Do data centers count as free speech? | Inquirer South Jersey
And state AG’s Norcross files include Inquirer journalist’s notes.
Good morning, South Jersey. I’m editor Julie Zeglen, filling in for Taylor today and Monday.
First, a look upward: Canadian wildfire smoke has prompted air quality alerts across the state, with local governments advising residents to avoid polluted air and canceling outdoor events. See the latest air quality measures in chart and map form.
In Monroe Township, a $300 million lawsuit against its data center ban has moved to federal court. The developer behind it is alleging free speech and equal protections violations.
And an Inquirer journalist’s notes appeared in the state attorney general’s office files in a case against South Jersey power broker George E. Norcross III.
Plus, more than 500 acres of Burlington County farmland could be protected, and more news of the day.
— Julie Zeglen (southjersey@inquirer.com)
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Data centers have drawn controversy across the region as residents protest their potential impact on the environment, noise levels, and quality of life. That debate is raging now in Monroe Township, where officials recently banned their development.
Now, a company that has been planning to build a data center in the Gloucester County municipality is pushing back.
Princeton-based Hexa Builders has for years sought to develop a property at 3043 Black Horse Pike. It’s now suing Monroe officials for $300 million after they denied its application to build a 1 million-square-foot data center and a warehouse.
Among Hexa’s allegations, according to its complaint: “Data centers are a medium of expression and banning data centers would impose a significant burden on the free speech rights of all citizens in the United States.”
The Inquirer’s Sarah Nicell has more on the fight.
An Inquirer staffer’s typed interview notes from 2019 came into the possession of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office during an investigation that led to the high-profile, and recently abandoned, racketeering indictment against South Jersey power broker George E. Norcross III.
News organizations typically treat unpublished reporting material as confidential and often fight government demands for it in court.
The Inquirer’s top editor said the notes were not passed on by the journalist, nor was the company subpoenaed by authorities for them.
Reporter Sean Collins Walsh has the story.
What to know today
More than 500 acres of Burlington County farmland could be protected from development after officials voted to bring seven farms into the county’s Farmland Preservation Program.
The parasitic infection cyclosporiasis has been found in dozens of states, though cases in New Jersey were at typical levels as of this week.
Burlington County received $500,000 to improve its trails. The bulk of the funding will go toward engineering design costs for a trail segment that goes through Mount Laurel.
State energy regulators are investigating after July Fourth storms left around 850,000 New Jerseyans without power, mostly in areas serviced by PSE&G and Jersey Central Power & Light, New Jersey Monitor reports.
The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office has charged four men from Camden and Gloucester Counties with trying to lure an underage girl online. The office also charged a Camden man in connection to a May home invasion robbery in Collingswood.
Somerdale Cold Cuts in Somerdale has temporarily closed after a thief stole copper piping connected to its refrigerator and deli case, according to 6abc.
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🏖️ Down the Shore
This “Ask Down the Shore” feature appears as part of our weekly summertime series from Shore reporter Amy S. Rosenberg. Subscribe to her free Down the Shore newsletter here.
A reader asks: I have been doing the Shore my entire life. I still pack an outfit for every day and an outfit for every night. Am I weird? Do other people do this or do they just throw stuff in a suitcase and wear the same things over and over because they are “on vacation down the shore”?
Amy answered: I appreciate [this reader’s] effort to keep things elevated. But I think the majority is falling into the “throw stuff in a suitcase” camp. Plus, they need room for the sheets the rentals don’t provide down the Shore.
Where do you fall on this topic? Is there such a thing as too casual at the Shore? Email Rosenberg at downtheshore@inquirer.com.
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