TRENTON – Home-schooled students in New Jersey would be able to sign up for extracurricular activities in what would have been their school district, under a bill advancing through the Assembly.
Right now, access is decided by each school district. But A1041, endorsed last week by the Assembly Education Committee, would require all districts to allow it, taking away local decision-making.
Assemblyman Jay Webber, R-Morris, said home-schooling “has been put on a real turbo-boost” during the pandemic but that unless they have access to extracurriculars, kids are cut off from things like sports and school plays.
“An orchestra, for example, is not something you can replicate in your living room, something that a homeschool student should have access to.”
John Burns, senior legislative counsel for the New Jersey School Boards Association says it should remain an option for schools, not a mandate forced on them.
“Each district and each community should be able to determine this issue for themselves,” Burns said.
Jennie Lamon, assistant director of government relations for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, said it should remain optional because the bill doesn’t provide enough oversight to make sure it’s not exploited.
“And it would just be inequitable and unfair to public school students if another group of students is gaining eligibility under a different set of rules,” Lamon said.
“Public school students should have first shot at participation,” she said. “Indeed, they have chosen this setting and all that it has to offer.”
Webber said the opposition is mostly about “administrative and bureaucratic concerns” – and that what’s fair is to open up access to students and their families, “who pay a lot in property taxes to their local school districts and don’t use any of the services presently.”
“Allowing those students to participate in football or drama or orchestra I think is just fair to again the kids and the families,” Webber said.
Assemblyman Erik Simonsen, the athletic director at Lower Cape May Regional High School, said his district lets home-schooled students participate – and that eligibility rules around attendance and grades don’t exactly apply to them.
“I’ve had parents drop off handwritten transcripts and such so that their kid could play, while other kids were not able to participate due to their grades,” Simonsen said. “That’s where the real divide is. That’s where the unfairness comes in.”
Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, D-Essex, said it’s complicated to assess whether home-schooled students are meeting standards.
“I think it opens up a whole world of questions regarding the effectiveness of homeschool,” Caputo said. “Some people could take advantage of home school and not really home school.”
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.
The lists below show 4-year graduation rates for New Jersey public schools for the 2020-21 school year. The statewide graduation rate fell slightly, from 91% in 2019-20 to 90.6%.
The lists, which are sorted by county and include a separate list for charter schools, also include a second graduation rate, which excludes students whose special education IEPs allow them to qualify for diplomas despite not meeting typical coursework and attendance requirements.
Columns with an asterisk or ‘N’ indicate there was no data or it was suppressed to protect student privacy.
New Jersey on Sunday reported no COVID-19 deaths and 3,163 new confirmed positive tests as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) established that eight counties remain at “high” risk for coronavirus transmission.
The state’s seven-day average for confirmed cases was 3,922 on Sunday, up 6% from a week ago and up 131% from a month ago. The statewide rate of transmission as of Sunday is 1.25. When the transmission rate is over 1, that means each new case is leading to at least one additional case and the outbreak is expanding.
There were 793 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported out of 69 of the state’s 71 hospitals as of Saturday night. Hospitalizations still remain significantly lower than when they peaked at 6,089 on Jan. 10 during the Omicron wave.
There were at least 170 people discharged in that same 24-hour period ending Saturday, according to state data. Of those hospitalized, 108 were in intensive care and 39 were on ventilators.
The positivity rate for tests conducted on Sunday, the most recent day with available data, was 13.85%.
The state on Sunday also reported 802 probable cases from rapid antigen testing at medical sites.
The BA.2 strain of COVID-19 has been spreading in New Jersey for weeks, though at much lower rates than the Omicron surge in December and January. Officials have said the Omicron “stealth” sub-variant appears to spread more easily but generally does not cause more severe illness.
For the week ending April 30, BA.2 accounted for 91.4% of the positive tests sampled (slightly up from 89.4% the previous week), while the BA2.12.1 omicron subvariant accounted for 6% of positive tests sampled (down from 6.7% the previous week).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now lists eight New Jersey counties with “high” transmission rates — Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Gloucester, Monmouth, Morris, and Ocean. Those in high-risk areas are recommended to wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation and stay up-to-date on vaccinations, according to the CDC.
Twelve counties are in the medium risk category: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren. Cumberland County is at low risk. Masks are not recommended in the medium and low regions.
New Jersey has reported 2,024,580 total confirmed COVID-19 cases out of more than 17.7 million PCR tests conducted in the more than two years since the state reported its first known case March 4, 2020.
The Garden State has also recorded 331,997 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. And there are numerous cases that have likely never been counted, including at-home positive tests that are not included in the state’s numbers.
The state of 9.2 million residents has reported 33,610 COVID-19 deaths — 30,552 confirmed fatalities and 3,058 probable.
New Jersey has the seventh-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Mississippi, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee and West Virginia — as of the latest data reported Tuesday. Last summer, the state still had the most deaths per capita in the country.
The latest numbers follow a major study that revealed even a mild case of COVID-19 can significantly affect the brain. Long COVID — the term commonly used to describe symptoms stemming from the virus long after a person no longer tests positive — has been found to affect between 10% and 30% of those who contract the infection, regardless of whether they have a mild or serious case.
More than 6.91 million of the 8.46 million eligible people who live, work or study in New Jersey have received the initial course of vaccinations and more than 7.8 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began here on Dec. 15, 2020.
More than 3.79 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one. That number may rise after the FDA on Tuesday approved booster shots for healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11. U.S. regulators authorized the booster for kids hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward.
For the week ending May 8, with about 59% of schools reporting data, another 8,923 COVID-19 cases were reported among staff (2,461) and students (6,462) across New Jersey’s schools.
Since the start of the academic year, there have been 116,771 students and 34,685 school staff members who have contracted COVID-19 in New Jersey, though the state has never had more than two-thirds of the school districts reporting data in any week.
