As the Murphy Administration enters into the last month to obtain its goal of 4.7 million fully COVID-19 vaccinated adults, state officials are making strategic moves to get to those that have been hardest to reach so far. “Vaccine coverage across New Jersey is increasing, but there are pockets and groups with lower rates of vaccinations.”said New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. To that end, New Jersey’s COVID-19 Community Corps have been deployed in such municipalities as Newark, Passaic, Paterson, Bayonne, Jersey City, East Orange, Perth Amboy, New Brunswick, and Trenton to contact underserved communities to provide education, help with registration, and access to vaccination sites. North-JerseyNews.com
A new poll suggests the United States could be on track to vaccinate at least 70% of the adult population against the coronavirus by this Summer. In the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 62% of respondents said they had received at least one dose of a vaccine, up from 56% in April. At the same time, about a third of those categorized as “wait and see” reported that they had already made vaccine appointments or planned to do so imminently. The New York Times
Indoor mask and social distancing requirements, one of the key remaining rules ordered to fight the spread of the coronavirus, in most circumstances are lifted today. Bars, restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters, gyms and more can operate at full capacity and without people needing to mask up. Individual businesses are still permitted to require staff or customers to wear masks, but it’s no longer a statewide rule. NJ.com
An audit of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority found it had “adequate controls” when it allocated pandemic relief funds to businesses across the state. Conducted by the Office of the State Auditor, the audit examined 40 loans that were given out early in the pandemic and found that, because of an error, 14 of the businesses that received about $1.3 million were ineligible to receive that money. However, because these funds were state dollars, the businesses are not at risk of having the money clawed back. The error was caught and changed by EDA last Summer. PoliticoNJ
Gov. Phil Murphy and Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R-40) are being accused by a former assistant health commissioner who was fired after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic of defamation for “false statements” they made in public about him holding a second job. In a new motion in his whistleblower lawsuit against Murphy and the state, the former assistant commissioner, Christopher Neuwirth, claims Murphy and DePhillips declined apologize and retract comments that had “perpetuated” the narrative that Neuwirth held a second job while serving as an assistant commissioner leading the state’s emergency response to COVID-19. The Record
As New Jersey prepares to reopen for the busy Summer travel season, police will be enforcing their Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign. Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, New Jersey state, county, and local police departments will begin strictly ticketing unbuckled drivers and passengers. The state’s Division of Highway Traffic Safety is providing a total of $810,120 in grant funding to 134 agencies throughout the state, in order to aid the cost for additional officers on the road and seat belt checkpoints. North-JerseyNews.com
U.S. Senate Republicans presented a $928 billion infrastructure plan, narrowing the gap with the White House’s latest $1.7 trillion offer. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden Administration is concerned about the plan’s lack of funding for items such as veterans’ hospitals and its call to redirect COVID-19 aid. The Wall Street Journal
An Environment New Jersey poll found majorities of voters in the 7th (60%) and 11th (59%) Congressional Districts favored President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, and similar numbers of voters said they wanted their congressional representatives to back the bill. The poll found support for the plan among voters increased when messaging focused on its climate impacts, with 61% of respondents in the 11th and 67% in the 7th said climate change messaging would make them more likely to back the bill. New Jersey Globe
A new estimate by county officials working with the state Division of Elections puts the likely cost of New Jersey’s first statewide early voting this Fall at about $83 million. The state has currently committed to spending $42 million to pay for electronic poll books and machines for early voting for every county. NJ Spotlight News
A United States Postal Service mail carrier admitted he discarded nearly 2,000 pieces of mail, including 99 general election ballots, into New Jersey dumpsters last Fall. Nicholas Beauchene, 26, of Kearny, pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to one count of desertion of mails after he was charged with dumping the bundles of mail in dumpsters in North Arlington and West Orange on Sept. 28, Oct. 1, and Oct. 2, 2020. He faces a maximum of one year in prison for the misdemeanor conviction. NJ.com
Gov. Phil Murphy is calling for federal action on gun safety on the heels of a weekend shooting at a party that claimed the lives of three people. Examples of the national steps that Murphy is calling for includes a bill New Jersey Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker are backing to ban “ghost” guns and Rep. Donald M. Payne’s Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act to provide federal grants to local communities to buy back guns from local gun owners. North-JerseyNews.com
The New Jersey mother of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick has been meeting with Republican U.S. Senators, pressing for support of a Jan. 6 Commission into the events of the insurrection at the Capitol. “He and his fellow officers fought for hours and hours against those animals who were trying to take over the Capitol Building and our Democracy, as we know it,” said South River’s Gladys Sicknick in a written statement. “Not having a January 6 Commission to look into exactly what occurred is a slap in the face to all the officers who did their jobs that day.” NJ1015.com
The Jersey City Council adopted the Central Avenue Block 2901 Redevelopment Plan as well as amendments to the Jersey Avenue Light Rail Redevelopment Plan. The Central Avenue Block plan will make way for a mixed-use building with 400 public parking spaces and a public plaza as part of a public-private partnership in Jersey City Heights. The Light Rai amendments primarily include the implementation of a Light Rail Station Overlay bonus, a Holland Gardens Overlay bonus, an Affordable Housing Bonus, which dictates that development will provide 20% affordable housing onsite, a School Development Bonus, and other community benefits. Hudson Reporter
And finally…Here’s how much a beach badge costs in every Jersey Shore town this year. NJ.com
