Gov. Phil Murphy will announce today he will no longer require students and school employees to wear masks starting March 7, calling it a “huge step toward normalcy” and signaling a deliberate shift toward treating the coronavirus as a part of daily life. The new policy will take effect the second week of March, an implementation Murphy said was deliberately timed when temperatures will begin to climb, giving schools additional ventilation options. “It isn’t July Fourth,” he said, “but it gets you into a marginally better weather period.” The New York Times
New Jersey State Senate Republicans have launched “Give It Back,” a new campaign calling on Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to put an end to pandemic-related measures he has put into effect over the past two years. In addition to walking back COVID-19 vaccine and school mask mandates, the initiative demands Murphy restore the balance of power between the governor’s office and state Legislature and return a $3 billion budget surplus to taxpayers. “Governor Murphy has taken so much from New Jerseyans since the start of the pandemic,” said State Senate Minority Leader Steven Oroho (R-24). “He’s taken money, he’s taken power, and he’s taken rights, choices, and freedoms from every single New Jerseyan. We’re going to help New Jerseyans send him the message that it’s time to give it back.” North-JerseyNews.com
State Sen. Edward Durr (R-3) has introduced legislation that prohibits a person or any kind of entity from requesting or requiring personal health information pertaining to any individual. The bill prohibits entities from discriminating in the provision of goods, services, or other benefits against a person who declines to provide personal health information. “I’m about personal choice. This isn’t any different than if somebody wants to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, do damage to their liver or their lungs, that is a personal choice that does not affect me,” Durr said. NJ1015.com
Just over 1 of 4 New Jersey children are fully vaccinated against COVID three months into the campaign and only 1 out of 3 have received at least one shot, according to data from the state Health Department. Even as the latest COVID wave is waning, pediatricians and public health officials have raised concern about the long-term implications of the low vaccination rate in New Jersey and elsewhere among 5- to 11-year-olds, especially if another variant emerges as deadly and contagious as the Delta and Omicron strains. The Daily Record
A new study out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows those who wear N95 and KN95 masks are 83% less likely to test positive for COVID-19. Those who wear regular surgical masks are 66% less likely to contract the virus and those who wore cloth masks were 56% less likely to contract the virus. News12 New Jersey
OPINION: Combating Hate. During the pandemic, we have been dismayed by the rise of people from opposite sides of an issue no longer listening to each other and instead retreating to the extremes who hold the same views as themselves. This in many ways led to the U.S. Capitol Riots last year. It’s an extremists echo chamber—driven by news outlets and social media—on both sides that is corroding our society. We can go a long way towards lowering the temperature in the U.S. by both sides working together and, most importantly, finding solutions to addressing hate based on race and religion that is on the rise. North-JerseyNews.com
One of New Jersey’s three representatives on the Republican National Committee voted against a resolution censuring Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) for their involvement in an investigation of the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Terrible action by the RNC but too few of us in the room to object and stop it,” said Republican National Committeeman Bill Palatucci. “The resolution we should have considered would commend Mike Pence for standing up for the Constitution and saving the Republic.” The censure vote came as the Republican National Committee said the attack on the Capitol and the events that led to it were “legitimate political discourse” and that the two GOP House members “engaged in actions in their positions as members of the January 6th Select Committee not befitting Republican Members of Congress.” New Jersey Globe
The number of GOP candidates far exceeds those seen in recent years, with 39 announced candidates nearly doubling the 20 Republicans that sought a seat in Congress in 2020 and 22 in 2018. Rep. Tom Malinowski now faces eight Republican challengers in the 7th Congressional District, the largest field of any of his colleagues, with Rep. Mikie Sherrill a close second with six potential GOP opponents to serve the 11th Congressional District. New Jersey Monitor
New Jersey’s government watchdog released a report last week that found 15 one-star long-term care (LTCs) facilities in the Garden State are costing Medicaid more than $100 million a year but have failed to improve for years, and are overwhelmingly operated for profit. Published as the role of nursing homes has come under scrutiny during the pandemic, the 15 have consistently been rated one out of five stars over the last two years without improvement and many have been rated among the lowest LTCs since 2013, according to the Office of the State Comptroller. “Bottom line: New Jersey taxpayers should not be funding nursing homes that have failed to improve for years, appear unlikely to improve, and put residents in harm’s way,” stated Acting State Comptroller Kevin D. Walsh. North-JerseyNews.com
