New Jersey
Hard Rock Boss Confers With NJ Governor on Casino Smoking

By WAYNE PARRY, Related Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The chairman of the worldwide Arduous Rock on line casino and leisure firm spoke just lately with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy concerning the “financial challenges” of banning smoking in casinos, which a invoice pending within the state Legislature would do.
Murphy has mentioned he’ll signal a invoice banning smoking within the 9 Atlantic Metropolis casinos if the Legislature passes it. A spokeswoman mentioned Monday he maintains that stance, however declined additional remark.
Jim Allen, chairman of Arduous Rock Worldwide, advised The Related Press on Monday that smoking was certainly one of a number of matters he mentioned with the governor in latest weeks.
“I do not assume I used to be making an attempt to alter the governor’s thoughts,” Allen mentioned. “It was a common dialog concerning the financial challenges of a smoking ban and the affect it could have” if one have been enacted.
Political Cartoons
“We function in lots of states the place smoking will not be allowed,” Allen mentioned. “While you have a look at markets the place smoking has been banned, there have been vital double-digit declines” in on line casino income.”
Anti-smoking advocates say the casinos are overstating the potential financial impacts of banning smoking, predicting that clients and revenues will return after an preliminary adjustment interval.
For 2 years, a gaggle of Atlantic Metropolis sellers has been pushing lawmakers to ban smoking within the casinos.
The casinos’ commerce group, The On line casino Affiliation of New Jersey, opposes a smoking ban. It commissioned a report in February that predicted widespread job and income losses if smoking have been prohibited in Atlantic Metropolis’s casinos.
Within the meantime, the casinos’ monetary image has been slowly bettering. Atlantic Metropolis’s casinos collectively noticed their profitability improve within the first quarter of this 12 months in contrast not solely with a 12 months earlier, but additionally to the pre-pandemic interval.
However solely 4 of the 9 casinos individually reported larger gross working income than they did within the first quarter of 2019, earlier than the coronavirus pandemic took maintain.
When it comes to playing income, New Jersey’s casinos, horse tracks that supply sports activities betting and the net companions of each forms of playing shops received $422 million from gamblers in April, up 20% from a 12 months earlier.
And the casinos’ core enterprise, income received from in-person gamblers, surpassed the extent of April 2019, earlier than the coronavirus pandemic hit — an encouraging metric for Atlantic Metropolis’s brick-and-mortar on line casino trade, whose income has been struggling to rebound from pre-pandemic ranges.
However a lot of these will increase have been attributable to the 2 latest casinos, Arduous Rock and Ocean, as has been the case for the previous few years.
New Jersey’s clean-air legislation banning smoking in most public locations comprises an exception for casinos. (An area legislation in Atlantic Metropolis limits smoking to not more than 20% of the on line casino ground.)
The invoice has sat untouched for months within the state Legislature. Requested when or whether or not they deliberate committee hearings on the invoice, a spokesman for state Senate President Nicholas Scutari declined remark, and a spokeswoman for Meeting Speaker Craig Coughlin mentioned, ‘We’re working towards a plan.”
The measure has 16 Senate co-sponsors and 37 Meeting co-sponsors, representing practically half of every chamber, mentioned Chris Moyer, a spokesman for on line casino smoking opponents.
He famous that New York, the place Arduous Rock can be searching for to construct a on line casino, would prohibit smoking there, and predicted New Jersey’s on line casino smoking ban invoice “will move with flying colours” as soon as it’s put up for a vote.
Observe Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Copyright 2022 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

New Jersey
‘Over 300 youth’ descend upon New Jersey mall, sparking massive brawl planned through TikTok: officials

