The state for the first time revealed a more detailed picture of the effects the coronavirus is having on students and teachers in New Jersey this year—including the percentage of teachers fully vaccinated. With 2,081 K-12 school districts reporting, which only accounts for 60% of those in the Garden State, a total of 84.9% of teachers are fully vaccinated. As for vaccination rates among teachers by county, Bergen and Somerset were the highest at 90.9% and 91.1%, respectively; the lowest for teachers was in Ocean County at 78.7%. In North Jersey besides Bergen, the teacher vaccination rates were Warren at 88.3%, Sussex at 85.2%, Morris at 86.1%, Passaic at 84.1%, Essex at 81.3%, and Hudson at 78.8%. North-JerseyNews.com
Coronavirus cases in children in the United States have risen by 32% from about two weeks ago, a spike that comes as the country rushes to inoculate children ahead of the Winter holiday season. More than 140,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus between Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, up from 107,000 in the week ending Nov. 4, according to a statement on from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. These cases accounted for about a quarter of the country’s caseload for the week. Children under 18 make up about 22% of the U.S. population. The New York Times
Students returned to classrooms Nov. 22 at Morristown High School, ten days after a surge in COVID-19 cases prompted a switch to remote learning. A Morris School District spokesperson said 26 students and staffers at the high school had tested positive with 41% of the high school’s students remain unvaccinated. At least 100 students were required to test negative for COVID-19 before being allowed to return to school. NJ.com
Gov. Phil Murphy says that Thanksgiving 2021 can look a little more like normal as long as one knows their family and guests’ COVID-19 vaccination status. Murphy said that there are no limits on how many friends and family can gather around the Thanksgiving table despite new cases and other metrics seeing a surge in the last two weeks. News12 New Jersey
Sen. Bob Menendez is prepared to work to pass a version of the Build Back Better Act in the Senate. “With the House passage of the Build Back Better Act, we are one step closer to delivering President (Joe) Biden’s agenda and paving the way for transformational change for generations to come,” said Menendez. Put in charge to lead the Senate’s efforts to tackle immigration by President Biden, Menendez offered the bill provides “long-overdue” legal protections for millions of undocumented immigrants and he will lead the fight in the Senate “for the broadest immigration relief possible. We cannot fully build back better without protecting the dignity of millions of people who are critical to our long-term economic recovery. This is their home, and it is time for the Senate to help them fulfill their American dream.” North-JerseyNews.com
Democrats are close to passing significant changes to international corporate taxation, moving toward a system that would reduce the gaps between nations’ tax rates and making taxes a less important consideration for where companies put investments, profits and headquarters. The international tax changes included in the House’s Build Back Better Act mark the U.S. contribution to the global tax talks for a 15% global minimum tax. The Democratic plan, which builds on the 2017 GOP tax law, would help push tax rates into a narrower band, reducing companies’ opportunities to exploit gaps across borders. The higher taxes on U.S.-based companies would take effect in 2023, and the impact on companies would depend on whether and when other countries follow through on their promises to impose similar taxes. The Wall Street Journal
Gov. Phil Murphy made about $982,600 in income last year, marking a significant drop from previous years. The documents cover Murphy’s third year as governor and the period when New Jersey suffered through the devastating start of the coronavirus pandemic. Murphy’s income fell 64% from the $2.7 million that the 64-year-old former Wall Street executive and his wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, reported in 2019. It’s the first time in at least a decade their annual income dipped below $1 million. The Daily Record
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot issued another round of subpoenas to people reportedly involved in planning or financing rallies that preceded the march and attack on the Capitol, including Infowars host Alex Jones and Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to former President Donald Trump. Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) said on Nov. 22 the committee needs to know who organized, planned, paid for and received funds related to Jan. 6 activities, as well as what communications organizers had with people in the White House and Congress. The Wall Street Journal
Rep. Josh Gottheimer is continuing his push on Capitol Hill to enact more measures to protect the country from terrorist attacks similar to the ones that took place on Sept. 11, 2001 as Americans get ready to board airplanes for their Thanksgiving travels. Introduced in March by Gottheimer, the bipartisan Saracini Enhanced Aviation Act of 2021 would require the installation of secondary cockpit barriers on all commercial passenger aircraft to prevent terrorist attacks. The bill is named for United Airlines Capt. Victor Saracini, who was killed after his plane was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. “Those flight decks and our flight crews and pilots remain vulnerable today—that is unacceptable,” said the Congressman. “This bill will address that, and it’s part of our work to take every action we can to completely eradicate terror, whether abroad or at home, whether from Al Qaeda or an ISIS-inspired cell or a lone-wolf terrorist.” North-JerseyNews.com