The state provides total student and staff cases separately from those deemed to be in-school transmission, which is narrowly defined as three or more cases linked through contact tracing.
New Jersey has reported 807 total in-school outbreaks, including 5,671 cases among students and staff. That includes 82 new outbreaks in the latest weekly report ending May 16. The state reported 72 in-school outbreaks the previous week.
At least 9,049 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.
There were active outbreaks at 323 facilities, resulting in 3,482 current cases among residents and 3,144 cases among staff, as of the latest data.
As of Sunday, there have been more than 525 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than 6.28 million people died due to the virus.
The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 83.2 million) and deaths (at least 1,002,025) of any nation.
There have been more than 11.44 billion vaccine doses administered globally.
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Vashti Harris may be reached at vharris@njadvancemedia.com.
New Jersey on Sunday reported no COVID-19 deaths and 3,163 new confirmed positive tests as 10 counties remain at “high” risk for coronavirus transmission.
The state’s seven-day average for confirmed cases was 3,922 on Sunday, up 6% from a week ago and up 131% from a month ago.
The statewide rate of transmission as of Sunday is 1.25. When the transmission rate is over 1, that means each new case is leading to at least one additional case and the outbreak is expanding.
There were 793 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported out of 69 of the state’s 71 hospitals as of Saturday night. Hospitalizations still remain significantly lower than when they peaked at 6,089 on Jan. 10 during the Omicron wave.
There were at least 170 people discharged in that same 24-hour period ending Saturday, according to state data. Of those hospitalized, 108 were in intensive care and 39 were on ventilators.
The positivity rate for tests conducted on Wednesday, the most recent day with available data, was 12.31%.
The state on Sunday also reported 802 probable cases from rapid antigen testing at medical sites.
The BA.2 strain of COVID-19 has been spreading in New Jersey for weeks, though at much lower rates than the Omicron surge in December and January. Officials have said the Omicron “stealth” sub-variant appears to spread more easily but generally does not cause more severe illness.
For the week ending April 30, BA.2 accounted for 91.4% of the positive tests sampled (slightly up from 89.4% the previous week), while the BA2.12.1 omicron subvariant accounted for 6% of positive tests sampled (down from 6.7% the previous week).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now lists 10 New Jersey counties with “high” transmission rates — Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Gloucester, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Salem and Sussex. Those in high-risk areas are recommended to wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation and stay up-to-date on vaccinations, according to the CDC.
Ten counties are in the medium risk category: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union and Warren. Cumberland County is at low risk. Masks are not recommended in the medium and low regions.
New Jersey has reported 2,024,580 total confirmed COVID-19 cases out of more than 17.7 million PCR tests conducted in the more than two years since the state reported its first known case March 4, 2020.
The Garden State has also recorded 331,997 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. And there are numerous cases that have likely never been counted, including at-home positive tests that are not included in the state’s numbers.
The state of 9.2 million residents has reported 33,610 COVID-19 deaths — 30,552 confirmed fatalities and 3,058 probable.
New Jersey has the seventh-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Mississippi, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee and West Virginia — as of the latest data reported Tuesday. Last summer, the state still had the most deaths per capita in the country.
The latest numbers follow a major study that revealed even a mild case of COVID-19 can significantly affect the brain. Long COVID — the term commonly used to describe symptoms stemming from the virus long after a person no longer tests positive — has been found to affect between 10% and 30% of those who contract the infection, regardless of whether they have a mild or serious case.
More than 6.91 million of the 8.46 million eligible people who live, work or study in New Jersey have received the initial course of vaccinations and more than 7.8 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began here on Dec. 15, 2020.
More than 3.79 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one. That number may rise after the FDA on Tuesday approved booster shots for healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11. U.S. regulators authorized the booster for kids hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward.
For the week ending May 8, with about 59% of schools reporting data, another 8,923 COVID-19 cases were reported among staff (2,461) and students (6,462) across New Jersey’s schools.
Since the start of the academic year, there have been 116,771 students and 34,685 school staff members who have contracted COVID-19 in New Jersey, though the state has never had more than two-thirds of the school districts reporting data in any week.
The state provides total student and staff cases separately from those deemed to be in-school transmission, which is narrowly defined as three or more cases linked through contact tracing.
New Jersey has reported 807 total in-school outbreaks, including 5,671 cases among students and staff. That includes 82 new outbreaks in the latest weekly report ending May 16. The state reported 72 in-school outbreaks the previous week.
At least 9,049 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.
There were active outbreaks at 323 facilities, resulting in 3,482 current cases among residents and 3,144 cases among staff, as of the latest data.
As of Sunday, there have been more than 525 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than 6.28 million people died due to the virus.
The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 83.2 million) and deaths (at least 1,002,025) of any nation.
There have been more than 11.44 billion vaccine doses administered globally.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct that 10 counties are currently considered at “high” risk for COVID-19 transmission.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Vashti Harris may be reached at vharris@njadvancemedia.com.
LONG BRANCH — Police arrested more than a dozen people Saturday evening after nearly 5,000 revelers descended on this oceanfront city, prompting a massive police response and an overnight curfew.
The chaos, a repeat of what happened here last summer, will result in city officials developing a plan to address pop-up parties that overwhelm local services. City Public Safety Director Domingos Saldida said the goal would be to issue a plan that other shore communities could also implement.
Videos shared online by residents and visitors show police in tactical gear trying to control and disperse the crowd after dark.
Officials said those arrested face misdemeanor charges stemming from fighting as well as vandalizing a police vehicle. The suspects were “all out-of-towners,” many of them from Essex County, Saldida said.
