NJ levies extreme fine on Extreme Energy Solution

A New Jersey company that claims to make devices that reduce pollution from cars has been fined $1.1 million on securities violations. The New Jersey Bureau of Securities ordered Extreme Energy Solutions, Inc. (EES), saying it had fraudulently sold unregistered stock and misled investors, Truman Lewis reports in Consumer Affairs. 

“The Bureau of Securities chief found that (company CEO Samuel) Burlum misled investors with a series of lies about his company’s current and future prospects for success,” Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said. “This $1.1 million civil penalty will serve as a deterrent and a clear reminder that we are watching, and that investors must also do their homework before investing.”

EES sells and installs a device called the SMART Emissions Reducer, formerly known as the InterCharger, which supposedly reduces automobile emissions and increases motor fuel efficiency.

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Federal grants for NJ fishing businesses hurt by Sandy

NJTV’s Lauren Wenko reports on how New Jerseyans whose fishing businesses were damaged–in some cases devastated–by Hurricane Sandy are now able to apply for federal grants to help them rebuild and restock.

Owners of bait and tackle shops like Brian Stensland (pictured above) can apply to the Department of Environmental Protection for grants of up to $10,000, along with commercial fishermen and dealers, for-hire party and charter boat operators, marinas and those in shell-fishing and aquaculture, like Ship Captain Arthur Ochse, pictured below.

The grant money is provided by NOAA as part of a federal fishery disaster declaration for states impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

Applicants must have a minimum of $5,000 in documented losses from the Superstorm, like lost or damaged fishing gear, replacement or repair of equipment or infrastructure and revenue lost in the months immediately after Sandy.

See Wenko’s video and text story: Grants for NJ Fishing Businesses Damaged by Sandy

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How a small town learned about a fracking pit neighbor

The next time you hear an oil and gas industry attorney talk about what good community neighbors their fracking facilities will be, remember Katherine Payne.

She’s the mayor of the tiny Texas town of Nordheim which is within a mile of where a fracking company plans to build a waste pit almost as large as the town itself.

How did the ‘good neighbor’ fracking company approach the mayor to explain its plans and seek approval? They didn’t. Mayor Payne discovered it in a legal notice in the classified section of her local newspaper.

The Center for Public Integrity produced the video report above. It’s well worth a look.

(If the video isn’t visible, click here)

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Corbett wants Feathers to fly the e-porn coop

Gov. Tom Corbett has called on one of his appointees to the state Board of Probation and Parole to resign, the latest official in his administration to be impacted by a widening pornographic email scandal.
Randy P. Feathers
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
"Mr. Corbett, through a spokesman Friday, called on board member Randy Feathers to resign. Mr. Feathers has served on the board since 2012; the position pays $115,932 annually.
"In a letter to the governor, Mr. Feathers requested the opportunity to have an independent forensics expert review the information released by the state Office of Attorney General Kathleen Kane.
"Mr. Feathers said he will consider resigning at the conclusion of the review if it is determined that he did not “uphold my professional responsibilities.”
"A board member can be removed “for cause” by the governor and with a two-thirds majority vote of the state Senate. A spokeswoman for the Board of Probation and Parole had no comment on the matter Friday evening. Senators return to Harrisburg on Monday. A spokesman for the Republican majority caucus said he “would anticipate strong bipartisan support if a vote is needed” on the matter."
On Thursday, the governor’s office announced the resignation of Christopher Abruzzo, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection and Glenn Parno, DEP deputy chief counsel.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Feathers said that Attorney General Kane "doesn’t have he best credibility with me." He asserted that he initiated none of the emails Kane has released, adding: I’m not gong to resign from a position because she says I did something. This is politics and I’m caught in the middle of it."

Feathers noted Kane’s past inquiry and criticism of how he and others handled the Sandusky case, a review he said was also politically motivated. "If this is the cost of putting Jerry Sandusky away for life, I’m willing to go through this," he said. "I’m a cop. That’s what I do. I’m not a p;politician."

Related news stories: 

Pennsylvania Capitol’s Porn Email Scandal: Appointee Won’t Quit 
Documents show sexual emails seemed funny to Attorney General’s staff 
Pa Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery sent explicit emails

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NJ clears utility sale of environmentally sensitive tract

Pine Barrens Tree Frog
The state of New Jersey has once again approved the sale of environmentally sensitive property in an area described by conservationists as a haven for endangered species, such as the Pine Barrens tree frog, bald eagles, and redheaded woodpeckers, NJ Spotlight reports.
"The sale of 1,550 acres to Millville 1350 LLC for $4 million was affirmed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities this week — four years after the agency originally approved the deal. The developer plans to build an 18-hole golf course and 950 senior-housing units on the parcel, which was owned by Atlantic City Electric.
"The original deal fell through when the state Division of Rate Counsel and conservation groups challenged the BPU’s decision in the appellate court, which remanded the matter back to the agency.

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Attorney at the PADEP follows his boss out the door

             Another top Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) official is out of work 
in the wake of an email scandal that has rocked Pennsylvania state government.

Deputy Chief Counsel Glenn Parno’s resignation has been accepted by Gov. Tom Corbett, the governor’s office said in a statement Thursday night.

The resignation of Parno’s boss, DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo, was announced in a news release from the Governor’s Office hours earlier.

Abruzzo and Parno were named by Attorney General Kathleen Kane in an investigation of sexually explicit emails that had been sent or received by state government email addresses.
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Corbett said that his administration had asked for emails in and out of the Attorney General’s office between 2008 and 2012 when Abruzzo, Parno and others worked there. Corbett said he received information Thursday about Abruzzo, Parno and State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan.

The Governor exonerates Noonan
“Information received regarding State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan’s account indicates that he did not participate in opening, originating, forwarding or replying to any message," Corbett said in the statement. "It is important that Commissioner Noonan remain focused on the critical public safety mission he is leading in the manhunt for Eric Frein and that there is no disruption in the work underway in this case.
 
The three members of Mr. Corbett’s administration were among eight men whom aides to Ms. Kane identified last week. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the aides invited reporters to the attorney general’s Harrisburg offices Sept. 25 to view what they described as a sample of the photographs of naked women and videos of sex acts allegedly found in the old email accounts,

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice also identified
The circle of alleged participants broadened Thursday when the Morning Call of Allentown reported that Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery had forwarded at least eight sexually explicit emails to an employee of the attorney general’s office. The newspaper reviewed emails sent from Justice McCaffery’s personal email account.
The Post-Gazette says that Chief Justice Ronald Castille has asked the attorney general’s office to identify any judicial official who participated in the alleged exchange. Such behavior could violate the judicial code of conduct, he said earlier this week.
Ms. Kane, a Democrat, uncovered the emails as she fulfilled her campaign pledge to review how the attorney general’s office handled the investigation of child sexual abuse by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The case arrived at the office during the tenure of Mr. Corbett, a Republican, as attorney general.

Related news stories:
Pennsylvania DEP secretary, lawyer resign amid email scandal
Pennsylvania State Police commissioner cleared in controversy over pornographic emails
Two top DEP officials resign over porn e-mails

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