Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 9/10/2021 – InsiderNJ
Below is Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing:
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This isn’t like a bet where you go, ‘Well, let me look at my odds and based on my odds do what I should do or not do.’ To me, that’s cheapening the presidency to look at it that way.” – Former Governor Christie
TOP STORY: Redistricting Bar Notes: A Back Door for Sweeney that would Satisfy Pelosi
The statewide cumulative COVID-19 count stands at 965,265 cases and 24,258 confirmed fatalities (and 143,026 probable cases and 2,749 probable fatalities) as of Thursday (an increase of 3,079 confirmed cases, 647 probable cases, and 31 lab-confirmed fatalities from the previous day). The viral transmission rate is 1.04. There have been 11,643,791 COVID-19 vaccinations administered (with 5,655,804 people fully vaccinated).
Download and read Insider NJ’s ‘Let’s Get To Work!’: The State Of New Jersey Labor’ power list and publication.
Governor Murphy says that Rutgers Athletics’ financial woes are ‘concerning‘, according to Burlington County Times.
Officials broke ground on the ‘New Jersey Wind Port’.
The state has more COVID-19 hospitalizations now than at this time last year, according to the Bergen Record.
COVID-19 is turning the state’s non-partisan BOE elections into lightening rod races, according to Politico NJ.
The Atlantic County Board of Elections may be forced out of its rental space, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
Passaic County is requiring employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or get regular weekly testing, according to NorthJersey.com.
Union County and Kean University partnered to bring social services to students.
The House Ethics Committee confirmed its probing of Rep. Malinowski over stock trades, according to NJ.com.
Senator Booker announced the ‘American Beef Labeling Act’.
Investors Bank recruited former NY Giant’s player Eli Manning as their new spokesperson.
The Maher Charitable Foundation appointed Margarethe Laurenzi as Executive Director.
ICYMI: Malinowski says ‘make or break moment‘ for climate; Kim discusses the Capitol riot; Biden landed in NJ in hard-hit Manville, as some welcomed him, while others rallied against him; Murphy directed flags to half-staff thru Friday for Ida victims; residents of 6 counties can apply for FEMA aid; more voters think domestic terror greater threat than foreign terror; Murphy announced $10M in Ida aid, toured damage from storm; Murphy declared emergency due to Ida; Murphy: school mask mandate isn’t ‘polite suggestion’
Bar notes: a redistricting scenario relating to CD7 and Senate President Sweeney.
LD1’s Vince Polistina won’t pursue court action over his swearing-in, according to Politico NJ.
The NJ Legislative Black Caucus held its annual retreat.
SmartHeatNJ launched a campaign across the state to educate consumers about the state’s energy master plan.
The FocusNJ Task Force released recommendations and strategies for rehiring and reskilling workforce.
Download and read Insider NJ’s 2021 Insider 100: Policymakers publication.
ICYMI: Timberlake appointed Stephens COS; Dem Senators pushing Murphy to offset UI tax increase; Murphy took action on legislation
In Montclair, Mayor Spiller announced a COVID-19 vaccination or testing requirement for all municipal employees.
In Cranford, bureaucratic inaction has hit a low note with homeowners, according to the Star-Ledger.
In Dover, officials plan to designate a redevelopment area to make way for new apartments, according to NJ Hills.
In Paterson, the city is considering hazard pay for municipal employees who worked through COVID-19 following union demands, according to Paterson Times.
In Phillipsburg, councilmembers slammed colleagues for missing meetings, according to Lehigh Valley Live.
In South River, a developer is targeting the site of the former Elks Lodge, according to MyCentralJersey.
ICYMI: In Paterson, officials toured Ida shelter; in Penns Grove, former councilman charged w/ underreporting income; in Newark, DOJ reached settlement with schools; in Hoboken, workers rallied for benefits; in Chatham, key issue revolves around Nazis and Elie Wiesel.
AROUND THE WEB:
N.J. takes first step in implementing historic housing discrimination law
Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor
- New Jersey officials are reviewing proposed rules for a new law banning landlords from considering prospective tenants’ criminal histories, one intended to lessen racial discrimination in housing. It’s the first step in implementing what activists have called the strongest housing discrimination law in the country. It’s part of the “ban the box” movement,” a reference to job and housing applications that ask about applicants’ criminal histories.
