Filthy/Delicious

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post staff

Nov. 8, 2011

Charges of child abuse against a former assistant football coach at Penn State and a cover-up by university officials have alumni across South Jersey in mourning.

“It’s like a funeral,” said Shannon Furman of Marlton. 

The 2003 graduate spent Monday morning in her office at NFL Films in Mount Laurel discussing with co-workers the 40-count indictment against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who is accused of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year span. 

Sandusky, who is alleged to have chosen his prey from a charitable organization for disadvantaged boys he founded, was charged Friday by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Tim Curley, Penn State’s athletic director, and Gary Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business, stepped down Monday following charges they failed to report a 2002 incident in which Sandusky was allegedly seen sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in a team facility shower on campus. 

After Pennsylvania, New Jersey has the second-highest number of Penn State alumni in the United States, but is No. 1 in the percentage of graduates who belong to an alumni association. The darkness in Happy Valley is felt acutely here.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post

Oct. 19, 2011

A wayward deer that invaded a Rowan University building this week likely had something in common with the students it startled.

Hormones. 

Rowan students got a scare Monday when a buck wandered on campus, then rampaged through the school’s music building. But the damaging spree wasn’t driven by anger or violence, wildlife experts say. 

Mating season for Bambi begins in October, peaks in November and tapers off in December. Expect more surprising interactions with deer this fall, advised Carol Stanko, a biologist with the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. 

“All the male deer are running around throwing caution to the wind. They’re not paying attention,” she said.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post

Oct. 17, 2011 

For historian Jacob Soll, the prestigious MacArthur Foundation fellowship could not have come at a more perfect time.

The Rutgers-Camden professor was walking to a library at the University of Pennsylvania near his home in West Philly. He’d recently come to accept the book he was dying to write — a history of libraries and political liberty — would not see the light of day. He couldn’t afford to move his family to Europe for a year to do the research. 

 “I kept saying, ‘This is a book only a rich guy could write,’ ” Soll recalled. 

 Then he got the call. “I went into a kind of shock as it went on,” he said, describing his conversation with the stranger who informed him he’d been awarded a five-year, $500,000 “genius” grant. 

 “I said, ‘I don’t believe this. I need verification.’ ”

The 42-year-old asked to hang up so he could call back the number that popped up on his cellphone. It still took days for him to believe that he was the first Rutgers-Camden faculty member to ever receive a MacArthur fellowship.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post

Oct. 10, 2011 

The borough of Collingswood is betting a renter’s market will get it out of a hole dug by the flailing LumberYard condominiums project.

Borough officials — including Mayor James Maley — lobbied Moody’s analysts Sept. 30 in Collingswood to revisit the six-notch super-downgrade the borough received Sept. 12. Moody’s is the only ratings agency that monitors the borough’s finances. The downgrade to junk made more expensive the town’s plan to purchase 14 empty condominiums and put them on the market for rent.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post

Oct. 5, 2011

South Jersey Republicans breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday when Gov. Chris Christie ended 12 days of frenzied speculation about his 2012 presidential aspirations.

“It’s the country’s loss, but I’m glad he’s still here working for the families of New Jersey,” said Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego, R-Burlington, of Christie’s decision not to run.

“It would have been a shame to lose Governor Christie to the presidential race,” said Addiego’s 8th Legislative District mate Scott Rudder, an Assembly Republican. “He’s made the right decision.”

“Gov. Christie has done a fantastic job as New Jersey’s governor. And I believe he would have been a great president of the United States,” said freshman Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J. “But selfishly, I am glad he will continue his role in the Garden State.”

South Jersey Democrats agreed Christie had done the right thing by staying put and finishing out the remaining two-plus years of his term.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post

Sept. 27, 2011

The Burlington County Democratic Committee shows no signs it intends to fill the vacancy left by former Senate candidate Carl Lewis, even as ballots are being printed.

But experts say a better question than will they or won’t they may be: Does it even matter?

“The 8th District is — based on all historic trends — a Republican district,” said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

“It does not appear, at least according to the numbers, there are enough Democratic voters there to sweep a Democrat to victory, outside of something extraordinary happening.”

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post

Sept. 18, 2011

Collingswood’s downgrade to junk status by the ratings agency Moody’s may have raised questions about whether other New Jersey towns are in danger of seeing access to credit dry up.

Most are not.

Nine months after Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney sparked a sell-off by predicting — in a “60 Minutes” segment — a massive crash in municipal bonds, the market is relatively stable.

“Although the economy has affected local government finances, it generally hasn’t affected them strongly enough to cause defaults,” said Mitchell Savader, CEO of Manhattan-based Savader Asset Advisors.

“We have had a negative outlook on both the local government and state sectors now for three years,” said Jack Dorer of Moody’s Investors Service. “No question there are pressures in the marketplace. But the vast majority of municipalities is holding up very well.”

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Courier-Post

Sept. 11, 2011

John Michael Rodak of Sewell logged 1,000 miles on the road every week to be closer to his family.

“Once I got to know John I wasn’t surprised that he never moved,” said Kate Lawton, a principal at Sandler O’Neill & Partners in New York City.

“John loved where he lived. He loved everything about it. The commute was a small price to pay.”

“He always wanted to come back to Rabbit Run Road,” his wife, Joyce said.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

May 9, 2011

Courier-Post staff

When Olympic legend Carl Lewis jumped into the 8th Legislative District Senate race last month, it was widely assumed Democrats in Camden County — not Burlington — deserved the credit.

The Burlington County Democratic Committee has been fractured and broke since an organizational implosion in 2009.

But Camden County Democrats deny they lured the Medford-based superstar athlete to challenge incumbent Republican Dawn Marie Addiego.

“He recruited himself into the race,” said top Democratic strategist Steve Ayscue in an email exchange.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)

By Jane Roh

Nov. 15, 2010

Courier-Post staff

It’s been nearly two weeks since freshman congressman John Adler fell to political novice Jon Runyan, and the hive mentality that overtook his re-election campaign in its final days still appears to be in effect.

Adler’s offices have been uncommunicative since after the Nov. 2 election. Even on Veterans Day his congressional office — generally prolific with press releases — was silent.

As of Friday afternoon, his campaign and congressional websites were frozen in a moment in time before Election Day.

The same might be said of Adler’s political trajectory, Garden State observers say.

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(Source: courierpostonline.com)