Prosecutors said Sunday morning that Department of Corrections officers deployed disorientation devices, specifically a single flash-bang as well as smoke, “in limited situations in response to fights taking place and bottles and rocks being thrown where the crowd would not disperse.”
No injuries other than from people engaged in fighting have been reported. Saldida said there were no reports of property damage except for a radio car that was stomped. Saldida said police have made one arrest in connection to the vandalism of the car, which may result in further arrests.
While overcrowding at the Jersey Shore, particularly at popular destinations such as Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant and Belmar, has been a concern for years, Saldida said social media has exacerbated it, resulting in potentially dangerous and uncontrollable crowds.
“When masses show up by NJ Transit and 5,000 people take over Pier Village, it creates a very difficult situation to handle,” Saldida said. “I believe law enforcement in Monmouth County did an exceptional job.”
Long Branch is a city of 30,700 year-round residents. One of its main attractions, aside from the ocean beach, is the Pier Village development of residents, retail stores and restaurants.
Authorities believe that the crowds on Saturday were the result of a celebration that was promoted on social media. A promotional post on Instagram called on people to bring their own liquor and weed to the Long Branch beach starting at noon on Sunday.
This will be the first summer in New Jersey after cannabis regulators greenlighted the sale of recreational marijuana.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday morning said five adults and four juvenile arrests stemming from fighting. Saldida said an additional six adults were also arrested.
Last June, a party promoted online drew thousands of teens and young adults to Long Branch, resulting in a massive police response. The event also resulted in false rumors about rioting.
This weekend, officials said city police sent out a call for help at about 5 p.m. Neighboring police departments, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the State Police responded to the area.
The city took to social media to announce a curfew from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Sunday. The curfew prohibited anyone from “using, standing, sitting, traveling or being present on any public street or in any public place.”
Law enforcement officials said most people left peacefully after the curfew was announced. But the sight of police in tactical gear and the sound of a flash-bang accompanied by smoke — akin to the scenes of civil unrest that unfolded across the country in 2020 — was unnerving to some.
“Why? Because there is a crowd of people? This needs to stop. It’s ridiculous,” one commenter said on the Long Branch Police Department’s Facebook page. “There should be no curfew pressed on the public. Public safety is a well-known term to use to impose restrictions that are biased.”
“Just say it for what it was,” one commenter said on Twitter in response to the news. “It was too many young folk congregating & having fun with good vibes to the municipality’s liking and they decided to go in and break it up by inciting legal chaos, like usual.”
Saldida defended the police response, saying officers used their training to move people who had “decided not to be moved.” He said there were no injuries resulting from the police action.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey “commended” law enforcement agencies and municipal officials for taking action.
“Responding agencies worked in unison to create a swift, professional, and tactical response to what was evolving as a dangerous situation,” Linskey said in a written statement Sunday morning. “We appreciate the efforts of Long Branch City Officials issuing tonight’s curfew in response to the public safety situation.”
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The chaos in Long Branch this year comes as New Jersey begins its first summer after greenlighting the sale of recreational marijuana.
New Jersey 101.5 will broadcast a special townhall at 7 p.m. Thursday to discuss what New Jersey can expect this summer at the shore.
The program, which will be carried on Facebook Live, will include tourism officials, local mayors, law enforcement and travel experts.
Sergio Bichao is the digital managing editor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com
Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.
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!
UPDATED 4/10: A current list of county fairs happening across the Garden State for 2022. From rides, food, animals, and hot air balloons, each county fair has something unique to offer.
(Fairs are listed in geographical order from South NJ to North NJ)
GAYLORD, Mich. — A tornado that killed at least two people and injured dozens of others dropped out of the sky in far northern Michigan on Friday and onto a mobile home park before tearing a three-block hole through the small city of Gaylord.
“It all just flashed before my eyes,” said Logan Clayton, 18, who was at home in the Nottingham Forest mobile home park, where the deaths were reported, when the winds became so intense that one window shattered. He recalled seeing “someone getting picked up, trailers getting picked up. It all just happened within 10 seconds and then it was gone.”
As cleanup began on Saturday, and as more than 40 people were treated for injuries, officials struggled to make sense of the damage in a region where tornadoes are rare. One person remained unaccounted for, and crews were searching through wreckage from the EF-3 tornado, which the National Weather Service said had maximum winds of 140 miles per hour.
“We were calling them out by name, trying to see if they were still in their damaged homes,” said Chief Frank Claeys of the Gaylord Police Department. “And when you see that, it’s a lot more personal when our officers know the names of people who live in those homes.”
Forecasters had warned of the potential for severe weather on Friday, but the tornado that hit Gaylord, population 4,300, still came suddenly. A severe thunderstorm warning issued in the afternoon was quickly upgraded to a tornado warning. The city, roughly 230 miles northwest of Detroit, has no tornado sirens, officials said, but people in the area were alerted to the storm by emergency notifications on their cellphones.
Within minutes, a tornado was on the ground, tearing apart the mobile homes and then charging across city limits from west to east. Cars were tossed on top of one another in a Hobby Lobby parking lot. A truck was upended next to a sign for a Culver’s restaurant. The roofs of several businesses had collapsed.
“This storm went a lot of places and did a lot of damages — hit a lot of homes, the commercial corridor,” said Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat who visited Gaylord on Saturday.
Mr. Clayton said he had heard about the coming storm only because of a call from his older brother, Declan, who was at a Meijer gas station just down the street and saw swirling winds and circling birds in the sky. By the time the elder Mr. Clayton made it back to the mobile home park, debris was blocking the roads into the complex.
“I had to run a block down to our trailer, hopping over trees and rubble, helping people where I could,” said Declan Clayton, 20. “Because there was people crawling out of rubble with injuries. There were people confused. They didn’t know what happened.”
