Author: ECCYC

TAP Into Another Town’s News:

A driver who fatally struck a 12-year-old boy and fled the scene in Union nearly three years ago has been sentenced to less than eight years in prison.

Jose Marrero, 39, of Kearny (formerly a resident of Lake Hiawatha in Parsippany-Troy Hills), was previously found guilty by a jury of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, according to Union County Prosecutor William Daniel.

Jeremy Maraj, of Union, had been walking home from a park with his grandmother when he was hit by a work van that never stopped on July 17, 2019.

Maraj died from his injuries two days later.

Marrero was sentenced on Friday by Union County Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch.

He was driving a 2016 Nissan NV200 Cargo Van, prosecutors said, when he struck Maraj on the shoulder of Galloping Hill Road near Forest Drive.

There was a public plea for information following the hit and run.

“You must know you hit a child, you know you hit someone. I just ask you, I beg you to come forward. And if anyone knows anything, I beg them to please, please say something,” Jeremy’s mother, Lisa Jamurath, said to New Jersey 101.5, two weeks after the crash that had killed her son.

About a day later, Marrero surrendered at the Prosecutor’s Office in Elizabeth.

A gas station on Salem Road had surveillance footage of the van, according to the complaint filed in Marrero’s arrest, which was returned the next day to his employer “with significant damage to its windshield, hood and passenger side headlight.”

Marrero had told his girlfriend he must have hit a deer, according to the same criminal complaint.

Two different GoFundMe campaigns raised nearly $60,000 in memorial funds honoring the 12-year-old’s memory.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

NJ Diners that are open 24/7

UP NEXT: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

The parallel implementations of the REAL ID system in New Jersey and at the federal level have done away with a specific requirement at state Motor Vehicle Commission offices.

In a release Monday, the NJMVC said that starting Wednesday, a waiver issued by Chief Administrator Sue Fulton will exempt customers from having to present their Social Security card or other type of documentation to prove their Social Security number.

NJMVC spokesperson William Connolly clarified that the waiver would not affect licenses or non-driver IDs, whether standard or REAL ID, that have been previously issued in New Jersey.

But for new applications for any of these forms of ID, NJMVC said it will now instead verify an applicant’s Social Security number electronically, cross-checking the federal Social Security Administration database.

A previous law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2019 had required proof of Social Security via a card, a W-2, or another government-issued document.

In the event a Social Security number, name, and date of birth on an application do not match the SSA’s records, NJMVC said, that application would be denied.

According to the NJMVC website, the long-delayed deadline to obtain a REAL ID for domestic air travel in lieu of the use of a U.S. passport is now May 3, 2023.

Patrick Lavery is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

See the Must-Drive Roads in Every State

The New Jersey Department of Children and Families said Monday that a healthy newborn was brought to one of the state’s Safe Haven sites in May, the first such surrender of 2022.

No infants were given up in 2021. That made last year the first since the state’s Safe Haven law was enacted in 2000 that there were no surrenders.

The previous low for a calendar year had been two, in 2007, 2012, 2016 and 2017; 10 babies were safely surrendered in 2006.

Regarding last month’s surrender, in its release DCF did not disclose the gender of the infant nor the exact date and location, citing confidentiality statutes.

It is the 79th surrender in the state in the last 22 years.

Where can infants be surrendered in NJ?

Since August 2000, the Safe Haven law has allowed infants up to 30 days old to be anonymously surrendered at a number of destinations in New Jersey that are staffed 24/7. According to DCF, those include hospital emergency rooms, police and fire stations, or ambulance and rescue squads.

Any child given up must be “free of abuse or neglect,” DCF said in the release.

What happens to surrendered babies in NJ?

DCF’s Division of Child Permanency and Protection works to have any surrendered baby fostered or adopted once they are cleared by a medical professional.

Anyone seeking further information about the Safe Haven law can visit njsafehaven.org or call 1-877-839-2339.

Patrick Lavery is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

New Jersey’s license plate designs through the years

High child-care costs took center stage today during a joint hearing of the Assembly Women and Children and Commerce and Economic Development committees.

Lawmakers and advocates pushed for easing child-care burdens through the advancement of a slate of child-care bills featuring increased funding and subsidies, as many working mothers, especially women of color, saw their economic stability rocked by the pandemic.

