Morning Headlines: Christie Won’t Resign
Good morning, Philadelphia — and be careful on the snowy streets. Here’s what you need to know today:
Chris Christie blasts newspapers, says he’s not quitting his job.
Sure a group of newspapers this week called on the New Jersey governor to step down, but the Asbury Park Press says Christie doesn’t much care. “I am not shocked that the Star-Ledger editorial page or the Gannett editorial page — none of which has ever supported … my existence, would call on me to resign. They’re looking for some way to be relevant as their circulation declines, as their readership declines, and the only way to do that is to set themselves on fire,” he said. Unless a recall election happens, Christie’s term ends in January 2018.
Kathleen Kane’s driver has been sentenced to jail.
Patrick Reese was convicted of snooping through the email archives of the attorney general’s office to find out more about the grand jury investigation that eventually produced criminal charges against Kane. He was convicted in December of criminal contempt for violating a court order barring the attorney general’s office from meddling or intimidating witnesses. The punishment? Three-to-six months behind bars, the Morning Call reports. “The conduct here was intentional,” said a judge in the case. “He knew that it was wrong and didn’t care.” Reese remains free on $5,000 bail.
Comcast might be facing scrutiny from the feds.
Ars Technica reports a consumer advocacy group has filed a complaint with the FCC, saying Philly-based Comcast has violated a promise — made during the merger with NBCUniversal — that it would honor net neutrality rules. The underlying complaint: The company exempts its own “Stream TV” service for cord-cutters from Xfinity customers’ Internet data caps. Critics say the net neutrality pledge requires Comcast to treat competing video traffic the same as its own. The company’s defense? Stream TV isn’t actually an Internet service, but a cable product. “Our Stream TV cable package does not go over the Internet, so it can’t possibly violate a condition which only applies to Internet content,” the company tells Ars. But also worthy of note: The StreamTV web page says the service is “exclusive” to the Xfinity’s Internet customers.
Tony Luke says lawsuits “destroyed” his cheesesteaks family.
Philly Mag’s Victor Fiorillo reports that the cheesesteak titan is in a legal battle with his father and brother, Tony Sr. and Nicky. According to prominent Center City attorney Paul Rosen, who is representing Tony Jr., the jealously and resentment first came to light in 2014, when a customer came into the Oregon Avenue shop asking for “Tony Luke,” because he wanted a picture with him. “The father came out and said, ‘I’m Tony Luke,'” claims Rosen. “And the guy says, ‘No you’re not.’ And the father went ballistic, and from that point he decided that he was going to try to compete with his son.”
The name of the Oregon Avenue location was changed and advertised as “Papa Luke’s at the Original Front and Oregon Location” as early as October of last year, and Nicky has made comments on social media disparaging the Tony Luke’s franchises, the lawsuit alleges. Tony Jr.’s lawyers say that the actions of Tony Sr. and Nicky have violated the non-compete agreement that they signed with TR Worldwide. Nicky and Tony Sr., however, are now claiming that they were duped into signing that non-compete.
New Jersey is rebounding as a vacation destination.
AP reports the state increased its tourism revenues by 3 percent in 2015, to $43.4 billion. “We bounced back in part because of the glorious weather we had last summer, and that glorious weather brought so many tourists to the Jersey shore,” Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno said. Helping drive all that traffic? The Shore, of course: It accounted for 48 percent of the state’s tourism revenues.
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