NJ gov. in hospital, but 'fine and in charge'

By ANGELA DELLI SANTI, 

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Blunt-talking Gov. Chris Christie, who someRepublicans have been trying to persuade to run for president, wastaken to a hospital Thursday after he had difficulty breathing.

The48-year-old governor was driven to Somerset Medical Center by his statepolice security detail out of an "abundance of caution," said Christiespokesman, Michael Drewniak. Christie suffers from asthma and allindications are the governor will be OK, Drewniak said.

MariaComella, Christie's deputy chief of staff, told The Associated Pressthat Christie is "fine and in charge." Close friend and adviser BillPalatucci said Christie was "getting tests and working from thehospital."
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno was in her office at the Statehouse.

Christieattended an education conference and a congressional fundraiser in Iowaon Monday, where he again told reporters he was not running forpresident

The governor, who took office 18 months ago, has longstruggled with his weight, which he said he started putting on afterhigh school when he stopped playing organized sports.

He's tried dozens of diets over the years with varying success and has shed some pounds in recent months.
Hisweight came up during his 2009 campaign against Democrat incumbent JonCorzine, who ran an ad accusing Christie of "throwing his weightaround" to get out of traffic citations while he was U.S. attorney.Christie confronted the ads head on, telling Corzine to "man up and sayI'm fat."

The married father of four was named the state's topfederal law enforcement officer after playing an important role inPresident George W. Bush's 2000 campaign in the state.

He soongained national exposure by overseeing two major terrorism convictionsand the convictions of dozens of public officials on corruption charges.

In2007, Corzine was seriously injured in a car accident on the GardenState Parkway. Corzine's femur bone was broken in two places and hesustained a broken sternum, six broken ribs on each side, a headlaceration and a minor fracture on a lower vertebrae.

Gov. Chris Christie Deserves a Second Bite at the Apple on Global Warming

By Kevin Mooney

Thanks to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, the Regional Green House Gas Initiative (RGGI) that imposes Kyoto-Treaty type restrictions on energy use in the Northeast may now be in the early stages of unraveling. This is a huge victory for taxpayers and the free market. Even though, federal level “cap and trade” schemes have been held at bay over the past two years, environmental pressure groups have successfully arranged state level regulatory agreements in cooperation with compliant government officials.

This process began with the Global Warming Solutions Act Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) signed into law almost four years ago on Sept. 26, 2006. A state ballot proposition that would have blocked implementation of the law failed last year. However, Susana Martinez, the new Republican governor of New Mexico, has made it clear that she will resist anti-energy measures like “cap and trade.” The actions of Martinez in combination with that of Gov. Christie strongly suggest that anti-regulatory efforts are beginning and are gaining momentum.

However, Marc Morano, who runs the Climate Depot site, a former staff member to Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), has argued that opposition to “cap and trade” on the basis of economics alone is insufficient. Environmental schemes will not be uprooted until after the “junk science” underpinning alarmist claims has been exposed and discredited, he has said. That is why Gov. Christie’s mixed messages have been a point of consternation to many on the right.

Get full story here.

Bob Dylan’s Close Encounters with New Jersey

Bob Dylan

 

By Richard A. Lee

Bob Dylan, who turns 70 on Tuesday, hails from Minnesota and rose to fame playing clubs in Greenwich Village, but he has had several interesting encounters in New Jersey during his seven decades on the planet.

When Dylan came to New York in 1961 at the age of 19, he was determined to meet his musical idol, Woody Guthrie. Since Guthrie had Huntington's Disease and was hospitalized in Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris County, young Bob found himself traveling to New Jersey to visit his hero. In addition to Greystone, Dylan spent time at the East Orange home of Bob and Sid Gleason, where Guthrie sometimes stayed on weekends.

Among the many Dylan bootleg recordings is a tape recorded at the Gleasons’ house in 1961. Known as “The East Orange Tape,” it includes a song titled “The Story of East Orange, New Jersey," which Dylan wrote after he had a dream about the city. He also referenced East Orange on his self-titled debut album, ending the song “Talkin' New York” with the lines: “So long New York. Howdy, East Orange.”

By 1963, Dylan’s career was taking off, and New Jersey once again entered the picture when a rumor began circulating that “Blowin’ In The Wind” had actually been written by a Millburn High School student named Lorre Wyatt. The rumor, which even made it into the pages of Newsweek magazine, apparently stemmed from the fact that Broadside magazine – in a practice that was not unusual for the time – printed the words and music to the song a year before Dylan recorded it.