800 protected acres: Meadowlands Conservation Trust receives $1.5 million
Citlalli Godinez, NorthJersey.com
- For a second year, the Meadowlands Conservation Trust has received $1.5 million in the state budget to fund its mission of preserving and protecting environmentally sensitive watershed land.
Get to know Jack Ciattarelli, a Jersey guy who could be governor
Jeff Deminski, NJ1015
- It was a busy Thursday on the Deminski & Doyle show. On today’s program we talked to a businessman, and also a former city councilman, a former county freeholder and even a former NJ State Assemblyman. And it was all one guy. Jack Ciattarelli. He’s the Republican candidate for governor challenging Murphy. This was your chance to get to know this man better and size him up against Gov. Murphy who wants a second term as governor.
Op-Ed: ‘Party insiders have hijacked the ballot’ and we must fix N.J.’s ‘corrupt’ system
Hudson County View
- In an editorial, Progressive Democrats of Hudson County members Hector Oseguera and Elena Little explain how “party insiders have hijacked the ballot” in New Jersey and why the “corrupt” system must be fixed.
NJ Board of Ed makes it official: Graduation test is back
John Mooney, NJ Spotlight
- This fall’s statewide return to the classroom will surely come with plenty of bumps and bruises, some of them showing already as the Murphy administration pushes schools back to so-called “normalcy” — even if it has to do so carefully.
Op-Ed: We must tackle the biggest problem with health care — its cost
Sen. Loretta Weinberg
- As New Jersey continues to battle through the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jerseyans are not only worried about their physical health and well-being but also about their financial health. Families are apprehensive about how they will be able to afford child care, car payments, rent, and even whether they will be able to put food on the table for their loved ones.
‘We knew everything was going to change…’
Ted Sherman, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
- The F-16 fighters wait around the clock in a hangar near Atlantic City, armed and ready to rocket into the air at a moment’s notice on a mission born of a national tragedy. For decades, the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard served as sentinels in the Cold War.
Case of Jersey City cop highlights lack of police transparency
Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor
- It was a fight that started stupidly enough, as fights at boozy bashes tend to do. The party’s host got mad at a guest packing leftovers into a cooler to take home. The host threw tomatoes at him — and then went and grabbed a shotgun. “Today is your day!” he shouted at a few guests as they scurried away. Then he turned the gun in their direction and fired.
‘I like to make sure my job is done:’ NJ custodian ran pumps all night to save his school
Stephanie Noda, NorthJersey.com
- After seeing the destruction caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida across the region last Wednesday, Hackensack Middle School Principal Anibal Galiana was worried. He wasn’t sure what state he would find his school in the next morning. He called his head custodian, Peter Hemans, early Thursday morning, letting Hemans know that he was going to try to head over to the building to assess the damage.
Devastation in NJ from Ida immediately politicized and shameful
Dennis Malloy, NJ1015
- It took less than 24 hours for the shameless far left progressives like Murphy to use the death and devastation from last week storm to their political advantage. Shameful, disgusting and woefully transparent yet they press on with their mission. Their mission is not to make things better or to keep storms from happening as if they could. The mission is to gain more power and more control over your life and your tax dollars.
New NJEA president says schools are ready for in-person learning
Briana Vannozzi, NJ Spotlight
- A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics reveals more than a half million children tested positive for the coronavirus within the past three weeks just as schools reopened nationwide. Still, Sean Spiller, new president of the New Jersey Education Association and member of the NJ PBS Community Advisory Board, says his union is undeterred.
‘Breaking stereotypes’: How 9/11 shaped a generation of Muslim Americans
Hannan Adely and Danielle Parhizkaran, NorthJersey.com
- Eight influential Muslim Americans discuss how 9/11 and Islamophobia affected life in the U.S. over two decades.
Exclusive: 9/11 hijackers lived in plain sight in North Jersey. How did they do it?
Mike Kelly, NorthJersey.com
- On a quiet Tuesday in June 2001, two men walked into a store in a busy strip mall in Fort Lee, New Jersey, that rented mailboxes for people on the move who needed a temporary address to receive checks, bills or personal letters.
Neptune schools begin new year without beer-tossing vice principal
Joe Strupp, Asbury Park Press
- Neptune Township Schools began the new term without the beer-tossing vice principal who got into a transphobic confrontation with four patrons at a restaurant last spring, sparking an ongoing legal battle. When students returned to the Monmouth County district this week, Michael Smurro was not on campus at Neptune Middle School. He has been placed on unpaid leave, according to district officials.
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