asbury park press front page monday, june 30 2014
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Asbury Park Press front page for Monday, June 30 2014.TRANSCRIPT
Asbury Park Press APP.COM $1.00
MONDAY 06.30.14
VOLUME 135
NUMBER 155
SINCE 1879
ADVICE C4
BUSINESS A8
CLASSIFIED C6
COMICS C5
LOCAL A3
LOTTERIES A2
OBITUARIES A9
OPINION A11
SPORTS D1
TV D8
JULY 4 FIREWORKS
IN ATLANTIC CITYSoundtrack for Sky Concert display is chosen
by popular demand AT PLAY, C1
WORLD CUP REF
FIRST AMERICAN
Beachwood Mark
Geiger to be < rst
American to
of< ciate knockout
round match
SPORTS, D1
OBAMA TO NAME NEW VETERANS ADMINISTRATION CHIEF PAGE 1B
The big gray aircraft that wheel above the Pine Barrens played a critical role forAmerica in Iraq and Afghanistan, fueling the air bridge for troops and equipment,stretching halfway around the globe.
But the KC-10 Extender air refueling tankers at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lake-hurst may be in danger of early retirement, the jets and thousands of local jobs theysupport in a squeeze between tightening budgets and the time lapse for bringing onthe Air Force’s next-generation tankers, base advocates say.
“The KC-10s were manufactured and began coming online in 1989. That makesthem old birds, and the Air Force would very much like to retire them,” said formerRep. Jim Saxton, who during his tenure from 1984 to 2008 led efforts to spare NewJersey the worst of post-Cold War base closings.
JOINT BASE INCROSS HAIRS?
A rendering shows how the Air Force’s next-generation KC-46A Pegasus air refuelingtanker will refuel F-16 fighters in flight. IMAGE COURTESY OF BOEING CORP.
Retirement of fueling tankers could mean cuts
By Kirk Moore @KirkMooreAPP
JOINT BASEECONOMICS
As the first base underunified command, AirForce, Army and Navymissions are conductedunder a single admini-stration with a host ofother tenants includingNational Guard, Reserveand Coast Guard. Theeconomic impact acrosscentral and southernNew Jersey is estimatedat $6.9 billion and be-tween 44,000 and65,000 jobs, directlyfrom governmentspending and indirectlyfrom spending in sur-rounding communities. See TANKERS, Page A6
“At some
point we’re
going to lose
those
KC-10s.”
Former Rep.
Jim Saxton, anadvocate for the JointBase
TRENTON — Democrats leading the investigation bylawmakers into the George Washington Bridge scandalare fending off pressure from supporters of Republi-can Gov. Chris Christie and nudges from members oftheir own party to wrap up the probe after six monthson the job.
Instead, Chairman John Wisniewski said the NewJersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigationwill return from a short break next week and hold atleast four meetings in July.
The committee has a list of 13 potential witnesses in-cluding Christie’s former chief counsel, Charles Mc-Kenna, and his top political strategist, Michael Du-Haime.
Wisniewski said the seven hours of testimony earlierthis month from Kevin O’Dowd, Christie’s chief ofstaff, was convincing that there is more to look at.
O’Dowd told lawmakers he asked few questions andonly made minimal effort to find out why the lane clos-ings occurred last September and who gave the orders.
“Even assuming the best-case scenario for why ad-ministration members did what they did, it shows an ad-ministration overall that does not have any managerialcontrol over what’s going on and no accountability,”said Wisniewski, a Middlesex County assemblyman.
Republicans have pushed back. Two months ago,four GOP members of the panel headed by Wisniewskiand Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, complained thatleadership was withholding information, and one mem-ber said the group discussed walking away from the in-vestigation.
GOP Assembly Leader Jon M. Bramnick said con-ducting 13 more interviews would be excessive, thoughWisniewski said it’s possible not all of the potential wit-nesses will be called.
“This is the problem when politicians investigatepoliticians. It never ends,” Bramnick, R-Union, said.
GWB LANE-CLOSING PROBE
Panel fendsoff pressureto wrap upinvestigation
Assembly GOPleader Jon M.Bramnick(left) wantsChairmanJohnWisniewski(right) towrap it up.
Chairman plans four meetings,
has list of 13 more witnesses
By Bob Jordan @BobJordanAPP
THE GWB SCANDAL PROBE CONTINUES
The New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigationwill meet July 8, 15, 17 and 21 in Trenton in Committee Room11, fourth floor, of the Statehouse Annex, Trenton.
See PROBE, Page A6
INTO THE BREACH
HOLDING BACK THE OCEAN
Nearly $3 million in federal funds has been
allocated to repair the sea wall in Sea Bright and
Monmouth Beach. TODAY, Page A3