New Jersey BPU short-circuits proposed power line


State agency agrees with activists, administrative law court, and rate counsel — sees no need for proposed $111 million power conduit that would run close to schools and homes

Tom Johnson reports
for NJ Spotlight:


In an unusual defeat for an energy projemonopoly transmissionct, the state Board of Public Utilities blocked a $111 million, 10-mile high-voltage power line proposed by Jersey Central Power & Light through Monmouth County.
In largely adopting a decision by an administrative law court judge, the five commissioners sided with a broad coalition of officials and residents who had argued the company had failed to prove the new line is needed and ignored other construction options.
The decision appears to end a case that stirred a huge fight for the past two years in the communities along the route, which largely would have followed a North Jersey Coast rail line. The project called for 210-foot monopoles to be built along the route close to homes, schools, and parks.


RAGE wins the day

“I’m very relieved. I feel very vindicated,’’ said Rachel Kanapka, co-president of Residents Against Giant Electric (RAGE), a group that battled the project. “This project never should have seen the light of day.’’
In ruling against the power line between Aberdeen and Red Bank, the board cited flawed, seven-year-old data about energy need that the project was largely based on.
“What was troubling to me, I have always questioned what the real need for it,’’ said BPU Commissioner Mary Holden. “There’s nothing in the record to support it.’’

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Where to go camping in Pennsylvania this summer


Worthington State Forest Campground

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MÓNICA MARIE ZORRILLA REPORTS FOR BILLYpENN

The shore is one way to escape the city for a summer break, but it’s not the only one.
With its incredibly varied topography, Pennsylvania boasts some of the most scenic camping grounds the region has to offer.
Recreational camping first became a “thing” in the early 1900s, but it has definitely evolved since then. These days, many campsites offer amenities that survivalists scoff at — and the rest of us are thankful for. At some, you can even rent the basic essentials (a sleeping bag, a tent, pots and pans, etc.). You can also snag gear online via various retailers.
Where to go? We sifted through reviews and ratings to zero in on 15 top sites that welcome campers in Pa.’s grandiose public parks.
Check out details below, then lace up your hiking boots, douse yourself in mosquito spray and head to the great outdoors.
Camping_sites_in_Pa

Beaver Valley Family Campground

80 Clay Ridge Rd., Ottsville
Known for: Nice hilly campground with loads of family-friendly activities. Ideal spot for travelers with youngsters in tow who might not be ready for a strenuous hike, but can manage brisk walks on hiking trails (or a dip in the kiddie pool).
Pet-friendly: Yes
Amenities: Wooded or open RV sites, tent sites, 30 amp electric service, water hookups, picnic tables, fire rings, Cable TV hookups, dump station, bathhouses with showers, WiFi, rec hall, game room, swimming pools, playground, basketball, volleyball and shuffleboard courts, softball field, trails, wagon rides, laundry facilities, pavilion, seasonal sites, cabin rentals.
Summer Rates: Tents: $42, Trailers/Pop-ups: $44, Cabins: 2 night minimum, $70.
Summer Hours: Check-in: 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.; check-out: 2 p.m.
         Brian Doto on Instagram

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Did use of illegal pesticide kill 13 bald eagles In Maryland?

A bald eagle flies over its nest in Middle River, Md., in 2009. Rob Carr/AP

Vanessa Romo reports for National Public Radio:
Robert Edgell has grown accustomed to seeing bald eagles soar over the family farm in Federalsburg, Md., so, when he discovered the carcasses of more than a dozen dead raptors on the property two years ago, he “was dumbfounded,” he told The Washington Post.
“Usually you see one or two soaring over the place, but to see 13 in that area and all deceased. … In all my years, I’d not seen anything like this,” Edgell said.
What could have caused the destruction of so many of the birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, he wondered?
The question was taken up by U.S. Fish and Wildlife authorities, who collected six of the 13 dead eagles. Almost immediately, they suspected poisoning as the cause of death.
They were right.
A 2016 necropsy report only recently obtained by radio station WNAV confirmed all six died after ingesting carbofuran, a pesticide banned by the Environmental Protection Agency beginning in the 1990s.
“Carbofuran was detected in the stomach and/or crop contents of all birds,” the report reads, adding that the pesticide also was found in the partial carcass of a raccoon and fur recovered from the site. Researchers found that five of the six eagles had consumed a recent meal that included raccoon. Other species ingested included marsh rice rat, domestic chicken and deer.
Eagles Adopt Baby Red-Tailed Hawk, Putting Aside Violent Species Rivalry

THE TWO-WAY

Eagles Adopt Baby Red-Tailed Hawk, Putting Aside Violent Species Rivalry

At the time the report was issued, authorities announced they were “intending to close the case in the near future due to a lack of evidence linking anyone to the crime.” No arrests have been made. Killing a bald eagle a felony crime punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
The granular form of carbofuran was banned 1991 partly due the the devastation it wreaked on avian wildlife. Officials estimated it was responsible for killing more than a million birds that mistook the toxic insecticide for grain seeds or consumed small animals that had eaten carbouran pellets. The liquid form was banned by the EPA in 2009.
“Carbofuran is so acutely toxic that animals have succumbed to it with just food in the mouth,” Mourad Gabriel, co-director of the Integral Ecology Research Center, told NPR. “Sometimes we find animals where the food material is undigested — mid-esophagus.”
Gabriel said illegal use of the pesticide by farmers and landowners “creates a vicious cycle of death from even just one poisoning.”
In California, illegal marijuana growers trying to protect their crops from animals are known to set “bait piles” laced with the liquid chemical, Gabriel said. Grey foxes, bears and turkeys there often are the first victims.
In Captivating Video, A Bald Eagle Attacks An Osprey Nest

