OPINION: Hate and the New Responsibilities of Elon Musk. The disheartening truth is hate is a combination of human nature and something that is taught. We too often see the ostracizing of “The Other” not just in our country but worldwide, based on skin color, sexual orientation, and religion. The teachings are increasingly coming from the internet, specifically social media. The purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk has again raised the issue of the role that these platforms can and should play in regulating free speech. Let us be clear—we do not raise an objection to Musk owning Twitter based on his politics. But we do have concerns that guardrails that we believed should be enforced at greater lengths by Twitter and Facebook and Google will be rolled back. Social media companies, by design, have pushed many of us into our own echo chambers that have us accepting opinion as facts despite not having the full story. The rise in extremists is not a glitch but a function of how we receive information today. We hope that we are wrong, but the purchase of Twitter by Musk seems to be more of the same that prioritizes views and the bottom line compared to the damage it is doing to society as a whole. North-JerseyNews.com
New Jersey courts would ask prospective jurors their race, ethnicity, and gender, allow people with certain criminal convictions to serve on juries, and pay jurors more, if the state Supreme Court adopts recommendations made last week to reduce bias in jury selection. The Committee of the Judicial Conference on Jury Selection made 25 recommendations advising how the state should expand jury pools and make jury selection fairer. The committee was established by Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner after the state’s top court last year unanimously reversed the conviction in a murder case because they said prosecutors likely acted with “implicit or unconscious bias” in asking to keep a Black man off the jury. New Jersey Monitor
Antisemitic incidents in 2021 rose by 25% in New Jersey, reaching 370 total incidents—the highest number ever recorded by Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the state and the second-highest number recorded in any state across the country last year. In total, ADL recorded 252 incidents of harassment, up 34%; 112 incidents of vandalism, rising 7%; and six incidents of assault, tripling the previous year’s number. “Jewish communities in New Jersey are dealing with record levels of antisemitism, and ADL is working closely with victims, schools, law enforcement, elected officials, and faith and community leaders to help reverse this trend,” said Scott Richman, Regional Director of ADL’s New York/New Jersey office serving Northern and Central New Jersey. North-JerseyNews.com
Ukrainian officials vowed to carry out a large-scale evacuation from the ruined city of Mariupol despite early-morning shelling that threatened to derail attempts to rescue hundreds of civilians trapped for weeks in bunkers beneath the wreckage of what was once one of Europe’s largest steel plants. Russian forces continued to pummel targets in eastern and southern Ukraine, continuing a two-week offensive that has struggled to claim much new ground even as they suffer heavy casualties. A British intelligence agency said on May 2 that the Russian losses had been staggering, and that one in four of the invasion units deployed to Ukraine had been “rendered combat ineffective. The New York Times
Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez supports the $33 billion in assistance for Ukraine proposed by President Joe Biden needed to repel the unprovoked Russian invasion he believes is crucial to preventing a victorious Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking America’s NATO allies in Europe and drag the U.S. into war. “Stopping Russia from getting to that point is critically of interest to us, as well as the world, so that we don’t have to send our sons and daughters into battle. And I think that ability not to have to send our sons and daughters into battle is priceless,” said Menendez. NJ.com
Coronavirus cases are surging again in South Africa, and public health experts are monitoring the situation, eager to know what’s driving the spike, what it says about immunity from previous infections and what its implications are globally. In the past week, cases have tripled, positivity rates are up and hospitalizations have increased, health officials said. The surge has the country facing a possible fifth wave. The spike is linked to BA.4 And BA.5, two subvariants that are part of the Omicron family. The New York Times
New Jersey on May 1 reported one new COVID-19 death and 1,776 new confirmed positive tests as the United States total coronavirus fatalities gets closer to 1 million. There were 476 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across 70 of the state’s 71 hospitals and of those hospitalized, 52 were in intensive care and 26 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.15 with the positivity rate for tests conducted on April 25 was 7.5%. NJ.com
Three of NJ Transit’s board members urged agency officials to create a mask-only train car, about a week after the agency dropped the mandate. Board members Bob Gordon, Shanti Narra and Cedrick Fulton, the vice-chair, voiced support for a mask-only train car pilot program at April 29’s board meeting, saying it should be considered “immediately.” But those opposed to the idea said it will be too difficult to enforce. “We just went two years of a pandemic and our members have been harassed, assaulted at extreme levels. Enforcement would be extremely difficult,” said Jerome Johnson, general chairman of the union that represents NJ Transit’s train conductors. “Before any decision is made we would like you to include labor and the people who are actually on the trains.” New Jersey Herald
