FLEMINGTON — A 15-year-old boy operating an electric skateboard was struck by a vehicle on Route 202 early Monday morning.
The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office said the teen was hit around 2:20 a.m. at the intersection with Reaville Road, according to Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office Capt. Paul Approvato. The driver, Raymond Lozinak, 61, of Bayonne, stayed at the crash scene, Approvato said.
The teen was taken to Morristown Hospital via medical helicopter for treatment of his injuries. No charges have been filed in the case, according to Approvato.
Approvato did not disclose the circumstances of the crash but said the teen was operating an electric skateboard.
A GoFundMe page created to help the victim’s family with medical expenses and loss of wages identified the teen as Jerry Walther. He is a member of the Hunterdon Regional Red Devils football team, according to the GoFundMe Page created by Theresa Apostolis.
“Jerry ‘JerBear’ is an awesome kid who has touched so many lives,” Apostolis wrote. “Please pray that Jerry continues to fight through this exceedingly difficult battle.”
An investigation into the crash is ongoing, Approvato said. He asked anyone with information about the crash to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-321-1000.
TRENTON– New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced $19.6 million for 31 grants under the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program. This represents the largest amount ever awarded for the program.
“The Safe Routes to School program is a great example of how NJDOT, working with the state’s three regional planning authorities, helps our communities access federal funding for local transportation projects,” NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “These grants will provide resources to improve sidewalks and bike paths to encourage children to stay active by walking and biking to school.”
The SRTS is a federally-funded program to increase pedestrian safety among motorists and schoolchildren. The program is administered by the NJDOT in partnership with the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) and the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO).
The program was created to encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bike to school. The goal is to make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age. Projects are designed to improve safety, as well as reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution near schools.
Of the 31 grants being awarded to local governments to make pedestrian safety improvements near K-8 schools, 22 grants totaling $13.8 million are within the NJTPA region, which includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties. Seven grants totaling $4 million are within the DVRPC region, which includes Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer counties in New Jersey and five counties in Pennsylvania. The final two grants totaling $1.7 million are within the SJTPO region, which includes Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem counties.
Infrastructure improvement projects to be funded through this program include the construction of sidewalks; pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements; on street bicycle facilities; and the installation of new crosswalks, school-zone markings, and speed-limit signs.
Special consideration was given to applications that addressed equity by providing benefits to underserved communities, low-income residents, minorities, those with limited English proficiency, persons with disabilities, children, and older adults.
Each individual municipality is responsible for implementing their respective SRTS projects. For further details on a specific project, please contact the municipality.
They’ve done it…Millennials have officially taken over baby boomers as the largest generation alive. We probably complain more about them than any other generation before or since. There’s one reason for that, we’re jealous.
There are about 80 million millennials on the planet, and they definitely generate hard eye-rolls from the rest of us. Why? It’s because they figured out how to agree as an entire generation to re-set some standards with work-life balance. They have asked for…no, demanded things that generations before never had the nerve to even dream up.
Unsplash: Austin Distel
Unsplash: Austin Distel
Quite frankly, the generations before are turned off to an attitude of “I need my me time” and I think I know why. We were raised on digging in and getting tough…working for what you want and never giving up. That meant pitting us against each other and making everyone our competition.
For me personally, it also meant moving away from family, working odd shifts, and taking on too many hours to “earn your salt” and “pay your dues”. Well, millennials blew that notion up and flipped the script. They came educated and ready to offer something, but not at the cost of their health or inner peace.
As a whole, they agreed to take a breath and improve the quality of their lives. In Europe, they live, rest, eat and talk. They work as well, but it’s not at the pinnacle of their lives. They can do this because they collectively agreed on it either consciously or subconsciously, and we’re mad we didn’t think of it first.
I’m about to overshare here, but what the hell. I went back to work 9 days after giving birth. Not because I wanted to, but because I knew my job would be in jeopardy the longer I was out. I still had stitches. I was breastfeeding. I cried in the bathroom because I missed my baby but I still went to work at 3 am after being awake all night. Some nights I would not go to sleep, I would just come in.
Why did I do that? I did it because I lived in fear. I did it because I wanted to provide for my new baby that I felt so responsible for. The truth is, I could not have gotten fired for allowing myself time to heal after giving birth, but you could not have convinced me of that at the time. While I was out other women were “filling in” for free just for the opportunity. What does that tell you? This generation knows something we don’t, life is short and life is precious.
Millennials are defined as individuals who were born between 1981 and 1996. Yes, they ask for things like 4-day work weeks, or work-at-home hybrid agreements. They expect unlimited vacations and nap stations so they can re-charge. Is this really wrong? Some say yes, some say no but one thing is clear, that lifestyle is wrong for New Jersey.