Wyatt, who was in a local band called the Millburnaires, then played it for his fellow band members, and in attempt to impress them, falsely claimed to have authored the song. The falsehood spread when the group performed the number at high school assembly and one of the band members introduced “Blowin’ In The Wind” as a song written by one of the Millburnaires. Wyatt eventually set the record straight in a 1974 article in New Times magazine.

In 1970, when Dylan was well established as songwriter and performer, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Princeton University. While it is not unusual for entertainers to receive honorary degrees today, Princeton’s decision to honor Dylan at its 1970 graduation ceremony was somewhat unconventional at the time. Not only did it raise eyebrows among the Ivy League crowd; it also made Dylan uncomfortable.

According to news reports about the ceremony, Dylan initially refused to wear a cap and gown and did not speak directly with any staff or students at the school. Instead, he relayed information through his wife and through singer David Crosby, who had accompanied him on the trip to Princeton. In fact, Dylan found the experience so unsettling that he wrote about it in a song on his next album. “Day of the Locusts” on Dylan’s New Morning album describes the experience of stepping onstage to receive the degree and ends with Dylan expressing relief that the event is behind him as he declares: “Sure was glad to get out of there alive.”

 Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

Five years later in 1975, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer from Paterson became the subject of a popular Dylan song. “Hurricane" chronicled Carter’s arrest and conviction on murder charges and helped fuel efforts to have the case retried. Dylan and his entourage performed the song frequently during their Rolling Thunder Revue tour, including a December 7, 1975, show at a state prison in Clinton, N.J., and a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden the following day.

Dylan’s most recent brush with Garden State, however, may be the singer/songwriter’s most unusual experience with the state.

Nearly two years ago, while he was in New Jersey while he was touring with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, Dylan decided to take a walk in a Long Branch neighborhood. A local homeowner apparently did not recognize him and reported to police that an "eccentric-looking old man" was in the area. The police officer who responded also failed to recognize the singer and refused to believe his claim that he was in fact Bob Dylan – and Dylan had no identification with him to verify his identity. Even after Dylan was put into a police car and driven to the hotel where his tour was headquartered, law enforcement authorities remained incredulous until they were shown his passport.

As details of the escapade came out in the days that followed the incident, the police officer’s reaction proved to be very understandable under the circumstances. In the end, no one was hurt, no one was arrested, and the events that transpired made for an entertaining and amusing story.

Who knows? Perhaps as Dylan celebrates his 70^th birthday, he will have a chuckle or two over the incident – or over one of his many other adventures in the always entertaining state of New Jersey.

# # #

Richard A. Lee is Communications Director of the Hall Institute. A former State House reporter and Deputy Communications Director for the Governor, he also teaches courses in media, politics and government at Rutgers University, where he is completing work on a Ph.D. in media studies. Read more of Rich’s columns at richleeonline and follow him on Twitter.

AP NewsBreak: Iowa GOP donors court NJ's Christie

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some of Iowa's top Republican campaign contributors, unhappy with their choices in the developing presidential field, are venturing to New Jersey in hopes they can persuade first-term Gov. Chris Christie to run. The entreaty is the latest sign of dissatisfaction within the GOP over the crop of candidates competing for the chance to run against President Barack Obama in 2012.

Bruce Rastetter, an Iowa energy company executive, and a half-dozen other prominent Iowa GOP donors sought the meeting with Christie, the governor's chief political adviser, Mike DuHaime, told The Associated Press. The get-together is set for the governor's mansion in Princeton, N.J., on May 31.

The meeting speaks to what some Republicans nationally say is a lack of enthusiasm about the emerging roster of contenders. It's also unusual because candidates typically court Iowans, who get the first say in presidential nominating contests, and not the other way around.

Christie, who was elected in 2009 and has drawn national attention for his tough talk and battles with Democrats, has explicitly and repeatedly rejected the idea of running for the White House. Yet that hasn't deterred these Iowans.

Read More..

Alleged Gangster NJ Lawyer Trial Set for October

Ted Sherman at the NJ Star Ledger reports that the long-awaited trial of former high-profile Newark lawyer Paul Bergrin (pic) is now set for October 11, 2011.  What follows is from Sherman's piece on Bergrin: 

Paul Bergrin, the once-prominent Newark lawyer facing charges ranging from murder-for-hire to running of high-end call girl operation, got a new trial date today after a federal appeals court reinstated racketeering charges against him.