More than 40 people were treated at hospitals for their injuries, and officials said it was possible that others were hurt but had not sought medical attention. So many people needed care that patients were diverted to other hospitals in the region as one in Gaylord filled up.
On Saturday, strip mall parking lots in parts of Gaylord remained fields of debris. A Goodwill store was missing part of its front wall. Smashed bricks and shattered plywood were strewn outside the entrance of a Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
Athena and Steve Sherbert, who were dropping off their daughter for a shift at the smoothie cafe when the storm hit, ended up riding out the tornado in the restaurant’s cooler.
“Right when we were running back to the cooler, that’s when the windows shattered,” said Mr. Sherbert. “I could feel the glass hit the back of my legs.”
Tornadoes are far less common in Michigan than in many other Midwestern states. John Boris, of the National Weather Service office in Gaylord, said the state averaged about 15 tornadoes a year. Most of those occur well to the south of Gaylord, which is about 60 miles from the northern tip of the state’s Lower Peninsula.
“Up here, stuff like this doesn’t happen,” said Joshua Comoford, 22, who was handing out drinks to firefighters and volunteers on Saturday at the mobile home park. “You have rainstorms or severe winds. But a tornado actually ripping through our town? Nothing like that’s ever happened in my lifetime.”
Lt. Derrick Carroll, a spokesman for the Michigan State Police, said power outages continued in parts of Gaylord on Saturday and a curfew would remain in place that night. Both people known to have died were in their 70s, he said. One of them was found overnight Friday during a search of the mobile home park with a cadaver dog. Crews continued to look on Saturday for a person who was reported missing.
For those like Jasmine Vandenbrook, whose mobile home was smothered by other trailers and destroyed, the challenge was how to move forward now. Ms. Vandenbrook, 31, who shared the home with five family members, said she had no renters’ insurance. They had only been able to salvage a few items.
“It’s very hard seeing that you have nothing,” said Ms. Vandenbrook, who picked up some donated supplies — blankets, clothes, food — at a local church. “All your belongings, everything just ripped out of your house.”
Her family is now living in a friend’s camper until they can find a place to rent.
Luke Vander Ploeg reported from Gaylord, and Mitch Smith from Chicago.
GAYLORD, Mich. — A tornado that killed at least two people and injured dozens of others dropped out of the sky in far northern Michigan on Friday and onto a mobile home park before tearing a three-block hole through the small city of Gaylord.
“It all just flashed before my eyes,” said Logan Clayton, 18, who was at home in the Nottingham Forest mobile home park, where the deaths were reported, when the winds became so intense that one window shattered. He recalled seeing “someone getting picked up, trailers getting picked up. It all just happened within 10 seconds and then it was gone.”
As cleanup began on Saturday, and as more than 40 people were treated for injuries, officials struggled to make sense of the damage in a region where tornadoes are rare. One person remained unaccounted for, and crews were searching through wreckage from the EF-3 tornado, which the National Weather Service said had maximum winds of 140 miles per hour.
“We were calling them out by name, trying to see if they were still in their damaged homes,” said Chief Frank Claeys of the Gaylord Police Department. “And when you see that, it’s a lot more personal when our officers know the names of people who live in those homes.”
Forecasters had warned of the potential for severe weather on Friday, but the tornado that hit Gaylord, population 4,300, still came suddenly. A severe thunderstorm warning issued in the afternoon was quickly upgraded to a tornado warning. The city, roughly 230 miles northwest of Detroit, has no tornado sirens, officials said, but people in the area were alerted to the storm by emergency notifications on their cellphones.
Within minutes, a tornado was on the ground, tearing apart the mobile homes and then charging across city limits from west to east. Cars were tossed on top of one another in a Hobby Lobby parking lot. A truck was upended next to a sign for a Culver’s restaurant. The roofs of several businesses had collapsed.
“This storm went a lot of places and did a lot of damages — hit a lot of homes, the commercial corridor,” said Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat who visited Gaylord on Saturday.
Mr. Clayton said he had heard about the coming storm only because of a call from his older brother, Declan, who was at a Meijer gas station just down the street and saw swirling winds and circling birds in the sky. By the time the elder Mr. Clayton made it back to the mobile home park, debris was blocking the roads into the complex.
“I had to run a block down to our trailer, hopping over trees and rubble, helping people where I could,” said Declan Clayton, 20. “Because there was people crawling out of rubble with injuries. There were people confused. They didn’t know what happened.”
More than 40 people were treated at hospitals for their injuries, and officials said it was possible that others were hurt but had not sought medical attention. So many people needed care that patients were diverted to other hospitals in the region as one in Gaylord filled up.
On Saturday, strip mall parking lots in parts of Gaylord remained fields of debris. A Goodwill store was missing part of its front wall. Smashed bricks and shattered plywood were strewn outside the entrance of a Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
Athena and Steve Sherbert, who were dropping off their daughter for a shift at the smoothie cafe when the storm hit, ended up riding out the tornado in the restaurant’s cooler.
“Right when we were running back to the cooler, that’s when the windows shattered,” said Mr. Sherbert. “I could feel the glass hit the back of my legs.”
Tornadoes are far less common in Michigan than in many other Midwestern states. John Boris, of the National Weather Service office in Gaylord, said the state averaged about 15 tornadoes a year. Most of those occur well to the south of Gaylord, which is about 60 miles from the northern tip of the state’s Lower Peninsula.
“Up here, stuff like this doesn’t happen,” said Joshua Comoford, 22, who was handing out drinks to firefighters and volunteers on Saturday at the mobile home park. “You have rainstorms or severe winds. But a tornado actually ripping through our town? Nothing like that’s ever happened in my lifetime.”
Lt. Derrick Carroll, a spokesman for the Michigan State Police, said power outages continued in parts of Gaylord on Saturday and a curfew would remain in place that night. Both people known to have died were in their 70s, he said. One of them was found overnight Friday during a search of the mobile home park with a cadaver dog. Crews continued to look on Saturday for a person who was reported missing.
