The Murphy Administration will have to defend in court its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for correctional officers. The New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association (NJPBA) announced Jan. 24 that the corrections officers union will argue to a state appellate court for a restraining order halting enforcement of Gov. Phil Murphy’s newest COVID-19 requirement eliminating a testing option and setting deadlines for state workers in healthcare and congregate settings, such as correctional facilities, to be fully vaccinated and receive their booster shots. “The move is extreme and unnecessary…my members have told me that the testing policies were working well in keeping the prisons and jails as safe as possible,” said NJPBA President Pat Colligan. North-JerseyNews.com
Two towns in North Jersey approved school construction referendums on Jan. 26. Cresskill voters overwhelmingly approved a $21.6 million proposal to make repairs to the middle and high school building, which was damaged during the remnants of Hurricane Ida in September. Meanwhile, Franklin Lakes residents approved a $20 million spending measure to four schools for urgent projects including HVAC system upgrades and boiler, window and roof replacements. The Record
Hoboken voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum to borrow $241 millions to build one of the most expensive high schools in the history of the state Jan. 25 in an election that drew a higher-than-expected turnout. With 83% of the precincts reporting, the “no” votes were well ahead, 4,929 to 2,542, or 66% to 34%, according to tabulations by the Hudson County Clerk’s Office’s Division of Elections. The turnout for the rare special election was roughly 17%. The high school that was proposed to the voters in late November included two gyms, a year-round ice hockey rink, two outdoor but sheltered tennis courts, a competition-sized pool, a wellness studio, an occupational and physical therapy room and a turf field on the roof featuring a six-lane track. The Jersey Journal
Sean Caddle, a longtime New Jersey Democratic political consultant, pleaded guilty to hiring two people to kill a former associate. The 44-year-old Sussex County resident and one time aide to former State Sen. Ray Lesniak, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire in the stabbing death of the unnamed victim. The circumstances match up with the until-now unsolved murder of Michael Galdieri, a former Jersey City Council candidate and son of the late State Sen. James A. Galdieri. PoliticoNJ
The Biden administration has officially withdrawn a rule that would have required workers at big companies to get vaccinated or face regular COVID testing requirements. In early November 2021, OSHA announced a vaccine-or-test mandate for companies with at least 100 employees. The rule—which would have impacted more than 80 million U.S. workers—was originally set to go into effect on Jan. 4. But numerous states and business groups challenged the rule in court. On Jan. 13, the Supreme Court halted the plan in a 6-3 ruling as the court’s conservative majority concluded that OSHA had overstepped its authority. News12 New Jersey
As many as 250,000 New Jersey residents who received pandemic unemployment benefits could be deemed ineligible and ordered to pay the money back. New Jersey State Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo is asking Congress to waive the overpayments, and allow state’s to tell these workers they can keep the money as its has already been spent “on necessities like food and housing. To try to recover these funds after the fact stresses these workers and their families. And is counterintuitive to our mission of helping people in their time of need.” NJ1015.com
Holy Name and chief medical officer Adam Jarrett issued a brief joint statement ending his tenure as executive vice president and chief medical officer Jan. 26 over concerns of “misunderstanding related to managerial direction.” The moves comes after Holy Name’s CEO, Michael Maron suspended Jarrett in July 2021 after Jarrett told the hospital board that Maron had ordered him to take actions that were “immoral and illegal”—including a demand to “get rid of” a Black doctor Maron had called a “troublemaker.” An independent investigator found Jarrett’s concerns were not substantiated. The Record
World Health Organization leaders warn that the global surge and the world’s wide vaccine gap could set the stage for another dangerous variant. Although vaccine shortages are easing, only about 62% of the world’s population has received at least one shot. In low-income countries, only 10% of the population has received at least one dose. In high- and upper-middle-income countries, 78% have received at least one dose. The New York Times
Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Tom Malinowski are part of the congressional delegation that departed for Ukraine amid rising tensions with Russia. In Kyiv, the delegation will meet with senior Ukrainian officials to discuss the security situation and reinforce U.S. support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. In Brussels, the delegation will meet with representatives from NATO, the EU, and NATO and EU member states to discuss the security situation in Eastern Europe and the buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s border and in Belarus. Insider NJ