Britnee Timberlake (D-Essex), chair of the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee, noted that child care centers which haven’t shut down because of the pandemic have struggled to retain staff due to higher wages offered at big box stores, and that rising child care costs disproportionately force women to leave the workforce to nurture their young ones at home.

“In a disproportionate way, women will be the ones that will have to leave the workforce to care for the children,” Timberlake said.

As of February,92 licensed child-care centers have shuttered","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2022/02/we-need-help-parents-say-why-is-finding-daycare-so-hard-in-nj.html","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51710000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51710001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>92 licensed child-care centers have shuttered since the pandemic began, according to the state Department of Children and Families.

“Child care was an industry that has been underfunded and hard to access for years before the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Gabriela Mosquera D-Gloucester) , chair of the Assembly Women and Children Committee, adding that the child-care legislation members advanced last week includes an extension of income-based and enrollment-based subsidies to help address that funding gap.

“Women have been working throughout the pandemic and I think that’s important to remember. But what we see is some growing precarity, particularly among Black women,” Debra Lancaster, executive director of the Rutgers Center for Women and Work, told the committees.

Drawing from a report the center published in May, Lancaster noted that about 5 percent of New Jersey women had multiple jobs in 2021, a higher rate than previous years and higher than the rate for men at about 4 percent. For Black women, the number was approximately 6 percent.

“Among women, they were the only racial or ethnic group to take on more jobs in 2020 on average,” Lancaster said.

HAPPY MONDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I’m Jonathan Custodio, your Playbook PM author. We’re adding New Jersey political trivia to this newsletter and will shout out one person who correctly answers the question in the following day’s edition.

Congrats to Karin Price Mueller for knowing the name of former Gov. Chris Christie’s autobiography: Let Me Finish: Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the Power of In-Your-Face Politics. Today’s question: Who was the state’s Senate President in 1990? 

Send answers and tips to jcustodio@politico.com","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"mailto:jcustodio@politico.com","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51720000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51720001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>[email protected].

We’re here with the latest from Trenton and elsewhere as New Jersey moves ahead in the budget process and the Legislature conducts hearings on Gov. Phil Murphy’s spending plan.

SEAMLESS BUDGET DELIVERY — Senate President Nick Scutari is hoping for a seamless budget process as lawmakers labor down the final stretch. “I hope it’s seamless, at least on the outside,” Scutari told POLITICO’s Daniel Han. Thus far, the budget process has moved without any major controversies, in contrast to prior years, including a near government shutdown","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/scutari-says-hes-hoping-for-a-smooth-resolution-to-budget-process/","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51740000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51740001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>a near government shutdown in 2018 concerning a proposed state millionaire’s tax.

Scutari added that there aren’t any particular items that could cause conflict. “No, nothing particular. I mean, we’ve had a lot of good conversations with the Speaker and the governor’s office and I think we’re moving in the right direction,” he said.

COVID NUMBERS— New Jersey reported 1,223 confirmed Covid-19 positive tests","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2022/06/nj-reports-2-covid-deaths-1223-cases-ahead-of-critical-vote-for-vaccinating-kids-under-5.html","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51740002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc51740003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>reported 1,223 confirmed Covid-19 positive tests and two deaths from the virus on Monday. The state’s seven-day case average was down 13 percent from a week ago and 29 percent from a month ago.

HIGHER EDUCATION — New Jersey colleges may soon be required to publicly report data on student mental health services under a measure released from committee today.

The bill, NJ A3713 (22R), titled the “College Mental Health Services Act,” would create a grant program for public colleges and universities to improve or expand their mental health services on campus and require schools to publicly report some data about the number of students seeking mental health services and the average wait time for getting an appointment.

In the wake of Covid-19 lockdowns and amid the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, youth mental health concerns have taken on new urgency in statehouses across the country.

“As a professor, I’ve seen firsthand the need for mental health services on campus,” Assemblymember Sadaf Jaffer (D-Somerset), one of the bill’s sponsors, said in the Assembly Higher Education Committee. Jaffer has lectured at Princeton University.

The bill — with committee amendments — was released 6-0, with one abstention.

