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NJ Spotlight
NJ Spotlight News special edition — ‘Shrinking Shoreline’: July 5, 2024
In this special edition of NJ Spotlight News, we examine New Jersey’s shrinking shoreline, the significance this has for tourism and the potential impact on the state economy. Billions of federal and state dollars are spent to maintain New Jersey’s beaches each year. The Garden State ranks number one...
NJ schools prepare to feed 60,000 more students starting in September
When New Jersey’s 1.4 million K-12 students return for the new public school year in September, 60,000 more of them will qualify for free or reduced-price meals as a new state law kicks in, representing a new front in the state’s efforts to curb food insecurity. The Working...
NJ Spotlight News special edition — 2025 gubernatorial roundtable: July 4, 2024
This special edition of NJ Spotlight News features a roundtable with 2025 gubernatorial candidates that was recorded on June 7. Anchor Briana Vannozzi moderates the discussion of affordable housing, transportation, climate change and equity with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and state Sen. Jon Bramnick.
60,000
New Jerseyans will be able to witness the splendor of Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza tonight as it returns to the Hudson River this year after an 11-year absence. Organizers say 60,000 fireworks of all types will be set off from barges in the river, the largest number yet for what’s dubbed the largest such display in the country. The show starts at 9:25 p.m.
NJ Spotlight News: July 3, 2024
We bring you what’s relevant and important in New Jersey news, along with our insight. Watch as the NJ Spotlight News team breaks down today’s top stories. Menendez defense rests case without senator testifying. Closing arguments could begin as early as Tuesday. Candidates to succeed Payne line up...
Addiction treatment during pregnancy helps to save lives
One NJ nonprofit works to help moms struggling with addiction. The Center for Great Expectations in Somerset is one of the few facilities in the state that is designed to meet the social and emotional needs of new and expecting moms struggling with addiction. Addiction during pregnancy and in the...
Menendez defense rests case without senator testifying
The defense team for U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) wrapped up its case Wednesday without the senator testifying in his federal corruption trial. Over two days, the team tried to contradict several of the claims made by U.S. Justice Department prosecutors. The defense called several witnesses, including Menendez’s older sister Caridad Gonzalez, the sister of his wife Nadine, and a forensic accountant who made the case that prosecutors had cherry-picked evidence in their presentation.
Candidates to succeed Payne line up for special primary election
Special election in September to fill last months of the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr.'s congressional term. The list of Democrats running in the special primary election to succeed the late Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. in the 10th Congressional District is long. Eleven in all are looking to succeed the late congressman who died in April.
State protections for domestic workers now in effect
New rights for housekeepers, in-home child care workers, others. New Jersey’s Domestic Worker Bill of Rights went into effect this week, giving landmark protections to some of the state’s most vulnerable workers. The regulations guarantee that people like housekeepers, in-home child care workers and caregivers for the elderly...
NJ’s athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics will kick off in Paris at the end of this month, and New Jersey will be well-represented in a number of the Games’ events. NJ Spotlight News spoke with NJ Advance Media sports columnist Steve Politi about some of the Jersey highlights. “I think most...
July 4th could set record for NJ travelers
Newark Liberty International Airport has faced a turbulent week, ahead of what’s expected to be a record July Fourth for air travelers. Bad weather and a one-day shortage of air traffic controllers led to widespread delays earlier this week, but the airport resumed to business as usual on Tuesday with fewer delays and preparations underway for a huge influx of travelers.
Feds give final approval to NJ’s first offshore wind farm
Plans to build the first offshore wind farm off the Jersey Shore now have a green light from the federal government, after years of bureaucratic approval process and steady opposition from Shore towns. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Tuesday it had given its final approval for the Atlantic...
NJ community colleges dodge $20 million budget cut
Flat state funding means tuition rates should go largely unchanged. Lawmakers restored a proposed $20 million cut to community colleges in the final version of the state budget Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law on Friday night. Community college leaders say this will allow them to continue supporting students without significant tuition increases or reductions in services.
Big relief for Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers as state funding restored
The Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers faced a drastic cut in state funding that would have forced two locations to close. But with the new state budget passed last week, most of the funding has been restored, and the group can stay afloat — for now. The centers are...
76.2 degrees
Average July water temperature at Sandy Hook over the last 30 years. The Fourth of July holiday is almost upon us, and especially after the recent scorching heat, folks are heading for the water. And warm water it is, with July temperatures on average hitting 76.2 degrees Fahrenheit at Sandy Hook over the last 30 years and as high as 78.9 F at Ship John Shoal Light in Delaware Bay, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
NJ Spotlight News: July 2, 2024
We bring you what’s relevant and important in New Jersey news, along with our insight. Watch as the NJ Spotlight News team breaks down today’s top stories. GOP candidate for governor keeps radio show as election watchdog declines to act. ELEC examined whether Bill Spadea’s daily show gives...
Fighting addiction with pregnant women and new mothers
New Jersey has worked for years to improve maternal health outcomes, but one of the greatest challenges has been addressing pregnant or new mothers who face addiction, as many patients deal with feelings of guilt and doctors who aren’t trained to treat the illness. According to the state Department...
Shell recycling program aims to bolster NJ’s oyster beds
Nearly 100 tons of recycled shells were collected from Atlantic City area restaurants. A New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection program is attempting to turn culinary trash into environmental treasure. Eleven restaurants around Atlantic City — including more than half of the city’s casinos — are giving their leftover shells to the Marine Resources Administration, who in turn are using those shells to help bolster the oyster population within the Mullica River and Great Bay.
Putting Ida mortgage payments and foreclosures on 1-year hold
The measure, which passed unanimously in Assembly and Senate, awaits Murphy’s signature. A bill that would put mortgage payments and foreclosures for qualifying survivors of Tropical Storm Ida on hold for a year, now sits on Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk after it unanimously passed in both the Assembly and Senate.
GOP candidate for governor keeps radio show as election watchdog declines to act
ELEC examined whether Bill Spadea’s daily show gives him ‘in-kind’ benefit in race for governor. After a hearing Friday to examine whether Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea’s radio show constituted an improper contribution to his campaign as an in-kind service from Town Square Media, which owns the radio station, the Election Law Enforcement Commission took no action. It said it’s waiting for a complaint to be filed by the public before it does anything else.
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