Inflation cooled in July as gas prices and airfares fell, a welcome reprieve for consumers but not yet a conclusive sign that price increases are turning a corner. The Consumer Price Index climbed by 8.5% in the year through July, compared to 9.1% the prior month, a bigger slowdown than economists had projected. After stripping out food and fuel costs to get a sense of underlying price pressures, prices climbed by 5.9% through July, matching the previous reading as fuel prices, airfares and used cars declined in price, offsetting increases in rent and food costs. The average price of a gallon of regular gas nationally was $4.03, almost $1 cheaper than in mid-June but still higher than a year ago as prices have fallen for 57 straight days. The Wall Street Journal
Donald Trump will face questioning under oath from the New York attorney general’s office on Aug. 10 in a civil investigation into his business practices. Since March 2019, investigators in the state attorney general’s office have scrutinized whether Trump and his company improperly inflated the value of his hotels, golf clubs and other assets. Because the investigation is civil, the state AG can sue Trump but cannot file criminal charges; the Manhattan district attorney’s office had been conducting a parallel criminal investigation into whether Trump fraudulently inflated valuations of his properties. The New York Times
Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Josh Gottheimer celebrated the recent passage of bipartisan legislation designed to strengthen police departments in North Jersey and across the nation. Gottheimer’s Invest to Protect Act is designed to bridge the gap for smaller police departments that don’t have the resources necessary to modernize or fully equip their departments, while Pascrell’s TBI and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act bill is focused more on the traumatic aspects of law enforcement by providing resources for officers contending with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “Despite what some say, Democrats are funding our police,” said Pascrell. North-JerseyNews.com
Gov. Phil Murphy’s choice for Attorney General is one step closer to having the word “Acting” removed from his title. In a 8-2 vote that included one “yes” from a Republican, Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Aug. 8 with his confirmation from the full Senate expected this Fall. As a member of Murphy’s inner circle, Platkin was probed by GOP lawmakers over his role in covid policies, an increasing liberal agenda in the AG’s office as well as Katie Brennan’s 2018 rape claim against former Murphy administration official Al Alvarez. State Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-25) voted no, believing Platkin as Acting AG “has deviated from the core function of public safety and law enforcement.” North-JerseyNews.com
Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (D-NJ) told an audience at an Elizabeth senior center the Inflation Reduction Act just passed by the Senate will improve their lives, making medicine for New Jersey’s 1.6 million elderly residents more affordable. The act lets Medicare negotiate lower drug costs and caps out-of-pocket payments. “I’ve talked to seniors who’ve had thousands and thousands of dollars in prescription drug costs. That will be capped now, totally, at $2,000 per year, out-of-pocket medical expenses,” said Menendez. The House will vote on the measure on Friday. NJ Spotlight News
Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Tom Malinowski, and Mikie Sherrill are facing Republican criticism over their backing of the Inflation Reduction Act that leaves the $10,000 deduction cap on state and local taxes (SALT) unchanged. “Putting aside the partisan politics of it, it’s just bad for the credibility of government and our institutions,” Republican State Committee Chair Bob Hugin said. “And it’s just really pathetic that you look for excuses. Just admit it. You didn’t have the political courage to stand up to Nancy Pelosi.” New Jersey Monitor
Rep. Josh Gottheimer said the Inflation Reduction Act is a victory in his continued push to repeal the $10,000 deduction cap on state and local taxes (SALT) because Democrats beat back attempts to raise income tax rates. “This bill doesn’t raise taxes one penny on families or small businesses in my district,” Gottheimer said. “We also stopped those in red states trying to further gut SALT, and those who wanted to raise taxes on individuals and small businesses in Jersey. The bill will actually save people thousands of dollars on prescription drugs, energy and health care costs. We won.” PoliticoNJ
Sen. Cory Booker is pushing for a $50 million expansion of a federal program that provides housing stability for low-income veterans. Booker hosted a roundtable of veterans groups at Sussex County Community College and said he plans to introduce legislation to include former National Guard and Reserve members and their relatives in the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. Booker said veterans of those agencies have been “explicitly denied” military benefits despite serving their country in the same way as other branches of the armed forces. New Jersey Herald
