FIRST NEWS PLUS for Tuesday, July 15, 2014

New Jersey's First News, hosted by Eric Scott, written and produced by Matthew White and Patrick Lavery. Full podcast available below. Digital support, with additional links, by Dan Alexander.

ALAN KASPER'S FORECAST:
TODAY: Showers and thunderstorms that could produce locally heavy rain & gusty winds.Humid.  High: 85-90
TONIGHT: Showers and thunderstorms that could produce locally heavy rain & gusty winds. Low: 67-72
TOMORROW: Partly sunny. Less humid. 80-85 

LISTEN TO ALAN'S FORECAST:

More Storms on the Way - Once again, New Jersey is in line for another round of violent storms later today. The Garden State has been a magnet for thunder and lightning over the past couple weeks. Meanwhile, there are still just under 4,000 PSEG customers without power mostly in Cherry Hill and Voorhees which was hard hit with flooding rain in the Green Ridge subdivision according to a Nixle alert issued by police. Both JCP+L and Atlantic City Electric are well under 1,000 outages each. Much of last night's flooding has been cleared up and roads & ramps re-opened.

• A stormy summer so far / NJ1015.com
• Thunderstorms rumble through New Jersey / NJ1015.com

Widow Apologizes - The widow of a Jersey City cop killer is apologizing after she said she wished her husband had killed more cops.  It was hours after the ambush assasination of a rookie officer that Angelique Campbell had her outburst in front of reporters.  She says she has no idea what could have prompted her husband's actions and will love him until the day she dies no matter what he did. A memorial for the cop killer still stands this morning decorated with t-shirts and empty liquor bottles. It's adding to already high tensions in Jersey City.

• Wife of accused Jersey City cop killer apologizes for disparaging remarks / Jersey Journal
• Jersey City mayor: Alleged killer’s memorial ‘disgusting' / NJ1015.com
• Gov. Christie Orders NJ Flags Lowered To Half-Staff In Honor Of Fallen Jersey City Police Officer / CBS Philly

Caught on Tape - Two 18-year old men and a 17-year old in Elmwood Park have been charged with raping a 15-year old girl after she passed out drunk at backyard party. Police say they filmed the assault with an iPhone and they have the video. The girl's parents found her passed on on their front lawn and in the days that followed rumors began surfacing that one of the attackers was showing the video around. The girl says she has no recollection of any of it.

• Former Elmwood Park High School athletes, third man charged with having videotaped sex with girl, 15 / Cliffview Pilot

Streaming Explicit Acts - A central Jersey woman is admitting to forcing a young girl to stream video of explicit acts on-line. 53-year old Jane Dornick faces decades in prison. As she was molesting the girl, she sent the images remotely to a man in South Plainfield. He is also facing many years in prison.

• South Plainfield woman pleads guilty to sexually exploiting a minor / Star-Ledger

"Not Acceptable" - Hamas says an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel is "not acceptable." The Palestinian militant group rejected the proposal just moments after Israel accepted it. A week of heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip has left at least 185 people dead in Gaza.

• Gaza militants fire 3 rockets despite truce call / NJ101.5 (Associated Press)
• Israel accepts truce plan; Hamas balks / Washington Post

Rules of the Road - After several traffic deaths in Ocean County where a driver was broken down in the left lane, State Police are warning motorists about the rules of the "passing lane."

• Accidents prompt police to urge caution in ‘passing lanes’ / NJ1015.com

Seismic Testing Continues - The way has been cleared for seismic testing off the coast of Long Beach Island. A federal court has refused to stop it despite objections from marine experts who fear it will kill dolphins, fish, turtles, and whales. Scientists will blast the ocean floor with loud booms designed to help them study sediment dating back tens of millions of years.

• Court rejects NJ bid to block ocean blasting / NJ1015.com (AP)

Back on the Road - Governor Christie will be in Long Branch today for the first in a series of town halls down the shore. He is expected to continue push for reforms to the state's pension and health benefits system. His last town hall was repeatedly interrupted by protestors.

• Christie to hold latest town hall in Long Branch / News 12 New Jersey

Frequent Storms - Hurricane Sandy caused nearly $50 billion in economic losses making it the second most costly weather disaster in the world since 1970. Only Hurricane Katrina was worse. More troubling in the international report is that these types of weather disasters are happening more frequently.

• Superstorm Sandy ranks high in disaster report / Asbury Park Press

Slow Service Charge?  - Should utilities be forced to reimburse New Jersey businesses for lost revenue if the power companies don't restore power as quickly as possible? Senator Bob Singer obviously thinks so.

• NJ utilities could be charged for slow service / NJ1015.com

Fiscal Sanity Tour- Assembly Republican leader John Bramnicl has launched what he's calling a Fiscal Sanity Tour. He'll travel the state trying to drum up support for creating four long-term strategic planning committees to reform government spending and taxing policies.

• Assemblyman launches NJ ‘Fiscal Sanity Tour’ / NJ1015.com
• Bramnick proposes measure to make legislative districts more competitive / PolitickerNJ.com

Phasing in Standardized Testing - Gov. Christie has agreed to phase in the use of results of new standardized tests for students when it comes to evaluating teachers. The changes come after weeks of negotiations. The state wanted to use measures of how much students' test results had improved to account for 30 percent of some teachers' grades but Christie has reduced that to 10-percent next year. New student tests will debut in the new school year.

• Christie delays use of student test scores in teacher evaluations / The Record

Good News for AC - Some rare good news for the decimated gambling market in Atlantic City. When you take away the Atlantic Club, which closed in January, gambling revenue was up 4% in June. But most of that was internet gambling not people inside the casinos. Trump Plaza sent out closing notices to 1,153 workers Monday, Showboat is closing in August and so could Revel.

• AC casino revenue, minus closed site, up 4 percent / NJ1015.com (AP)

SCORES:

• Yoenis Cespedes wins the All Star game Home Run Derby

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