Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 4/17/2024
Below is Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing:
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The party apparatus, at least on the Democratic side, they have surrendered their ballot position — they have not surrendered their ability to raise money.” – Rider University’s Micah Rasmussen
TOP STORY: Menendez Gives Republicans Their Best Shot
A Monmouth University poll finds wide regional variations on New Jerseyans’ opinion of whether their region gets their fair share, while most are divided overall.
The NJ State Police announced a 70% reduction in the expungement backlog.
Governor Murphy and AG Platkin announced $12M in funding for community crisis response teams.
Senator Menendez’s legal defense fund has raised $189k so far this year, according to the Bergen Record.
Senator Menendez may point the finger at his wife, newly unsealed records show, according to Politico NJ.
High speed internet for all took a step forward in the state, according to NJ Biz.
A study shows immigrants have an impact in the state with wages earned and taxes paid, according to MyCentralJersey.
Bergen County is now an epicenter of rising anti-Semitism, according to the Bergen Record.
Burlington County adopted the budget.
A report found that Essex County spent COVID funds with little oversight, according to NJ.com.
Rep. Sherril pressed experts on China’s role in the nation’s fentanyl crisis.
ICYMI: Kim leading in Senat race; Murphy addressed the First Lady’s Senate exit; majority reject OPRA changes; animosity growing around Sussex’s Hayden; as state wrestles with ballot decision, appeals rejected stay request, Republicans filed lawsuit to expand ruling to GOP ballots; ballot system brought to electoral maturity; poll shows Dems support Rep. Kim; Quraishi ruled the county line unconstitutional
An independent candidacy by incumbent Senator Menendez could give Republicans their best shot at winning the general election.
Newark Mayor Baraka’s gubernatorial campaign confirmed that Team Baraka’s late ELEC reports have been filed.
In CD7, Mayor Bhalla raised nearly $650k in the first quarter of the year.
Passaic County Commissioner Bruce James fired off a open letter to Democratic Sheriff primary candidate Speziale. Speziale and his slate held a fundraiser last night.
ICYMI: Line impact less seismic; Bhalla is going for broke in primary challenge; Sherrill trouncing other 2025 guv Dems; Zisa stepping down; Ciattarelli launched guv candidacy; Bramnick has question for Ciattarelli, Spadea; Bashaw declined to participate in debate; in CD3, Conaway, Murphy battle energized; don’t count out party boss influence just yet
The NJEDA established the NJ Green Bank.
Lawmakers may address the state’s EMT shortage, according to NJ Spotlight.
The Assembly approved legislation to allow school districts too apply for more state aid, according to NJ Spotlight.
ICYMI: Lawsuit filed alleging state ‘knowingly’ forced casino workers to work in second-hand smoke
Download and read Insider NJ’s annual Irish American New Jersey leaders list in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, compiled by Tom Barrett.
Insider NJ legal analyst Joe Hayden breaks down the legal issues of the day on the Julie Frees Show.
Leonard Lance discusses former President Trump on the Julie Briggs Show.
Beware the Ides of March: New Jersey and Rome.
Former Senator and Governor Richard J. Codey shares this thoughts on this year’s presidential race.
Download and read Insider NJ’s 2024 Advance and Insider NJ’s 2024 African-American List
In Trenton, the AG’s Office indicted a police officer. The Animal Shelter is being reorganized, according to the Trentonian.
In Atlantic City, odds aren’t great that beaches will be fixed before summer, according to NJ.com. Mayor Small won’t resign following charges of child abuse, according to NJ.com. Politics in the city is jolted again following the charges, according to NJ Spotlight. The CRDA unanimously confirmed Scheffler as the new director, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
In Bedminster, support is sought for anti-squatting legislation, according to NJ Hills.
In Bernardsville, the sewer plant sale was put on hold, according to NJ Hills.
In Bridgewater, the town is being sued by a security guard over an arrest, according to MyCentralJersey.
