The matchups appear to be set in North Jersey as voters from each party selected their nominees for November’s Congressional elections. The biggest news were Frank Pallotta winning the 5th’s GOP nomination and former Passaic County prosecutor Paul DeGroot holding a lead over Morris County Commissioner Tayfun Selen. Before any votes were cast, incumbents Josh Gottheimer, Bill Pascrell, Tom Malinowski and Mikie Sherrill all knew they would be on the ballot November 8 in races that were uncontested or faced little opposition. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. was able to easily dispatch two challengers, while Democrats in the 8th District choose Rob Menendez to succeed the retiring Albio Sires. On the Republican side, Tom Kean, Jr. will be the candidate in the 7th, a rematch of the 2020 race with Malinowski. North-JerseyNews.com
A new political party aimed at attracting moderate voters will test New Jersey’s law banning fusion voting by filing nominating petitions to create the Moderate Party with two-term Rep. Tom Malinowski as their candidate in New Jersey’s 7th district. According to backers, the move would give moderate Republicans—who voted for candidates like Christine Todd Whitman and Thomas H. Kean, Sr. —the chance to vote for Malinowski without having to do so in the Democratic column. One of the organizers of the Moderate Party is Republican Richard A. Wolfe, a township committeeman in East Amwell and a former three-term mayor, who said “I felt compelled to help form the Moderate Party because I believe the majority of voters in this country are neither far right nor far left, but instead support positions that are at or close to the center — in other words, moderate positions. These centrist voters feel that their party of choice, whether the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, no longer shares their views.” New Jersey Globe
The Attorney General’s Office is working to expand a pilot program that would provide law enforcement officers with mental health experts when responding to calls regarding behavioral health issues. The Police Departments in Elizabeth and Linden will be the next police forces to adopt the ARRIVE (Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation) Together program, according to Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin. The expansion of the programs comes after the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee advanced four police reform bills May 19, including one addressing mental health emergency responses. S-722, sponsored by State Sens. Richard Codey (D-27) and Troy Singleton (D-7), would establish a three-year Crisis Response Support Pilot Program to enable collaboration between LEOs and mental health professionals. North-JerseyNews.com
Congressional Democratic and Republican negotiators focused talks on a narrow set of proposals designed to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous young adults. The lawmaker are exploring an extended waiting period for people under 21 that would give those who conduct background checks time to access confidential juvenile records that could reveal mental problems or criminal histories. They also are discussing ways to help states establish and enforce red-flag laws and boost funding for mental health programs and school security. The Wall Street Journal
The Omicron subvariants known as BA.4 and BA.5 now represent 13% of new coronavirus cases in the United States, up from 7.5% a week ago and 1% in early May, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The spread of the subvariants adds more uncertainty to the trajectory of the pandemic in the United States, where current case counts are likely to be a significant underestimate due to no central database for at home testing. But whether it leads to a major new wave of infections, or spikes in hospitalizations and deaths, remains unclear, scientists cautioned. The New York Times
Moderna’s modified COVID-19 booster shot provided a stronger immune response than the company’s original vaccine against the Omicron variant, according to a new company study. The company will submit preliminary data from the study to U.S. health regulators in the coming weeks with the hope of making the modified booster shot available in late Summer. Researchers found that the levels of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron among people getting the modified shot were 1.75 times higher than in people who received a booster shot of the original vaccine. The Wall Street Journal
New Jersey on June 7 reported 19 new COVID-19 deaths and 2,530 new confirmed cases. There were 917 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases as all 71 state’s hospitals reported. Of those hospitalized, 106 were in intensive care and 39 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 0.86 for a second day in a row with the positivity rate at 10.2% for tests conducted on June 2. North-JerseyNews.com
A state Superior Court judge has added another bill in the tens of thousands to the list to the Woodland Behavioral Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. The owners of the formerly Andover Subacute II, and the attorneys representing the embattled facility failed to respond to a lawsuit in December 2021 filed by a public relations firm seeking monies they say were owed to them. As a result, Woodland now owes Mercury Public Affairs $105,000, the amount they sought, plus any post-judgment interest. New Jersey Herald
