OPINION: Ban Assault Weapons Now. “We’re not going to fix it.” Those were the jaw dropping words from Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) to yet another mass school shooting last month of six people from his home state, three of victims just 9 years old. Burchett statement was two fold—it shows a mindset as he further stated there is nothing you can do for a gunman who is willing to die and that he, and like minded politicians, feel no urgency to seek a legislative solution. Let us be blunt: each child that dies is because of Second Amendment absolutist lawmakers and the conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court that allows it to happen. We want assault weapons banned again because it is at the root of our gun violence problem and will push for the removal of politicians who believe “we’re not going to fix it.” In America and across the world, we have seen the power of peaceful protests, movements massing in large numbers to march to voice and get what they want. That is what is needed and we are joining the daily fight to remove assault weapons in America. North-JerseyNews.com
New Jersey has seen a “significant” increase in applications for gun carry permits after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last June, but a full accounting of the flood of requests remains elusive, the state’s Attorney General Matt Platkin told lawmakers last week. Authorities are setting up a real-time processing and tracking system for handgun carry permit applications in compliance with the decision and the demand for requests has been high, Platkin said during a budget hearing. “I don’t have the number yet for you,” Platkin said. “We will have a full sense of the scope of the number of applications hopefully by the Summer when a digital platform is fully online.” NJ.com
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) wants to pardon a man who was convicted last week of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester. Abbott said on Twitter April 8 that he requested a state pardon board review the case of Daniel Perry, who was found guilty of murder for killing Garrett Foster at a demonstration in Summer 2020 in Austin, TX and he would approve a pardon “as soon as it hits my desk.” Texas is one of a number of states that has passed “Stand Your Ground” laws that seek to ensure that deadly force used in self-defense is legally protected. Abbott said the state’s law was among the nation’s strongest and “cannot be nullified by a jury or a Progressive District Attorney.” The Wall Street Journal
A majority of Americans are worried about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) will have on our society, according to a recent Monmouth University Poll. The poll found 60% of Americans have heard about ChatGPT, which can have conversations and actually compose entire written essays on its own with just a few simple human prompts. In fact, 78% of those interviewed believe this would be a bad thing for the future of humankind— 65% said that AI software like ChatGPT would most likely be used by students to cheat on their schoolwork. A majority (56%) believe that AI technology would eventually damage overall quality of life, along with 73% believing AI technology would hurt job growth. North-JerseyNews.com
A ruling by a Texas judge suspending approval of the abortion pill sets off a new national fight over women’s access to abortion less than a year after the Supreme Court withdrew constitutional protections for the procedure. In a 67-page ruling on April 7, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who sits in Amarillo, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made a series of legal errors in approving the pill, known as mifepristone, for sale. He delayed the impact of his decision for a week while the Biden Administration appeals and seeks an emergency stay. If the ruling takes effect, it could block sales across the country of a pill that is currently the most common method for ending a pregnancy. The Wall Street Journal
Fox News and one of its former hosts, Lou Dobbs, have settled a defamation suit with a Venezuelan businessman whom the network linked to voting-system fraud in the 2020 election. In the case of the Venezuelan businessman, Majed Khalil, Dobbs and Sidney Powell, a regular guest on Fox News, said on-air and in related Twitter posts that Dominion was using software to flip votes from then President Donald Trump to Joe Biden, or to add votes for Biden. The settlement comes days before jury selection for the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over Fox News lies about voter fraud in the 2020 election. The New York Times
Bergen County will borrow $15 million to replace its 30-year-old voting machines in time for the June 6 primary election. The Bergen County Board of County Commissioners approved a bond ordinance last week that will pay for 1,200 ballot marking devices and 650 tabulators. When Bergen County bought the AVC Advantage equipment in the 1990s from Sequoia Pacific Voting Equipment (the company was purchased by Dominion in 2010), it was projected to have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years, not 30. The Record
Jacqueline S. Yustein, the Glen Ridge Democratic municipal chair and a former councilwoman, is expected to replace Ralph Caputo in the Assembly 28th Legislative District. Democrats have scheduled a special election convention for April 18 to fill the remainder of Caputo’s term. Caputo resigned on Mach 22, two days after the State Senate confirmed his nomination to the board of directors of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Yustein has no opponent in the race for the interim term and will serve the remainder of Caputo’s term, which expires on January 9, 2024, and not be a candidate for a full term this year. New Jersey Globe
