OPINION: Understanding the Politics of Sex Education in NJ. Children are being taught inappropriate material when it comes to health and sex education. It’s a declaration that has been made in New Jersey and elsewhere over the last couple of weeks. But is it true? And how did the message become so widespread? Extremists views—liberals calling those wanting more clarity to what their kids will be taught “homophobic” along with conservatives saying teachers are “sexually grooming” kids—are not only misplaced but wrong. Throw in the toxic wasteland that is social media and 24 hour news channels that promote hosts and guests to say things more outlandish than the next and you have a prime example of what is eroding our democracy. We truly believe that education is the best way to help all of us understand complex issues such as gender identity and sexual orientation. Making sure what is being taught is age appropriate is a real concern that should not be dismissed. The outcome should not be whether it is a win for either political party; it should be what is best for all of our kids. North-JerseyNews.com
Gov. Phil Murphy held a private meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin during his second day of his trip and then attended a briefing on the current Irish political and commercial landscape. Following the meeting with Cronin, Murphy and his accompanying delegation from the economic development organization Choose NJ heard from several embassy officials about Ireland’s work on its biggest priorities in recent years: COVID, Brexit, and the Irish economy. New Jersey Globe
French President Emmanuel Macron was re-elected by a wide margin April 24, according to projections based on early ballot counts, overcoming deep divisions among voters worried about inflation, the war in Ukraine and the impact of immigration on France’s national identity. Macron garnered 58.8% of the estimated vote, while far-right leader Marine Le Pen won 41.2%. The Wall Street Journal
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said that Russia had suffered significant military losses in Ukraine, including “a lot of its troops,” and that the Pentagon was working to ensure that Russia does not have the ability to “very quickly reproduce that capability.” Speaking after a secret visit to the Kyiv, Austin III said that there would be a more detailed discussion about what Ukraine would need to prevail against Russia at a meeting in Germany on Tuesday. “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree it cannot do the kind things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” he said. The New York Times
Beijing residents stocked up on essentials in anticipation of a possible lockdown as China’s capital began mass COVID-19 tests of people living or working in the city’s Chaoyang district. In Beijing, the government warned over the weekend that the outbreak had been spreading undetected through the city for the past week. Officials are racing to prevent a repeat of the chaos and food shortages, economic disruption and public anger caused by Shanghai’s severe lockdown, which is now entering its fifth week. The Wall Street Journal
New Jersey on April 24 reported two new COVID-19 deaths across the state and 1,527 new confirmed positive tests. There were 440 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across 68 of the state’s 71 hospitals as the rate of transmission continues to drop, now at 1.14. New Jersey dropped below Arkansas as the state with the eighth-most coronavirus deaths per capita in the U.S. NJ.com
Gas prices rose in New Jersey and around the nation amid concerns about higher global oil prices and renewed seasonal demand. AAA Mid-Atlantic says the average price of a gallon of regular gas in New Jersey on April 22 was $4.09, up five cents from last week, but lower than the $4.12 national average. A year ago, the Garden State price was $2.89 and the national $2.88. NJ1015.com
With the single-use plastic bags set to go into effect next week, major grocery stores in New Jersey are putting into place a plan so their online ordering process to comply with the new law. Acme already uses reusable bags for its shop from home orders while others like ShopRite and Stop and Shop will charge a flat fee to be applied to all online orders to offset the cost of the bags. NJ.com
A majority of New Jersey residents are aware of and support a ban on single-use plastic bags, but the term “ban” may have different meanings to different people. That’s according to a recent Monmouth University Poll, which found the majority of New Jerseyans (61%) support the “plastic bag ban” but many would prefer to have access to those bags for a small fee. In all, seven in ten New Jerseyans were aware of the ban, with 33% hearing a lot about the pending measure and 37% hearing a little. The definition of a “ban” was not uniform among Garden State residents, with 30% supporting an outright ban on all single-use plastic bags, but 28% okay with a small fee for customers to pay if they want a plastic bag. North-JerseyNews.com
New Jersey is spending $21 million on projects to help fight climate change, including purchasing electric trucks for some municipalities and handing out grants for projects to restore salt marshes, seagrass beds, forests and other areas. The state Department of Environmental Protection announced a program April 21 to spend $6 million to help communities purchase electric trucks that will help towns pay for a total of 16 new electric vehicles statewide, including garbage trucks, dump trucks and ambulances as well as an electric car sharing project in Jersey City. NJ.com
