Key metrics in New Jersey reached notable numbers not seen since the Winter surge. The New Jersey Department of Health on May 5 reported seven new COVID-19 deaths and 3,479 new confirmed positive tests, the first day over 3,000 and highest since Feb. 3. There were 604 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across the state’s 71 hospitals—surpassing the 600 threshold for the first time since March 3. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.20 with the positivity rate for tests conducted on May 1 was 13.8%, both increasing from the day before. The pattern of the rate of transmission with the South region being noticeably lower than in the North and Central continued: 14.9% in the North, 14.4% in the Central region and 10.2% in the South. North-JerseyNews.com
There are 142 fewer licensed childcare centers operating in New Jersey since the pandemic began, shrinking the pool of children served by 4,700. During testimony in front of the Assembly Budget Committee, Department of Children and Families Commissioner Christine Beyer said the reduction occurred despite the Murphy administration was the only state to use CARES Act Coronavirus Relief funds to support childcare centers throughout the shutdown, allocating allocated $210 million in relief for childcare centers in the first year of the pandemic. NJ.com
Schools in New Jersey have reported an increase in student fighting, while others have been dealing with an uptick in bullying since returning to in-school learning last September. “As I speak with school superintendents throughout the state they are indeed affirming that there are many more issues post-COVID, coming back to school, than there were pre-COVID,” said Rich Bozza, the executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. “(There is) more acting out by students, the grief, anxiety, depression that children have experienced during the pandemic is really welling over into classrooms and hallways. School support people are indeed working very diligently to support students in many ways.” NJ1015.com
The families of two women who died after catching COVID in the private nursing homes where they lived have sued Gov. Phil Murphy and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, saying the state ignored repeated warnings in the pandemic’s first weeks that its approach to containing COVID in long-term care facilities would be deadly. The new lawsuits accuse Murphy and Persichilli of violating nursing home residents’ civil rights and creating dangerous conditions in homes through policies they implemented under Murphy’s executive order 103. That complaint criticizes state officials for requiring facilities to admit people who tested positive, refusing to require hospitals to test “medically stable” patients they transferred to nursing homes, and failing to adequately distribute face masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment in long-term care facilities in the pandemic’s early days. New Jersey Monitor
U.S. regulators on May 5 strictly limited who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to a rare but serious risk of blood clots. The Food and Drug Administration said the shot should only be given to adults who cannot receive a different vaccine or specifically request J&J’s vaccine. FDA officials said in a statement that they decided to restrict J&J’s vaccine after taking another look at data on the risk of life-threatening blood clots within two week of vaccination. News12 New Jersey
Scientists at Rutgers University have developed a lab test that can identify variants of the virus causing COVID-19. The PCR test is expected to greatly assist health officials in tracking the disease, as well as physicians treating patients infected with the coronavirus. Rutgers scientists hope to share the technology with other labs and testing companies, making variant information readily available. ROI-NJ.com
Western ports are bracing for increased congestion when China eventually lifts stringent COVID-19 restrictions in major cities, which could come just as many importers start to load up for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons. Import gateways such as California’s Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, which handle more than a third of all containers coming into the U.S., are still inundated with uncollected cargo more than two years into the pandemic. “I can’t say whether we will go back to a 100 ships queuing up to dock, but we really need to get the existing cargo out of the port and out of Southern California,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. The Wall Street Journal
Ukrainian soldiers went on the offensive against Russian forces in northeast Ukraine on May 6, seeking to drive them back from outside two key cities. Ukrainian officials are bracing for what they fear could be even more intense Russian assaults over the weekend, as Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to claim a victory that he can showcase on May 9, Russia’s Victory Day holiday, an annual celebration of the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany. Local Ukraine leaders announced new curfews and issued urgent warnings about the threat of stepped-up Russian missile strikes. The New York Times
U.S. benchmark oil prices jumped above $110 a barrel on May 6 for the first time since the end of March, rekindling worries about how high energy prices will weigh on economic growth and corporate profits. Futures for West Texas Intermediate crude rose almost 2% to $110.30 a barrel. Global benchmark Blend Crude rose the same percentage to $113.00. The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. economy added 428,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said Friday, for the 12th straight month of gains. The jobless rate remained at 3.6%. The U.S. economy has regained more than 90% of the 22 million jobs lost at the height of coronavirus-related lockdowns in the spring of 2020. An April survey showed average hourly earnings 5.5% higher than a year earlier due to the tight job market, but those gains for workers have been largely offset by inflation. The New York Times