In Clifton, more council documents were made accessible online, according to NorthJersey.com.
In Edison, sports courts will be upgraded at parks, according to MyCentralJersey.
In Hoboken, the preliminary budget was approved, according to Hudson County View.
In Little Falls, $320k was approved for a municipal parking lot, according to TAPinto.
In Montville, the committee announced a tax increase, according to TAPinto.
In Ocean Grove, the Sunday beach access fight could push into summer, according to the Asbury Park Press.
In Paterson, the city is 70% Latino, but few run for leadership positions, according to Paterson Press.
In Readington, $100k was approved for fuel tank removal, according to NJ Hills.
In Toms River, a former police spokesman alleges he was fired as revenge against his father, according to the Asbury Park Press. Sources say the mayor suspended the police chief, according to the Asbury Park Press.
In Ventnor, the budget was adopted, according to Downbeach.
In Watchung, a significant tax levy is needed for schools, according to NJ Hills.
In Washington Township, the budget introduction is delayed, according to NJ Hills.
ICYMI: In Jefferson, AFP, Jersey 1st held an event; in Hoboken, Dems endorsed Kim and Bhalla, Chair Hodes resigned; in Trenton, officials hoping for Starbucks change of heart
In a guest column on Insider NJ, CD3 Democratic primary candidate Sarah Schoengood writes ‘Time for a Comprehensive Political Reform: The Unwanted Gatekeepers of New Jersey‘
Insider NJ columnist Bob Hennelly writes ‘Accountability Required for NJ and MD Port Workplace Deaths‘
In a guest column on Insider NJ, Griselda Camacho writes ‘We Need Latina Representation in New Jersey‘
In a guest column on Insider NJ, Bertin Lefkovic writes ‘A Progressive’s Defense of the Party Line Ballot‘
Insider NJ columnist Jay Lassiter writes ‘Tammy Murphy Dismisses Concern of her GOP Backstory: “I have a lot of friends in the LGBTQIA+ community”‘ and ‘Diving into Andy Kim’s BurlCo Drubbing of Tammy Murphy‘
AROUND THE WEB:
3D-printed ‘ghost guns’ keep showing up at N.J. crime scenes, state probe finds
S.P. Sullivan, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
- The jerky time lapse video showed a 3D printer making what could have been knock-off Lego blocks out of bright green plastic fibers. Police say that little Lego can turn a regular handgun into a fully automatic “weapon of war.”
Ten Days Later, Aftershocks Still Shaking New Jersey
Lauren Albrecht, TAPinto Neptune
- If you’ve felt the earth shaking again in the past ten days, you’re not alone-at least 70 aftershocks have hit New Jersey since the 4.8 magnitude quake (the “main shock”) on April 5th. This was the strongest earthquake felt in New Jersey in over 100 years. Predictably, most of these aftershocks are centered in Hunterdon County, as was the initial quake, but some have also hit surrounding counties.
In-person gaming at NJ casinos continues post-COVID struggle
Associated Press
- New Jersey’s high-flying internet gambling market continues to smash records. But the amount of money won from in-person gamblers at most of Atlantic City’s casinos is less than it was before the COVID19 pandemic. Figures released Tuesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show that the casinos and their online arms won over $197 million from online casino games in March, setting another monthly record.
Wawa vs. QuickChek: Monmouth Poll says Wawa is big winner — and it’s not close
Tom Bergeron, roi-nj.com
- We’ll admit it, we think QuickChek coffee is the best there is — and miss it every time we leave the state, or even North Jersey. Apparently, there aren’t many people who share that opinion. The latest Monmouth University Poll, released Tuesday, asked state residents which convenience store is their favorite — and Wawa won in a landslide.
FAA investigating plane crash at Sussex County airport
Kyle Morel, Newton New Jersey Herald
- The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a plane crashed at Sussex Airport Tuesday morning. The crash involving a single-engine Cessna 150 occurred at 11:45 a.m., according to the FAA website. The pilot was the only occupant on board the plane at the time of the crash.
