THE troubled resort town on the New Jersey shore is no stranger to scandal and strife. Five former mayors of Atlantic City have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of some crime in recetory burch sale nt years. Multi- million dollar casinos are steps away from crime-ridden neighbourhoods. A quarter of the 40,000 residents live below the poverty line. The city has just been dealt another bad hand: Robert Levy, Atlantic City's mayor, called in sick on September 26th and hasn't been seen since. His lawyer finally disclosed on October 9th that hekobe bryant shoes  was at home resting after spending time in a facility that treats depression and substance abuse. The next day he resigned. His extended absence has caused chaos.

Ordinarily, when the mayor was ill or travelling, Domenic Cappella, the city's business administrator, a sort of mbt scrape outlet unelected chief operating officer, was in charge. He made sure rubbish was still collected and the police were still on the beat. Because this time there wasn't an apparent handover of power, many screamed no dice. One councillor even asked the courts to declare the office of mayor abandoned. William "Speedy" Marsh, the city council president and the second highest elected official, took over as interim mayor shortly after Mr Levy formally stepped dovibram five fingers wn. He will now serve until the city council appoints a successor, who will serve until a special election is held next year.

Even before Mr Levy went AWOL a recall petition had started to circulate. Since his election last year his attendance at cit tory burch ouncil meetings had been sporadic. A local broadsheet discovered last autumn that he had misrepresented his Vietnam military record and was not a Green Beret, as he had claimed. Federal prosecutors have been looking into whether this embellishment illegally added to his veterans' benefit package.

Atlantic City matters. The city's dozen or so casinos add a useful $1.3m a day to the state coffers of New Jersey, as kobe bryant shoesell as making up over 80% of the municipal budget. If the tourists are to keep coming, having a decent mayor would be advisable.

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THE lone Democrat in the White House did not have an easy time as the president's "faith tsar", back in

2001. John DiIulio was appalled by the lack of a serious "policy apparatuskeen shoes sale . He later complained that the White House was run by "Mayberry Machiavellis" who sacrificed everything for political gain. He quit after only seven months.

Yet today, happily ensconced in the University of Pennsylvania, Mr DiIulio has lost none of his lebron james shoes nthusiasm for faith-based solutions to America's social problems. He has just published a new book, "Godly

Republic: A Centrist Blueprint for America's Faith-Based Future" (University of California Press). He tory burch outlet an talk eloquently for hours on the case for extending a helping hand to religious organisations. Particularly

excitingkobe vi grinchfor him, is the idea that a Democratic administration could reinvigorate his faith-based policies

and return them to their bipartisan roots.