ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION

APP.COM $1.50

WEDNESDAY 07.06.16

FBI finds Clinton

careless in email
case; no charges
The agencys director rebukes Hillary
Clinton but says theres no evidence
of criminality by her or her aides
a finding thats still likely to hurt her
presidential campaign. Page 1B

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

THE ART OF
THE BAD DEAL
Trumps N.J. casino empire plagued by
bankruptcies, run-ins with regulators

Whats been
contaminating
the Navesink?
Report cites rising level
of fecal coliform in river
RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

RED BANK - The water in the Navesink River is besieged by high levels of pollution from excrement, and
nobody can definitively point to the source.
Meanwhile, people who consider the river a kind of
home away from home a place where they can escape
office buildings and shopping centers and connect with
nature are trying to figure out what this troubling
news means for their relationship with the Navesink.
Its pretty sad when youre rowing and the fish are
jumping into your shell (boat), said Jon Nives, a member of the Navesink River Rowing Club, back at the
clubs base after a morning of cruising on the river.
You think theyre trying to get out of the water?
fellow member Sandra Talarico joked.
It feels like it, a half-serious Nives responded.
Levels of fecal coliform a subgroup of bacteria
that includes the potentially dangerous E. coli were
See RIVER, Page 10A

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

People enjoy the Navesink River for recreation, but levels of

bacteria in the river have been rising, says a recent report.

AP (ABOVE); GETTY IMAGES (INSET)

The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City in April 2013. The casino was inaugurated by its then-owner, 2016
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (inset), and was built at a cost of nearly a billion dollars.

KAREN YI @KAREN_YI

Donald Trump often boasts he made a lot of money in Atlantic City, despite
the repeated failures of his casinos there, but what he does not mention is his
casino empires repeated run-ins with government regulators over broken
promises and violating casino rules.
The record before us is laced with hyperbole, contradictions and generalities, then-New Jersey Casino Control Commission member Valerie Armstrong said in a 1988 hearing over Trumps bid to take over Atlantic Citys Taj
Mahal. Inconsistencies in Trumps testimony, Armstrong said, make it difficult to evaluate adequately the licensees fitness for licensure.
As Hillary Clinton is set to speak Wednesday in Atlantic City about the financial background of Trumps casinos, records gathered over four months by
the USA TODAY Network shine light on an era marked by battles with regulators who often doubted statements by Trump yet allowed him to keep oper-

If (Trump) does that

kind of business with a
small business and he
takes advantage of
people he cares less
about the average
worker.
J. MICHAEL DIEHL,
88, OWNER OF FREEHOLD MUSIC
CENTER, WHO LOST $30,000 IN A
TRUMP TAJ MAHAL CONTRACT

See DEAL, Page 4A

Booker leaves
door open for
possible VP nod
AUSTIN BOGUES @AUSTINBOGUES

Sen. Cory Booker isnt making any Shermanesque

statements.
After months of shooting down rumors he would be
interested in the vice presidency, the New Jersey Democrat told CNN on Sunday he would refer any questions
about the post to Hillary Clintons campaign.
Im just referring questions about the vice presidency to the woman thats going to have to make this
decision, Booker said. You should talk to the Hillary
Clinton campaign. What I do know is that on the Democratic side, there are many fabulous candidates people that could be really strong vice presidential candidates.
Thats a far cry from Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Shermans famous, unequivocal and oft-copied declaration I will not accept if nominated and will not
serve if elected that he wasnt seeking national office, in that case the presidency.
Booker, 47, the former mayor of Newark, has been
floated as a possible national candidate since before he
See BOOKER, Page 10A

Super Walmart coming to Little Egg

ERIK LARSEN @ERIK_LARSEN

LITTLE EGG HARBOR - The shelves are being

stocked, the last of almost 300 new jobs are being
filled, and the staff in the food court are honing their
culinary skills ahead of the much-anticipated opening
of the Super Walmart on Route 9, which will be in
business next Wednesday.
After that, the Walmart Supercenter (its official
corporate designation), will be in continuous operation until Christmas Day the one day of the year
when the retail giant closes. Otherwise, the 148,000ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
OBITUARIES

5D
1E
4D
3A
13A

OPINION
SPORTS
TABLE
WEATHER
YOUR MONEY

square-foot complex will be open to customers 24

hours a day.
You can go out on your boat at 4 in the morning
and load up before you go out, Michael G. Cherenson,
a spokesman for WalMart, told a reporter during a
tour Tuesday.
Much civic faith has been placed in this big-box
store. Since ground was broken in June 2015, Little
Egg Harbor officials have expressed hope that Walmart will herald the start of a new era in commercial
See WALMART, Page 10A
16A
1C
1D
8C
12A

VOLUME 137
NUMBER 161
SINCE 1879