Campbell, the commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection.

More:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/nyregion/christies-office-took-over-exxon-settlement-ex-official-says.html?_r=1

The Mystery Woman Behind Chris Christie’s Shady Dealings

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is under criminal investigation and has been corrupt for a long time. Who is the woman involved in all of Christie’s shady dealings? Cliff Schecter joins Sam Seder to discuss it.

More on Governor Christie’s loan here.

Majority Report

Chris Christie Waging 23 Court Battles To Keep State Documents Secret: Mother Jones

According to Mother Jones, media outlets have been forced to sue to obtain even routinely disclosed information, such as payroll data.

Rather than release documents connected to Bridge-gate, pay-to-play allegations, possible ethics violations, and the out-of-state trips Christie has made while looking at a run for president, Chris Christie’s office and several state agencies have waged costly court battles.

As the 2016 presidential primary race draws closer, and Christie considers jumping in, his administration is fighting 23 different open records requests in court.

“The track record is abysmal,” says Jennifer Borg, general counsel for the North Jersey Media Group.

Her organization, which publishes The Record, has sued the state for public documents a half-dozen times since Christie took office. When a judge determines that the state withheld records illegally—which happens frequently—her group wins legal fees. As of September 2014, Christie’s administration had paid $441,000 to North Jersey Media Group and other media outlets for records. And that doesn’t count the cost of government lawyers’ time.

The fight has become expensive for the state because when newspapers go to court for these records, they usually win. But winning doesn’t automatically produce the sought-after records.

“We can and do beat them in court. But as long as they’re appealing—I don’t want to call it a Pyrrhic victory, but we’re not going to get the records,” says Walter Luers, an attorney who helped a transparency project run by the state Libertarian Party sue for public access for Christie’s travel expenses.

“Appeals take two to three years. We’re already into the presidential elections. By the time we get these records, Christie could have a new address.”

Christie’s reluctance to let these records go is understandable. On Tuesday, for example, The New York Times published an investigation of expensive trips, sponsored by donors and foreign leaders, that the governor has taken abroad. Some of those accounts were based on public documents that local newspapers obtained through lawsuits.

Whatever Happened To ‘Ebola Nurse’ Kaci Hickox?

Out of “left field,” MSNBC interviewed nurse Kaci Hickox, who – prior to the November election – was accused of being an Ebola threat and was quarantined.

Hickox, who was ordered to quarantine by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie after the Ebola scare of 2014, joins Chris Hayes for an interview about America’s public health system, and comments on the ongoing anti-vaccine controversy.

MSNBC

Did Christie Stumble On Vaccine-Gate?

Recently, New Jersey governor Chris Christie made comments about vaccinations while on a trip to England.

“Mary Pat and I have had our children vaccinated and we think that it’s an important part of being sure we protect their health and the public health,” Christie told reporters in England Monday. The likely Republican presidential candidate added: “I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well, so that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”

The comments came after a laboratory tour at MedImmune, a biologics company that makes vaccines in Cambridge. Christie is on a three-day tour of Britain designed to promote trade with New Jersey businesses and round out his foreign policy resume ahead of a likely 2016 run for the White House.

While important, it is the view of the website OK, Fine that vaccine-gate is not as important for Christie as the investigations into purposely causing a multi-day traffic jam in the town of a mayor he didn’t like, misuse of Hurricane Sandy relief aid, and improper use of bondholders’ funds by the Port Authority.

According to the Times-Herald News, it was a position he’s taken on vaccines before, but one that drew a new level of attention amid a U.S. measles outbreak and his recent moves toward running for president.

The political significance of Christie’s remarks was amplified by his office a short time later, when it released a statement saying the governor believes “with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated.”

Christie’s stumble into the vaccine issue came as a measles outbreak centered in California has sickened more than 100 people in several states and Mexico, putting a new spotlight on parents who choose not to vaccinate their children.

Some do so for religious or philosophical reasons, while others cite a concern that vaccines can lead to autism and developmental disorders — a link debunked by rigorous medical research.

How Has Chris Christie Dealt With Previous Natural Disasters?

With a nasty blizzard heading towards New Jersey on Monday, Chris Christie declared the 15th weather-related state of emergency since he took office in January, 2010.

