Residents of New Jersey see their time as renters, not buyers, in a state they view having an increasingly better quality of life. A poll released by Monmouth University April 25 found that while the quality of life is at one of its highest historical point in 12 years, Garden State residents are looking at an exit plan to leave at some point. Monmouth’s exclusive Garden State Quality of Life Index score now stands at +27, which is in line with last year’s +25 rating. The index number had jumped to +37 at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020. A combination of 64% give thumbs up to their current home state, with 19% responding it is excellent and 45% a good place to live. And nearly 3 in 4 New Jerseyans rate their own town or city as an excellent (32%) or good (41%) place to live. North-JerseyNews.com
A Morris County school district is telling parents that new lessons next year stemming from the state’s updated sex education standards will be limited to the last day of classes. East Hanover Superintendent Natalee Bartlett outlined the K-8 district’s plans in a letter, incorporating the new standards into one single classroom period (35 minutes) of instruction for grades 2, 5, and 8 at the end of the year. The new lessons “will be co-taught by our (physical education) teachers and school nurses and will be announced well in advance so that parents/guardians have ample time to inform schools” on whether their children will attend. News12 New Jersey
Woodland Park’s employees have been notified that if they use marijuana it could lead to their termination. Although it does apply to all municipal employees, it is most likely to affect those who work for the police and public works departments, as they are subject to random drug tests. “Regardless of this change in law, the Borough Council and I want to emphasize that all policies and procedures and rules and regulations applicable to the employees of the Borough of Woodland Park will remain the same,” said Mayor Keith Kazmark. The Record
Of the 8,600 residents who succumbed to the virus in the last two years, 78% of them died in March and April of 2020, according to state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. Testifying before the Assembly Budget Committee, Persichilli reported all but 34 of the 660 long-term care facilities in the state have provided the health department with an outbreak response plan and department conducted 5,211 inspections from March 2020 to March 2022, with more than 1,600 of these triggered by complaints; the remainder involving routine surveys and inspections focused on infection control practices. Long-term care facilities were hit with $12.1 million in fines related to the pandemic, with the majority levied by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and $250,000 by the state health department. NJ.com
New Jersey on April 25 reported three new COVID-19 deaths across the state and 1,275 new confirmed positive tests as the so-called “stealth variant” has risen to 89% of tests sampled earlier this month. There were 462 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across the state’s 71 hospitals. New Jersey’s transmission rate was 1.14, while the positivity rate for tests conducted on April 20, the most recent day with available data, was 7.18%. North-JerseyNews.com
The Biden Administration is expected to outline its plans to make it easier for infected people to get COVID-19 treatments. To expand access to Paxlovid and molnupiravir, the administration wants to double the 20,000 pharmacies, community health centers and hospitals where the antivirals are currently available for patients. Pharmacies would also be allowed to order free antivirals from the federal government. The Wall Street Journal
A federal judge on April 25 blocked the Biden Administration from exempting migrants from expulsion under a Trump-era public health order until the policy is officially lifted next month. Judge Robert R. Summerhays of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana did not rule on the issue of whether Title 42, adopted early in the coronavirus pandemic, should be kept in place. But he said he would in the meantime grant a request from the states of Missouri, Louisiana and Arizona to prevent the federal government from taking any early steps to disregard Title 42 for certain migrants and process them under normal immigration procedures. The New York Times
Gov. Phil Murphy’s trip to Europe is proving to be a lucrative one for the North Jersey economy. Murphy, in Ireland in an effort to advocate for more economic activity between the nation and the state, announced April 25 that on-highway service plaza operator Applegreen is making a $126 million investment into the state, including making its U.S. headquarters in Glen Rock. “As a proud Irish-American, I am thrilled to be in Dublin and joined by Applegreen, Ireland’s foremost service plaza operator, to announce the relocation of its US Travel Plaza Headquarters to New Jersey,” said Murphy. North-JerseyNews.com
A New York judge on April 25 held Donald Trump in contempt of court and fined him $10,000 a day for failing failure to comply with a subpoena issued by state Attorney General Letitia James for her civil-fraud investigation. The contempt dispute is the latest legal battle stemming from the state’s long-running civil-fraud investigation into whether Trump and his company made false or misleading statements to tax authorities, banks and insurers for financial gain. The Wall Street Journal
