Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh handily won reelection on May 10, successfully fighting off four challengers who relentlessly attacked his record during his first term. Sayegh currently leads Councilman Alex Mendez 48-27%, with Councilman Michael Jackson, Councilman Luis Velez, and former Councilman Aslan Goow far behind. Two incumbents — Maritza Davila and Lilisa Mimms — seemed headed for victory in the contest for three seats on the City Council, according to unofficial tallies. But the battle for the third seat seemed too close to call. The Record
In the 2022 Bayonne municipal election, incumbent Mayor James Davis and his council slate have declared victory. According to unofficial election results from the Hudson County Clerk’s Office, as of May 10 at 11 p.m., Davis leads City Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski at 4,863 votes to her 4,084 votes; 50.81% of the vote to 42.67%. The third candidate, doctor and lawyer Mitchell Brown is in a distant third with 611 votes or 6.38% of the vote. But Ashe-Nadrowski said Davis’ declaration was premature, as with the outstanding votes left, if a high enough percentage of them break for Ashe-Nadrowski, a runoff is possible. Hudson Reporter
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has won a third term in office, defeating challenger Sheila Montague by a huge margin in the state’s largest city. With 88% of election districts reporting, Baraka led Montague 12,368 votes to 2,547, an 83-17% margin. Five members of Baraka’s slate, including all four at-large council candidates and North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos, won unopposed, automatically giving Baraka’s allies a majority on the council; four other Baraka endorsees drew at least one opponent, with one winning, one losing, and two likely headed to a runoff. New Jersey Globe
U.S. inflation eased slightly in April to an 8.3% annual rate, dropping for the first time in eight months as energy prices moderate, according to the U.S. Labor Department. A drop in the 12-month inflation rate is a possible sign that price increases are starting to ebb after hitting a 40-year high in March of 8.5%. The annual rate of inflation has risen sharply since early 2021, when the U.S. economy’s rebound from the coronavirus pandemic accelerated, leading to supply disruptions and other imbalances that have put upward pressure on prices. The New York Times
President Joe Biden argued May 10 that Congressional Republicans would worsen inflation and raise taxes on American families, part of a growing effort to cast the GOP as obstructing his agenda and fixated on culture wars instead of governing. President Biden called inflation his “top domestic priority,” noting steps his administration was taking and citing outside factors, such as the gnarled global supply chain and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But he used much of his address to lay blame on Republicans, including that “the MAGA Republicans are counting on you to be as frustrated by the pace of progress—which they have done everything they can to slow down—that you will hand power over to them so they can enact their extreme agenda.” The Wall Street Journal
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Sundiata Acoli, the former Black Panther convicted in the 1973 murder of a state trooper in a turnpike shootout, may be released from prison to live out his final days. In overturning a 2019 appellate court ruling that sided with the state Parole Board’s decision to keep Acoli imprisoned, the Supreme Court said the board failed to meet its obligation to show a substantial likelihood that Acoli, now 85, would commit another crime if released. And the board made “almost no inquiry” about Acoli’s “exemplary” record the last 25 years, the many programs he completed or his fading health. NJ1015.com
New Jersey’s Republican lawmakers have a message for Gov. Phil Murphy: end the remaining COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates that are active within the state. First up is legislation introduced May 9 by two North Jersey lawmakers calling for a stop to weekly testing for New Jersey public school teachers, support staff, and bus drivers who did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine. State Sens. Kristin Corrado (R-40) and Anthony Bucco (R-25) are looking to end what they see as unneeded tests due to New Jersey’s case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths plummeting in recent months. “This absurd and unnecessary policy not only imposes restrictions and undue burdens on educators, but it undermines the guidelines of the CDC itself. There is no rational explanation for this policy whatsoever,” said Corrado. North-JerseyNews.com
Concerns about a staff exodus at the Department of Corrections have largely abated as nearly three-quarters of workers are vaccinated ahead of the May 11 cutoff. As of April 25, 72% of the department’s staff had completed their initial vaccine regiment and received a booster with a surge expected in the final days. The vaccination rate had been about 51% in early March, when Gov. Phil Murphy delayed a deadline for workers in congregate settings to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Statewide, 78% of all residents are fully vaccinated. New Jersey Monitor
Acting Department of Corrections Commissioner Victoria Kuhn said the state is still in “phase one” of closing the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and figuring out next steps to ensure it is done in a way that is suitable for prisoners and staff during budget hearings May 10. “We want to do it right,” Kuhn said about the closing of the facility ordered by Gov. Phil Murphy last year. “We want to take best practices that we see on an international and national level and bring those ideas together and really formulate the best plan for this facility.“ NJ.com
New Jersey on May 10 reported eight new COVID-19 deaths and 3,083 new confirmed cases. There were 647 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across 70 of the state’s 71 hospitals and of those hospitalized, 64 were in intensive care and 25 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.24 with the positivity rate for tests conducted on May 5 was 9.7%. North-JerseyNews.com