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine where millennials thrive and fail. It turns out NJ ranked 29th on the list for being a haven for the generation. The best states for the millennial ideals? Washington, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Utah, and Illinois.
You can see the full list of the states that are best for millennials in order from Wallet Hub here.
I love being proud of my work. I also find it satisfying to work hard. However, being overworked hurts more than your health, it hurts your life quality. Every time you say yes to something, you say no to something else. Do you want to say no to your newborn baby? Balance is key and the wisdom to know what that looks like is priceless.
If you want to take some time to smell the roses, here are some New Jersey attractions you may not have been to and must-see!
How Many of These Popular New Jersey Attractions Have You Been To?
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They’ve done it…Millennials have officially taken over baby boomers as the largest generation alive. We probably complain more about them than any other generation before or since. There’s one reason for that, we’re jealous.
There are about 80 million millennials on the planet, and they definitely generate hard eye-rolls from the rest of us. Why? It’s because they figured out how to agree as an entire generation to re-set some standards with work-life balance. They have asked for…no, demanded things that generations before never had the nerve to even dream up.
Unsplash: Austin Distel
Unsplash: Austin Distel
Quite frankly, the generations before are turned off to an attitude of “I need my me time” and I think I know why. We were raised on digging in and getting tough…working for what you want and never giving up. That meant pitting us against each other and making everyone our competition.
For me personally, it also meant moving away from family, working odd shifts, and taking on too many hours to “earn your salt” and “pay your dues”. Well, millennials blew that notion up and flipped the script. They came educated and ready to offer something, but not at the cost of their health or inner peace.
As a whole, they agreed to take a breath and improve the quality of their lives. In Europe, they live, rest, eat and talk. They work as well, but it’s not at the pinnacle of their lives. They can do this because they collectively agreed on it either consciously or subconsciously, and we’re mad we didn’t think of it first.
I’m about to overshare here, but what the hell. I went back to work 9 days after giving birth. Not because I wanted to, but because I knew my job would be in jeopardy the longer I was out. I still had stitches. I was breastfeeding. I cried in the bathroom because I missed my baby but I still went to work at 3 am after being awake all night. Some nights I would not go to sleep, I would just come in.
Why did I do that? I did it because I lived in fear. I did it because I wanted to provide for my new baby that I felt so responsible for. The truth is, I could not have gotten fired for allowing myself time to heal after giving birth, but you could not have convinced me of that at the time. While I was out other women were “filling in” for free just for the opportunity. What does that tell you? This generation knows something we don’t, life is short and life is precious.
Millennials are defined as individuals who were born between 1981 and 1996. Yes, they ask for things like 4-day work weeks, or work-at-home hybrid agreements. They expect unlimited vacations and nap stations so they can re-charge. Is this really wrong? Some say yes, some say no but one thing is clear, that lifestyle is wrong for New Jersey.
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine where millennials thrive and fail. It turns out NJ ranked 29th on the list for being a haven for the generation. The best states for the millennial ideals? Washington, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Utah, and Illinois.
You can see the full list of the states that are best for millennials in order from Wallet Hub here.
I love being proud of my work. I also find it satisfying to work hard. However, being overworked hurts more than your health, it hurts your life quality. Every time you say yes to something, you say no to something else. Do you want to say no to your newborn baby? Balance is key and the wisdom to know what that looks like is priceless.
If you want to take some time to smell the roses, here are some New Jersey attractions you may not have been to and must-see!
How Many of These Popular New Jersey Attractions Have You Been To?
The Joyous Jersey Shore and Why We Love it: From A to Z
Immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019, New Jersey had the 7th-lowest divorce rate in the nation, at 6.3% divorced women per 1,000 married individuals according to U.S. News & World Report.
Once the shutdowns and lockdowns of the spring of 2020 went into effect, however, couples in the Garden State who were headed toward a split found themselves at a crossroads.
For one thing, partners struggled to find adequate privacy to have confidential conversations with their attorneys, according to Bari Weinberger, managing partner of New Jersey-based Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group.
They took those talks into their cars, runs to the supermarket, or dog walks, just for a few minutes, so they would not have to cancel appointments with counsel.
Weinberger said it only added to the early pandemic stresses of keeping the family unit safe and healthy, maintaining job security, and navigating remote learning and custody for kids.
But for some, after a short time, the pressure became unsustainable, according to Weinberger.
“Marriages, where there were already pre-existing pressures and strains, were especially at risk during this time,” she said. “In other situations, the pandemic finally revealed long-simmering tensions.”
This was especially true in the case that a family-run business went under because it had to shut down.