Utah radio station KVNU looks at five key weather-related events during Christie’s tenure:

1. The Disney World Blizzard – 2010

Christie came under fire when he stayed on vacation at Florida’s Disney World during a brutal December snowstorm, rather than coming home to lead his state’s response. His lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno was also vacationing at the time, leaving Steve Sweeney, the Democratic state Senate president, in charge.

2. “Get the hell off the beach” – 2011

Christie flaunted his signature tough-talking style when he called for a mandatory evacuation of points on the Jersey Shore in the run-up to Hurricane Irene. “Do not waste any more time working on your tan. Get off the beach, get out of your beach houses and get to safer lands,” he said, expressing frustration over news coverage of people catching rays despite severe weather warnings.

3. Sandy bipartisanship – 2012

The devastating late-October hurricane, which killed 117 people per a CDC analysis and destroyed thousands of homes, will likely remain one of the most defining periods in Christie’s administration.

Politically, it was memorable in part because Christie warmly welcomed President Obama to tour storm damage on the Jersey Shore, praising him for his rapid mobilization of federal assets and coordination with the state. While Christie’s overture earned him bipartisan praise for seeming to put politics aside in the interest of his state (and some state polls had his approval rating soaring) he upset many national Republicans, some of whom later suggested his harmony with the president might have contributed to Romney’s ballot box loss just four days later.  Iowa political operative Doug Gross was quoted by the New York Times as saying it might hurt Christie with Iowa caucus voters, who, Gross said, “don’t forget things like this.”

4. Swiping at other leaders – 2010, 2012

Christie has never shied from defending himself against criticism, especially coming from fellow tri-state leaders over his response to a storm.

After former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani tweaked Christie for staying in Florida during a 2010 blizzard (see #1), the New Jersey governor shot back on Fox News. “It’s easy when you are out of office to be shooting from the peanut gallery when you no longer have any responsibility, but I have a responsibility to my family…I’m just going to chalk it off to a bad morning for the mayor. Maybe he didn’t have a good breakfast or something like that,” Christie said

5. Canceling the party – 2014, 2015

Perhaps as a result of the backlash over his Disney trip in 2010, Christie has recently bowed out of several political events due to winter storms.

The governor canceled his own re-election celebration in January 2014 over concerns that bad weather could lead to road hazards.  He also skipped ceremonies in Ohio and Illinois this month as part of a tour congratulating Republican governors.

http://www.610kvnu.com/politics/c8a593bea5de3604926d3b9034db7b2e#sthash.AS830GOY.dpuf

Jerame Reid Shooting

Video by ItsDad

Dash cam footage released by the Bridgeton, New Jersey, Police Department shows Jerame Reid being shot and killed by police officers on December 30th as he exited a car which had been pulled over.

What began as a traffic stop escalated quickly when an officer reportedly noticed a gun in the glove compartment.  Reid was in the passenger seat.

Officer Braheme Days appeared to take a pistol from the glove compartment of the car.

Reid then got out the car, appearing to do so with his hands raised and without a weapon.

A total of at least six shots were fired, killing Reid.

Student Sues Her Divorced Parents For Tuition, Wins

On Monday, a Superior Court judge in Camden, NJ ordered the parents of 21-year-old Temple University student Caitlyn Ricci to pay $906 of her tuition from Gloucester County College (now known as Rowan College at Gloucester County). She has been in a legal battle with her parents, Maura McGarvey and Michael Ricci, for more than a year.

The decision follows a ruling from this fall that bound her parents to pay $16,000 toward her tuition at Temple. The two have appealed that ruling.

Ricci sued her parents last spring, and reports say the woman has not seen her parents outside of court appearances in about two years. Her grandparents are paying her legal fees

Ricci’s legal victory has a legal precedent in Newburgh v. Arrigo, 88 N.J. 529 (1982). In that case, a judge ruled that divorced parents were legally responsible for paying for their children’s higher education.

In November, the parents told Chris J. Brown, a New Jersey assemblyman working to create legislation blocking adult children from suing their parents for tuition, that while they are divorced, they have jointly made decisions about raising their daughter.