For those like Jasmine Vandenbrook, whose mobile home was smothered by other trailers and destroyed, the challenge was how to move forward now. Ms. Vandenbrook, 31, who shared the home with five family members, said she had no renters’ insurance. They had only been able to salvage a few items.
“It’s very hard seeing that you have nothing,” said Ms. Vandenbrook, who picked up some donated supplies — blankets, clothes, food — at a local church. “All your belongings, everything just ripped out of your house.”
Her family is now living in a friend’s camper until they can find a place to rent.
Luke Vander Ploeg reported from Gaylord, and Mitch Smith from Chicago.
Extreme heat is threatening large swaths of North America, as a heat wave spreads from the Southwest to reach the Midwest and potentially parts of New England this week. These rising temperatures increase the risk for heat-related illnesses including heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Read on for tips from experts on how to stay cool during the swelter — even without air conditioning.
Staying cool and hydrating often are the two most important things you can do to avoid feeling sick and discomfort when it’s extremely hot. If you don’t have an air conditioning unit, or if your A.C. has been on nonstop and you still feel hot, here are ways to cool your body and home:
Spritz your skin with a mist of cool or room-temperature water.
Block out the windows in your home with a blanket or a darker sheet during the day to keep the heat out.
If you don’t have A.C., keep windows open and run fans to circulate the air. Wirecutter, a New York Times company, has guidance on the best products to keep your home cool.
Wipe your forehead with a cool cloth.
Avoid strenuous exercise outdoors if possible.
Put ice cubes in your water bottle, especially if you’re outdoors.
If you do plan to exercise outside, or need to exert yourself outdoors for work, drink a slushie beforehand or douse your head in cold water. Cold showers can also help you cool down.
For adults, the C.D.C. says to watch out for symptoms of heat exhaustion, which include heavy sweating; cold, pale and clammy skin; a fast, weak pulse; nausea or vomiting; muscle cramps; fatigue; dizziness; or headaches and fainting. If you are experiencing these symptoms, sip water, move to a cooler location if possible, loosen your clothes, or try to take a cool bath or place cool, wet cloths on your body. Seek medical attention immediately if you vomit or if your symptoms worsen or last longer than an hour.
The symptoms of heat stroke, according to the C.D.C., include a high body temperature (103°F or higher); hot, red, dry or damp skin; a fast and strong pulse; a headache; dizziness; nausea; confusion and passing out. If someone is experiencing these symptoms, call 911 immediately, and try to move the person into the shade or a cooler area if available; use cool cloths or a cool bath to lower their body temperature. Do not give them anything to drink.
Making matters more confusing, denial can be also be a symptom of heat stroke. A person with heat-related illness may start stumbling or appear less coordinated than usual. Ask the person if they have a headache, nausea or dizziness. Talk to them about a variety of topics to see if they exhibit symptoms of confusion.
If you suspect a person is having a problem with the heat, err on the side of caution and insist they get into shade or somewhere cool. Have them drink water and spray their body with cold water or rub them down with ice or a cold cloth. If they don’t cool down quickly, seek medical advice.
Kids should be instructed that if their friends start acting funny, confused or mumbling, they should alert an adult.
There’s not a one-size-fits-all rule for the amount of water to drink, said Adriana Quinones-Camacho, M.D., a cardiologist at N.Y.U. Lagone Health. But everyone should expect to drink more than they normally would, and constant access to water is key. Drink even when you’re not thirsty. Since we lose electrolytes when we sweat, drinking Gatorade or other sports drinks with electrolytes can also help, she said. “Think of it similar to running a marathon, with how much people can sweat on a day like today,” she said.
To ascertain how much water you should drink, “you want to watch your output,” said Dr. James Mark, an emergency medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. If you’re urinating less frequently than normal, or if your urine is a concentrated, dark yellow or gold color, that’s a sign you should drink more fluids. If you are urinating frequently and your urine looks clear, you are likely sufficiently hydrated.
Avoid consuming alcoholic or caffeinated drinks, which can be dehydrating.
Eating fruits that have water in them can help you fend off the heat, Dr. Quinones-Camacho said. If you’re having salty foods, drink extra water to balance it out. Try to stay away from hot, body-warming foods, like soup.
Young children are especially vulnerable to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Parents and caregivers should monitor their activity during hot weather and plan activities that are less likely to cause them to overheat, like running through sprinklers or playing in a pool. Also make sure kids are wearing lightweight, light-colored clothing, using sunscreen and hydrating regularly.
If a child is playing outside of the water, try to keep them in the shade and consider bringing a spray bottle to spritz their skin (and your own).
When it is humid and at least 90 degrees, children should not play outside for more than 30 minutes at a time. Keep babies under 12 months out of the sun as much as possible.
Teens tend to be more active than adults in the summer, Dr. Mark said, and should plan activities like hanging out in a park before noon, when the heat will be less intense.
What are the signs of heat exhaustion in children?
If a child develops heat exhaustion, she may start to feel dizzy and nauseated, suffer muscle cramps or begin vomiting. Her skin may feel cold and clammy to touch.
If you observe these symptoms in a child, bring her to a cooler place; ask her to sit still or lie down; remove excess clothing; apply a cool, wet cloth or water to her skin and give her water to drink.
What are the signs of heat stroke in children?
“In heat stroke, the skin is hot and dry instead of cold and clammy, and the child gets sleepy and maybe confused,” said Dr. Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Children with heat stroke may also experience a high fever or seizures.
Heat stroke can also creep up on young kids who haven’t exerted themselves at all.
