The United States and European allies are demanding accountability at the United Nations Security Council for alleged atrocities by Russian forces, amid signs that Moscow was shifting the focus of its seven-week-old war to Ukraine’s east and south. Britain, France and the United States were expected to use the Security Council meeting to present evidence of atrocities that some officials have described as “war crimes” in northern areas that Russian troops abandoned amid fierce resistance. In one of those places, Bucha, a suburb of the capital, more than 300 bodies have been found since Russian forces pulled back last week, some with their hands bound or shot in the back of the head. The New York Times
The European Commission is set to propose broad new sanctions on Russia, including a ban on imports of coal, slashing the access of Russian road and shipping goods carriers into the bloc, targeting oligarchs and their families and blocking some machinery exports. The proposed ban on Russian coal would be the first time the EU has agreed to block imports of one of Russia’s main energy supplies. The sanctions package, if approved, would be the fifth new package of measures from the EU to hit Russia’s economy and financial system. The Wall Street Journal
Gas prices are continuing a downward trend in New Jersey and are now nearly four weeks past their recent peak following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the latest update Monday from AAA Northeast. The price for a gallon of regular gasoline now stands at $4.16, down two cents from Friday and five cents from a week ago Monday. The high of nearly $4.38 was recorded by AAA on March 10. The current national average is $4.18 per gallon, as New Jersey is not outperforming its closest neighbors: New York state’s average price was $4.29, while Pennsylvania’s was $4.27. NJ1015.com
The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) recently released its 2022 Threat Assessment, the 14th annual version of the report that analyzes New Jersey’s threat landscape for the coming year, with a focus on counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and resiliency efforts. Overall, the state agency argued domestic extremists would return to pre-pandemic operating norms, with a shift in focus to local expansion and low-level criminal activity. NJOHSP noted homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) and White racially motivated extremists remained the most prominent threats to New Jersey in 2022, with both groups listed in the “high risk” category. North-JerseyNews.com
Two more Senate Republicans said they would side with Democrats in supporting the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, paving the way for her confirmation as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined a third Republican, Susan Collins (R-ME), in lending their support to Judge Jackson, defying deep resistance in their party to the nominee. New Jersey Monitor
Sen. Cory Booker called out Republicans for “ridiculous and painful and hurtful” attacks on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Booker said the Republican attacks on Jackson mirrored the GOP’s treatment of Barack Obama, the first Black president and recalled former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s rise in opinion polls for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination came to an abrupt end after ads began airing blasting him for meeting with Obama after Hurricane Sandy four years earlier. “The right had so vilified Obama, had so dehumanized him, that when my governor and Obama hugged after a national disaster, it was used in campaign commercials against my governor and he dropped over 10 points,” stated Booker. NJ.com
The U.S. Senate reached agreement April 4 on a slimmed-down $10 billion package for countering COVID-19 with treatments, vaccines and other steps, that drops all funding to help nations abroad combat the pandemic. The compromise drew quick support from President Joe Biden, who initially pushed for a $22.5 billion package. At least half the agreement’s $10 billion would be used to research and produce therapeutics to treat the disease as well as to buy vaccines and tests. At least $750 million would be used to research new COVID-19 variants and to expand vaccine production. News12 New Jersey
State Sen. Joe Pennacchio has re-introduced legislation that would provide relief for New Jersey property taxpayers. The bill from Pennacchio (R-26), along with State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-13), would allow taxpayers to deduct from state income tax the entire amount of property taxes paid on their principal residence, eliminating the current $15,000 cap. “For property owners who pay in excess of $15,000 each year, the cap has the effect of a tax on a tax,” said Pennacchio, who sponsored legislation signed into law in 2018 raising the cap from $10,000 to its current level. “They pay their property taxes, then they have to turn around and pay income tax on the same money. Enough already.” North-JerseyNews.com