West New York Public Affairs Commissioner Cosmo Cirillo is calling on the Hudson County Board of Elections to place an early polling location on the waterfront. A two-term commissioner and mayoral candidate, Cirillo added that such an effort would increase voter turnout for a neighborhood that has not regularly had their voices heard in municipal elections. “We have an entire group of residents who have been underrepresented and disenfranchised from voting because there are no polling places accessible in their community,” Cirillo said. HudsonCountyView.com
A slate of off-the-line candidates running in the Republican primary received Column 1 after the deputy county clerk conducted a ballot draw in Morris County. Tom Mastrangelo, a county commissioner seeking the GOP nomination for State Senate, is at the top of the ticket in the Morris County municipalities within the 26th district, joined in by BettyLou DeCroce, who is seeking to regain the Assembly seat she lost two years ago, and former Parsippany Councilman Rob Peluso. Column 1 is anchored by Paul DeGroot, a former prosecutor and 2022 congressional candidate, who is running for county commissioner. The ticket of State Seen. Joseph Pennacchio, Assemblymen Jay Webber and Brian Bergen , County Clerk Ann Grossi, and County Commissioner Tayfun Selen will be running in Column 2, along with municipal candidates backed by the Morris County Republican organization. New Jersey Globe
The remains of the iconic Nabisco plant in Fair Lawn will remain standing for the time being. The facility was scheduled to be demolished via implosion on April 15, but an update from the Borough of Fair Lawn last week noted it would be postponed. Ahead of the planned demolition, Glen Rock residents were airing their concerns, including reporting damage in their homes in connection to current activities at the site. North-JerseyNews.com
Union officials representing Rutgers faculty at three campuses decided they would strike indefinitely starting April 10. The strike call comes after saying they had reached a stalemate in contract negotiations with Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway’s administration that had going on since July 2022. The move will shut down classes for the first time in the state university’s 256-year history. The three unions representing educators, researchers, and clinicians will start their strike at 9 a.m and an email from union leadership sent to over 8,000 faculty members asked them “to join the picket lines and refuse to conduct teaching, research, and other business as usual at Rutgers.” New Jersey Herald
New Jersey law enforcement officials are coordinating ahead of warmer weather to prevent a repeat of last year’s unsanctioned Wildwood car show that turned deadly, the state’s top law enforcement official said. State Attorney General Matt Platkin told state lawmakers the flash gathering of auto enthusiasts in September 2022, as well as a number of “pop-up” parties along the Jersey Shore, had prompted better monitoring and information-sharing among local and state authorities. NJ.com
Legislation designed to aid Lake Hopatcong, Greenwood Lake, and other lakes in the Highlands and Pinelands regions of New Jersey notched a win after the State Senate Environment and Energy Committee advanced the bipartisan bill. Under the proposal, a one-time supplemental appropriation of $17 million for Fiscal Year 2024 would be made. “Our lake communities have been devastated in back-to-back years by the financial impact of algal blooms and the coronavirus pandemic,” said State Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-24). “After they’ve suffered so much, it is even more critical that the State step up to meet the need. With this substantial appropriation, we will help these important lakes remain healthy and open.” North-JerseyNews.com
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law last week preventing water and sewer utilities from turning off service to customers with overdue bills before Oct. 1. The measure applies to water companies that didn’t participate in New Jersey’s Low Income Household Water Assistance program, meant to help customers who got behind on payments during the pandemic. Specifically, those local and public utilities won’t be able to enforce liens, charge interest on overdue amounts or discontinue service. NJ Spotlight News
A Paterson man lunged at an Imam as he led some 200 worshippers in prayer at a local mosque on April 9 and then stabbed him twice in the back. Whatever prompted Serif Zorba, 32, to carry out the alleged knife attack in front of the congregation of Omar Mosque is unclear to authorities and leaders of the mosque. The Imam, Sayed Elnakib, 65, was in stable condition at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center and is expected to make a full recovery. Zorba was charged with first-degree attempted murder and two weapons offenses. The Record
A Jersey City police officer who was fired for striking a pedestrian while responding to an emergency call last year plans to fight to remain on the force. Officer Edwin Hernandez, who was on the force for about six years, was fired April 3 over a Feb. 8, 2022 incident near Liberty State Park in which he struck a man who darted across Jersey Avenue, between cars that were stopped at a traffic light. “Jersey City’s decision to terminate an officer for an accident is just plain wrong,” said Hernandez’s attorney, Michael Rubas. “We are confident that decision will be reversed and Officer Hernandez will be reinstated.” The Jersey Journal
And finally…Jon Rahm rallied to win first Masters championship. NJ.com
