Monday, February 4, 2013

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Monday, February 4, 2013

NJ legislator: Uncork 'jughandles'

POSTED: Monday, February 4, 2013, 9:13 AM

The editor looked up from his typewriter and gave me directions to my first assignment.

"Just take the jughandle," he told this emigre from Massachusetts, to whom a traffic circle was a "rotary" and a jughandle was what the name said.

Take the what? I quavered.

Kevin Riordan @ 9:13 AM Permalink | 1 comment

Andrews: Save the Garden

POSTED: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 7:39 AM

U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, D-NJ, hopes to save the Camden Children's Garden.

In a post displayed on the Facebook page of the beloved waterfront institution -- which the state wants to bulldoze -- Andrews said in part:

The Camden Children's Garden is an oasis of peace and beauty that has served our community so well over the years. The recent letter received by the leaders of the Children's Garden from a state agency purporting to evict the garden is 100 percent wrong. I have consulted with the leaders of the garden and I am fully committed to supporting the fight to preserve this wonderful community resource.

Kevin Riordan @ 7:39 AM Permalink | 2 comments

Grassroots rise up for Children's Garden

POSTED: Monday, January 28, 2013, 8:55 AM

New Jersey’s plan to bulldoze the Camden Children’s Garden to make way for unspecified “economic development” has struck a nerve.

More than 3,500 supporters of the garden -- a quirky, homegrown, affordable attraction on a downtown waterfront dominated by corporate behemoths -- are rallying on Facebook and elsewhere to fight the eviction (see my Sunday column about the plan here). The edict has enraged a broad constituency that includes not only city residents, but suburbanites, gardeners and members of the WXPN community.

Camden's waterfront overseer, the Cooper's Ferry Partnership, does support the destruction (although it also wants the garden's off-site programming to continue). Various spokespeople for other entities and agencies are saying little, and Camden Mayor Dana Redd seems to have nothing to say, at least so far.

Kevin Riordan @ 8:55 AM Permalink | 3 comments

Keep talking about Bancroft, Borden says

POSTED: Friday, January 25, 2013, 10:56 AM

In Haddonfield, NJ, prospective Bancroft property buyers -- also known as voters -- have spoken.

So has the seller , a venerable school for developmentally disabled students.

But borough commissioner Ed Borden suggests a public conversation ought to continue.

Kevin Riordan @ 10:56 AM Permalink | 1 comment

Haddonfield, NJ says no

POSTED: Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 9:06 AM

The people of Haddonfield, NJ have spoken. And they said ‘no.’

Voters Tuesday rejected the borough school board’s proposal to buy the nearly 20-acre site of Bancroft, a private educational facility for developmentally disabled individuals, for $12.5 million. Details of the 2,387-2,136 vote tally are here.

As I wrote in my column Sunday, opposition to the proposal centered on the expected property tax impact; supporters eyed the site for expansion of athletic and other facilities at the adjacent Haddonfield Memorial High School.

Kevin Riordan @ 9:06 AM Permalink | 1 comment

Dinosaur makes news

POSTED: Tuesday, January 22, 2013, 3:50 PM

How comforting for a newspaper columnist to get not one, but two, press releases about a fellow dinosaur. And in a single day!

Hadrosaurus foulkii -- a duck-billed vegetarian that lived in and around Haddonfield, NJ between 65 million and 136 million years ago -- is back in the news.

John Giannotti's handsome sculpture of "Haddy" has been named "Best of South Jersey" in a regional guide recently published by USA Today. The 16-foot downtown landmark constitutes a "hidden gem" in the newspaper's estimation; it's also a popular backdrop for photos.

Kevin Riordan @ 3:50 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Tearson: Alive and swell

POSTED: Thursday, January 17, 2013, 8:50 AM

DJ Michael Tearson's trippy voice is off the Philly airwaves, but he's not off the radio. Or the radar.

"I’m on the website Radio That Doesn't Suck, and on Sirius XM," says Tearson, whose once-weekly broadcast on WMGK-FM got canned earlier this week.

Tearson, 64, of Westmont, NJ has been synonymous with Philadelphia FM rock for decades (see the 2011 column I wrote about him here). He spun records on stations including WXPN, WDAS, and WMMR in those halcyon vinyl days when FM DJs selected and segued a wide mix of music, exposing listeners to fresh sounds.

Kevin Riordan @ 8:50 AM Permalink |

For sale: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

POSTED: Friday, January 11, 2013, 10:53 AM

The legendary communist revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is for sale on Craigslist.

Oleg Zeleniak, a Ukrainian-born businessman, is seeking buyers for the 15-foot statue of Lenin he recently won at an auction in Atlantic City. The imposing likeness had stood for seven years at the entrance to a Russian-themed restaurant at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino.

"Make me an offer which I won't decline...or just stop by and take a look yourself at this beautiful piece of art," Zeleniak says in his Craiglist pitch.

Kevin Riordan @ 10:53 AM Permalink | 1 comment

A political Sandy storm

POSTED: Tuesday, January 8, 2013, 8:42 AM

Perhaps the Democrats accusing Chris Christie of politicizing Superstorm Sandy to distract voters from New Jersey's potential fiscal disaster hope to distract the electorate from the party's impending electoral catastrophe.

The latest Farleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll shows the incumbent Republican governor enjoying stellar re-election prospects and superstar popularity ratings in the political aftermath of the storm that devastated parts of the Jersey Shore in October.

And as Christie prepared to present what's expected to be a Sandy-centric "State of the State" address, potential opponent/periodic bromantic partner Steve Sweeney rightly apologized Monday for his clumsy critique (see: "prayed") of the governor's Sandy-related politicking -- although the state Senate president did not fault Christie's deft display of pique (see: "disgusting") against Congressional Republicans.

Kevin Riordan @ 8:42 AM Permalink | Post a comment

Unhappy New Year: Pitman Bakery closing

POSTED: Friday, December 28, 2012, 7:26 AM

Pitman Bakery, a destination for Philadelphia-area doughnut lovers for 44 years, is closing.

The announcement arrived Thursday on the Facebook page of the beloved business, which opened on South Broadway in downtown Pitman, NJ in 1968 -- decades before Philly's Federal Donuts and the ubiquitous Krispy Kreme came on the region's sweets scene.

"On behalf of the entire Pitman Bakery staff and family, we say thank you for 44 blessed and wonderful years," the announcement says. "We have decided to retire."

Posts by the bakery's Facebook fans lament the loss ("a sad day in Pitman") of a downtown mainstay, as well as of signature delights like orange doughnuts -- a list to which I would add pretty much all of the bakery's selections.

But there's hope: A real estate listing on the LandWatch website says that "the donut & bread recipes" are included in the sale.

The asking price for the property is $225,000; for the business, $189,000, according to the Prudential New Jersey website.

Kevin Riordan @ 7:26 AM Permalink | 2 comments

Andrews: Save the Garden
Grassroots rise up for Children's Garden
NJ legislator: Uncork 'jughandles'
New menu at Chick-fil-A?
Greek, gay and married
Fight! Fight!
Camden's record gun buyback
Unhappy New Year: Pitman Bakery closing
Actress' Romney tweet blows up Twitterverse
Haddonfield, NJ says no

About this blog

Blinq is a news commentary blog featuring contributions from Inquirer Metro columnists Karen Heller, Annette John-Hall, Kevin Riordan, Daniel Rubin and Monica Yant Kinney.

E-mail Karen here; read her columns here.

E-mail Annette here; read her columns here.

E-mail Kevin here; read his columns here.

E-mail Daniel here; read his columns here.

E-mail Monica here; read her columns here.

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