The Biden Administration will wind down use of a immigration policy known as Remain in Mexico after a federal court removed a final procedural hurdle preventing it from doing so on Aug. 8. The Department of Homeland Security said it wouldn’t place anyone new into the program, which requires migrants seeking asylum to live in northern Mexican border cities during their U.S. court proceedings. Migrants currently living in Mexico under the program will be allowed to enter the U.S. at their next court date, when they can choose where to live and finish pursuing their asylum claims in local immigration courts around the country. The Wall Street Journal
A series of explosions recently rocked a key Russian air base in Kremlin-occupied Crimea, allegedly by Ukrainian forces. A Ukrainian attack on Russian forces in the Crimean Peninsula would represent a significant expansion of Ukraine’s offensive efforts, which had mostly been confined to pushing Russian troops from territories occupied after Feb. 24, when the invasion began. For weeks, however, Ukraine has been shifting troops and striking deeper behind the front lines than before, as it signals that it is preparing a major counteroffensive in the Kherson region and uses longer-range weapons supplied by the West. The New York Times
An environmental study of the effects of New York’s proposed congestion pricing plan paints a portrait of a program that reduces traffic, makes the air cleaner, increases transit ridership and raises sufficient funding for subway, bus and MTA commuter railroad projects. But those still driving and paying tolls would be hurt, especially if credit is given toward a congestion fee for bridge and tunnel tolls to enter Manhattan, with one MTA official stating “High toll credits wind up with a higher (congestion) toll. The higher the toll, the higher the traffic reduction.” NJ.com
Rep. Josh Gottheimer and three Bergen County legislators announced a new proposal that would incentivize New Jersey commuters to stay on their side of the Hudson to combat New York City’s congestion pricing plan. Legislation offered by State Sen. Joseph Lagana (D-38), Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (D-38) and Assemblyman Christopher Tully (D-38) offers tax credits for New York-based companies to open regional offices in New Jersey, and reward businesses that help reduce commuting costs for their employees. Gottheimer estimates that the bill would save New Jersey commuters about $20,000 annually. New Jersey Globe
NJ DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette declared New Jersey in a drought watch as a result of diminished availability of groundwater and a decline in reservoir capacity. LaTourette pointed out the drought watch declaration was made based on multiple factors, including an extended period of low precipitation, the extreme heat, the high demand, and specific operational issues. While water conservation is not mandatory, it’s strongly recommended. NJ1015.com
New Jersey on Aug. 9 reported three new COVID-19 deaths and 2,287 new confirmed cases as the state passed the 7 million mark of residents being fully vaccinated. There were 1,150 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in the 71 state hospitals that reported, with 134 in intensive care and 44 on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 0.92 with the positivity rate at 11.9% for tests conducted on Aug. 4. North-JerseyNews.com
Saint Peter’s University filed a lawsuit in Hudson County Superior Court against the cannabis applicant Medusa NJ and the Jersey City Planning Board. The school is arguing that Medusa’s approval was “arbitrary and capricious” on multiple counts and is asking the courts to void it. University President Eugene Cornacchia objected to Medusa, saying at the time that the school had concerns about crowd control and security for students in residence halls. Hudson Reporter
Lyndhurst students in all grades will now have the flexibility to wear what they want within certain parameters after the school board abolished a policy that standardized their clothing. Schools Superintendent Joseph DeCorso said the updated dress code was a result of feedback from parents who were against having their children wear uniforms every day as more than 60% of parents who answered the questionnaire were not in favor of keeping uniforms and roughly the same majority replied that their morning routine was not easier because of the requirement. The Record
Almost 60,000 Morris and Sussex county residents lost power amid the sweltering heat Aug. 9, after a high-voltage power line collapsed over Route 80. The downed line forced the shutdown of the highway, snarling traffic in the area and adding to the chaos. At the height of the outage around 4:30 p.m., Jersey Central Power & Light reported 25,773 customers in Morris County without service, including 8,973 outages in Jefferson Township alone, where the power line fell near the highway’s intersection with Route 15. In Sussex County, 32,905 homes, businesses and other customers waited for service to return in the day’s blazing heat, with 7,091 outages in Sparta and 4,405 in Vernon. New Jersey Herald
A major water main break Aug. 9 in Belleville left thousands of Newark residents without water and forced city officials to hand out bottles of water at the height of a heat wave. Crews continue to work around the clock to make repairs and fix the 42-inch main break as a water advisory remains in effect in Newark and other parts of Essex County, including Belleville and Bloomfield until further notice. News12 New Jersey
And finally…Long Beach Island has been ranked as the 4th most expensive summer vacation destination in the entire United States in a study by CheapHotels.org. NJ1015.com