New Jersey now requires Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history as part of its public school curriculum, making it the second state in the U.S. to do so. On Jan. 18, Gov. Phil Murphy signed two bills—S-4021/A-6100 and S-3764/A-3369—that will ensure history, culture and heritage of AAPIs are included in the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Social Studies for students in grades K-12. Assemblywoman Ellen J. Park (D-37), a Korean American and the first Korean woman to serve in the state Assembly, was pleased to see the state taking “concrete steps to further the mission of equity and inclusion for the AAPI population. With these new laws officially in place, we now have a seat at the table, ownership over our own history, and are able to illuminate the many contributions of the AAPI population. While this is an important first step, we have much more to do.” North-JerseyNews.com
Jewish Federation groups around New Jersey are encouraging every community member to partake in the Secure Community Network’s offering of a new safety training program. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville credits security training from SCN and other groups with helping him and his congregants escape the hostage situation. The national online kickoff of the new program from SCN, called “BeAware: An Introduction to Situational Awareness,” is set for 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27. New Jersey Herald
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled law-enforcement officers cannot stop people just because they fit the race and gender of a suspect, in a unanimous ruling that reinforces the state’s 2005 ban on racial profiling in policing. The case involved a police stop made after a 7-Eleven was robbed in May 2011 when Hamilton Township Police Department received a dispatch about the crime and was told that the suspects were “two Black males, one with a handgun.” Associate Justice Fabiana Pierre-Louis wrote for a unanimous high court that the information “effectively placed every single Black male in the area under the veil of suspicion [and] was insufficient to justify the stop of the vehicle and therefore does not withstand constitutional scrutiny.” NJ Spotlight News
Federal and state lawmakers heralded a $143 million plan to replace the eastbound span of the Route 3 bridge over the river from East Rutherford to Secaucus. Additionally, the project includes space for a possible light rail over the river that officials promote as helping alleviate traffic to and from MetLife Stadium and the American Dream mall. It’s the first major New Jersey bridge project to receive funding from the $1.2 trillion bipartisan federal infrastructure law that Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law in November. NJ.com
Repairing and rehabilitating the Hudson County New Jersey Turnpike extension would be a better option than adding lanes according to opponents of a $4.7 billion plan to replace the aging bridge over Newark Bay. Commuters who drive the 8.1-mile highway through Bayonne and Jersey City said they support repairing the extension and replacing the bridge, but oppose widening because of the additional traffic it would encourage and the air pollution it would generate. The Record
Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Mikie Sherrill both lauded the news that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) would supply $146.2 million for the Peckman River Basin project and to complete the New York/New Jersey Harbor Tributary study, which was conceived after Superstorm Sandy. “Our communities and families across Northern New Jersey have faced the dire, and sometimes deadly impact of devastating flooding in this region for far too long. This full federal funding for the [USACE] to address and mitigate the flooding in the Peckman River Basin could not come at a more critical time,” said Sherrill. Flooding from the Peckman River has caused multiple flash flooding events in District 11 towns like Woodland Park and Little Falls, with the most recent event occurring in September 2021 during Tropical Storm Ida. North-JerseyNews.com
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will seek re-election this Fall, but gave no indication of whether she wants to remain her party’s leader, as Democrats face an uphill battle to keep control of the chamber in the midterms elections. To win backing for the speakership in 2018, Pelosi made a deal with party lawmakers that she would serve as speaker for just two more terms. Since then, she has declined to talk about whether she plans to step aside. While she has the firm backing of her caucus, many have openly called for a change in leadership. The Wall Street Journal
Rep. Tom Malinowski introduced a bill Jan. 25 aimed at preventing so-called “Scam PACs” from fraudulently soliciting political donations and keeping the proceeds for themselves. The bill, the Stopping Corrupt Actors from Making Political Action Committees (SCAM PAC) Act that Malinowski is co-sponsoring with Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), would ban political action committees from making disbursements to anyone closely involved in the management of the PAC or their immediate family members. New Jersey Globe
Bayonne Board of Education Trustee Denis Wilbeck plans to run for Council Member At-Large in the upcoming May 10 municipal election. Wilbeck touts himself as an independent voice on the board and is running by himself for the council seat, without being a part of any council slate or mayoral ticket. Hudson Reporter
And finally…The New York Football Giants will introduce Joe Schoen as their new general manager today. NJ.com