“They’re either dressed too warmly in a hot environment, they’re left in a hot vehicle or in a room that doesn’t have any circulation, they’re out at the beach wrapped up in the sun,” said Dr. Tony Woodward, the medical director of emergency medicine at Seattle Children’s. “All of those kinds of things can lead to their temperature going up very quickly.”
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ parenting website, HealthyChildren.org, half of children with heatstroke do not sweat.
If you suspect that a child has heat stroke, call 911 and try to cool them down until help arrives.
Extreme heat can be particularly dangerous for furry friends. Here are some simple precautions to protect dogs and other animals:
Walk your dog early in the morning or after sunset when the air and the streets are cooler. Avoid strenuously exercising your dog on very hot and humid days, and seek out shady trails or sidewalks whenever possible.
Always carry water and a collapsible bowl. Stop often to make sure your pet is sufficiently hydrated; panting, which is how they lower body temperature, causes water loss.
If your dog tries to slow down or stop entirely, let them rest and take frequent breaks.
If your dog shows any signs of overheating — excessive panting, lethargy, a deep red tongue — get them into cool water as soon as possible. A cool wet towel or piece of clothing can also help.
If signs of distress persist, go to a veterinarian immediately; organ failure can be rapid, irreversible and fatal.
Keep your pets groomed.
A cooling mat can also give your pet respite.
“The number-one issue is to stay well-hydrated,” said Wayne McCormick, M.D., a gerontologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Older people should drink lots of their beverage of choice: “It can be water, it can be lemonade, just whatever is wet,” Dr. McCormick said. If mobility is an issue and someone can’t easily get to a public cooling center or an air-conditioned space like a mall, Dr. McCormick recommends they head to their basement, or get “as low as possible” within their home.
If an older person shows signs that they are weak, tired, dizzy or nauseated, seek medical attention, Dr. Quinones-Camacho said.
Use a breathable cotton sheet, Dr. Mark said. You can set up a fan near your bed and spray your sheet with cold water before sleeping, or place your pillow cases or sheet in a plastic bag and store in a freezer during the day A cold bath or shower right before bed can also help.
Stay hydrated before heading to bed, and if you wake in the middle of the night, drink water, Dr. Quinones-Camacho said.
Additional reporting by Tara Parker-Pope, Christina Caron, Gretchen Reynolds and Caitlin Kelly.
Dani Blum📍Keeping cool in Brooklyn
As temperatures rise in the United States, it’s prime time for outdoor fun.
Here’s how to partake in summer activities safely →
New Jersey on Saturday reported seven more COVID-19 deaths and 4,015 new confirmed positive tests as the seven-day average continues to compared to a month ago.
The average was 3,960 on Saturday, up 10% from a week ago and up 139% from a month ago. Though the statewide rate of transmission dropped slightly Saturday to 1.25 compared to 1.28 the prior day. When the transmission rate is over 1, that means each new case is leading to at least one additional case and the outbreak is expanding.
There were 836 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases reported across the state’s 71 hospitals as of Friday night. Hospitalizations still remain significantly lower than when they peaked at 6,089 on Jan. 10 during the Omicron wave.
There were at least 188 people discharged in that same 24-hour period ending Friday, according to state data. Of those hospitalized, 117 were in intensive care and 39 were on ventilators.
The positivity rate for tests conducted on Sunday, the most recent day with available data, was 18.85%.
The state on Saturday also reported 1,378 probable cases from rapid antigen testing at medical sites.
The BA.2 strain of COVID-19 has been spreading in New Jersey for weeks, though at much lower rates than the Omicron surge in December and January. Officials have said the Omicron “stealth” sub-variant appears to spread more easily but generally does not cause more severe illness.
For the week ending April 30, BA.2 accounted for 91.4% of the positive tests sampled (slightly up from 89.4% the previous week), while the BA2.12.1 omicron subvariant accounted for 6% of positive tests sampled (down from 6.7% the previous week).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now lists 10 New Jersey counties with “high” transmission rates — Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Gloucester, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Salem and Sussex. Those in high-risk areas are recommended to wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation and stay up-to-date on vaccination, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ten counties are in the medium risk category: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union and Warren. Cumberland County is at low. Masks are not recommended in the medium and low regions.
New Jersey has reported 2,021,344 total confirmed COVID-19 cases out of more than 17.7 million PCR tests conducted in the more than two years since the state reported its first known case March 4, 2020.
The Garden State has also recorded 331,306 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases. And there are numerous cases that have likely never been counted, including at-home positive tests that are not included in the state’s numbers.
The state of 9.2 million residents has reported 33,610 COVID-19 deaths — 30,552 confirmed fatalities and 3,058 probable.
New Jersey has the seventh-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. — behind Mississippi, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia — as of the latest data reported Tuesday. Last summer, the state still had the most deaths per capita in the country.
The latest numbers follow a major study that revealed even a mild case of COVID-19 can significantly affect the brain. Long COVID — the term commonly used to describe symptoms stemming from the virus long after a person no longer tests positive — has been found to affect between 10% and 30% of those who contract the infection, regardless of whether they have a mild or serious case.
More than 6.89 million of the 8.46 million eligible people who live, work or study in New Jersey have received the initial course of vaccinations and more than 7.8 million have received a first dose since vaccinations began here on Dec. 15, 2020.
More than 3.74 million people in the state eligible for boosters have received one. That number may rise after the FDA on Tuesday approved booster shots for healthy children between the ages of 5 and 11. U.S. regulators authorized the booster for kids hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward.
For the week ending May 8, with about 59% of schools reporting data, another 8,923 COVID-19 cases were reported among staff (2,461) and students (6,462) across New Jersey’s schools.
Since the start of the academic year, there have been 116,771 students and 34,685 school staff members who have contracted COVID-19 in New Jersey, though the state has never had more than two-thirds of the school districts reporting data in any week.
