Rep. Mikie Sherrill and GOP nominee Paul DeGroot slugged it out in an hour long virtual debate on Oct. 23, the first of three times this week the two candidates vying to represent the 11th Congressional District in North Jersey will meet. Both candidates accused the other about lying about their positions on abortion, crime, gas prices, who they support and the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. DeGroot repeatedly painted a picture of a country needing new leadership in order to avoid “a disaster of a recession,” while Sherrill highligted success while a Congresswoman since 2018, including the use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gas prices. North-JerseyNews.com
The average price drivers are paying for a gallon of regular gasoline in New Jersey is inching downward to begin the last week of October. AAA Northeast reported Oct. 24 that the average retail price of gas is now $3.67 in the Garden State, a decrease of two cents over the previous Monday and 12 cents lower than the national average. AAA said prices have dropped daily since Oct. 11 because oil prices have trended lower and fewer drivers are filling up. The cheapest can be found in Bergen, Passaic, and Warren counties, all around $3.63 on average. NJ1015.com
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has decided to spend $100,000 on a coordinated TV ad with Rep. Tom Malinowski in New Jersey’s 7th district. The ad buy that comes in just short of the $109,000 maximum they are allowed to spend in coordination with the candidate and after an earlier report that the DCCC appeared to have bailed on Malinowski. New Jersey Globe
The Assembly Oversight, Reform, and Federal Relations Committee approved two amendments to a bill that would allow officers at polling stations. Officers stationed at schools and senior living communities acting as polling places would be required to be in plain clothes and eliminate the threat threshold, meaning hosting venues can request police to be stationed there even in the absence of a threat. The attempt at a rollback comes amid rising fears of crime and a resurgence of mass shootings nationally. New Jersey Monitor
A 61-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl were fatally shot Oct. 24 inside a St. Louis high school, and the suspected shooter died in an exchange of gunfire with responding police officers, authorities said. Four teenagers sustained nonfatal gunshot injuries or graze wounds and were in stable condition. St. Louis Interim Police Commissioner Michael Sack identified the suspected gunman as a 19-year-old graduate of the high school with no criminal record. Detectives were still trying to determine a motive. The St. Louis school building where the shooting took place has metal detectors, and seven security officers on duty. The Wall Street Journal
Sen. Bob Menendez is calling on the Biden Administration to reconsider its new guidelines for Venezuelan migrants, under which some will have a pathway to temporary residence in the U.S. and others who crossed the border illegally will be sent back to Mexico. “While replicating the successful model of Uniting for Ukraine to Venezuelans is the right thing to do, and I commend the Biden Administration for creating a new legal pathway for Venezuelans forced to flee [President Nicolás] Maduro’s misery, I cannot support any program that creates additional requirements for Venezuelans and is coupled with an inexcusable expansion of Trump’s Title 42,” said Menendez. North-JerseyNews.com
Federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s handling of national security documents have reportedly ratcheted up their pressure in recent weeks on key witnesses in the hopes of gaining their testimony. A key focus for prosecutors is Walt Nauta, who worked in the White House as a military valet and cook when Trump was president and later for him personally at Mar-a-Lago. Prosecutors have indicated they are skeptical of an initial account Nauta gave investigators about moving documents stored at the Florida home of Trump and are using the specter of charges against him for misleading investigators to persuade him to sit again for questioning. The New York Times
Justice Clarence Thomas on Oct. 24 temporarily blocked a Georgia grand jury from compelling Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to testify in its probe of efforts to subvert President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in the state, while the Supreme Court considers the South Carolina lawmaker’s claim that he has congressional immunity from the investigation. District Attorney Fani Willis had a special grand jury convened to investigate the allegations of efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to reverse President Biden’s victory by pressuring election officials to alter the vote count. Graham maintains he is shielded from cooperation by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which conveys a privilege to lawmakers for their legislative acts. Graham telephoned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at least twice following the election. The Wall Street Journal