THE TWO-WAY

In Captivating Video, A Bald Eagle Attacks An Osprey Nest

“Next come the vultures and other birds who consume the carrion, which later fly away and die some short distance away. Flies then lay eggs in those carcasses, which become poisoned food for other avian birds to feed on.”
John LaCorte, a special agent for the Fish and Wildlife Service told The Washington Post there is an “epidemic on the Eastern Shore” of wildlife-poisoning crimes because people find it “cheaper and easier” than trapping a nuisance animal or predator or building a fence.
La Corte, who spent six months interviewing more than a dozen people in connection to the dead eagles, said the cases are hard to solve because there rarely any witnesses, if any.
“If anyone wants to see things get done about this, they need to be courageous and come forward,” he said.

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Environmental funding bills on NJ governor’s desk

Camping at High Point State Park in NJTwo bills that would appropriate constitutionally dedicated funding to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the acquisition of lands for recreational and conservation purposes, including for Blue Acres projects, and provide funding for capital projects and park development, were approved by both houses of the state legislature on Thursday.

The first bill, S2728/A4210,appropriates $12.3 million to the state Department of Environmental Protection to fund the acquisition of lands in the following Green Acre project areas:

     * Barnegat Bay Watershed Greenway
     * Cape May Peninsula
     * Crossroads of American Revolution
     * Delaware Watershed Greenway
     * Highlands Greenway
     * Historic Resources
     * Natural areas
     * Pinelands
     * Ridge and Valley Greenway

An additional $3 million would be appropriated for recreation and conservation purposes of lands that have been damaged by or may be prone to incurring damage from storms or storm-related flooding, or that may buffer other lands from such damage.

The second bill, S2729/A4211, appropriates roughly $9.7 million to the DEP for funding capital projects and park development. Projects receiving funding would include:

     * Boating and Fishing Access
     * Camping Development
     * Habitat Enhancement and Access
     * Infrastructure (Including bridge repairs, building repairs and renovations, recreational development, road repairs and historic structure stabilization and repairs

Both bills are now in place for signing by Gov. Phil Murphy
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Splitsville: Trump and Kushner orgs split ties in NJ deals

Trump Organization and Kushner Companies have dropped a plan that would have allowed the Trumps to manage an oceanside hotel in Long Branch. (MaryAnn Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Trump Organization and Kushner Companies have dropped a plan that would have allowed the Trumps to manage an oceanside hotel in Long Branch. (MaryAnn Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Erin Banco reports for NJ.com:

Kushner Companies and the Trump Organization are calling it quits on two hotel business deals in New Jersey, according to a source familiar with the matter and a recently published story by The New York Times.
Earlier this year, the companies had discussed plans for the Trump Organization to manage a hotel in Long Branch. They also jointly managed a hotel in Livingston for at least part of last year. Both deals are now off the table, sources say.
The news comes after ethics watchdogs called out Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, for maintaining stakes in the company while simultaneously working in the White House. Charlie Kushner, Jared’s father and the founder of Kushner Companies, recently called those watchdogs “jerks.” 
The watchdogs raised questions about the partnership between the Trump Organization and the Kushner Companies in New Jersey and whether it had influenced Kushner’s role in the White House.
Jared Kushner serves as a senior adviser in the administration. He resigned as CEO of his family’s company in January 2017, but financial disclosure reports show he still owns part of Kushner Companies.
In an opinion piece published in March, Fred Wertheimer, the founder and president of Democracy 21, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote government accountability, said Jared Kushner violated ethics laws when he took loans for his family real estate business after he held White House meetings with representatives of the lenders.

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Teacher disavows NJEA; sues to deny union ‘representation’ money from her paycheck

NJEA building at 180 W. State St. in Trenton, NJ

Bill Gallo Jr. reports
for NJ.com


A South Jersey teacher who doesn’t want anything to do with the state’s largest teachers’ union has filed suit saying she shouldn’t be forced to “subsidize” the New Jersey Education Association and its activities.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Camden, Ann Smith claims her constitutional rights are being violated by forcing her to pay ‘representation fees’ as a condition of her employment as a public school teacher — “even though Ms. Smith refused to join the teachers’ union and does not wish to subsidize the union’s activities.”
Smith is a special education staff member at the Clearview Middle School in Harrison Township, Gloucester County, according to the district’s website.
The suit asks the court turn this into a class action suit allowing others in Smith’s situation to join.
“She refused to join the NJEA or its affiliates because she disapproves of the union’s political and ideological advocacy, as well as the excessively high salaries that are paid to the union’s leaders,” the suit says.
Along with the NJEA, the suit names as defendants the Clearview Education Association, National Education Association and Clearview Regional Board of Education along with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and others from the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission and the PERC Appeal Board.
According to the Trenton-based NJEA’s website, full-time teachers pay the union $866 in dues. Information in the lawsuit showed Smith had some $700 taken from her pay for dues, with the bulk, $529, going to the NJEA and smaller amounts going to the national and local education unions.
All of these deductions are mandated by law with no opt-out ability.
Steven Baker, spokesman for the NJEA, called the suit “part of a well-funded national effort to undermine the rights of working people by attacking their unions.”

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