Thursday, May 23, 2013
DEP Commissioner: side scan sonar used to detect sunken debris; Tourism Commissioner: rental market is healthy
Though immense devastation from Superstorm Sandy remains visible up and down the New Jersey coastline, beaches, boardwalks and even rental homes are ready for the annual influx of summer tourists that will begin this weekend, officials said Thursday at the annual "State of the Shore" event in Belmar. The State of the Shore report is presented by state officials and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium every year before Memorial Day weekend kicks off, but this year it evolved to mark the unofficial reopening of the Shore area following Sandy. With emergency repairs to state and local infrastructure damaged by the storm now complete, work has started on the state's long term recovery, said Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of …
This will be Obama's first visit to Shore since just after Sandy
President Obama and Gov. Christie will visit the Jersey Shore on Tuesday, according to The Record in Bergen County. Herb Jackson of the Record and northjersey.com reports President Obama will visit the Jersey Shore on Tuesday with Gov. Christie. This will be Obama's first visit to the area since Oct. 31, just after the storm struck. More information can be found here.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Mantoloking among stops
Prince Harry's stateside visit includes stops in Mantoloking and Seaside Heights scheduled for tomorrow. The May 14 itinerary, announced earlier this month, puts the British royal on the barrier island visiting Hurricane-Sandy damaged areas. The one-day stop in New Jersey will have Gov. Chris Christie escorting Prince Harry, who is in the United States through this week. His schedule has him arriving in Manhattan today after stops in the Midwest. Prince Harry’s Friday itinerary included laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery last week. He also visited Section 60 at the cemetery, which is where military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. Thursday, he was on Capitol Hill and at …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Environmental New Jersey is calling for efforts to reduce carbon pollution.
On an interactive map of the United States that records the number of extreme weather events that have taken place over the last several years, New Jersey might as well be the black eye. The red, purples and magentas that color each of New Jersey’s 21 counties make up the wrong end of the weather-related disaster spectrum, marking the entire state as a recurring extreme weather target. Should nothing be done to curb pollution and carbon emissions, a recent report from Environment New Jersey Research and Policy Center details, expect that trend to continue. Just off of the beach in Long Branch Tuesday, with temperatures coincidentally hovering around an unseasonable 80 degrees, several officials gathered to discuss the new report, called “…
Superstorm reveals vulnerabilities in drinking water facilities, sewer treatment plants.
Hurricane Sandy damaged more than 100 facilities supplying drinking water to residents and sewage treatment plants, leaving the state with an unexpected $2.6 billion bill to repair, rebuild, and make the systems more resilient, according to state officials. How the state goes about meeting that challenge remains to be seen, although the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is hoping to leverage federal funds approved by Congress in the wake of Sandy to help address those problems. Making those systems more resilient to future storms is among the agency’s top priorities, one the department is expected to wrestle with over the next few months, but with few clear answers emerging just yet. “Our challenges are staggering,’’ …
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Health commissioner's roundtables gets first responders, local and state officials talking.
Add deadly carbon monoxide poisoning from improperly vented generators and toxic mold to the many health hazards visited on the state by Hurricane Sandy. That helps explain why healthcare providers from New Jersey's first responders to the state’s top health official are looking to identify and apply lessons learned to head off similar crises during the next bout of extreme weather. Sandy will have a lasting effect on how the state prepares for the future, Health Commissioner Mary E. O’Dowd said yesterday after completing a round of forums with healthcare officials and emergency responders. One major change: The state will take steps in future disasters to make sure that residents are informed on how to operate electric generators before a…
Thursday, February 21, 2013
'Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,’ reads open letter to American people.
It is no secret that Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on New Jersey power's grid, leaving millions of customers without electricity -- many for a week or longer. Get used to it, warns a new report. Extreme weather is likely to increase not only in frequency but intensity, and the nation’s energy facilities will continue to suffer major disruptions, particularly those located in coastal regions, according to a draft National Climate Assessment report. The likely consequences of those storms and of a warmer planet will be to ramp up peak electricity demand in regions like the Northeast, requiring additional generation and distribution facilities to be built, the report said. For consumers, that could mean as much as an 11 percent jump in bills…
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Victims of Hurricane Sandy weren't the only ones taken in by David Scott Ruddy. A shelter survivor was the one who turned Ruddy in after officials ignored her pleas.
When David Scott Ruddy was arrested in Woodbridge for allegedly flimflamming Hurricane Sandy victims out of $50,000 in FEMA funds, there was one person who not only knew who he was, but had been calling and warning officials about him for months. That was Kathleen Marchitto, who met Ruddy first at a shelter put up at an Old Bridge school, and then later when she and other hurricane victims were moved to the Red Cross shelter set up at Livingston College of Rutgers University in Piscataway. Marchitto, whose South River apartment was flooded during the October hurricane, was at the Livingston College shelter for three weeks, and for the entire time she was there, Ruddy was there. "I knew there was something about him I didn't like. He was …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
'We will see you on the boardwalk,' says Brian Williams, news anchor and Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund new board member.
As a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman Monday night, Gov. Chris Christie's witty banter and doughnut-eating may have made headlines, but he was quick to remind everyone that Hurricane Sandy relief is still needed. Christie and Letterman talked about the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund started by first lady Mary Pat Christie. She announced today that two major celebrities have joined the honorary advisory board. Bono, front man of U2, and NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams will join Bruce Springsteen, former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, Jon Bon Jovi and others on the board. Bono called it “an honor” to support the relief efforts. “Sandy took away just about every piece of my Jersey Shore childhood,” said Williams, who is from …
Monday, February 4, 2013
The administration has made 16,800 loans since the hurricane hit New Jersey.
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Monday, February 4
In just three months since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $1.1 billion in disaster loans to residents and business owners affected by the storm. According to a release from the SBA, approximately 16,700 individuals have received loans, making Sandy the country's third largest disaster in terms of loaned dollars. Currently, Sandy sits behind 2005's Hurricane Katrina and its $10.8 billion in SBA loans, and 1994's Northridge, Calif., earthquake, which totaled $4 billion in loans. Sandy, however, could supplant those disaster totals in the long run. The SBA also announced recent emergency legislation in Congress that adds $799 million to the administration's disaster …
Grumpy19
2:12 pm on Saturday, May 25, 2013
What part of what was said don't you comprehend? It was stated that "Over 75% of our rentals are going to be available this summer". It didn't say they were rented. more ›