Rep. Mikie Sherrill is our choice to return for the 11th Congressional District in North Jersey. Sherrill’s bipartisan work—funding police departments, her expertise on Russian from her time in the Navy and her efforts to push the Biden Administration on projects to benefit North Jersey—is what we need as a nation and a state now more than ever. But in this race, the issue of a woman’s right to choose that is our deciding factor. As Sherrill clearly explained, there are now 22 million women in the U.S. who have less rights now than before Dobbs v Jackson ruling in June. Abortions are already banned in certain states—including those for rapes and incest—across the U.S. and Republicans will push for a ban across the country if they gain control of Congress. Paul DeGroot, the GOP nominee who we believe when he says is pro-choice, said he would support some version of a nationwide ban after 15-20 weeks. Quite simply that is not being pro-choice and that is not where the majority of the 11th District or the U.S. is. While DeGroot talks about it, Mikie Sherrill has a proven record of bipartisanship in Washington that has delivered for North Jersey. That is why we are endorsing Sherrill in the 2022 Election. North-JerseyNews.com
For the second time in as many years, New Jersey residents will be able to cast their ballots in person up to 10 days before Election Day. Voters can go to any of the designated early in-person voting locations and cast their ballots from Saturday, Oct. 29 through Sunday, Nov. 6. Hours will be Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Each county has at least three locations available for early in-person voting. The Record
As of Oct. 26, close to 370,000 New Jerseyans had already voted using a mail-in ballot, almost 40% of those who had received a ballot. With about 600,000 ballots still in voters’ hands and more than a week still to request a ballot, that number is likely to rise. In the last midterm election in 2018, more than 400,000 people voted by mail. Last year, close to 595,000 used mail-in ballots, almost three times more than the number who voted early in person. NJ Spotlight News
The Murphy Administration recently brought an environmental lawsuit against five energy companies and a petroleum trade association on behalf of Garden State residents. The lawsuit, filed Oct. 18 by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin along with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) agency, claims Exxon Mobil Corporation, Shell Oil Company, Chevron Corporation, BP, Conocophillips, and the trade group in which these defendants were members, American Petroleum Institute (API) knowingly made false claims to deceive the public about the existence of climate change and the degree to which fossil fuels products negatively contribute to global warming. “In short, these companies put their profits ahead of our safety,” said Platkin. North-JerseyNews.com
The world’s largest oil companies continue to reap rewards from high prices as Exxon Mobil Corp. reported almost $20 billion in profit, its most lucrative quarter ever, while rival Chevron Corp. reported just a slight dip from the record haul it set in the prior quarter. Despite the hefty profits and high energy prices, the two largest U.S. oil companies didn’t telegraph any plans to increase spending on oil or fuel production, sticking to their annual budget ranges that were set before the war in Ukraine caused a spike in energy prices as supplies drained globally. The Wall Street Journal
A Tennessee man was sentenced on Oct. 27 to seven and a half years in prison for dragging a police officer protecting the Capitol on Jan. 6, one of the most severe penalties handed down so far. The man, Albuquerque Cosper Head, pleaded guilty in March to assaulting the officer, Michael Fanone, who has emerged as an outspoken advocate for the officers who were subjected to the mob violence by Donald Trump supporters. As part of his plea, Head, a 43-year-old construction worker, admitted that during the violence outside the Capitol, he grabbed Fanone around the neck and told the crowd around him, “I got one!” and then forcibly hauled Fanone down the Capitol steps and into the mob, where he was beaten, kicked and attacked with a stun gun. The New York Times
Republican Assemblyman Jay Webber took Democrats to task earlier this week after testimony about police officers being stationed at polling places sends a negative message to voters that they aren’t safe. The law was amended allowing plain clothes police officers stationed at schools and senior living communities functioning as a polling facility to be on sight and unanimously approved by the Assembly Oversight, Reform, and Federal Relations Committee. “We’re going to support this legislation, because it loosens the law, but if you can’t understand why people look at that law that we passed and that the governor signed in January and say, ‘You’re going the wrong way,’ you’re really out of touch,” said Webber (R-26). North-JerseyNews.com
New Jersey Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio fired back at Republican lawmakers that accused her of lying during legislative testimony and called for subpoenas to find out more information about the increased health insurance rates for hundreds of thousands of public employees. Muoio said in a letter to Republican Senate leadership, that “any claims about a lack of transparency are patently erroneous,” because this year, as in previous years, the Legislature was provided with thousands of pages of documents related to the budget. “In response to direct questions by members of the Assembly in early April,” she stated, “Treasury officials expressly brought to the committee members’ attention that the health benefits appropriation increase was among the largest of the line item increases.” The Record
A measure looking to bring New Jersey’s strict regulation of concealed carry firearms into compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling hit a stumbling block Oct. 27 when it was abruptly pulled from aa Assembly voting session. The proposal, which would outline requirements for obtaining a carry permit and details a long list of “sensitive places” where guns would be prohibited in the state, still advanced in the State Senate, where it was approved by the house’s Law and Public Safety Committee. NJ.com
The coronavirus pandemic was “most likely the result of a research-related incident” in China, and not natural transmission of a virus from animal to human, a new report by Republicans on the U.S. Senate health committee concludes. The study cites details about the early spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus, which causes COVID; the fact that no animal host has been identified nearly three years into the pandemic; and troubled biosafety procedures at labs in the Chinese city of Wuhan to buttress its conclusion. But the report by Republican committee staff acknowledges that definitive conclusions about the pandemic’s origins are impossible without more evidence and committee’s chairwoman Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said in a statement that the panel is continuing work on a bipartisan report on the issue. The Wall Street Journal
With everyone spending an increasing amount of time indoors this fall, New Jersey is beginning to see an uptick in the number of COVID and influenza cases, along with a spike in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). For the past two years, kids have not been exposed to as many illnesses as usual because of pandemic precautions, making them more susceptible to the viruses that are currently circulating. “We’re also seeing increases in rhinovirus, in enteroviruses, and we’re beginning to see some parainfluenza virus,” said infectious disease expert Dr. Meg Fisher, who is the New Jersey Acting Deputy Commissioner of Health. “We are definitely seeing more children in the hospital. We’re following this very closely to ensure that we have enough beds.” NJ1015.com
Elon Musk closed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on Oct. 27. Musk fired at least four top Twitter executives—including the chief executive and chief financial officer—and met with engineers and ad executives at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has said that he wants to make the social media platform a more freewheeling place for all types of commentary and that he would “reverse the permanent ban” of former President Donald J. Trump from the service. The New York Times
Catalytic converter thieves struck the city of Hoboken, stealing the valuable vehicle part from five city Hop buses and temporarily crippling the free transit service.The buses, which were parked at the Department of Public Works at Observer Highway and Willow Avenue, were targeted some time between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 5 a.m. Thursday. City officials said two of the three intercity routes, Red and Blue, are suspended for the rest of the week. The Green Hop service will operate on a limited schedule from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for the remainder of the week, while the Senior Hop shuttle is operating as scheduled. The Jersey Journal
Bayonne is looking to construct a pedestrian bridge connecting the South Cove Commons shopping plaza with the new residential and commercial redevelopment at the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY), now referred to as “The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor.” The City Council approved a resolution to submit a Transportation Alternative Application request for a grant to construct a pedestrian bridge connecting the South Cove Commons and the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor. Hudson Reporter
And finally…Many military U.F.O. reports are just foreign spying or airborne trash. The New York Times