The state provides total student and staff cases separately from those deemed to be in-school transmission, which is narrowly defined as three or more cases linked through contact tracing.
New Jersey has reported 807 total in-school outbreaks, including 5,671 cases among students and staff. That includes 82 new outbreaks in the latest weekly report ending May 16. The state reported 72 in-school outbreaks the previous week.
At least 9,049 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.
There were active outbreaks at 323 facilities, resulting in 3,482 current cases among residents and 3,144 cases among staff, as of the latest data.
As of Saturday, there have been more than 527 million COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, and more than 6.28 million people died due to the virus.
The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 83.2 million) and deaths (at least 1,002,025) of any nation.
There have been more than 11.44 billion vaccine doses administered globally.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
No doubt U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy did not see it coming on May 19 when Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski pressed him on the Biden administration’s lack “of intensity” in dealing with the national baby formula supply crisis that’s been brewing for months.
Murthy recounted that President Biden had invoked the Defense Production Act, stating that the U.S. was looking for overseas inventory of the essential product that would meet U.S. standards, and that Biden steered parents to yet another government websites that could help them find a food pantry. But even with all that, a full resolution was still several weeks off.
Brzezinski would not give the mild mannered physician a pass.
“Do you want to know where there is not a baby formula crisis? In Poland on the border where they took in four million people in three months—There’s enough formula there. There’s food. They have set up housing. They have been able to do all those things with the fundamental help of the U.S. military,” said Brzezinski. “So, my question is why isn’t there the same mobilization here in America for this crisis? Mothers are being told to go to websites— to drive hours or try formula that might make their baby sick.”
RELATED: GOP slams President Biden on baby formula shortage, then refuses to vote for supply increase
After an extended silence, a stunned Murthy reverted back to his signature phrase, “this isn’t just policy—it’s personal,” and committed to “pull all the levers.”
Brzezinski had jolted a sense of urgency into what has become a performative exercise with the latest White House scarcity drill, masks, COVID tests, or infant formula.
Shooting the messenger
They say all politics is local, and when you are scrambling to find baby formula for your hungry infant, you’ll knock on any door that you think might be answered. A shortage like this adds a whole new dimension to constituent services in a place like New Jersey that fancies itself as being so affluent and socially progressive, yet keeps getting bitten in the ass by a scarcity for basics.
According to multiple reports, a Feb 17 product recall of Abbott formula products was set in motion after a Jan. 31 inspection at the company’s Sturgis, Michigan plant. The regulatory action came after four infants were hospitalized and two died after coming down with bacterial infections.
“Even before this national baby formula supply crisis, we got calls from our constituents looking for help with infant formula because the price before the crisis was so exorbitant.”
The Washington Post reported that House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) had received a 34-page report “from a former Abbott employee who registered a litany of complaints about conditions at the plant with the FDA” back in October 2021, leaving FDA Commissioner Robert Califf scrambling to account for the delay as the shortage became more severe.
“There will be a full investigation of the timeline, and we’ll do everything possible to correct any errors in timing that we had so that we don’t repeat any mistakes that may have been made,” he promised NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.
Politico reported the whistleblower, a former employee at Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Mich., infant formula plant, had been fired after raising concerns about “food safety violations directly with senior FDA officials in October — months before two infants died and another was hospitalized from bacterial infections after ingesting formula made at the plant.”
According to Politico,
the whistleblower outlined allegations of lax cleaning practices, purposely falsified records and efforts by plant officials to keep FDA from learning about serious issues related to the plant’s own system for checking for bacteria in formula, among other things. The warning came weeks after health officials in Minnesota had already reported to both FDA and CDC that an infant in the state had been hospitalized for Cronobacter sakazakii — a rare but deadly bacteria — after consuming formula from the same plant.
Got calls before “crisis”
As it turns out, there’s a lot more to the infant formula scarcity story than just the pictures of empty shelves or shelves walled off by plexiglass and under lock and key featured on the news. Consider that half of the formula that’s purchased in this country goes to supply the 1.7 million infants who rely on the WIC program to survive.
“Even before this national baby formula supply crisis, we got calls from our constituents looking for help with infant formula because the price before the crisis was so exorbitant,” New Jersey Assembly Member Britney Timberlake said during a May 16 interview. “Now, the infant formula shortage is impacting women all over and most babies are reliant on formula at some point and a healthy baby is a fed baby.”
Timberlake credited the Biden White House with moving to address the crisis in the short term by exploring the importation of imported formula that meets the U.S.’s stringent safety standards. The U.S. does not currently import formula.
As the mother of a one-year old and four year old, Timberlake says she is well versed on the importance of parental education on the subject of infant nutrition. The Essex County legislator, who represents one of the state’s poorest districts, was quick to point out that the issue of access to infant nutrition was not just a simple matter of supply and demand, but was informed by the state’s great health and wealth race-based divide.
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While the formula scarcity is hitting every zip code, it comes as an additional setback to communities of color, so disproportionately hit by COVID and long standing health care access issues. These are also the places where expectant mothers are least likely to receive the pre-natal and post-natal care that leads to better health outcomes for the mother and the child.
NJ Spotlight recently reported that the six-month old supply crisis was “growing increasingly worse and more alarming” with Abbott Laboratories, a major supplier, saying it could take “up to 10 weeks to get products back on the shelves after shutting down production following a massive recall.”
Where it bites deepest
The New Jersey non-profit news site confirmed the shortage was “especially challenging to low- and moderate-income parents… enrolled in the state’s supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, also known as WIC.”
“Every young mom that comes asking for it is extremely disappointed when we don’t have it. We normally have crates filled with it for them to take. I don’t have a single can in the building right now,” Mike Bruno, executive director of the Human Needs Food Pantry in Montclair told NJ Spotlight.
