Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie’s Fourth of July weekend trip with his family to a public beach that was closed during a government shutdown drew online mockery and international headlines. Now it’s led to a proposed law to stop it from happening again. On Monday, the state’s Democrat-led Assembly passed a measure that would force the governor’s beach house to close during a shutdown. The Assembly approved a second measure to keep state parks open. Those bills still need to be debated in the state Senate and signed into law by the Republican governor. His spokesman declined to comment on the measures, referring to office policy not to comment on pending legislation. While Christie made viral headlines Monday over an argument Sunday with a Chicago Cubs fan while holding nachos in Milwaukee, the Assembly returned the focus on Christie’s previous incident. Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat who proposed the measure to close the beach house during shutdowns, said: “Having it open to the governor and his guests while it’s closed to all the other New Jersey residents who are paying for them to be there isn’t right, and it isn’t fair.”
■ A British television channel Monday defended its decision to broadcast recordings of Princess Diana candidly discussing her personal life, after some royal watchers called it a betrayal of the late princess’s privacy. Channel 4 said the videotapes, made in the early 1990s, are an “important historical source” and place Diana “front and center” in her own story as Britain marks 20 years since her unexpected death. The channel said that although the recordings were made in private, “the subjects covered are a matter of public record and provide a unique insight into the preparations Diana undertook to gain a public voice and tell her own personal story.” Portions of the recordings were broadcast by U.S. network NBC in 2004, but they have never been shown in Britain. They feature her in a Channel 4 documentary that is to air Sunday. Diana Spencer married Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, in 1981, and the couple had two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. They separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, the year before Diana died in a car crash in Paris at age 36. The recordings of Diana talking to voice coach Peter Settelen were made at the princess’s Kensington Palace residence, and include discussion of her failing marriage and Charles’ relationship with his then-mistress Camilla Parker Bowles. Former royal spokesman Dickie Arbiter told Sky News that it was “absolutely shameful” that the tapes were being broadcast, saying Diana’s family would find it “very hurtful.”