If a couple had not already filed for divorce before the pandemic, Weinberger said, the lockdown made many wait to do so, considering court proceedings were greatly curtailed.
Once law offices started to open up again, though, spouses felt they could, too.
“The state of their relationship started to become a little bit easier, so that they can go and get the advice that they needed in order to explore their options and their rights,” Weinberger said.
But clearing the court backlog remains a lingering concern more than two years later, she said, as there are just not enough judges to go around.
On the other hand, some marriages may have moved toward reconciliation with all the time spent together at home, or at least made partners reconsider.
“Not necessarily going toward divorce, but instead going to a marriage counselor and/or a clergy person with whom they have a good relationship, or a trusted advisor, in order to take steps to remedy the difficulties in their marriage first,” Weinberger said.
Sticking together through an unprecedented health crisis could have been just the recipe some needed to focus on themselves, according to Weinberger.
“These couples often availed themselves to online therapy or virtual Zoom attorney consultation, even to help guide them toward reconciliation efforts,” she said.
Weinberger suggests that as court appointments may still be hard to come by, couples who do not reconcile but remain reasonably civil should instead seek a settlement.
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Unbelievably Expensive Divorces
Every NJ city and town’s municipal tax bill, ranked
A little less than 30 cents of every $1 in property taxes charged in New Jersey support municipal services provided by cities, towns, townships, boroughs and villages. Statewide, the average municipal-only tax bill in 2021 was $2,725, but that varied widely from more than $13,000 in Tavistock to nothing in three townships. In addition to $9.22 billion in municipal purpose taxes, special taxing districts that in some places provide municipal services such as fire protection, garbage collection or economic development levied $323.8 million in 2021.
A Barnegat Township man faces a few years in prison after pleading guilty to Manslaughter for selling a woman in Point Pleasant, who later died, Heroin mixed with Fentanyl.
For the Manslaughter charge in the death of a woman in the borough of Point Pleasant on January 10, 2019, Curtis Geathers, 37, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced that at his sentencing on July 22, the State will be recommending a sentence of four-years in prison and five-years for the unrelated charge of Possession of Fentanyl with Intent to Distribute and the sentences would run concurrently.
Curtis Geathers, 33, of Barnegat. (Ocean County Jail)
Curtis Geathers, 33, of Barnegat. (Ocean County Jail)
Prosecutor Billhimer also said that prior to the plea deal in court by Geathers, the family of the victim was consulted and approved of the agreement.
Their loved one was taken from them on January 12, 2019, at a home in the borough where Point Pleasant Police had responded to following a report of an unresponsive woman who was later brought to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township where she passed away.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, and Point Pleasant Borough Police Department, learned through their ensuing investigation that Geathers supplied the heroin and fentanyl that killed the woman.
It was confirmed in a toxicology report received by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office which ruled the cause of the victim’s death to be Acetyl Fentanyl Toxicity.
Geathers was arrested by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, and Berkeley Township Police Department in February of 2019 and has been in the Ocean County Jail ever since.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer also announced that Ocean County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Ashley Angelo is handling the case on behalf of the State.
The most heinous New Jersey murders that shook our communities
A Barnegat Township man faces a few years in prison after pleading guilty to Manslaughter for selling a woman in Point Pleasant, who later died, Heroin mixed with Fentanyl.
For the Manslaughter charge in the death of a woman in the borough of Point Pleasant on January 10, 2019, Curtis Geathers, 37, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced that at his sentencing on July 22, the State will be recommending a sentence of four-years in prison and five-years for the unrelated charge of Possession of Fentanyl with Intent to Distribute and the sentences would run concurrently.
Curtis Geathers, 33, of Barnegat. (Ocean County Jail)
Curtis Geathers, 33, of Barnegat. (Ocean County Jail)
Prosecutor Billhimer also said that prior to the plea deal in court by Geathers, the family of the victim was consulted and approved of the agreement.
Their loved one was taken from them on January 12, 2019, at a home in the borough where Point Pleasant Police had responded to following a report of an unresponsive woman who was later brought to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Township where she passed away.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, and Point Pleasant Borough Police Department, learned through their ensuing investigation that Geathers supplied the heroin and fentanyl that killed the woman.
It was confirmed in a toxicology report received by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office which ruled the cause of the victim’s death to be Acetyl Fentanyl Toxicity.
Geathers was arrested by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, and Berkeley Township Police Department in February of 2019 and has been in the Ocean County Jail ever since.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer also announced that Ocean County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Ashley Angelo is handling the case on behalf of the State.