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently issued a key permit for the development of natural gas compressor stations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to benefit customers in New York state. Designed to feed new connections in Westchester County for regional energy company Consolidated Edison, the $246 million East 300 Upgrade project includes the construction of a new 19,000-horsepower turbine in West Milford and the expansion of two existing compressor stations in Pennsylvania and Sussex County. The latter, in a Wantage subdivision, is set to get a new 20,500-horsepower gas-fired compressor unit. The Record
The cities of Camden, Trenton and Paterson cracked the top 100 in a recent violent crime ranking according to neighborhoodscout.com, an online database of U.S. neighborhood analytics created in 2002. The website uses the violent crime rate per 1,000 residents as its criteria to determine how likely one is to become a victim of a crime in that particular city. Camden came in on the list at No. 14, where one out of every 64 residents could become a violent crime victim, Trenton ranks at No. 57, where it’s one out of 93, and Paterson ranks at No. 97, where it’s one out of 111. News12 New Jersey
Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R-40) is calling on Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin to do more to protect New Jersey minors from social media. Specifically, DePhillips publicly questioned why Platkin’s name was not added to a March 29 letter from 44 states demanding TikTok and Snapchat institute stronger parental controls. “We all have a responsibility to let children experience the noble and beautiful, and be protected from predatory and ugly. I want that for the 2 million children in our state. Our top law enforcement official’s name should be on that letter,” said DePhillips. North-JerseyNews.com
Judge Thomas Ambro of the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Court of Appeals denied Troy Oswald’s emergency motion to keep his candidacy for Passaic County Sheriff alive with a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, citing Judge Madeline Cox Arleo’s “well-reasoned opinion.” Oswald, the GOP nominee for the county position, filed the appeal to invalidate a New Jersey state law that requires sheriff candidates to live in the county for three years. The appeal continues for now, but that won’t help Oswald get on the June primary ballot. New Jersey Globe
Paterson Councilman Alex Mendez will be running for mayor on May 10 after a state appellate court ruled in his favor April 22, denying an attempt by incumbent Andre Sayegh’s supporters to remove him from the ballot. At issue in the lawsuit was whether Mendez submitted enough valid, voter-signed nominating petitions to meet the requirement of 867 to be placed on the ballot. The ruling will allow local election officials to begin printing and sending out about 11,000 mail-in ballots, which had been delayed for almost a month because of the challenge. The Record
Morris County Democratic Committee Chairman Chip Robinson is stepping down and expressed hopes the committee selects a woman to replace him. Robinson as chair oversaw a “blue wave” of Democratic gains to elected office in Morris County, including two congressional seats. But he had received criticism recently from party members after Republicans won several of those seats back in 2021 as well as a having to remove A.J. Oliver as Morristown Democratic Municipal Chairman when it was revealed he held a pro-life stance. InsiderNJ
The mayors of Jersey City and Hoboken are working on a plan to connect the cities via a protected bike lane. Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla confirmed that preliminary work is underway and a Jersey City spokeswoman said Jersey City’s 18th Street bike lane will connect with Hoboken’s Observer Highway bike lane by creating a protected bike lane on the section of Marin Boulevard. Officials expect the project to start in July and is expected to be completed before Summer is over. The Jersey Journal
The Fair Share Housing Center has gone to court claiming Englewood Cliffs breached its affordable housing settlement agreement and violated the New Jersey Civil Rights Act by not building affordable housing. The lawsuit marks the borough’s latest challenge with affordable housing mandates as they have made numerous attempts to override and lower Englewood Cliffs’ affordable housing requirements. Currently, the borough has moved forward with the planning of only one affordable housing development. “The settlement agreement between FSHC and the borough was designed to end the delay in the production of affordable housing,” reads the lawsuit. The Record
Sussex County Administrator Greg Poff is leaving the role he has held for the past five years to become township manager of Randolph. The Randolph Township Council announced Poff’s new position, effective July 1, replacing Stephen Mountain who is retiring June 30 after an eight-year tenure in the township. Poff previously served as Randolph’s assistant township manager from 1999 to 2004. New Jersey Herald
The number of horses that tested positive for banned substances more than doubled in the past year at New Jersey’s three horse racing tracks. The New Jersey State Police’s racetrack unit conducted 51 barn searches in the 2021 fiscal year at the Meadowlands Racetrack, Freehold Raceway, and Monmouth Park, up from just 20 the year before, state data shows. The state Attorney General’s Office, which oversees the unit, attributed the jump to improved lab testing that resulted in more positives. New Jersey Monitor
And finally…Jon Stewart became the 23rd recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The New York Times