Gun deaths reached the highest number ever recorded in the United States in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, as gun-related homicides surged by 35%, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on May 10. More than 45,000 Americans died in gun-related incidents as the pandemic spread in the United States, the highest number on record, federal data show. The gun homicide rate, the highest reported since 1994, represents the largest one-year increase in gun homicides in modern history. The New York Times
Morris County law enforcement officials, in partnership with the state Attorney General’s Office, will hold two gun buyback events this weekend to help reduce gun violence. Guns can be turned in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 14 at the Budd Lake Fire Department on Route 46 and May 15 at the Parsippany Police Athletic League building. New Jersey residents may bring firearms wrapped in plastic or in a box to either location for collection by police officers. In exchange, they will receive as much as $300 per weapon, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, for up to three guns. The Daily Record
The State Senate Education Committee passed a bill that requires local school boards to post online their health and sexual education curriculum this Summer before any classroom discussion this Fall. But time and time again those who trekked to Trenton seemed more concerned about expressing what would be taught than the actual bill that would allow them to review the material that will make its way to the classroom this upcoming school year. Sponsor and committee chairman State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-13) throughout the hearing tried to keep those offering testimony and GOP lawmakers on topic, at times patiently and other times expasterted by critics who claimed to want a clear picture of what will be taught to students. “This bill has to do with transparency in curriculums,” Gopal said. “Something you should all want, but for whatever reason are opposed to this bill today.” North-JerseyNews.com
The average New Jersey teacher is spending nearly $500 of their own money on an annual basis in order to provide enough supplies for their classes, according to a state-by-state analysis of school and staff surveys. The average total is $471.74 without reimbursement in New Jersey, the report finds. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 94% of K-12 teachers spend some amount of their own money on supplies without getting paid back. NJ1015.com
Childcare disruptions during the pandemic negatively impacted working mothers, according to a recent Rutgers report. The survey found that 20% of women cut their work hours, 14% left their jobs and 13% took unpaid leave for women in households earning less than $50,000 per year. Those in middle or high-income households were more likely to take paid leave or supervise their children while working from home. The child care disruptions continued even after schools returned to in-person learning, with 23% of families still dealt with disruptions in the last six months of 2021. That percentage is even higher for low-income families and Latino families. News12 New Jersey
Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R-25) said “it is completely unacceptable” after a report found New Jersey failed to award disabled veteran-owned businesses (DVOB) under statutorily required state contracts. The report, published by the Garden State Initiative and New Jersey State Veterans Chamber of Commerce, found just two of the 72 eligible state agencies were enforcing the 2015 law that set aside 3% of budgets for DVOB. “New Jersey state agencies are mandated to do business with veterans turned entrepreneurs, but they have not lived up to their so-called commitment…I’m calling on state leaders to join me in making consequential changes,” said Bergen, who served as an Apache fighter pilot during Operation Iraqi Freedom. North-JerseyNews.com
With intelligence officials warning that Russia is counting on a protracted war in Ukraine to drain the determination of the United States and its allies, Congress has forged ahead with overwhelming support in deepening the United States’ commitment. The House voted 368 to 57 in favor of a $39.8 billion aid package for Ukraine May 10, bringing the total U.S. financial commitment to roughly $53 billion over two months. There was little resistance from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who had previously been critical of costly U.S. involvement in overseas conflicts. The Senate still needs to vote on the proposal. The New York Times
Elon Musk said he would “reverse the permanent ban” of former President Donald J. Trump on Twitter and let him back on the social network. Musk said that “doesn’t mean that somebody gets to say whatever they want to say” and is in favor of temporary suspensions of accounts “if they say something that is illegal or …destructive to the world.” Additionally, he raised the idea that a particular tweet could be “made invisible or have very limited traction” and reiterated his desire for several changes at the platform, including eliminating bots and scams. The Wall Street Journal
The New York City Independent Budget Office released a report expressing its concerns that current proposals to expand and renovate New York Penn Station are missing key details. Among the questions that still need to be answered include why taxing Madison Square Garden isn’t on the table, how it would be financed, whether there is a demand for millions of square feet of office space and urges New Jersey and other involved entities to be more transparent about how they would help pay for some of the cost. New Jersey Herald
Multiple people died in a car crash after a police pursuit on the morning of May 10 in Glen Ridge. The car, a silver Hyundai, crashed into a park and hit two trees near the Glen Gazebo. Authorities did not provide further details on the crash. The crash comes after the state changed its guidelines on police pursuits on April 29, allowing cops once again to chase suspected car thieves, after previously being allowed to engage only to prevent death or serious injury. That policy was introduced in December 2021. The Record
And finally…A bear in Sussex County has been freed from the cone-like chicken feeder stuck around its neck. NJ1015.com