The most heinous New Jersey murders that shook our communities
Within days of Rep. Albio Sires announcing he would not seek a new term in Congress this November, a group of New Jersey Democrats coalesced behind their favored choice to succeed him: Rob Menendez Jr.
Menendez is familiar with the district, which includes most of Hudson County. His father, Sen. Bob Menendez, represented much of the area for more than a decade before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006.
The younger Menendez has no experience in elective office, but being the son of a congressman, he said, he knows what the job entails.
Rob Menendez’s push to follow in his father’s footsteps is hardly unprecedented. Dozens of members of political dynasties have been elected to Congress, from Prescott and George H.W. Bush to Ron and Rand Paul to Frank and Lisa Murkowski.
In the past two decades, about 7% of U.S. representatives have had a family member serve before them, according to Daniel Smith, a Columbia University professor who has studied the issue.
“It’s definitely not a given” that a candidate with a famous last name will win their race, Smith told the New Jersey Monitor, “but dynastic candidates usually enjoy strong advantages in terms of name recognition, campaign finance, and networks.”
Menendez said voters on the campaign trail have not asked him about the claims of nepotism that his critics have leveled. Only the press asks, he said.
“When you talk to voters, the most important thing is figuring out solutions to the economic, educational issues and challenges they’re facing,” he said. “That’s what people are most concerned about, and that’s what we continue to stay focused on.”
Sires represents the 8th Congressional District, which includes most of Hudson County and parts of Essex and Union. It’s solidly Democratic, so the winner of the June 7 primary is widely expected to win the November general election. Menendez faces two Democrats, David Ocampo Garajales and Ane Roseborough-Eberhard (like Menendez, they do not have experience holding public office). The Republican primary has one candidate, Marcos Arroyo.
The son of a senator
In an interview, Menendez discussed his upbringing in Union City, a dense, working-class Hudson County community that has long attracted Cuban immigrants, like his grandparents. His father was an elected official by the time he was 19 — when he captured a seat on the Union City school board — and his mother was a teacher.
The story of his grandparents — who came to America to seek a better life — “drives me every single day,” he said.
“And I’ll say this, I think we’ve done more interviews, more community events, than anyone else running, so when I say we’ve been working hard every day, we absolutely have and that’s why we’ve been fortunate to have the success we have,” he said.
Menendez, who lives in Jersey City, said he wants to push for policies that will help the middle-class, working families of the 8th District. He wants to reauthorize the expanded child tax credit that expired last year, which he believes will go a long way for parents who can’t afford expensive child care.
Menendez said he also wants to push for more affordable housing and health care and address the rising cost of goods. He wants to advocate for labor rights, he said, and would sign on to the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize.
Menendez is currently a Port Authority commissioner and attorney at Lowenstein Sandler. He explored seeking the Jersey City mayoralty last year but ended up not running.
He waves away criticism of his campaign as one built on nepotism.
“We work every single day to build a broad coalition of folks who see our vision and agree with it, and who believe this is how we move the district and the country forward,” he said.
Data scientist Seth Isaac Stephens-Davidowitz suggested in a New York Times opinion piece from 2015 that among men, sons of senators have an 8,500 times higher chance of becoming senator than an average citizen.
Smith, the Columbia professor, said anyone who is legally eligible has the right to run for office and get elected by voters. But as elections become more expensive and only well-connected candidates like Menendez have the resources to be competitive, “we risk getting worse representation.”
“Upward mobility in life and in politics is increasingly constrained, as the rich get richer and everyone else finds it harder to even stay afloat,” he said.
While voters tend to dislike the idea of political dynasties, he said, they still support their favorite local son or daughter.
The elder Menendez is a divisive figure. He’s well-known in the Latino community for being a fierce proponent of overhauling immigration laws and helping new residents get their citizenship, and has won decisive victories in his last three general election matchups. But he also faced federal bribery charges in 2015 that ended in a mistrial, followed by a surprisingly weak performance in the 2018 Democratic primary. Survey firm Morning Consult says he is one of the 10 least popular U.S. senators.
Sen. Menendez did not respond to several requests for comments.
David Ocampo Garajales said he knew it would be an uphill battle competing against Menendez. (Courtesy of Ocampo Garajales)
‘Taking bold stances’
If Menendez’s congressional bid was inspired by his father, David Ocampo Garajales’s campaign was inspired by the younger Menendez.
After reading an article describing a round of Democrats who endorsed Menendez to succeed Sires before Menendez had even declared himself a candidate, Ocampo Garajales said he decided the race needed an outsider.
“It wasn’t so much about Menendez as a person but what it represents, and what that is is more of the same, and a way to not let people choose who represents us,” Ocampo Garajales said in a recent interview. “I don’t think more of the same is going to get us out of any of the challenges we’re facing.”
