The ERA, a floating nuclear power plant off LBI: From the Asbury Park Press archives

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23-03-2025

It's the start of spring in 1972 on the Jersey Shore. In the news, is the promise of the Equal Rights Amendment, a planned offshore nuclear power plant south of Long Beach Island and a proposed state income tax. However, only one of these things will come to fruition in our timeline.
WASHINGTON — Ending four decades of reluctance and indecision, Congress has approved a constitutional amendment designed to improve equal rights for women, according to the Associated Press.
The 84-to-8 Senate vote yesterday that completed congressional action on the proposal brought shouts of joy and a spirited champagne party by supporters, the AP reports.
But Sen. Sam Ervin, D-N.C., who lost 10 attempts to modify the amendment, said: 'You are crucifying women on a cross of equality. … Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do,' according to the wire article.
To take effect, the amendment must be ratified by the legislatures of 38 states within seven years. It would become effective two years after ratification, the article said.
Hawaii, acting an hour after the Senate vote, became the first state to ratify. The vote in the Hawaii Legislature was unanimous, the AP reports.
NEWARK — The Public Service Electric and Gas Company has selected a site southeast of Litte Egg Inlet for an offshore nuclear power plant.
The proposed location is east of the maritime boundary separating Ocean and Atlantic counties, within the three-mile limit for state jurisdiction.
The company proposes to locate two nuclear units with an electric generating capacity of 1,150,000 kilowatts each on floating platforms, about 150 feet apart, behind a semicircular breakwater.
PSE&G announced last Thursday it had signed a letter of intent with Westinghouse Electric to buy two floating units at a cost of $1 billion each.
LACEY — Residents will have a new chief of police on April 1, who decided just five years ago to make police work his life.
But the life of Thomas Darmody III has been all police work since he took the oath 11 years ago in Long Beach Township. He met his wife after she parked her car in a closed public lot and her future husband issued her a parking summons for it.
But he's merrier for the incident. Married in 1968, the couple has two boys — ages 2 and 3.
Chief-designate Darmody, now a sergeant, will become the second-youngest chief — at 32 — in Ocean County when he succeeds longtime Chief Patrick J. Geraghty. The youngest is Long Beach Township Chief Larry D. Parker, 31.
Darmody is taking over a department which has seen officers quit over low salaries and morale.
The Township Committee is mulling over whether to increase patrolmen's salaries from an annual starting amount of $6,800 to more than $8,000. Geraghty was paid about $9,500 a year.
Darmody said criminal issues that need to be tackled include an average of 10-to-12 break-ins per month, which can mostly be attributed to juvenile crime. For example, youths have been burglarizing unoccupied summer homes for their liquor stocks, he explained.
While underage alcohol use is a bigger problem than drugs, there were nonetheless 18 drug-related arrests in Lacey in 1971, mostly for marijuana, he said.
'I don't see any really big problems,' Darmody said. 'We have good men and they're experienced. The biggest hurdle was the salary negotiations.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park Press NJ archives for March 23