11 Arrested in N.J. Corruption Probe

Now this is a hot mess! We vote these people into our state government only for them to be arrested and people wonder why citizens don't vote like they should. I mean seriously, someone really needs to step in and regulate these people. You want to have the upmost confidence in public officials to handle business accordingly. It's just real unfortunate that this type of situation has happened to frequently over the last five years!


By TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer

The arrests were related to insurance contracts for local governments, a law enforcement officials said on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement was pending. Democratic state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Alfred E. Steele were both arrested, along with Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera, the law enforcement official said. Also arrested were the chief of staff to Newark's City Council president, Passaic Councilmen Jonathan Soto and Marcellus Jackson, and five Pleasantville school board members. Initial court appearances were scheduled Thursday afternoon in Trenton. The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Christopher J. Christie, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun scheduled an afternoon news conference to discuss the case. Hackett, 65, is also the mayor of Orange, a city of about 33,000 residents 15 miles west of New York City. A phone message left at his office wasn't immediately returned Thursday. Steele, an assemblyman since 1996 and deputy speaker since 2002, works as a Baptist minister in Paterson and is a Passaic County undersheriff. Jenna Pollard, who answered the phone at Steele's office and identified herself as his chief of staff, said she had no comment and didn't know if Steele had a lawyer. More than 100 public officials in the state have been convicted on federal corruption charges in the last five years. Thursday's arrests were the latest in an anti-corruption campaign waged by Christie's office. Two other Democratic state senators, Wayne Bryant of Lawnside and Sharpe James of Newark, are among others facing pending corruption charges.

Dean's Path

Hurrican Dean is the 3rd most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall since the 1850s. Dean was a top-scale Category 5 storm at landfall Tuesday on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Its maximum sustained winds were 165 mph and gusts reached 200 mph. I am blogging this story because I am from Houston and if you guys remember 2 years ago when hurricane Rita was on her way, I evacuated and it took me 16 hours to get to Austin, Texas (which is normally a 2 hour drive) I personally hope the hurricane dies down a bit more before coming this way and I pray that all will be ok in Mexico and if we have to evacuate, that it will go alot smoother than it did 2 years ago.

Bridge Collapses in the Mississippi River!

This is an absolute tragedy, a bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River during bumper-to-bumper traffic Wednesday, killing at least six people and sending vehicles, tons of concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water. If you look closely at the pictures, the bridge was being repaired at the time of the collapse. It's very important that these cities maintain the infrastructure, because this similar occurrence can happen at any given time. I'm expecting lawsuits out the you know what! My main question is, how long has the city known about the bridge's condition? I send my condolences and prayers to the families of the deceased.

" I Am The Emperor"

A gunman was killed by security at the Colorado State Capitol. He claimed to be the emperor and was there to take over state government. Now, either he was on drugs or he really had lost his mind. Fortunately, no one else in the building was injured.

Full story here

Farewell to Lady Bird

Texan's final tribute to Lady Bird Johnson click here

As an alumnae of THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, I am of course saddened by the death of Lady Bird. Not only was she a fellow Longhorn, but she was the wife of my favorite President, Lyndon Baines Johnson. I always wrote about him for any school paper I was assigned to write. She has left a legacy and model of what a woman in her position should be like. We thank God for giving her 93 years to be here on earth. I send my deepest condolences to her daughters and their families.