Gov. Phil Murphy said state officials are still awaiting final word on who will be eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot that is to begin Sept. 20 from the Biden Administration. Additionally, details for the vaccine mandate that President Joe Biden announced last week for Nov. 22 have yet to be released. “Even without this guidance, we continue work across all levels of government…the Department of Health, to our county and local health partners and with our healthcare networks and providers to ensure we are prepared whenever that authorization comes down,” said Murphy. “We are doing this in recognition that the window for boosters could soon be open for all of you who received your second doses as recently…as six months ago, so pretty much everyone who had been vaccinated by March.” North-JerseyNews.com
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed the first lawsuit against the Biden administration’s upcoming COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private companies with at least 100 employees, arguing that the federal requirement violates the U.S. Constitution. In the legal complaint, Brnovich argues that the vaccine mandate President Joe Biden announced last week violates the Equal Protection Clause, claiming it bypasses the rights of citizens to their bodily integrity and subverts Congress’ authority by exercising powers reserved for legislators, not the executive branch. New Jersey Monitor
Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown now requires anyone dining at the restaurant to show proof of vaccination. The policy, instituted Sept. 10, comes after the owner lost up to $90,000 when the restaurant was forced to close for one week because a vaccinated floor managers came down with COVID-19. The Daily Record
Another 1,500 New Jerseyans are predicted to die from COVID-19 by December if mask-wearing, social engagement and immunization levels remain relatively stable in the months to come, according to one well-known statistical model. If infection-control measures decline and the coronavirus becomes more transmissible, according to that model created by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the death toll could be more than double that estimate. NJ Spotlight News
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The Jersey City school district is dealing with positive cases of COVID-19, just days after reopening for in-person learning. The cases were confirmed at schools 15, 28, 23 and the Anthony Infante Early Childhood Center. Four students, including two siblings, and a staff member all tested positive. News12 New Jersey
A federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order blocking New Jersey’s requirement that nearly all students wear masks in school. U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty was not persuaded by the arguments of an attorney representing a group of New Jersey students and their parents who filed a federal lawsuit claiming New Jersey’s mask mandate for public and private schools is unfair and unnecessary. “For the purpose of a temporary restraining order, I cannot find that this is an irrational classification. And I find that the State could reasonably rely on the guidance from CDC and other places to promulgate such a rule,” McNulty ruled. NJ.com
The New Jersey Fish and Game Council unanimously approved an emergency order on Sept. 14 to reestablish a black bear hunt in the state for October. Since the state game code already includes a bear hunting season, the emergency action, which would be good for 60 days after approval, could allow an archery hunt. But Gov. Phil Murphy, who has backed non-lethal ways to hunt bears, in a press statement said “the Department of Environmental Protection are committed to implementing nonlethal strategies to manage the bear population in New Jersey.” NJ1015.com
New Jersey’s second biggest police union has declined to endorse either Gov. Phil Murphy or Jack Ciattarelli in the governor’s race. The New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Murphy during his first campaign in 2017, after years of fighting with former Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s administration over cutbacks to benefits. New Jersey’s largest police union, the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, has yet to make endorsements. PoliticoNJ
California Gov. Gavin Newsom defeated a recall effort led by Republicans and fueled by frustrations over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. With 62% of the state’s precincts partially reporting, 66% of California voters chose to keep the Democrat in office, and 34% opted to remove him. Newsom called the special election’s result a victory for his pandemic policies, which he frequently touted in the closing weeks of the campaign. “‘No’ is not the only thing that was expressed tonight,’” Newsom said. “We said ‘yes’ to science, we said ‘yes’ to vaccines, we said ‘yes’ to ending this pandemic.” The Wall Street Journal
Sen. Bob Menendez blasted the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as being “fatally flawed” and threatened to subpoena the Secretary of Defense as well as hold up nominees until his questions were answered. Menendez promised to hold other hearings to insure the “many” mistakes made over the course of 20 years are examined. “We need to understand why successive administrations made so many of the same mistakes repeatedly. Perhaps most urgently, we need to understand why the Afghan government and military collapsed so precipitously,” said Menendez. “This rapid collapse laid bare a fundamental fact—that successive administrations lied to the Congress over the years about the durability of Afghan military and governing institutions. And we need to understand why.” North-JerseyNews.com
The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge Sept. 14 to issue an order to prevent Texas from enacting a law that prohibits nearly all abortions. The Justice Department argued in its emergency motion that the state adopted the law, known as Senate Bill 8, “to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights,” reiterating an argument the department made last week when it sued Texas to prohibit enforcement of the new legislation. The New York Times
New Jersey motorists will be able to comment later this month, and in October, about New York’s plan to charge a congestion pricing fee to drive in southern Manhattan. The first virtual hearings start next week which includes one specifically for New Jersey from 10 a.m. to noon on Sept. 24. Also known as the “Central Business District Tolling Program,” congestion pricing would impose tolls on vehicles traveling south of 60th street in Manhattan to finance subway, bus and MTA commuter rail improvements. NJ.com
New Jersey intends to divest assets from the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s after a preliminary review found it engaged in a boycott of Israel or Israeli-controlled territories. Officials had warned the Bergen County-based Unilever in a letter that the ice cream maker’s actions went against New Jersey’s five-year-old law that requires that state pension funds divest from pro-boycott businesses. The company said it will continue operating in Israel but will stop sales in controversial settlements located in Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Jerusalem. New Jersey Globe
A state Superior Court judge stopped ballots from being printed in a dispute over how many seats each town should get on the Manchester Regional Board of Education. The dispute started after the 2020 census results were released in August and appeared to show that Haledon leapfrogged over North Haledon in population. Haledon filed a lawsuit, arguing for the greatest representation on the regional school board in light of the new numbers. As of now, North Haledon elects four trustees, and Haledon three. Prospect Park, which is not involved in the case, has two members. The Record
2021 31st LD Preview: New Assemblyman to be Elected from Dem Stronghold. In the heavily Democratic 31st Legislative District covering Bayonne and southern parts of Jersey City, a Republican has never been elected to serve in the Assembly or State Senate since the district was formed in 1973. GOP candidates Neil Schulman for State Senate along with Rose Javier and Brandon Villa will try to end that trend by defeating incumbents State Sen. Sandra Cunningham and Assemblywoman Angela V. McKnight. Democrat William Sampson is running for the other Assembly seat after Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti failed to gain the backing of Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis. North-JerseyNews.com
And finally…Five shows on Broadway opened last night. The New York Times