Former Port Authority chairman Anthony Coscia has been nominated by President Joe Biden for a third term on Amtrak’s board of directors. Coscia is currently chairman of Amtrak’s board after he was first appointed to the panel by President Barack Obama in 2009 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2010. He was elected chairman of Amtrak’s board in 2013 and reappointed in 2015. Additionally, Coscia is Amtrak’s representative to the Gateway Development Corporation, the bi-state board charged with overseeing construction of Amtrak’s Gateway project. NJ.com
A large portion of NJ Transit and Amtrak Northeast Corridor service was suspended for the morning commute May 2 because of a car crash. NJ Transit said service was suspended in both directions between Trenton and Rahway as all tracks are out between Metropark and Trenton due to a power issue stemming from a car crash that struck a pole on in Edison. NJ1015.com
The price of diesel hit a record high in New Jersey over the weekend at $5.89, up almost 70 cents in the last week, with AAA currently showing the average price at $5.94. Diesel is more important than gasoline for supply chains, since it powers the trucks and freight trains that deliver goods and costs can get passed on to consumers as higher prices for a variety of goods. News12 New Jersey
After being lobbied by law enforcement officials, Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin announced that pursuit of car thefts will resume in New Jersey. “We will permit pursuits based on the commission of several additional crimes — car theft and receiving a stolen vehicle — at least through the end of this year, when we will evaluate the impact of this change,” Platkin said on April 29. “These changes will give law enforcement the tools that they need to meet the moment and to protect our communities while also being mindful of the inherent risks that come to officer safety and to the public when officers do engage in police pursuits.” The reversal was made during a Gov. Phil Murphy press conference that the state will spend $10 million to expand the use of license plate recognition technology to fight the recent spike in auto thefts. North-JerseyNews.com
A “physical altercation” that was rumored to be a shooting at the Garden State Plaza food court April 30 led to dozens of police units descending upon the mall as patrons were sent scrambling. Police Chief Ken Ehrenberg dismissed reports of a shooting at the mall and said the Plaza reopened by about 4:45 p.m. “Someone must have yelled ‘gun’ and it spread like wildfire,” Ehrenberg said. “Once that genie has been taken out of the bottle, it’s hard to put it back in.” According to police, the sound of a broken bottle may have been mistaken for gunshots. The Record
A majority of New Jersey adults or someone they know has experienced mental health problems, and the problems have gotten worse during the pandemic, according to a recently released Stockton University poll. The statewide poll found 58% reporting that they or someone close to them has experienced mental health issues, while 39% said they have not and 2% were unsure. Of those saying they had experienced problems, 68% said that mental health had gotten worse during the pandemic; only 7% said the problems had improved, and 20% said they had not changed during the pandemic. InsiderNJ
Parsippany is directing residents to inspect and report possible lead pipes in their water-service lines following a new state law to eliminate the toxic metal from its water supply by 2031. A survey four-page recently mailed to all Parsippany residents includes detailed steps and illustrations for residents to follow to inspect their lines for lead or galvanized steel that may contain lead. The Daily Record
The North Bergen Board of Commissioners is expected to approve the purchase of property in the township for $2 million, but it will not be converted into a school building as some hoped. Township Administrator Janet Castro said the building at 4201 Kennedy Blvd., next to the township hall parking lot, may be utilized for public health and safety, such as health clinics and as a site for vaccinations. She said the exact use of the building is in the “preliminary planning stages.” The Jersey Journal
Two of the progressive candidates running in the 8th Congressional District of New Jersey discussed their ideas and policies at a forum in Jersey City April 29. The two candidates, David Ocampo Grajales and Ane Roseborough-Eberhard, are running in the Democratic primary and are looking to potentially succeed retiring Rep. Albio Sires, a Democrat, in 2023. Ocampo Grajales and Roseborough-Eberhard pitched their progressive policies to the audience, such as a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and canceling student loan debt. Hudson Reporter
Tom Kean, Jr. launched his first TV ad in his bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district, saying he’ll “hammer tax-and-spend radicals” and voicing support for law enforcement and border security. Kean, the first GOP candidate to go up on the air in advance of the June 7 GOP primary, uses images of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Nancy Pelosi as well as a video of Rep. Tom Malinowski in a reference to “scandal plagued politicians.” New Jersey Globe
And finally…Former Hudson pol David Friedland, who faked own death to avoid prison, died at age 84. NJ.com
