Worse times appear to be coming for Atlantic City

Atlantic City has failed to dissolve the Municipal Utility Authority as collateral for the $73 million bridge loan from the state.

The city is asking for leniency. If they don’t get it, the city council president says: We’ll get what we deserve because of those councilpersons who failed to take it seriously.


Michael Hill of NJTV NEWS reports.

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>


Worse times appear to be coming for Atlantic City Read More »

Pedaling for Pleasure and Purpose – Saving the Jersey Pines













         Tour de Pines Bicycle Tour

The Pinelands Preservation Alliance holds a 5 day bike tour of the Pinelands every October. Ride one day, two days or all five!The 2016 Tour de Pines, sponsored by Pinelands Preservation Alliance, celebrates Pinelands Month in October with five consecutive single day bicycle tours of the New Jersey Pinelands. 


This year the Tour will run from September 28 to October 2nd. Proceeds benefit the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, a nonprofit organization working to protect the resources on New Jersey Pinelands since 1989. There is no other bike ride like this in New Jersey!


Each day’s ride will range from approximately 45-53 miles per day and begin and end at the same location. Cue sheets are provided to all registered riders allowing you to go at your own speed. Participants provide their own transportation, food and lodging as this is an unsupported ride. But just because it is unsupported doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of great benefits!

Other important things to know:

  • Shorter Loops between 22-27 miles are available for Sept. 28th, Oct. 1st, and Oct. 2nd.
  • GPX files of all rides will be available for download after you register.
  • NEW RIDE starting from Hammonton Lake Park and updates to old favorites!


Participants may elect to ride one, two or all days of the Tour. All rides start at 9:00 a.m.



Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates 
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>


Pedaling for Pleasure and Purpose – Saving the Jersey Pines Read More »

Ready for an international seed and pesticide giant?

Monsanto has finally agreed to be purchased by Bayer AG in a historic $66 billion all-cash takeover. The agreement, which both corporations have confirmed, will form the largest seed and pesticide company in the world.


Lorraine Chow reports for Eco-Watch:

The German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant had been courting the St. Louis-based seed maker for roughly four months, with the aspirin-maker sweetening the pot with ever-growing sums of money. Bayer finally plans to pay $128 a share for Monsanto, up from its initial May offer of $122 a share. 

Not only is this the largest foreign corporate takeover ever by a German firm, it’s the largest cash bid on record, as Reuters reported. A successful merger would create the world’s largest agrichemical firm, which will control more than one-fourth of the combined global market for seeds and pesticides.

According to Bloomberg, “The deal gives Bayer more than 2,000 varieties of seeds for crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat. Adding that portfolio to its own vegetable, rice, cotton and oilseed offerings give Bayer a virtually unassailable position at the head of the market.”

The Monsanto-Bayer combination is yet another example of the rapidly consolidating agricultural industry, with only a handful of companies controlling the sector. Alongside slumping crop prices, DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. have agreed to merge, as did China National Chemical Corp. and Syngenta AG.


Bayer CEO Werner Baumann and Monsanto Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant, appeared in a joint announcement of the proposed combination on their “Advancing Together” website. In their statements, both chiefs echoed Big Ag’s oft-repeated sentiment that biotechnology helps increases crop yields in an environmentally friendly way and is one solution to feeding a growing global population.

“We are fully committed to helping solve one of the biggest challenges of society, and that is how to feed a massively growing world population in an environmentally sustainable manner,” Baumann said.

“What we do is good for consumers. We help produce efficient, safe, healthy and affordable food. It is also good for our growers because they have better choices to increase yields in a sustainable way.”


Dave Murphy, the executive director of Food Democracy Now!, refutes this belief. “Agricultural biotechnology has never been about ‘feeding the world,’ but enriching the bottom line of toxic chemical corporations that have had a long history of producing chemicals that are deadly to human populations and the environment,” he told EcoWatch.

Monsanto, the world’s largest producer of genetically modified (GMO) crops and maker of the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, has faced mounting controversy and numerous lawsuits in recent years over the health and environmental impacts of its products.

Bayer has also been subject to criticism over its widely used insecticide, imidacloprid, which belongs to a controversial class of chemicals called neonicotinoids that’s linked to widespread deaths of pollinators.

On today’s landmark news, Murphy said: “Now the most evil company in Europe has absorbed the most evil company in America. Monsanto and Bayer’s new corporate motto should be ‘Killing bees and butterflies for fun and profit.'”

Read the full story here 

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates 
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>



Ready for an international seed and pesticide giant? Read More »

Flood Mitigation Plan Outlined for NJ’s Rahway River Basin



 
New Jersey’s Rahway River Basin runs through 24 municipalities in Union, Essex and Middlesex counties, threatening homes and businesses when heavy rain falls as happened during Irene.

The Army Corps of Engineers has a plan to help prevent flooding.


Erin Delmore has the details for NJTV NEWS

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates 
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>


Flood Mitigation Plan Outlined for NJ’s Rahway River Basin Read More »

Jury selection begins in much-anticipated Bridgegate trial


Attorneys got their first chance earlier today to begin questioning the 139 potential jurors in the Bridgegate trial.


NJTV NEWS chief political correspondent Michael Aron said it was a “slow, laborious but meticulous process.”

By day’s end nine jurors were seated and 19 were dismissed.


Opening arguments are scheduled for next Monday.


Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates 
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>





Jury selection begins in much-anticipated Bridgegate trial Read More »

New Master’s Program in Sustainability Management

The news release below landed in
our in-basket today. It’s the first time we’ve ever heard of a master’s degree
program in Sustainability Management, although there may be others.
Stevens Institute of Technology, for you folks in south Jersey or
outside the state, is a highly regarded educational institution located in
Hoboken, NJ.
The school made its reputation by
educating future engineers. Today, Stevens also operates a School of Business, School of Systems Enterprises and College
of Arts & Letters.  
————————————————————
This fall, Stevens will welcome the first class of students
into its newest graduate program: the Master of Science (M.S.) in
Sustainability Management. Offered through the Schaefer School of Engineering
& Science (SES), the master’s in sustainability management gives green advocates from a wide range of backgrounds the opportunity to innovate for environmental progress.


This new graduate program is
for students in science, engineering, architecture, planning, business, social science, communications, law and policy fields who want
to be a part of the rapidly-growing cadre of
trained sustainability experts and managers. 

Program founder and director Dr. Dibyendu “Dibs” Sarkar believes this approach will serve to
bridge the gap between scientific progress on sustainability and social
implementation. “One thing that makes us different is that we adhere to
students’ basic academic preparation,” Dr. Sarkar commented. “They don’t have
to be engineers and we’re not trying to turn everyone into engineers. The whole
idea is that we want to put students on the same platform so they can
communicate across disciplines. Engineers can communicate their designs to
gifted communicators who can translate them for public consumption and impact.”
(Read more here)

If you’d like to learn more
about the Sustainability Management program, click here to
visit the program page or download a brochure at this link. Additionally, you can reach Dr.
Sarkar directly at dsarkar@stevens.edu.

Stevens is currently accepting
applications for the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters! If you would like to
apply, please complete our online application and e-mail graduate@stevens.eduwith any questions or
concerns about the application process.


Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates 
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

New Master’s Program in Sustainability Management Read More »