Ocean carriers have been imposing more and larger such fees for boxes that have been sitting for longer periods, sometimes weeks at a time, in logjams that have snarled supply chains during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. lawmakers and regulators are taking a hard look at the charges and other shipping practices that critics say have sharply raised costs for American importers and hamstrung the ability of exporters to reach overseas markets. New measures in Congress and actions by the U.S. maritime regulator, the Federal Maritime Commission, target a container shipping sector dominated by foreign-based carriers that made profits last year estimated by London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd. at about $150 billion. The Wall Street Journal
Legislation allowing banks to offer credit cards, checking accounts and other financial services to legal cannabis businesses passed the House Feb. 4, the sixth time that the Democratic-controlled chamber approved such a measure. The Senate earlier passed a similar bill on a bipartisan basis, so both chambers will try to come up with a final version that can clear Congress. Sen. Cory Booker, who is leading efforts in the Senate to end the federal ban on cannabis, has opposed efforts to pass SAFE Banking without including restorative justice provisions to help largely minority communities and individuals who were most injured by the War on Drugs. NJ.com
A vacant Sears store that was once home to a popular roller-skating rink in Bergenfield may find new life as an indoor cannabis farm and manufacturing plant. The Borough Council is considering a measure that would allow businesses to cultivate and manufacture marijuana. If approved, it would clear the way for Eleven Eleven Wellness, which is pursuing a contract for the building, to apply to the state for its license. Borough officials stressed that this is just the first step in weighing whether to allow the business at the site and that retail sales and distribution would not be permitted. The Record
All officers in Hackettstown’s police department are now equipped with body cameras in accordance with a state law enacted more than a year ago. The department said the entire force will wear newly purchased Motorola body-worn cameras when on duty. The devices have several mounting options and can be worn in different locations depending on the officer’s uniform and the area to which each is assigned. The town becomes the latest department to comply with the body camera mandate, passed as part of a series of criminal justice reforms in the wake of protests following the publicized deaths of several Black people in police custody. New Jersey Herald
Jersey City employees were angry with city leaders after many were not paid Feb. 4, and others had to wait until late in the day to find that the checks had finally arrived in their accounts. City workers received an email Feb. 4 from the Department of Human Resources saying they were “aware of issues regarding direct deposit and we are rectifying the issue.” City employees complained over what they called recurring issues with payroll, as two weeks earlier city workers were paid by paper check and not their normal direct deposit, and numerous employees said the annual W2 documents sent to employees in January carried incorrect information and must be resent. The Jersey Journal
The Weehawken Township Council adopted an ordinance that permits early voting ahead of the May 10 municipal election. For the upcoming May municipal election, this would mean early voting will take place on Friday, May 6, Saturday, May 7, and Sunday May 8. There will be no voting the Monday before Election Day, on May 9, and then regular voting would take place on Tuesday, May 10. Hudson Reporter
Businesswoman Linda T. Barba of Fort Lee announced her GOP candidacy for Bergen County executive. “I want to restore Bergen County to a place where our residents feel safe in all areas of their lives—physically, mentally, and economically,” said Barba. Republican candidates in the contest to unseat incumbent Democratic Bergen Jim Tedesco include Todd Caliguire, Paul Duggan, and Tim Walsh. InsiderNJ
Paramus will pay $250,000 to resolve three lawsuits involving the hiring of the mayor’s son as a police officer. The lawsuits were related to a 10-month conflict in 2020 when the hiring of 10 police officers, including Mayor Richard Vincent LaBarbiera’s son Vincent, was stalled and the Borough Council cast a series of 3-3 party-line votes throughout the year. In the settlement agreement, Vincent LaBarbiera agreed to dismiss his civil rights lawsuit, while Joseph Vartolone, a Republican councilman who had filed his own lawsuit, agreed to dismiss an appeal of his. The borough’s insurance carrier will pay LaBarbiera the $250,000. The Record
And finally…Ads teasers and full commercials are being aired ahead of the 2022 Super Bowl. NJ.com
State Sen. Edward Durr has it all wrong to create an analogy with such personal vices as smoking and drinking. COVID vaccination status affects all of us. If someone is not vaccinated, they are much more likely to spread COVID. Secondly, they are also more likely to cause a new mutated variant to develop by virtue of having more severe, longer-lasting COVID.