Small is the fifth Atlantic City mayor since 1982 to face criminal charges. Here are the others.
Nicholas Huba, Press of Atlantic City
- Marty Small Sr. is the fifth mayor in Atlantic City to face criminal charges since the city’s form of government changed to a mayor-council format in 1982. Below is a list of Atlantic City mayors who have been charged during their time in office.
Filing details Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr.’s alleged abuse of his daughter
Jesse Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer
- Vivid details of Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr.’s alleged abuse of his teenage daughter emerged in an Atlantic County criminal filing Tuesday as the beleaguered politician continues to deny wrongdoing regarding the multiple charges filed against him and his wife this week.
New court losses for controversial police training firm Street Cop in its records fights
Dana DiFilippo, NJ Monitor
- Street Cop, the police training firm with such controversial instruction that almost a dozen states, including New Jersey, have banned cops from its seminars, continued its losing streak in court this month, with judges in two states siding against the company.
Corporate Transit Fee ball is now in Legislature’s court
Tom Bracken, N.J. Chamber of Commerce
- It has been over six weeks since Gov. Phil Murphy proposed a highly punitive business tax increase on the state’s largest companies in his fiscal 2025 state budget. Essentially, he is saying New Jersey should replace the temporary 2.5% Corporate Business Tax surcharge that expired at the end of 2023, and repackage it as a Corporate Transit Fee. This tax hike would affect New Jersey’s largest job creators, tax revenue producers and philanthropic givers — in a very bad way, as would the “Buck a Truck” proposal, which is an unnecessary nuisance tax on the state’s burgeoning logistics industry.
Bernie’s moonshot for long COVID | Editorial
Star-Ledger Editorial Board
- Finally, a sign of hope that people are waking up to the urgent need of the 17 million Americans who are suffering from Long COVID: Bernie Sanders is on the case. He’s right that Congress has not “done anywhere near enough,” and his proposal for a $10 billion moonshot over the next decade for research and clinical trials is movement in the right direction.
Be careful out there. Somebody may be watching | Quigley
Joan Quigley, For The Jersey Journal
- “If you wouldn’t like to see it on the front page of the newspaper, don’t do it,” my dad used to warn. But back then any deed would have to have been flagrantly scandalous to attract attention. Somebody would have had to notice and report it and some editor would have had to consider it important to write about.
Voters reject push to gut New Jersey’s public records law, poll says
Terrence T. McDonald, NJ Monitor
- Lawmakers eyeing changes to our state’s public records law have done a remarkable thing in this era of political division: They have managed to get an overwhelming majority of New Jersey’s registered voters to agree on something. The problem for Trenton is lawmakers are on the wrong side. A new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University on voter opinion of a bill that would revamp the Open Public Records Act says 81% of respondents do not want the law revised, versus just 14% who back the proposed changes.
Oldest ‘perv’ in New Jersey? Police arrest 91-year-old man
Erin Vogt, NJ1015
- A 91-year-old man has been accused of flashing his genitals to children. John Urso, of Saddle Brook, was arrested on Thursday and charged with three counts of fourth-degree lewdness.
Anatomy of a reading lesson: Inside a second grade classroom
Hannah Gross, NJ Spotlight
- One classroom where an evidence-backed approach to reading instruction is being used is Teresa Dispenziere’s second grade class at College Achieve Public Charter School in Asbury Park.