The State Legislature in Louisiana advanced a proposal this week that would classify abortion as homicide, going further than anti-abortion measures in other states by making it possible for prosecutors to bring criminal cases against women who end a pregnancy. If passed, the bill would immediately ban abortion in the state, even before the Supreme Court issues its final decision. The bill would also enable the Legislature to ignore court rulings it disagrees with. The New York Times
Gov. Phil Murphy has named a new prison watchdog to lead a revamped oversight office a year after the state’s previous ombudsman resigned amid complaints of lax oversight and widespread abuse at New Jersey’s women’s prison. Terry Schuster, formerly the head of a criminal justice program at Pew Charitable Trusts, will helm the state Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson. The post comes with expanded powers under the 2020 Dignity Act, a law that empowered the office to investigate complaints of sexual assaults, use of force and medical issues, among other problems. NJ Spotlight News
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will make $60 million available for flood protection investments. The state agency will make $10 million available in community stormwater assistance grants, touted as a way to build on Gov. Phil Murphy’s commitment to make the state more resilient in the face of storms and other adverse weather events. Additionally, the agency will expand the Blue Acres Buyout Program allowing the state to purchase flood-prone properties with an additional investment of $50 million. “One of DEP’s most important jobs is protecting people and property from flood hazards, which have worsened significantly over the last 20 years, and we must help communities get ahead of the next storm,” said DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. “Our communities are tired of recovering from storms; it is time we help each other become more resilient instead.” North-JerseyNews.com
Cresskill businessman Fred Schneiderman, whose campaign was being guided by former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, has dropped out of the race to be the GOP candidate in the 5th Congressional District. “Due to my first priority, my family, I must hereby withdraw my 2022 candidacy,” Schneiderman said. “While disappointing at the moment, I’m confident I’ll again seek and serve elected office.” That leaves two GOP candidates running to face Rep. Josh Gottheimer this year—current frontrunner Nick DeGregorio, who has the county line in Bergen, and Frank Pallotta, who ran in 2020. InsiderNJ
The Morris County Board of Taxation has revoked tax-exempt status from the defunct City Baptist Church, which owns the house where 7th district congressional candidate Phil Rizzo keeps his residence. Rizzo, a former pastor who ran as a conservative Republican in the 2021 gubernatorial race and is now seeking to run against Rep. Tom Malinowski, worked as a pastor at North Bergen’s City Baptist Church until he took a leave of absence last June. The church subsequently shut down, supposedly because of Hurricane Ida. Back in 2017, Rizzo had sold his Harding County home to City Baptist Church for $1.65 million, thereby exempting the house from property taxes, but continued to live there. New Jersey Globe
Kris Kolluri, a former New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation, has been tapped to head the Gateway Program Development Corporation that is building a new tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York. Kolluri served as transportation commissioner during the first three years of Gov. Jon Corzine’s administration. He’s currently the president and CEO of the Camden Community Partnership and a former CEO of the Rowan University-Rutgers Camden Board of Governors. New Jersey Globe
An effort to add members of the public to Hoboken’s Cannabis Review Board failed May 4, the latest setback in a series of initiatives to reform the city’s legislative framework for marijuana establishments that the city approved last year. The Cannabis Review Board expansion would have expanded the three-person board that is the first to review applications for cannabis stores to a seven-person board. The proposed four other members would have been residents appointed by officials. The Jersey Journal
Bayonne has entered into a license agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for two new parking lots underneath the Bayonne Bridge. The parking lots would be located under the bridge between West 3rd Street and Juliette Street, and another between West 4th Street and Margaret Street. The city will pay an annual $1 fee for each of the public parking lots. Hudson Reporter
A new tree ordinance went into effect this week in Ridgewood, the village’s latest attempt to protect from indiscriminate pruning, removal and abuse. Under the new requirement, someone who cuts down such a tree must pay $50 for the permit with a trunk diameter greater than eight inches and $500 to the village, per tree, to replace it on site or somewhere else in town. The Record
Fredon will use federal grant money of $336,000 toward access to broadband service for the town, a project that has an estimated price tag of $2 million. Newton-based Planet Networks is funding the rest of the cost to wire the entire town with high-capacity optic fiber cable. “We had already given them permission to come down Route 94 and on 519,” said Mayor John Flora. That permission was to run fiber optic into bordering Warren County municipalities including Blairstown, Knowlton and Frelinghuysen. New Jersey Herald
And finally…The first Saturday in May means it is Kentucky Derby day. The betting favorite is Zandon at 3-1 with the value play being Crown Pride at 20-1. The New York Times
