MONOC, the Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corporation, is a non-profit cooperative delivering emergency response services for 15 acute care hospitals in six New Jersey counties, utilizing everything from ambulances to helicopters. In July, MONOC received the 2014 Public Service Circle of Excellence Award form the Greater Monmouth County Chamber of Commerce. And we would be remiss in not giving a shoutout to emergency medical technician Jonathan Williams, whose off-duty video of him dancing in an ambulance at a stoplight has racked up nearly two million views!
Hurricane Sandy’s Not Over Yet. A study indicates that two years later, a sizable number of New Jerseyans are still caught in the tailwinds of Superstorm Sandy, with some demonstrating systems of post traumatic stress disorder. Those who have been able to repair their homes report to be feeling better, meaning that the cure could be as simple of unstopping of bottleneck of nearly a billion dollars in federal Sandy financial aid that has yet to be disbursed. Don’t be surprised if the aid ends up being diverted to close the state budget gap — and any interest that has been earned could easily go unaccounted for.
Online Gambling Craps Out. The gains in tax revenue that online gambling were supposed to generate have yet to appear — but the number of online gamblers seeking addiction help is breaking the bank. Local organizations such as the Council On Compulsive Gambling, the New Jersey lottery commission and the Department of Human Services have had to scramble to spread the word that compulsive gambling help is available, up to and including ways in which the most seriously addicted can voluntarily ban themselves from casinos.
Cheerleaders Get Major Sports Injuries, Too. What with all the attention being given to scholastic and pro football injuries — concussions in particular — what gets overlooked is that today’s scholastic cheerleading is as much a “contact sport” as football itself, according to a West Milford high school coach. And just like the athletes they support, cheerleaders are also prone to not being truthful about the extent of their injuries “for the good of the team,” requiring a “team” of coaches, parents, and doctors to be extra vigilant.
New Jersey can breathe a little easier thanks to the Supreme Court upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, requiring out-of state power plants to reduce their emissions. Our reputation for smelly air is not helped by being “downwind” of the soot and smog emissions of 27 — count ’em, 27 — “upwind” neighboring states. The power plants complain they can’t afford to comply, but state leaders say the ruling can literally save lives.
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