Two-thirds of Americans plan to celebrate Thanksgiving this year with gatherings that will resemble pre-pandemic times, a new Monmouth University poll found. The nationwide survey shows a marked difference between the upcoming holiday and last Thanksgiving, when just under half of the country planned to spend the holiday alone or with only their immediate household. This year, that number dropped to 1 in 4. Almost one in five Americans (18%) are planning overnight travel during the holiday, up from 10% in 2020. Two-thirds (64%) of those who plan on hosting Thanksgiving dinner said they will not ask whether their guests have been vaccinated, while 27% will require their guests to be vaccinated and about 60% of those visiting someone else’s home said it does not matter to them if other guests are vaccinated. North-JerseyNews.com
According to the Port Authority, nearly five million air passengers and vehicles are expected to use its airports and crossings from Wednesday through Sunday. The bi-state agency estimates 3.5 million vehicles will use its bridges and tunnels over the five-day period, today to Sunday, which would be similar to 2019 before the pandemic kicked in. News12 New Jersey
The U.S. is tapping into their national strategic petroleum reserves in an attempt to bring down gasoline prices that have become a sore spot with Americans and a big contributor to inflation. President Joe Biden predicted that the added supply would lead to lower prices and that rising gas prices are a problem “not just in the United States but around the world. We’re taking action.” The Wall Street Journal
President Joe Biden’s top economists have worried from the beginning of his administration that rising inflation could hamstring the economy’s recovery. Administration officials overestimated how quickly Americans would start spending money in restaurants and theme parks, and they underestimated how many people wanted to order new cars and couches. The President’s advisers, along with economists and some scientists, believed that widespread availability of coronavirus vaccinations would speed the return to pre-pandemic life. Instead, the emergence of the Delta variant of the virus over the Summer and Fall slowed that return to normalcy. Americans stayed at home, where they continued to buy goods online, straining global supply chains and sending the price of almost everything in the economy skyward. The New York Times
About 3,700 businesses have reached out to the state about the “Return and Earn” program, which offers subsidies for businesses to train new workers and award them signing bonuses, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor. Sixty contracts have been signed, committing nearly $500,000 to those businesses. The $10 million program launched in September allows employers to pay up to $500 in hiring bonuses and claim $40,000 for training workers who are new to the industry. New Jersey Monitor
A recent Rutgers-Eagleton Poll found New Jerseyans rate taxes—including property taxes—as their number one concern. Conducted during the last week of October, 39% of respondents mentioned taxes when asked about the top issues facing the state, followed by 14% who say the economy, and 10% who cite state government. Six percent of New Jerseyans mention the pandemic as an issue; problems with the state’s response to the pandemic, climate change and the environment, infrastructure, education, crime and drugs, and housing are considered to be major problems by under 5% of those polled. Insider NJ
School officials shut down in-person learning at Lincoln Park Middle School due to an increased number of COVID-19 cases. All seventh-grade students switched to remote learning on Nov. 22 after several students tested positive, with the rest of the school going remote on Nov. 24. The Record
A new report from the New Jersey Hospital Association found the coronavirus pandemic hit hardest just where it predicted, in the state’s most vulnerable communities. Based on a new analysis of 20 health indicators in communities statewide and separated by ZIP code, the most vulnerable communities were all found in the cities of Camden, Trenton, Newark, Atlantic City and Paterson. New Jersey Herald
Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed four bills to fight the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, improve overall care, and boost disclosure of COVID cases and deaths in New Jersey’s long-term care facilities for seniors. Among the action includes requiring the New Jersey Department of Health to do a statewide assessment of nursing home infection control and prevention infrastructure and to develop a statewide plan to improve existing systems and the state long-term care ombudsman to craft a training program for employees and volunteers in the ombudsman’s office and the Department of Health whose roles are associated with New Jersey’s long-term care facilities. New-JerseyNews.com
An Essex County woman who posed for a picture inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot will serve two months of home detention and 36 months of probation, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled Nov. 23. Fairfield resident Rasha Abual-Ragheb, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor in August to parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol, begged the judge for no jail time, sobbing that as a single-mother it would be a hardship on her two school-age children. Judge Carl J. Nichols stated in his ruling that “All in all, I have every expectation and belief that the defendant will not protest in the Capitol or commit other crimes,” but there needed to be a deterrent, agreeing that Jan. 6 was “no ordinary riot” in doubling the probation length prosecutors had sought and adding the home detention but denying jail time. NJ.com
The state’s Attorney General has joined a nationwide investigation into the practices of the company formerly known as Facebook. Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck recently announced that New Jersey is co-leading a nationwide investigation into whether the social media platform Instagram is violating state consumer protection laws and putting children, teenagers and young adults at risk by inducing them to use the platform in ways that are potentially harmful to them. “Parents are anxious about the effects of social media on their children’s wellbeing, and understandably so,” said Bruck in a press statement with the launch of the investigation. “We must ensure that social media platforms are not violating our laws or exposing our youth to mental and physical harms.” North-JerseyNews.com
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Paramus Republican council member who opposed the hiring of the mayor’s son as a police officer. The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 22 by Councilman Joseph Vartolone, claimed that Democratic Mayor Richard LaBarbiera violated local public ethics law by voting on conditional offers of employment for 10 police officers, including his son, Vincent LaBarbiera. Vartolone cited nepotism concerns in arguments that the younger LaBarbiera was not eligible to become a police officer. The Record
The Bayonne Planning Board has designated a number of lots, mainly consisting of a former Exxon property, as a non-condemnation area-in-need-of-redevelopment. This is the first step taken to redevelop the area as its location on the waterfront which officials say makes it a prime area for industrial redevelopment. Hudson Reporter
Jersey City public schools will receive more than $4.5 million toward school repairs and construction but the district will need a lot more to fix up its schools. Gov. Phil Murphy recently announced the state will spend $75 million toward the cost of school repairs and construction in each school district. Jersey City school officials said the money is critical for the school district given the age of its buildings, where 32 out of 41 schools in Jersey City are in buildings that are more than 80 years old. The Jersey Journal
Morris County will add to its trails program if commissioners approve $926,498 in grants at their next meeting. As part of its six-year-old county trail program, the Trail Construction Grant Advisory Committee recommended the commissioners approve Open Space and Farmland Preservation grants to fund 10 new or existing trails in Boonton, Chatham, East Hanover, Lincoln Park, Morris Plains, Riverdale, Denville, Madison, Washington Township and Wharton. The Daily Record
Republican Jack Ciattarelli may have lost this year’s gubernatorial election, but his performance could bode well for the GOP ahead of next year’s midterm congressional elections. Ciattarelli won half of the state’s congressional districts, including all five—the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 11th—that have hosted competitive elections in recent cycles. All but one of those is currently held by a Democrat. New Jersey Globe
Gov. Phil Murphy left New Jersey for a Thanksgiving trip to Orlando, FL, where he will spend three nights. This year’s out-of-state holiday weekend trip comes after Murphy rarely left New Jersey since the state recorded its first COVID-19 case in early March 2020. The first time he left for consecutive days to be with his family was in August, when he joined them for a family vacation in Italy where he owns a home. NJ.com
And finally…NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft , its first attempt to alter an asteroid’s path, a technique that may be used to defend the planet in the future. The New York Times
