Bonkers in Bergen

Good morning!

A wild little local politics story out of Park Ridge has reached an initial conclusion, though it sounds like a lawsuit is brewing.

The legal battle pitted Councilman Gregory Hoffman (R) against resident Lori Fredrics. Hoffman hauled Fredrics into municipal court, alleging she put stickers on his campaign signs (Hoffman is seeking reelection in November).

Jeff Goldman at NJ Advance Media has the details. Hoffman alleged Fredrics is the woman seen in videos putting a sticker that says “Poor Judgment” on one of his signs and another reading “Park Ridge Democrats Oppose Overdevelopment, Too” on a second sign.

Fredrics in turn alleged Hoffman violated a town ordinance by putting campaign signs on public property. She says he targeted her because she criticizes him on Facebook.

Both complaints were dismissed Monday. Hoffman said he wants to move on, but it doesn’t sound like this is over.

“Mrs. Fredrics and I will be discussing every legal avenue available to her to address the retaliation she faced for exercising her right to free speech under the Constitution,” said Fredrics’ attorney, Kathleen Redpath-Perez.

Farming: A new bill would provide $60 million in state grants to farmers who lost crops during April’s unexpected freeze. Many growers lost 30% or more of their fruit crops, with some reporting total losses, while officials estimated damages in New Jersey would top $300 million, Dana DiFilippo notes. Bill sponsor Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R), who has griped about Dem lawmakers stuffing the budget with their pet projects, says the difference here is her bill satisfies a need, not a want. “We can sure as hell take $60 million from the general fund and give it to an industry that spans the entire state and brings in over a billion dollars to the state of New Jersey,” Fantasia said. “We’re talking about people’s livelihoods and ability to keep jobs and stay in their homes.”

Trenton: A pair of state lawmakers want again to expand Daniel’s Law, the statute that allows law enforcement officers and judges to shield their personal information from public disclosure. This time, the expansion would cover residents who would be covered by the law if they practiced in New Jersey, like cops who live here but work in New York City. “In today’s world, people are getting nuttier on certain folks, so safety is always a number one priority when it comes to somebody in that line of business,” said bill sponsor Sen. Parker Space (R).

Poll: A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll gives steady marks to Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D), with 44% of New Jerseyans saying they approve of the way she’s handling her job and 34% disapproving. Her approval is barely changed since a March poll, while her disapproval is up five points. Still, more New Jerseyans are negative about the direction of the state. Forty-three percent say the state is headed in the wrong direction versus 37% who say otherwise. Rutgers polled 1,004 adults from September 24-27.

D.C.: U.S. Senate Democrats blocked a GOP bill Wednesday that would have curbed congressional stock trading, with Democrats saying the bill doesn’t go far enough (the bill also had a voter ID provision tacked onto it). “The Senate GOP let their counterparts in the House take out all of the ban’s teeth and fill it with poison pills so it could never pass. This bill has no reform, no accountability, no substance,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) said, “We need to pass this commonsense legislation and restore integrity to Congress.”

International: Absolutely insane story out of the skies above the Middle East Wednesday, with one pilot of an Israel-bound jet carrying 170 mostly Israeli passengers stabbing the other pilot in an attempt to gain control of the plane and crash it, sending it plummeting thousands of feet until passengers, United 93-style, subdued the attempted killer and a third pilot landed it safely in Saudi Arabia.