Hundreds of youths descended upon a north Jersey mall Saturday night in a meet-up that was reportedly pre-planned on TikTok and led to a massive brawl.
Seven minors were arrested in the chaotic melee that was spurred by TikTok posts calling for juveniles to meet up at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison, New Jersey, that night, according to officials and local reports.
The out-of-control gathering soon grew exponentially from just 100 people to “over 300 youth” from across the Garden State shortly after 8 p.m., Edison Mayor Sam Joshi wrote on social media.
At least four of the seven minors who were arrested were from other towns, according to Joshi.
Edison police had to call for back-up from neighboring police departments to clear out the hooligans.
As cops worked to get the rowdy crowd under control, one officer fractured their ankle, Edison Police Chief Tom Bryan told My Central Jersey.
None of the youths were injured and no weapons were recovered, cops said.
Of the seven arrested, one was charged with aggravated assault on an officer, and six others face disorderly conduct charges. One person was charged with both disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, Bryan told the outlet.
Some participating youth shared posts on TikTok and Instagram leading up to the swarm, telling people to show up at the mall at 7 p.m.
It’s unclear if any of the posts advertised a fight or if it was intended for some other kind of event, but Bryan confirmed that TikTok played a role in the huge crowd.
One TikTok shared last Tuesday that pitched a “Menlo Mall Linkup??” received over 9,000 likes and 156,000 views. The user posted about the meetup again on Thursday.
Videos later capturing the chaotic scene quickly went viral on TikTok overnight as teens wreaked havoc, screaming and running from officers while they were making arrests.
Impromptu fights spurred by social media meet-ups have resulted in slews of minors being arrested in the last year.
In October, “mass chaos” broke out at the Kings Dominion theme park just outside of Richmond, Va, following a social media callout. No one was arrested after 14 deputies responded to the scene.
In November, an armed teenage gangbanger lost hold of his gun during a fight at a mall in Long Island. A bystander kicked the weapon further away from the teen in a video released in early May.
The Post reached out to the Edison Police Department for comment.
New Jersey
UNC Basketball Still in Full Pursuit of Top New Jersey Floor General

At least one UNC basketball recruiter was in attendance for one of Deron Rippey Jr.’s 3SSB outings in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Saturday. But the Tar Heels were by no means alone, as the electrifying point guard already enjoys a long list of full-fledged suitors and has drawn a big crowd of college coaches to watch him compete against other premier recruits in grassroots action this weekend.
ALSO READ: Tar Heel Transfer Target Schedules Visits Elsewhere
A 6-foot-2, 175-pound five-star with next-level speed and instincts on the perimeter, Rippey currently checks in at No. 19 overall, No. 5 at his position, and No. 1 among New Jersey prospects on the 247Sports 2026 Composite.
And he played to the level of his ranking — if not better — with well-known faces in the stands on Saturday morning. In his New Heights squad’s victory over Dream Vision, Rippey tallied 21 points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals, exhibiting the versatility that has contributed to his 12-spot jump in the national rankings since this time last year.
In addition to the Tar Heels, who extended an offer to Rippey back in late December, there were dozens of programs displaying their interest in the Blair Academy (N.J.) junior on Saturday.
According to HS Top Recruits, the crowd included coaches from at least three other bluebloods in Kentucky, Kansas, and UNC’s archrival, Duke, plus another of Hubert Davis & Co.’s Tobacco Road foes, NC State.
Deron Rippey Jr. has neither announced finalists nor a timeline for wrapping up what has become a high-profile recruitment.
Stay tuned to North Carolina Tar Heels On SI for more UNC basketball news.
New Jersey
New Jersey-based truck parts rebuilder to close, laying off 6 in St. Paul

TransAxle, a New Jersey-based remanufacturer of rebuilt hydraulics, drivetrain components and truck parts, will close all of its locations, laying off more than 200 workers nationwide, including six in St. Paul, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
The company, which was founded in 1979, maintains a location in St. Paul that employs a shop manager, mechanic, machinist and team leaders. All six workers will be let go.
In a letter to DEED’s rapid response team, company officer Richard Malagodi said TransAxle attempted to put itself up for sale “for some time” without success, and will instead lay off 80 workers at a dozen locations, most of them on the East Coast, between July 15 and July 29. Another 129 workers will be terminated from its four New Jersey sites in August.
An effort to reach a TransAxle spokesperson for comment on Friday was not immediately successful.
-
Austin, TX1 week ago
Best Austin Salads – 15 Food Places For Good Greens!
-
Politics1 week ago
President Trump takes on 'Big Pharma' by signing executive order to lower drug prices
-
Technology1 week ago
Mexico is suing Google over how it’s labeling the Gulf of Mexico
-
News5 days ago
As Harvard Battles Trump, Its President Will Take a 25% Pay Cut
-
Business1 week ago
In-N-Out Burger adds three new California locations to list of 2025 openings
-
Politics1 week ago
DHS says Massachusetts city council member 'incited chaos' as ICE arrested 'violent criminal alien'
-
News1 week ago
Why Trump Suddenly Declared Victory Over the Houthi Militia
-
Politics5 days ago
Republicans say they're 'out of the loop' on Trump's $400M Qatari plane deal