The U.S. Supreme Court will not intervene in New Jersey’s efforts to kill the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, ending a years-long legal fight over the policing of the ports of New York and New Jersey. The Nov. 22 decision means the high court declined to hear the commission’s appeal in a lawsuit arguing that New Jersey could not unilaterally walk away from the federally approved interstate compact that established the agency. The state plans to withdraw from the commission and turn over its policing role to the New Jersey State Police. It remains to be seen whether New York will stand by and allow a unilateral withdrawal. If not, that would open the door to an ongoing fight should New York go to court to seek an injunction. New Jersey Monitor
Democratic State Party Chairman LeRoy Jones wants to see outgoing State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) challenge U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2). Democrat-turned-Republican Van Drew changed parties to keep his seat in 2020 and Democrat Sweeney was surprisingly defeated for his his seat earlier this month. Jones would like to see Sweeney return to augment Democrats’ 10-2 congressional delegation, and punish Van Drew in the process. Insider NJ
Outgoing Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti said he was never provided the reason he lost the backing of Bayonne Mayor James Davis for Assembly that effectively denied him a chance to return to the Assembly. “The reality is, I have never been told why,” Chiaravalloti said. “Up until then, I thought I had a very positive and close relationship with the guy. There was no argument. There was no disagreement that I was aware of. Honestly, I was told point blank that I didn’t need to be provided with a reason because ‘He’s the mayor. He gets to choose’.” Hudson Reporter
Gov. Phil Murphy once again committed to getting the Reproductive Freedom Act passed with as many of its current provisions as possible, including its mandate that abortions be covered by insurance with no out-of-pocket cost for the patient. “I’m at the end of the spectrum where the more robust, the better on the Reproductive Freedom Act—and that includes insurance,” Murphy said. “To be determined when and how this all works out, but that’s where I have been and where I’ll continue to be.” New Jersey Globe
Faculty members at Rutgers University’s Camden campus passed resolutions expressing that they have no confidence in the school’s chancellor and provost, following the firing of a dean last month. The resolutions are nonbinding but express the sentiments of the faculty. The one aimed at Rutgers-Camden Chancellor Antonio Tillis passed 94-56 with 19 votes to abstain, while the aim against Provost Daniel Hart passed 111-37, with 21 abstentions. Faculty members contend the firing of Howard Marchitello, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since 2019, was connected to Marchitello publicly criticizing spending levels at Rutgers-Camden where professors have been protesting the results of a pay-equity initiative. NJ1015.com
A group of Wayne parents are calling for the Board of Education to permanently remove what they consider to be improper and “pornographic” material from multiple school libraries. All of the books under scrutiny in Wayne have to do with topics of sexual identity, and none is assigned to students as part of the district’s curriculum. The affected libraries are in Lafayette, Randall Carter, Ryerson and Theunis Dey schools, as well as in Wayne Hills High School. The Record
A pool, an ice rink and a rooftop athletic field are all in the plans for a new $241 million Hoboken high school that city voters will weigh in on this January. The building would be erected on the current location of JFK Stadium and would replace the existing high school, which would become the city’s middle school. The current middle school building, which has for years been slated for state-funded upgrades, would become an elementary school. The district intends to fund the project through a 30-year bond worth approximately $241 million, which voters will approve or deny in a Jan. 25 municipal election. For the average taxpayer, that price tag would represent an additional $496 a year for 30 years in property taxes. The Jersey Journal
About 53.4 million people are expected to travel throughout the country during the Thanksgiving holiday, an increase from last year’s 47 million, but still lower than the 56 million who traveled before the pandemic in 2019. AAA projects that about 1.3 million New Jersey residents will travel over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, up 14% from last year and a bit lower than in 2019. To prepare for the busiest air travel day, NJ Transit will offer its “early getaway” rail and bus service this Wednesday, to those looking to get to the airport by bus or train. New Jersey Herald
And finally…The disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa is the subject of a new F.B.I. investigation centered on the site of a former landfill in Jersey City. A worker, on his deathbed, said he buried the body underground in a steel drum. The New York Times