North Jersey lawmakers are urging textbook companies to resist calls to edit their books to appease conservative politicians. Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Tom Malinowski are the lead signatories in a letter urging major K-12 textbook publishers to not bend to the “censorship demands” from politicians in Florida and other states. Instead, they are urging the focus to continue to be on developing educational materials that will equip students with the skills and tools they need to succeed academically. The letter notes that “(The) Florida Department of Education recently rejected more than 50 math textbooks for use in its K-12 schools after determining that they contained ‘prohibited topics,’ such as ‘tenants of (Critical Race Theory)’ or other unsolicited strategies of indoctrination” despite the state providing no evidence for these claims. North-JerseyNews.com
Zakiya Smith Ellis, the chief policy adviser to Gov. Phil Murphy, is leaving the administration to become principal of a national education consulting firm. Smith Ellis, who served as the state’s secretary of higher education, will start her new role with EducationCounsel on July 1. As secretary of higher education, Smith Ellis led two initiatives that helped make both community college and four-year college more affordable (if not free of cost) to residents. ROI-NJ.com
Gov. Phil Murphy has sent state lawmakers a draft of a bill that would further expand access to abortion in New Jersey as the U.S. Supreme Court possibly prepares to overturn Roe v. Wade. The draft bill includes measures that would mandate private insurance coverage for abortion with no co-pays in the state, create a $20 million Reproductive Health Fund with $15 million for an abortion care clinical training programs, $5 million for security guards and security equipment to protect abortion facilities from attacks, and protect people who seek abortions by allowing people from other states who come to New Jersey seeking abortions to counter sue if they have been prosecuted or sued in their home state. NJ.com
A bill introduced by Hudson County State Senators would pump $250 million into the revitalization of Liberty State Park, but critics say it opens the door for a billionaire to take part of the park for his ultra-exclusive golf course. The Liberty State Park Conservation, Recreation, and Community Inclusion Act offered by State Sens. Brian Stack (D-33), Sandra Cunningham (D-31) and Nicholas Sacco (D-32) encompasses the work started last year by the state Department of Environmental Protection to remediate contaminated sections of the state park on the Jersey City waterfront and add ballfields and more recreational opportunities. The money would be used to help fund the work at the park, but the bill includes language that allows for DEP “to generate revenue and other funds, donations, or endowments to ensure adequate reserve funds for the ongoing and future maintenance of the park.” The Jersey Journal
Target will drop prices as it needs to cancel orders with vendors and offer discounts to clear out unwanted goods. Inventory rose 43% in the April quarter as demand for outdoor furniture, small appliances and some electronics declined faster than expected and supply-chain snarls delayed the arrival of many goods past the ideal selling window. The Wall Street Journal
Costco stores in New Jersey will reportedly require membership for purchase of gasoline at their locations starting July 5. The member’s only wholesale store had allowed anyone from the public to buy their gas at the same price as members, a policy in place since 2004 when state officials prevented Costco from excluding non-members. But industry and state officials were unable to point to any law on the books that prevented a retailer from requiring a membership to pump gas. NJ1015.com
A $1.1 million federal grant awarded to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey this week will help it assist more of the state’s food-insecure residents. Provided through the American Rescue Plan Act as part of the department’s Build Back Better Initiative, the grant will help the food bank balance food distribution and auxiliary services to serve communities historically underserved by the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program. The food bank’s goal is to increase household and soup kitchen distribution through outreach and infrastructure initiatives. The Record
Assembly lawmakers will weigh a bill this week encouraging businesses to hire individuals recovering from drug addiction. The measure would provide businesses with gross income tax credits of up to $2,000 for each worker recovering from drug addiction, with the size of the award depending on how many hours an eligible employee works. Eligible employees must individually work at least 500 hours during a calendar year to earn their employer a tax credit. The bill would set $2 million aside to make up for the reduced tax collections. New Jersey Monitor
The Secaucus Town Council introduced an ordinance updating police fees for extra-duty service. Under the proposed ordinance, the current fees for extra-duty employment services provided by the Secaucus Police Department would be kept on file in the Town Clerk’s Office. The fee for extra-duty employment shall be paid by the person or entity requesting the services and an itemized invoice shall be provided by the Department. Hudson Reporter
And finally…Yankees announcer John Sterling explains his decision to scale back his workload for the second half of the season at WFAN. NJ.com