Judge Shipp gavels sentencing for corrupt Trenton employees
LA Parker, The Trentonian
- The past connects with the present on April 24 when Michael Ingram of Trenton, and William Kreiss, of Yardley, Pa., appear before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in federal court. In November 2023, each pleaded guilty before Shipp for their part in a conspiracy to embezzle, steal and obtain fraud more than $5,000 in funds from the city of Trenton. The former Trenton Health Dept. employees said they obtained overtime payments for work they did not perform by fraudulently inflating the overtime hours they claimed to have worked conducting residential lead inspections, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
Free transit? No tax collection? We got NJ contract to host World Cup. Here’s what it says
Katie Sobko, Colleen Wilson, NorthJersey.com
- New Jersey agreed to free public transportation for World Cup ticket holders — even as NJ Transit recently approved a 15% fare hike to plug budget deficits — possible state tax exemptions and numerous other potentially expensive state and local commitments, according to the contracts struck with FIFA to be a host city for the 2026 World Cup.
Murphy celebrates “a full week of declining numbers” then says “status quo of lockdown will remain until new cases and fatalities decrease.” So, which of Murphy’s statements is accurate? He said 2 opposite things in a single paragraph of speaking.
He;s “vacationing” at his villa in Italy, while Covid surges and the state is paralyzed by “remote work”…………translation: NO WORK
That is what happens in practicality when they are “suspending their disbelief” (HR Clinton) in real numbers and going on predictive models to make decisions. And then after doing that, they vote with “feelings.”
lmao imagine supporting lockdowns after the largest mass death event in american history and calling that a feeling driven conclusion? maga chuds never fail to disappoint
keeping up with the news
OK
What I — and most of the women I know who are passionate about cosmetics —like about make up isn’t that the right gloss can make your lips poutier or that false lashes can make your eyes more doe-like. Rather, it’s how women can communicate messages and express ourselves through makeup. Certainly it’s not our single factor of communication, but it’s one of many forms of expression that allow us to showcase our individual styles.
keeping up with the news
Longmont Tree Service
Roofing In Brighton
Roofing Colorado Springs
So….about those 56 machines in Bergen… <<>>
Murphy running for President is LAUGHABLE. Nased on what??
What a fantastic post! This blog is so full of useful information I can’t wait to dig deep and start utilizing the resources you have given me. I have a similar article that will surely help.
Increasing Use of Cosmetic Products & Their Side Effects
great article, very informative thanks for sharing
very informative thank you so much
Murphy doesn’t want to be the president, he wants to be a state trooper.
Nice article! thanks for sharing the post!
Neurosurgery is a complex and demanding medical specialty that requires an exceptional level of skill and experience. Dr. Shiau is undoubtedly one of the best neurosurgeons in New Jersey, and patients in Jersey City, Maplewood, Holmdel, Paramus, and Bergen County can rest assured that they are receiving the best possible care under his expertise. Neurosurgeon nj
Meet Dr. John Shiau, the leading neurosurgeon in NJ, at Complete Medical Wellness. Discover his expertise and how he can help you with your neurological conditions. Check out this article for more information. neurosurgeon NJ
lETS NOT FORGET that during the pandemic Donald Trump sent the MERCY, a fully equipped, COVID prepared Hospital ship to save lives of victims and healthcare workers . But Murphy in his wisdom would rather send Patients back to nursing homes that were ill-equipped to treat these patients so they could die , rather than utilize a life-saving gift and be like NY governor Cuomo, another anti-Trump
tool.
Your blog is a haven of positivity in a sometimes chaotic online world.
Your exquisitely curated blog epitomizes erudition, captivating readers with its intellectually stimulating content and profound philosophical insights.
Gun owners don’t have to talk about guns because they know that they have to come out and vote to protect their constitutional right to bear arms. The Supreme court decision has affirmed that right and somehow our “leaders” haven’t learned how to read.
NJ is one of the most corrupt and racist places to live. There’s “0” accountability for the criminal acts, corruption, and unfair treatment of the people of this state. It starts with our governor who cares less for truth and honesty. Continue to ruin the lives of the citizens of this state.
How about those unintended consequences.