The record level of spending in Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget proposal cannot be sustained by tax dollars in the long run, New Jersey’s nonpartisan budget analysts warned April 4. Thomas Koenig, budget and finance officer for the Office of Legislative Services, told lawmakers the governor’s $48.9 billion spending plan meets the constitutional requirement of a balanced budget, relying on a historically high surplus accumulated during the pandemic as the state is taking in record tax revenues. “A budget that relies on $1.7 billion in surplus to be balanced is not sustainable in the long run,” Koenig said. NJ1015.com
A state appellate court overturned a lower court ruling that had tossed bribery charges against former Bayonne mayoral candidate Jason O’Donnell, who allegedly accepted $10,000 from an attorney in exchange for a promise he’d be named the city’s tax attorney after the election. “To accept defendant’s argument—without some clear legislative expression to support it—would be to declare open season on the bribing of candidates for public office,” Appellate Division Presiding Judge Clarkson S. Fisher Jr. wrote in a ruling April 4. “Defendant’s interpretation that candidates are not made criminally liable for accepting bribes in the performance of some future official act would mean, if correct, that a candidate could be bribed before, during, and after being elected, right up until taking the oath of office.” PoliticoNJ
The Murphy Administration has sued two companies that once operated a chemical plant in Lodi to pay for damaging natural resources — including groundwater that is still so polluted it’s not projected to be clean until 2041. The lawsuit, filed April 4 in state Superior Court, alleges that a mixture of fuel oil and industrial chemicals seeped into the ground from leaky storage tanks owned by the Hexcel Corp. of Connecticut and later Fine Organics Corp. of Clifton at their manufacturing plant on Main Street near Route 46 in Lodi. The Record
Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. announced last week that the Biden Administration has agreed to provide funding to initiate a study on the Tenakill Brook to protect Cresskill from future flood events. When remnants of Tropical Storm Ida tore through Cresskill on Sept. 1, 2021, the combined middle and high school building took on several feet of water, causing extensive damage to its HVAC system of boilers, pumps and univents, along with the auditorium, media center, desks and chairs. Altogether, the school sustained more than $20 million worth of damage. “It is essential that our government provide resources to understand precisely why the damage was so extensive and learn what we can do to protect towns like Cresskill when the next storm rears its ugly head,” stated Pascrell. “Working with the state, we asked for help and the Biden Administration listened.” North-JerseyNews.com
The highest number of congressional candidates since the Watergate election in 1974 have filed for the June primary in New Jersey, drawn by new districts and a belief that Democratic incumbents will be vulnerable in this midterm election year. Sixty-three people—41 Republicans and 22 Democrats —filed petitions to run in the June 7 primaries to win their parties’ nominations in the state’s 12 congressional districts as of the 4 p.m. Monday filing deadline. In 1974, 70 candidates were running in the state’s 15 congressional districts. NJ Spotlight News
Former Paterson Mayor Joey Torres is backing Councilman Alex Mendez in the May 10 election. The endorsement comes after Torres was denied a chance to run in the election himself against incumbent Mayor Andre Sayegh due to being convicted of paying city employees overtime for working on a family-owned business. The Record
Two newcomers will seek seats on the Kearny Town Council with the support of Mayor Alberto Santos. Santos announced 1st Ward Councilman Albino Cardoso and 4th Ward Councilwoman Susan McCurrie will not seek re-election. Cardoso’s replacement is George Zapata, the vice president of the Kearny Board of Education and a utilities authority commissioner. Stathis Theodoropoulos, a businessman who serves on the New Jersey Hellenic Heritage Commission, is running to succeed McCurrie. New Jersey Globe
The Vernon Township Municipal Utility Authority will conduct an investigation of their system this Spring after it discovered hundreds of billing errors going back more than a decade. The billing errors primarily date to the authority’s May 2011 origin, but were only recently discovered, officials said. “There were some billing errors that were quite substantial, so we needed to address them,” said Andrew Pitsker, the authority’s vice-chair. New Jersey Herald
And finally…A Reunited Gaslight Anthem announced their New Jersey homecoming show in October. The Record