In a statement after the bill’s release, Jaffer said the measure “will improve access to potentially life-saving resources by eliminating barriers that stand in the way of students seeking treatment.” — Carly Sitrin

A NEW COMMUTE — Murphy announced today that Justin Braz is transitioning into a new role as the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s assistant commissioner for transportation policy and chief of staff. He leaves his role as deputy chief of staff for the Office of Legislative Affairs and will begin his position at DOT in July. 

CASINO UNION TO VOTE ON STRIKE AUTHORIZATION ","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://newjersey.news12.com/union-to-vote-on-authorizing-atlantic-city-casino-strike","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517a0000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517a0001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>CASINO UNION TO VOTE ON STRIKE AUTHORIZATION — Associated Press: “Atlantic City’s main casino workers union will vote Wednesday on whether to authorize a strike against the city’s casinos, with whom they have yet to reach new contract agreements.

Local 54 of the Unite Here union says its members will decide whether union leadership can call a strike against any or all of the nine casinos. Contracts with the casinos expired nearly two weeks ago, and talks have yet to produce a new agreement.”

SIRES SHAKES UP HUDSON COUNTY POLITICS ","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nj.com/hudson/2022/06/with-sires-return-to-west-new-york-north-hudson-politics-gets-a-new-look.html","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517b0000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517b0001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>SIRES SHAKES UP HUDSON COUNTY POLITICS — Jersey Journal’s Jake Maher: “Hudson County Rep. Albio Sires triggered a shakeup in North Hudson politics by signaling last week his intent to run for mayor of West New York in 2023 after his 16-year run in Congress ends, a move that also has implications for the balance of power across the rest of the county.

‘You get things done on the local level,’ Sires joked as an explanation for the move. ‘You don’t get anything done in Congress.’

The 71-year-old said he’s been working behind the scenes on a few projects in West New York, including a new public library, a pedestrian bridge over Port Imperial Road, and a park built on a pier in the Hudson River near the Son Cubano restaurant.”

PLAN TO IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH OUTCOMES SLOWLY TAKING SHAPE","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2022/06/health-care-maternal-mortality-racial-disparities-reforms-take-time/","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517b0004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517b0005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>PLAN TO IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH OUTCOMES SLOWLY TAKING SHAPE — NJ Spotlight News’ Lilo H. Stainton: “New Jersey has made a bold commitment to drastically improve its dismal maternal health outcomes — especially among women of color — and has made progress in recent years. With goals that exceed any other approach, tens of millions of state and federal dollars have been dedicated to reforms, dozens of new laws enacted, and a diverse and growing list of stakeholders are now actively engaged.

But converting these concepts into action takes time, especially for some of the effort’s centerpiece items. A program to ensure a nurse visits every mother with a newborn at home will require years to roll out, while plans for a Trenton maternal health innovation center remain in flux, and a federally funded committee charged with quarterbacking the work has faced delays during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

— Legislation in Trenton would require drivers’ manuals to include a list of motorists’ rights and responsibilities.","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://newjerseymonitor.com/briefs/to-make-car-stops-safer-bill-would-require-drivers-manuals-to-list-drivers-duties-rights/","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>motorists’ rights and responsibilities.

— Three more recreational weed shops will open in New Jersey on Wednesday.","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://nj1015.com/3-more-recreational-weed-shops-open-wednesday-in-nj/","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0002","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0003","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>New Jersey on Wednesday.

— New Jersey’s Supreme Court says there’s no need for attorney review on real estate auctions. ","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.nj.com/news/2022/06/no-need-for-attorney-review-on-real-estate-auctions-nj-supreme-court-rules.html","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0005","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>on real estate auctions. 

— Assemblymember Ron Dancer (R-Ocean) wants to get rid of constables. Because they’re not really police officers","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://nj1015.com/not-real-police-nj-still-allowing-armed-imposter-cops-on-the-streets/","_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0006","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-5ea8-dfb3-abe5-7efc517c0007","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>they’re not really police officers.

Currently, Michigan is the only state in the country that prohibits discrimination on the basis of height or weight as part of its civil rights law, and there is no such federal statute.

New Jersey state Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-Monmouth Junction, would like to see the Garden State become the second in the U.S. to outlaw such prejudice in hiring, housing, and educational practices.

