The Jaffe Briefing – August 6, 2018
ON THE RAILS – It’s getting a little tiring to keep slamming NJ Transit. But the rail agency, for a myriad of reasons, keeps canceling trains this summer. Every morning rush, trains simply don’t show, prompting commuters to jam on stuffy, overcrowded trains on 90-degree days, knowing they will be late, again, for work. Now, Trenton lawmakers are demanding legislative hearings to grapple with what the heck is going on. NJ Transit canceled 17 trains on six lines Monday morning, after canceling an average of 20 trains a day during the first three days of last week. Sure, there are probably plenty of logical reasons. We are reasonable people, after all. But commuters pay a ton of money for this rail service. In exchange, they are entitled to a reliable, safe trip to work with some degree of basic comfort and respect. That’s all they ask.
STATEWIDE – Say you are getting your bathroom remodeled, what do you do with that nervous little dog while you’re at work? It looks like 8 percent of bosses actually let you bring the pooch to work, reports the Society for Human Resource Management. It’s all part of these fancy new “inclusive work environments” we are nurturing all over New Jersey, NJ 101.5 reports. The more flexible the workspace, the more competitive the employer is to hire the best and brightest, it is figured. It’s also recommended for companies to have pet-free zones, as not all employees enjoy a drooling dog staring at their tuna sandwich in the office kitchen.
STATEWIDE – Is New Jersey getting cleaner? There’s concrete evidence that answer is an emphatic “Yes.” The NJ Clean Communities Council – the friendly folks that bring you the “Adopt-a-Beach” and “Adopt-a-Highway” programs – have released a report showing a 53 percent reduction in litter over the past 13 years. And how do they know that? Researchers conducted a “visual litter survey” of 94 roadways around the state in 2004 and then returned this year to see if there was a noticeable difference. And there was: this impressive 53 percent drop.
IN THE MEDIA
NEW BRUNSWICK – A reporter for NJ.com should be entitled to some battle pay, after taking a punch to the face during Friday’s sentencing of a former Rutgers football player for home invasion robberies, TAPInto New Brunswick reports. A 23-year-old Philadelphia woman was apparently ticked that the reporter was doing her job, snapping photos as the defendant, Tejay Johnson, was sentenced to 12 years in jail. The sobbing woman was sitting right behind the reporter, continually questioning why the media was there. Then she pulled the reporter’s hair and slugged her. And now she is charged with assault, prompting even more media coverage when she appears in court Aug. 20.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
GARDEN CITY, Mich. – There may be a lot of tough decisions this Thanksgiving, after a suburban Detroit man has made friends with a wild turkey who moved into his overgrown backyard, The Detroit News reports. “I have no kids. I’m in the middle of a divorce. I have no one at home,” said the man. “He kinda keeps me company. He gives me something to come home to.” Local officials aren’t exactly touched by this budding friendship, noting you can’t just keep wild animals as pets in Garden City. But the city pardoned the turkey ticket, after the resident argued the 30-pound butterball is not a pet and he’s not a fowl of the law.
NEAR YOU – George Costanza, of Seinfeld fame, is the perfect malcontent loser: with no hope, no future and no hair. But in real life, he has an actual paying job, as the latest “Colonel Sanders.” Costanza – also known as born-and-bred Jersey guy Jason Alexander – is a surprise choice for the temporary KFC gig; kudos for not chickening out.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1956 that the Boston Red Sox fined their best player – Ted Williams – for spitting on Fenway fans.
Williams made an error in the 11th inning that spawned a chorus of boos from the crowd. When the jeers continued even after he made the catch that put an end to the inning, Williams lost his cool.
He spit at them, walked into the dugout, then popped back out and spit at them again. Message received.
WORD OF THE DAY
Fungible – [FUN-juh-bul] – adjective
Definition: Interchangeable
Example: I love this shirt; truly fungible for any occasion.
WEATHER IN A WORD
Scorching
THE NEW 60
a Jaffe Briefing exclusive
by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun
Editor’s Note: Jaffe Communications is the franchisee/publisher of TAPinto New Brunswick.