January 3, 2018
Partly cloudy with high temperatures near 30 degrees.
NJ BRACES FOR STORM THAT COULD UNLEASH ‘BOMB CYCLONE’
Watch for milk and bread to disappear from supermarket shelves today, as New Jerseyans prepare for a significant snowstorm that is moving up the Atlantic Coast. Len Melisurgo reports for NJ.com that depending on the track the storm takes, as much as a foot of snow could be dropped on parts of the state. The storm could become a so-called "bomb cyclone" because of the way it is expected to rapidly intensify as it moves up the coast from Florida.
REPORT: MARIJUANA REVENUE COULD REACH $1 BILLION IN NJ
If New Jersey taxed legal marijuana aggressively, the state could take in $1 billion a year, according to a law firm’s projections. James Nash writes for The Record that the estimate from the Roseland law firm of Brach Eichler is based on projections of sales tax and license and franchise fees. But police are already expressing concerns about the possibility of legalizing marijuana for recreational use in the state. Meanwhile, several municipalities in Ocean County have passed or are considering bans on sales of marijuana, Mike Davis writes for the Asbury Park Press.
LONG BRANCH COMMUNITY TRIES TO MAKE SENSE OF SLAYINGS
More than 200 people braved sub-freezing temperatures to gather Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil for the four victims of a New Year’s Eve shooting in Long Branch, Dan Radel reports for the Asbury Park Press. Scott Kologi, 16, is accused of killing his father, mother sister and a family friend with a semiautomatic rifle, Chelsia Rose Marcius and Rich Schapiro report for the Daily News. Kologi’s first court hearing, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, was postponed until today, after a media request was made to open the juvenile proceeding.
DAUGHTER OF EX-MAYOR SENTENCED IN $940,000 THEFT
Kim Bogan, the daughter of a former Brick Township mayor, has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty in October to stealing more than $940,000 from the township’s health insurance program, Spencer Kent reports for NJ.com. Bogan, who worked for the township for 30 years, submitted claims for chiropractic services from her brother, despite never receiving the treatments.
NJ MAY BECOME FIRST STATE TO BAN CIRCUSES WITH EXOTIC ANIMALS
The Assembly is scheduled to vote this week on a measure that would ban circuses with wild animals from traveling to or around the state, Colleen O’Dea writes for NJ Spotlight. The Senate passed the bill in October. The New Jersey state director of the Humane Society of the United States said the measure would “essentially make New Jersey the first state in the nation to comprehensively ban circuses with live animal acts.”