Dr. Celine Gounder is a physician and epidemiologist as well as the Editor-at-Large for Public Health at Kaiser Health News.
“We’re saying the same disparities play out with respect to access to baby formula as we’ve seen with maternal and child health — Black women are 2.5 times as likely to die from childbirth as white women in the U.S. — and the rest of our health care system,” Dr. Gounder wrote in an email.
“My husband and I had to drive 45 minutes to a suburban hospital to get the kind of mother and infant friendly care that’s expected as the basic standard of care in wealthier, whiter communities,” Timberlake said. It’s in these kinds of settings, she notes, that mothers are also more likely to get the post-natal nutritional counseling they need.
“I have a bill that I introduced earlier this year to require all new mothers to be visited by a lactation consultant before they leave the hospital after childbirth because there can be a stigma to breastfeeding and some women can lack the support to even give it a try,” Timberlake observed. “It’s also important to remember, infant formula remains essential because there are cases where women can’t breast feed due to medical health issues and they must rely on formula. And although, 83 percent of respondents to a survey said they initiated breast feeding, the percentage declined to 50 percent at 6 months and 24 percent at 12 months.”
Timberlake also noted that even among the mothers surveyed who breast fed their infants, more than half their infants also received formula while they were still in the hospital.
In New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Department of Health, there are around 100,000 infants born in each calendar year. According to the United Way’s ALICE project, which tracks families living below the official poverty level as well as struggling week to week to cover basics, “1.2 million households were already struggling to afford the basics even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “
The non-profits analysis continued: “These ALICE and poverty-level families were living one crisis away from financial despair and that crisis is now. While 37 percent of all households in New Jersey do not earn enough to cover basic expenses, systemic racism has led to disproportionate rates of Black households facing financial instability. More than half of Black households — 52 percent — are unable to afford the basics for survival, which is nearly twice the rate among White households in New Jersey.
New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith, New Jersey’s last remaining Republican, blasted the Biden response.
This market concentration caught the attention of Senator Cory Booker, who led a group of eight Senators calling on the Department of Agriculture to address the “extremely high levels of corporate concentration in the infant formula marketplace following the recent news of infant formula shortages nationwide.”
“As millions of American families scramble to feed their infants, President Biden has failed to take effective action to resolve this life-or-death crisis and ensure parents have access to this critical source of nutrition,” Smith wrote in a statement. Smith has cosponsored a bill to direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to agree to an international standard for baby formula with the intent to increase importation and boost domestic supply. “This critical legislation will cut bureaucratic red tape exacerbating this dire shortage and reinforce our domestic supply of infant formula to ensure it is able to withstand future shocks,” Smith added.
May 15 Congressman Frank Pallone, who is chair of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee committed to have hearings on the formula crisis. “The infant formula shortages are alarming,” tweeted Pallone. “I’m holding an oversight hearing on May 25 to focus on what’s been done to increase production and supply and what more still needs to be done to ensure that all families have access to safe formula.”
Baby formula robber-barons
While things were getting harder for families, not just here in New Jersey but across the country, corporate consolidation was accelerating in vital areas like pharmaceuticals and yes, baby formula. Indeed, U.S. tax policy that shifted the tax burden from corporations to American households helped to promotes the kinds of mergers and acquisitions that eliminate sector competition.
“Experts say the formula crisis points to problems beyond conditions at the facility operated by Abbott, maker of Similac and the largest producer of milk formula in the country,” reported the Washington Post. “For years, they have been warning that industry consolidation has left the production of formula — a highly regulated product that is notoriously difficult to manufacture — in the hands of a small number of makers vulnerable to this sort of disruption.”
The newspaper continued: “Four major companies control 90 percent of the infant formula supply in the United States: Abbott, Mead Johnson, Gerber and Perrigo Nutritionals. Perrigo produces store-brand infant formulas for major stores including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, CVS and Walgreens. Only three of these — Abbott, Mead Johnson and Gerber — hold the contracts for a food assistance program for mothers and young children called the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).”
That concentration is further compounded because each state awards a single company the exclusive contract to fill the supply of Federal WIC program.
This market concentration caught the attention of Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), who along with his colleagues Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led a group of eight Senators calling on the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address the “extremely high levels of corporate concentration in the infant formula marketplace following the recent news of infant formula shortages nationwide” according to a Booker press release.
“The infant formula industry has reached an alarming level of corporate concentration with four companies–Abbott Nutrition, Mead Johnson, Gerber, and Perrigo–controlling nearly 90% of the infant formula market. Abbott Nutrition, the manufacturer of products currently under recall, alone controls around 40% of the infant formula market,” the Senators wrote in a letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack. “This level of concentration has created a fragile system unable to adequately respond to shocks in the supply chain. Unfortunately, this puts our most vulnerable populations at risk, and disproportionately impacts low-income families who rely on programs such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).”
The letter was cosigned by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
The Senators continued, “The extremely high levels of concentration in the infant formula market creates a serious risk to infant health if there is any disruption to a major manufacturer’s supply. Therefore, this issue merits immediate antitrust review. While federal contracting may have played a role in the consolidation of the infant formula market, corporate food giants shoulder the majority of the responsibility of hyper consolidation across the food system. This is yet another example of how alarming levels of consolidation hurts American families and can no longer be ignored.”
Read more on the infant formula shortage:
Jack Wallace, a two-time gold medalist in sled hockey from Franklin Lakes, poses for a photo with his medals and ChengHai Cordle, a sled hockey player from Princeton. (Steve Politi | NJ Advance Media)
The first time Keith Veltre watched Newark’s newest hockey players take the ice, he worried. Just lowering themselves into the narrow bucket on their sleds, after all, looked like such a challenge for the young athletes.
What if they could figure out how to use their short sticks to power themselves? What if they toppled onto their side and couldn’t get upright?
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