Held without bail since his arrest, Bergrin sat impassively in blue prison scrubs and shackles as U.S. District Judge William Martini in Newark said jury selection in the case, long delayed by appeals, would start Oct. 11.

Bergrin, 55, was a former federal prosecutor turned high-profile defense attorney whose clients included entertainers like Queen Latifah and Lil’ Kim, as well as U.S. soldiers accused of war crimes in Iraq.

But in 2009, authorities charged him in a bizarre, sweeping indictment that included accusations of the attempted murder of witnesses, his alleged role in a prostitution ring, mortgage fraud and cocaine distribution.

Prosecutors said Bergrin used his law office like a mob operation. They said he sought to hire a hit man from Chicago to kill at least one witness in a Monmouth County drug case he was handling. He was also charged with conspiring to murder an FBI informant who was supposed to testify against another one of Bergrin’s clients — many of whom were drug dealers and gang members.

Several of those charged with Bergrin have quietly pleaded guilty and implicated him in court proceedings. Last August, another lawyer charged in the case, Thomas Moran, admitted he helped run Bergrin’s operation, which authorities say also involved mortgage fraud and drug-running.  And in October, Vicente Esteves, a Monmouth County cocaine trafficker, pleaded guilty as well and claimed he conspired with Bergrin to murder a witness.  Those cases were not publicized by the U.S. Attorney’s office, generating speculation Moran and Esteves may now be cooperating with the government. The U.S. Attorney’s office has declined to comment about the cases.

Last year, [Judge] Martini dismissed the racketeering charges against Bergrin.

'There is little on the face of the indictment demonstrating relatedness among the varied white-collar frauds and street crimes offered by the government,' Martini wrote, finding the charges were not the work of one coordinated enterprise.  But the U.S. Attorney’s office challenged the ruling and earlier this month, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the racketeering charges. Bergrin’s attorney, Lawrence S. Lustberg, said he is seeking a review of the decision.
____________________________________
Simple Justice blawger, Scott H. Greenfield commented yesterday at Bad Lawyer on how it is that a federal judge can reasonably reject a plea deal as being too lenient yet remain impartial, a seeming contradiction.  Scott observed that one hoped that the Judge would also remain concerned with governmental overreach in charging a criminal defendant where the Judge found such overreach.  In US v. Bergrin, there is an example of a defendant having the full force and weight of the government come down on him, and a federal judge acting to check charges that go beyond the evidence.  Or so it seems. 

Posted byBad Lawyer

UPDATE: Trenton Chief of Staff Paul Sigmund arrested, charged with heroin possession; Council prez calls for his immediate resignation

By JOE D'AQUILA
jdaquila@trentonian.com

Click to enlarge

Paul Sigmund.

TRENTON -- The city's Chief of Staff Paul Sigmund, also considered the deputy mayor, has been arrested this morning in a city alley and he has been charged with possession of heroin, according to police sources.

Sigmund, according to sources, was spotted by Trenton Police Sgt. John Breece as he was walking in the area of Stockton and Hanover streets sometime around 9 a.m. Not realizing who he was at first, the officer just noted a white male walking and seeming disoriented, sources said. Breece then went to investigate.

The suspect, later identified as Sigmund, attempted to dodge the officer by running through nearby alleyways, a source said, then he put up a struggle once Breece caught up to him.

Sigmund, sources said, was also charged with resisting arrest, and may face an assault charge as well since Breece was injured during the apprehension. The extent of his injuries is unknown at this time.

One police source said Sigmund was caught with roughly seven decks of heroin.

Trenton Police spokesman Sgt. Tom McDonough said he's waiting for official confirmation of the details before releasing any information about Sigmund's arrest. City spokesperson Lauren Ira, said she's waiting to discuss the situation with acting Police Director Joe Juniak, but that a statement should be made shortly.

Sigmund, who was a recent hire by Tony Mack, has proved controversial even prior to this arrest since coming here from California.

Last month, Sigmund was caught speeding, doing 85 m.ph. in a 50 m.ph. zone, on Route 1 in Trenton. It was later determined that Sigmund, driving a city-owned vehicle, had no New Jersey license  and his California license had been suspended due to unpaid tickets.

Council President George Muschal didn't need to wait to make a comment.

"If this is true, after it's confirmed 100 percent, and I have no doubt that it's going to be confirmed, then Mr. Paul Sigmund should resign immediately," Muschal said. "Everyone who goes into these postions should be drug tested to the fullest. Continued...