Ocampo Garajales argued that during his time door-knocking, he’s come across plenty of people who take issue with Menendez “inheriting” the 8th District seat.
While they have some policy disputes, Ocampo Garajales emphasized most of his criticism doesn’t necessarily lie with Menendez: It’s with a system that allows the son of a sitting senator to begin the race far ahead of anyone else who wants to compete.
“What’s not fair is the process by which this happened,” he said. “In New Jersey, the Democratic Party has a track record of lacking transparency. Getting all those endorsements before even announcing, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before. It’s more of the same, but it’s also nepotism.”
Ocampo Garajales, who lives in Jersey City, said he isn’t accepting any money from PACs or lobbyists, so he knows this will be an uphill battle against Menendez (Menendez’s campaign is sitting on a bit more than $424,000, and Ocampo Grajales has $6,635). But Ocampo Garajales believes he has the “winning message.” He wants more investment in affordable housing and public transit and would like stricter review of projects like a power plant plan in Newark opposed by environmentalists and the Amazon hub planned for Newark airport.
Ocampo Garajales calls himself a progressive candidate, and supports policies like the Green New Deal and Medicare For All. He said it’s important to the working-class residents of northern New Jersey who cannot afford to fix their homes after they flood and pay exorbitant prices for prescription medicine.
“I believe people in this district deserve a representative who works as hard as they do. Every single year it gets harder for them to make their ends meet, so I think that it takes someone who has a sense of urgency that this moment calls for,” he said. “That’s why I’m taking bold stances and being unambiguous about it.”
Ocampo Garajales is new to the district, registering to vote here on Jan. 9, a week before launching his campaign. He said he grew up in Ridgefield Park in Bergen County, and had been registered there until he moved.
Ane Roseborough-Eberhard in an interview declined to attack her opponents. (Courtesy of Roseborough-Eberhard)
Public school teacher also eyeing seat
Ane Roseborough-Eberhard has had a whirlwind of a life. She’s lived in dozens of places, from Switzerland to Germany to Israel, and has had several career changes. She said she’s always had the desire to serve on the national scale and began her campaign when she found out Sires was stepping down.
In an interview, she said her campaign is self-financed.
“I’m not taking a dime from anybody. No one’s endorsing me because I’m not taking any money,” she said.
She said she focuses on her “practical politics and practical policies,” like funding public education, including higher education. She also believes all communities should have teen recreational centers, thinks campaign finance laws should be revamped, and wants more investment in public transit.
She said she didn’t want to attack Menendez’s run. Everyone has their own strengths, she said.
“For myself, my strategy can work because of the experiences I’ve had in music, entrepreneurship, the public sector,” she said. “Maybe my strategy doesn’t work for other people. I feel good about what I’ve done so far, and I can look at myself in the mirror and keep moving on.”
Trenton public schools are the latest to reimpose a mask mandate for all students and staff, effective Tuesday, May 31.
Superintendent James Earle notified parents in the district over the weekend that kids would be required to mask-up again and hinted it could remain in effect for the remainder of the school year.
Trenton Public Schools
Trenton Public Schools
“We have been informed that COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have increased in our immediate area,” Earle wrote, “Although we have only seen slight increases throughout the district, the Trenton Health Department has recommended that we reinstate the mandatory masks requirement.”
Beginning Tuesday, May 31, 2022, students, staff, and visitors to Trenton Public Schools and/or facilities will be required to wear masks indoors. We will continue to monitor cases in the district, city, and surrounding areas to determine if the mandate can be amended before the end of the school year. Individuals who have medical conditions that may prevent them from wearing a mask should contact their school or building administrator/supervisor for support. – Trenton School Superintendent James Earle
Mercer County is among 11 New Jersey counties that are classified as having a “high” risk of community transmission of COVID, according to the CDC data tracker.
cdc.gov
cdc.gov
Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Cape May, Salem, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Sussex and Morris counties are also at high community transmission levels.
Under CDC guidance, in areas with the “high” risk of community transmission, individuals are urged to wear a mask indoors and outside regardless of vaccination status.
cdc.gov
cdc.gov
Last week, the Hamilton (Mercer) School District announced Grice Middle School was moved to a remote schedule due to high levels of COVID in the school. The building is expected to reopen to in-person learning June 1.
NJ approved six new recreational cannabis dispensaries. Here is where they are located.
NJ beach tags guide for summer 2022
We’re coming up on another summer at the Jersey Shore! Before you get lost in the excitement of sunny days on the sand, we’re running down how much seasonal/weekly/daily beach tags will cost you, and the pre-season deals you can still take advantage of!
