2021
November
05
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

November 05, 2021
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Peter Grier
Washington editor

You probably haven’t heard this, given all the other important post-election political news. But this week, Vito Perillo won a second term as mayor of Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

Mr. Perillo beat three opponents to keep his post as head of the small borough near the Jersey shore. He’ll continue to face such tough issues as financing the library and filling spots on the Chicken Advisory Board, which oversees the new backyard-poultry program.

Did we mention that Mr. Perillo is 97 years old? He’s likely the oldest mayor in the United States. 

“Thank you to my fellow residents for trusting me to lead Tinton Falls forward for the next four years,” he wrote on Facebook, following his victory.

Mr. Perillo remains a political newcomer. When he first ran for mayor, the World War II veteran had never held elective office. But he upset an incumbent with old-fashioned hard work: He knocked on every door in town. 

His main issue was rising local taxes. Working with the borough council was a learning process. But he ran for a second term saying he’d made tough decisions for fiscal prudence. 

“I stopped to think about why people might vote for me,” he wrote on Facebook. “Maybe it’s because I’m a WWII veteran, or an ‘old guy’ (hopefully not) ... My hope, however, is that it’s because you see that I care about our town and the people who live in it above anything else.”

He’s looking forward to a term in office that will end when he’s 101.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Evan Vucci/AP
President Joe Biden departs after speaking about the October jobs report from the State Dining Room of the White House, Nov. 5, 2021, in Washington. The economy added more than 500,00 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6%.

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Data on a warming planet: What’s at stake in global climate summit

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Global Carbon Project, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, Net Zero Tracker

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff
Lathan Goumas/Northwest Herald/AP/File
Erin Blair, a health teacher at Lakewood School in Carpentersville, Illinois, officiates a boys junior hockey game at Leafs Ice Centre in West Dundee, Illinois, on Dec. 8, 2013. Recruiting more women as referees is one of the strategies for solving the current shortage of officials.

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Kristen Stewart delivers a fierce performance as Diana, Princess of Wales, in “Spencer,” from Chilean director Pablo Larraín.

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Reuters
A man walks on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nov. 5.

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A message of love

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
The air thins as the train climbs skyward. Wonder is hard to resist along the 9-mile ride. The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway hauls guests to the 14,115-foot summit of Colorado’s Pikes Peak. Indigenous Utes inhabited the region before settlers came thirsting for gold. In 1893, the vista moved poet Katharine Lee Bates to write what evolved into lyrics for “America the Beautiful.” Purple mountain majesties, indeed. Click "view gallery" to see more images. – Sarah Matusek, staff writer
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Come back Monday, when we’ll have a story on the long-awaited new album from pop supergroup ABBA. Mamma Mia!

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2021
November
05
Friday
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