“This is a serious problem, and we don’t accept race discrimination or gender discrimination or age discrimination,” Zwicker said.

His bill (S2741), which was introduced June 2 and referred to the Senate Labor Committee, would classify rejection based on height and weight under the state “law against discrimination.”

That’s something Zwicker said some other states or individual towns have proposed, but which he was “shocked” to learn was not on the books in New Jersey.

He said studies have shown “widespread” discrimination specifically with regard to weight, typically much more among women than men, and he feels it is both harmful and hurtful.

“One study I saw said somewhere between 20% and 40% of people who are overweight report some sort of discriminatory behavior towards them,” Zwicker said. “Society has put these ideal heights, ideal weights, and these are just things that have been created, and not everybody fits into that ideal. And so, people are treated differently.”

According to language in Zwicker’s proposal, the Michigan law prohibits discrimination in “employment, education, housing, public accommodations, and public service,” among other reasons, and the senator hopes to cover the same ground with the New Jersey bill.

Exceptions are provided in cases “in which the height or weight of an individual is a bona fide occupational qualification,” the bill states.

In short, Zwicker’s legislation would empower someone who feels they have experienced such discrimination to take legal action.

He cited a case out of Atlantic City years ago, in which a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by female casino workers who were weighed weekly and threatened with termination because there was no basis in New Jersey law to support their claims.

This bill, he said, would close that loophole.

“This is more than common sense, this is just the right thing to do, so that’s why I wrote it and why I’m now advocating for it,” Zwicker said.

Zwicker intends for the legislation to take effect immediately if and when it is passed and signed by the governor.

Patrick Lavery is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

See the Must-Drive Roads in Every State

TRENTON – Despite concerns about creating a new bureaucracy, legislators have given their initial endorsement to a plan to expand the state’s Cabinet by establishing a Department of Early Childhood.

The bill, S2475/A4178, would transfer state functions and responsibilities from four state departments into the new one, including the current Division of Early Childhood Education. Essentially, if it’s part of a program relating to children from pregnancy to age 8, it would likely be consolidated.

Already a bureaucracy

Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, D-Middlesex, said the proposal would eliminate the confusion and complexity of licensing and red tape that childcare providers face today.

“Childcare providers are regulated by the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health among others,” Lopez said. “The lack of a unified Department of Early Childhood creates unnecessary bureaucracy.”

Barbara DeMarco, lead lobbyist for Early Childhood Education Advocates, said families need the simplicity of a single point of access, as depending on their child’s needs they can now be bounced between the departments of health, education and human services.

“This will stop redundancy in the number of people working on the same kid. This will allow a single funding source,” DeMarco said.

‘A cultural mismatch’

Cathy Chin, executive director of the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, said early intervention programs are now administered by the Department of Health – which tries hard, but is “a cultural mismatch.”

“How could this not have impacted the infants, toddlers and families we are charged to serve?” said Chin, who said the new department would be a better fit.

But not all groups see the plan that way, presenting an unusual split in opinion.

Unintended consequences

Debra Bradley, director of government relations for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, worries the change will lead to confusion in school districts, duplication of efforts and maybe even inconsistent policy approaches.

“We believe it’s critically important that our preschool system and our K-12 system be fully aligned as a single system,” Bradley said.

Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, said the change would create a new bureaucracy, both complicated and expensive. Better to improve what’s already there, she said.

“Sometimes the loftiest ideas run aground on the sandbar of unintended consequences,” Ginsburg said.

‘Districts are on their knees’

Ginsburg said schools need to focus on major challenges currently: staffing shortages, mental health, school security and more.

“In the wake of the COVID pandemic, with our renewed concerns about school security and all the other issues that confront districts right now, districts are on their knees,” she said. “This is not the time to create a large, new government entity that will require districts and child care providers to participate in that complicated transition process.”

The New Jersey Education Association appreciates the concerns but backs the bill, said Francine Pfeffer, the union’s associate director of government relations.

“Although I know many people are concerned that this bill is going to create fragmentation within the Department of Education because early childhood will be separated from it, it will also place a focus on early childhood,” Pfeffer said.

The bill has been endorsed by both the Senate and Assembly education committees, with eight of the 10 lawmakers who’ve had the chance to vote on it supportive.

