New Jersey Justice

A tragedy in three acts

Act I: A graveyard in Denmark.
Hamlet, the indecisive hero, holds up the skull of his old friend Yorick. Hamlet is deeply affected by the finality of death and is at last stirred to act against his murderous uncle.
Act II: A home in North Bergen.
Hamlet Goore, the paramour of the former NJ Attorney General, holds up a court summons for a traffic violation. Hamlet is deeply upset by the implications of the court appearance and is at last stirred to call his travel agent.
After costing his girlfriend, Zulima Farber, her dream job, Hamlet Goore then skipped the court appearance for his traffic ticket.
Rather than come to court, Goore and Farber went to Puerto Vallarta (yes, the same destination for Captain Stubing). Goore's excuse was as lame as it was predictable — this marked the tenth time he has skipped a court date. His court date was September 29, when he was in Mexico. His absence?  Because he thought the court date was September 19th.
However, in the Julian calendar -- in all calendars, actually -- the 29th comes after the 19th. So Goore went to Mexico on his court date because he thought he had already missed the court date.

Act III: The judge didn't buy it. He gave Goore community service and a fine.

A market collapses

The real estate market has crashed, Kara Homes is bankrupt, and Amboy Bank may fall as well.
Amboy Bank took a big gamble on local real estate moguls Kara Homes and Solomon Dwek. Dwek (photo) owes Amboy $50 million. Kara owes the bank nearly $60 million.
There are also plenty of homeless homebuyers.
As predicted for months, the housing bubble finally burst, and property owners all over New Jersey are reducing their reductions. Lots of people got rich flipping houses, and lots more will lose money trying. But it's ridiculous that a bank and a professional homebuilder got caught up in the speculation.
All of this proves the prescience of Yale professor Robert Shiller's Irrational Exuberance, which predicted this collapse. Cold comfort, though, to the families who wanted to live in a Kara home.

A Bloody Day by the Monmouth Battlefield State Park

Sadly, it seems that at least some Bosnians haven't seen quite enough violence. Manalapan resident Alim Hodzic, 53, shot and killed his business partner, 41-year-old Esat Astafovic, and Astafovic's 35-year-old wife, well-liked and successful realtor Violsa Astafovic. Hodzic also shot and wounded Esat's 74-year-old father before fatally shooting himself when police spotted him walking the wealthy community's streets carrying multiple weapons. Police say a lawsuit that went Astafovic's way sparked his former brother-in-law's rage, and the fact that the massacre occurred inside a million-dollar home alongside similarly lofty residences only puts a simple fact in starker relief: it can happen anywhere.

Big Gov Bureaucrats Beget Business Blues

Anyone who's ever stood in line at the MVC or waited to get his car inspected has felt the sting of petty little officials lording their modicum of power over their betters (namely, you and me). In Livingston, the situation's gotten out of hand.
Pizzeta Enoteca is being taken to court over a claim by town officials that the pizza place has violated an ordinances against unauthorized signs. The problem is that the offending item isn't a sign at all. It's a bicycle. The restaurant uses a red bike to make deliveries and the nitwits who write summonses claim that the taxpaying business cannot put its logo on the bike.
Owner Ted Stampoulos, the rare pizza place owner who actually LOSES weight, has a long history of community involvement.
As he told the Star-Ledger, "We are trying to do the right thing in the township. But where does it stop? Next, are they going to have a problem with our T-shirts?"
Well put.