New pieces of evidence have emerged fleshing out the degree GOP members of Congress involved in attempts to keep Donald Trump as president after losing the 2020 Presidential election to Joe Biden. Among the revelations were strategy sessions with members of Trump’s White House, most notably his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, that included discussions about encouraging Trump supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6 despite warnings of potential violence and a call for Martial Law to deny Biden from being sworn in as President. The New York Times
As the lines seen during the opening weekend of legalized marijuana sales in New Jersey indicated, a majority of residents support the new industry. This was furthered by a Stockton University Poll released April 22 that found a majority of adults would welcome dispensaries selling cannabis in their towns, and half would market it as a tourist attraction. The poll showed 56% said they would support dispensaries selling legal recreational marijuana in their towns, while 36% would oppose it and 8% are unsure. Additionally, 50% of those who responded were in favor of cannabis related attractions such as lounges and restaurants where weed can be consumed. North-JerseyNews.com
Passaic County Clerk Danielle Ireland-Imhof is challenging a Superior Court Judge’s decision to allow Passaic County Republicans to pick a new candidate for sheriff in the June 7 primary election. Judge Ernest Caposela ordered Ireland-Imhof to place Mason Maher, a Paterson police detective lieutenant and the president of the Superior Officers Association, on the ballot as a replacement for Troy Oswald. Oswald was knocked off the ballot for failing to meet the statutory residency requirements. New Jersey Globe
Mendham Township Committeewoman and Morris County Democratic Committee (MCDC) member Amalia Duarte announced her candidacy for MCDC Chair. If elected, Duarte would become the first woman and the first Latina to hold the position of Chair in Morris County. In her announcement, Duarte cited the endorsement of nearly 30 elected officials and municipal chairs that included Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty and Morris Township Mayor Mark Gyorfy. InsiderNJ
Bayonne will have a three-day early voting period May 6 through 8 for its municipal elections this year. City Council chambers at City Hall will be open to voters from 10 to 8 p.m. both Friday and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Designated, short-term parking spaces for voters will be established in front of City Hall on early voting days. Bayonne voters will choose between three candidates—incumbent Jimmy Davis, Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski and Mitchell Brown—for mayor; and from among 13 candidates for five city council seats. The Jersey Journal
A month after the Franklin Borough Council voted down its 2022, $7.4 million budget, it voted to approve it with the same objected-to $2,500 budget line. Councilmembers voiced their objections to the line item to begin repaying a proposed $25,000 capital budget item to make repairs to a century-old schoolhouse. The historic building was moved to a borough-owned lot on Main Street about 20 years ago with the eye on it becoming a cultural center. New Jersey Herald
A contract to conduct a redevelopment designation area review at the Hoboken police headquarters and three nearby municipal garages was voted down by the City Council. The contract would have awarded $33,000 to Bright View Engineering to assist the Department of Community Development to create a redevelopment area designation evaluation for multiple property lots, including the police department headquarters, Garages B, D and G, and 5 Marine View Plaza. Council members questioned the need for a potential redevelopment designation as well as the overall plan for replacing the police headquarters. Hudson Reporter
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes retaliated against an employee after he declined to process photos of “Valdes and her husband in various stages of undress,” according to a new lawsuit. Ferrara Law Group filed the lawsuit on behalf of Henry Hernandez, a media specialist at the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office for more than a decade. Valdes is accused of giving CDs to Hernandez with various images in 2010, then again in 2014. The lawsuit says she requested that he process the images on the disks. NJ1015.com
Ten years after launching a flood-mitigation program in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene in Morris County, the county has bought out 84 homes in flood zones in Denville, Lincoln Park, Lake Hiawatha, Pequannock and other low-lying areas along the Rockaway and Pompton rivers. Operating through the Morris County Open Space, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust, the program supplements federal and state Green Acres and Blue Acres programs by helping towns obtain flood-prone lots from willing sellers. The county funds go directly to the municipalities, which purchase the properties from willing sellers and must maintain the land as public open space. The Daily Record
And finally…The Garden State Parkway’s Atlantic Service Area has been renamed for Frank Sinatra. NJ1015.com