In both houses, the bill was referenced to the appropriations committee for a second vote. Both those committees are likely to meet multiple times this month, in advance of approving the 2023 state budget by a June 30 deadline.

Michael Symons is the Statehouse bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at michael.symons@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

Ever feel we are sometimes too reliant on technology? I’m sure many in New Jersey did Friday afternoon. This didn’t receive much mainstream media attention but it was all over social media.

Indeed not only were people making purchases scrambling by paying with checks there was an above normal run on atms for cash withdrawals.

It’s being called a major outage of credit and debit cards, both Visa and Mastercard. Chase Bank runs the network that handles these and was having major problems.

It inconvenienced customers not only across New Jersey but also in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Kentucky and beyond.

I remember the Northeast blackout of 2003 that affected not only that part of the country but extended all the way out to Michigan where I lived at the time. I was trying to buy bags of ice at a 7-Eleven, as was everybody trying to save the food in their now useless refrigerators.

The store of course couldn’t process anything electronically. It was a cash-only situation for which most people were unprepared. Customers were screaming at workers for not having the old-fashioned carbon paper swipe machines. It was bedlam.

A major technology fail recently hit my boys’ ophthalmologist’s office. They were so reliant on technology with no backup system that when it crashed and burned, they couldn’t make new appointments, couldn’t access patient records, couldn’t look up a past prescription or do any function of business. It shut them down literally for weeks.

We’ve gotten so used to technology always being there for us that society can come to a grinding halt when it fails. And it is in that moment we see just how much of technology’s slave we have become.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

New Jersey’s license plate designs through the years

Ever feel we are sometimes too reliant on technology? I’m sure many in New Jersey did Friday afternoon. This didn’t receive much mainstream media attention but it was all over social media.

Indeed not only were people making purchases scrambling by paying with checks there was an above normal run on atms for cash withdrawals.

It’s being called a major outage of credit and debit cards, both Visa and Mastercard. Chase Bank runs the network that handles these and was having major problems.

It inconvenienced customers not only across New Jersey but also in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Kentucky and beyond.

I remember the Northeast blackout of 2003 that affected not only that part of the country but extended all the way out to Michigan where I lived at the time. I was trying to buy bags of ice at a 7-Eleven, as was everybody trying to save the food in their now useless refrigerators.

The store of course couldn’t process anything electronically. It was a cash-only situation for which most people were unprepared. Customers were screaming at workers for not having the old-fashioned carbon paper swipe machines. It was bedlam.

A major technology fail recently hit my boys’ ophthalmologist’s office. They were so reliant on technology with no backup system that when it crashed and burned, they couldn’t make new appointments, couldn’t access patient records, couldn’t look up a past prescription or do any function of business. It shut them down literally for weeks.

We’ve gotten so used to technology always being there for us that society can come to a grinding halt when it fails. And it is in that moment we see just how much of technology’s slave we have become.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

New Jersey’s license plate designs through the years

Ever feel we are sometimes too reliant on technology? I’m sure many in New Jersey did Friday afternoon. This didn’t receive much mainstream media attention but it was all over social media.

Indeed not only were people making purchases scrambling by paying with checks there was an above normal run on atms for cash withdrawals.

It’s being called a major outage of credit and debit cards, both Visa and Mastercard. Chase Bank runs the network that handles these and was having major problems.

It inconvenienced customers not only across New Jersey but also in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Kentucky and beyond.

I remember the Northeast blackout of 2003 that affected not only that part of the country but extended all the way out to Michigan where I lived at the time. I was trying to buy bags of ice at a 7-Eleven, as was everybody trying to save the food in their now useless refrigerators.

The store of course couldn’t process anything electronically. It was a cash-only situation for which most people were unprepared. Customers were screaming at workers for not having the old-fashioned carbon paper swipe machines. It was bedlam.

A major technology fail recently hit my boys’ ophthalmologist’s office. They were so reliant on technology with no backup system that when it crashed and burned, they couldn’t make new appointments, couldn’t access patient records, couldn’t look up a past prescription or do any function of business. It shut them down literally for weeks.

We’ve gotten so used to technology always being there for us that society can come to a grinding halt when it fails. And it is in that moment we see just how much of technology’s slave we have become.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

New Jersey’s license plate designs through the years