New Jersey mandating that all cars being sold by 2035 be electric is telling us what we can or cannot buy with our own money. There will always be gasoline powered vehicles because of the power produced by internal combustion compared to the power produced by batteries; which is to say the more power the bigger the battery to the point of rediculousness. My thought is that if the state wants fewer gas powered vehicles on the road it should create a mass transit electric powered system that would emphasize convenience for commuters and everyday shoppers. Of course that would mean vehicles weighing tons more because of the size of batteries and that creates a whole other question of where to dispose of them (also for elelectric car batteries), since they are composed of highly toxic materials that can’t be burnt or buried. These are unintended consequences no- one is willing to grapple with until its too late. I think by 2035 th he electric car fantasy will go the same way the offshore wind farm has gone.
Stephen Brickman
206 Stonehenge Dr
Phillipsburg,NJ 08865
Stephen.Brickman@gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone
The military serving in the Middle East represents every state in the Union. Those are our sons and daughters, Moms and Dads and yet we are very little to protect them, or REALLY retaliate when they’re attacked. Governor Murphy is the Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, and past chair of the National Governors Association and yet you never hear him mention about any requests either organization makes to Biden to be more aggressive about protecting our kids in harms way. It’s as though it doesn’t seem to matter to them. No wonder we look so weak to the rest of the world.
Teaneck property taxes pays for the school budget. Teaneck High School students walk out. Is a Hamas military shuffle march property tax bill included?
I’m a conservative and I do believe life begins at conception but the problem is that each mother is responsible for that life and it is in the realm of her mental and physical health that she will either bring it to term or abort it. This should not be a political decision and should not be be dictated by thousand of strangers. The Supreme Court turned it over to the states but it still remains personal for the mother and her family.
I don’t think it should be an “agenda item” for any political party. A state medical society may want to impose a time frame within which an abortion can occur but even that may be subject to the mother’s doctor’s discretion.
I say just quit discussing it and leave it up to the mother a father.
Voting should be based on understanding what’s actually happening and knowing who would make life safer and more livable. The only way to do that is to get both sides of the information remembering there are always two sides to a story. Mainstream media in my area includes the Star Ledger and the Easton Express. If you look at the bylines of the opinions you will find writers from the Washington Post and Bloomberg, both notoriously on the left. Even the political cartoons are a dead giveaway. CNN and CNBC are also left leaning. So what are the options for getting opinions and news from the right? Fortunately cable news has Fox, which is near center, and Newsmax, and NewsNation which are full right. Watching these even just occasionally will show a much broader picture and give the reader more information with which to make an informed voting decision. And remember you DONT have to vote party if you feel there’s a wiser choice.
The governor signed off on having Narcan available in all schools grades 9 through 12. But what about the idea
of having Narcan available in ALL SCHOOLS in New Jersey?
How’s his for an idea? Uncover the identities of the un-elected advisors to Pres. Biden, and publish their names. That way there is actually someone to blame when we lose valuable lives from unanswered attacks by terrorist organizations. We know Biden isn’t making these decisions on his own. My guess is that these advisors will quit the team rather than take the heat for poor decisions, revealing a big weakness in this administration. It might lead to improvements to the decision-making process.
Note to Concealed Carry permit holders: make sure you subscribe to one of the insurance companies that specialize in CCP, ie: US LAW SHIELD. If you ever have to fire your weapon , that has to be the first phone call you make. The second is 911, the third is your family. With so many new permit holders there will probably be an increase in discharges until word gets out that it’s actually unsafe for criminals to be in New Jersey and crime will take a nosedive.
Now unless you have a conviction in your background you can get that CCP and really defend yourself and your family. And more women are applying which is great for family defense. The stats that record gun violence will have to be re-organized into guns used for crime and guns used to prevent crime. A lot of get-always here because sometimes just brandishing a firearm is enough to stop a crime. But it should be reported anyway..
The liability limits for taxi cabs are extreme starting July 1. It was a plan in place through the insurance banking committee and it was abruptly changed with an amendment. The guys are barely making a living today and you’ve increased their insurance. What’s fair is fair and this is not it was an incremental increase, which was fair, and was removed by the governor please refer back to the original plan