Rishi Sunak took over as Britain’s prime minister on Oct. 25 and vowed to fix the mistakes made by his predecessor after a comeback victory that doubled as a historical milestone, making him the first person of color to occupy the country’s highest political office. The 42-year-old son of Indian immigrants, Sunak won the Conservative Party contest to replace his short-lived predecessor as prime minister, Liz Truss. Sunak confronts the twin challenge of reunifying his fractured party and navigating Britain through its gravest economic crisis in a generation. The New York Times
Senior U.S. officials see no evidence Russia was preparing to deploy a so-called dirty bomb in Ukraine, but threatened consequences if Russia did so after Moscow falsely accused Kyiv of preparing one. The remarks came a day after an unusual round of telephone calls between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his U.S., French, U.K. and Turkish counterparts in which Shoigu told them that the war in Ukraine was moving toward a more dangerous phase and that Kyiv might soon deploy a dirty bomb. The Wall Street Journal
New Jerseyans are cutting back on spending amidst rising prices, and while two-thirds support the Inflation Reduction Act, nearly the same number don’t think the legislation will be helpful to them personally, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released Oct. 24. Forty-one percent say they “strongly” support the Inflation Reduction Act being signed into law and 24% “somewhat” support it. Meanwhile, 8%, “somewhat” oppose it and 22% “strongly” oppose it. Still, New Jerseyans say they don’t believe the Inflation Reduction Act will help them and their family all that much when it comes to personal finances and spending. About 10% feel it will help them “a lot,” 24% said “some,” 22% “a little” and 38% “not at all.” InsiderNJ.com
State Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-25) renewed calls for the state legislature to take up his legislation that would work to prevent tax bracket creep at the state level for New Jerseyans. Bucco wants state officials to make the move to mirror the IRS adjustment to the federal tax brackets to better protect workers from inflation. “(The) action by the IRS to raise the income thresholds for federal tax brackets was a reminder that New Jersey is one of just a few states that doesn’t annually index our tax brackets for inflation,” said Bucco. “While Democrats dither on the tax relief I have proposed, more New Jersey families will find themselves with higher state tax bills and smaller paychecks as a result of inflation.” North-JerseyNews.com
Mayor Andre Sayegh’s campaign paid $25,000 to the law firm that tried to remove Sayegh’s main rival, Alex Mendez, from last Spring’s mayoral election, according to political finance records released Oct. 24. Sayegh would not reveal whether the check from his campaign fund covered the fees for attorney Rajiv Parikh to file the lawsuit challenging Mendez’s candidacy. The lawsuit failed in court but delayed by six weeks vote-by-mail ballots, a crucial part of Mendez’s campaign strategy. Parikh filed the lawsuit on behalf of Sayegh backer Vincent Iannaccone. The Record
What a redeveloped Newark Liberty International Airport could look like is a question and concept that is closer to being answered after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey named a leading aviation planning and design company and a leading architectural firm to do that work Oct. 24. Officials named Arup, a global top aviation planning and design firm, to partner with leading architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The selection ends a process started in April to find a master planner with airport experience to oversee architectural, planning, engineering and business development for the next phase of Newark Liberty’s redevelopment. NJ.com
A Ridgefield teacher accused of telling an Arab American and Muslim student “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” is being sued in State Superior Court. The teacher allegedly made the comment last October after the student, Mohammed Zubi, then a senior, asked for extra time to complete homework in math class. In the lawsuit, Zubi said classmates looked on and laughed and that the incident was upsetting and demeaning. The lawsuit, which names the school district as well, alleges that the district failed to properly train teachers about diversity and sensitivity. The Record
Two new skyscrapers were approved by the Jersey City Planning Board on Oct. 11. The approved 1,189-unit mega project will bring two towers, one that is 49-stories tall with 595 residential units, and another that is 55-stories tall with 594 units, on a 2.21 acre site across from the Journal Square PATH Station and near the Loew’s Theatre. Hudson Reporter
And finally…Soaring inflation is pushing Halloween candy prices to a scary high. The Wall Street Journal
