News Around New Jersey
By KRISTINA BEHR
April 22, 2022
NEW JERSEY - Gov. Phil Murphy says he is open to creating legislation that would potentially ban off-duty police officers in New Jersey from smoking legal marijuana now that recreational sales at about a dozen dispensaries around the state have begun. At a news conference last week announcing a ...
NEW JERSEY - Recreational marijuana sales officially began today after the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) gave the approval to seven medical marijuana companies to sell at 13 dispensaries. The locations, which have been serving nearly 130,000 patients in the Medicinal Cannabis Program, will ...
PATERSON, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy is renewing his push for legislators to take action and pass a comprehensive gun safety legislative package that he initially proposed in April 2021 in Newark. If passed by the Senate and Assembly and signed into law, the bill package would be the third wide-ranging ...
TRENTON, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy has ended the rule requiring masks or face coverings on NJ Transit and South Jersey Transportation Authority. That follows a federal judge's ruling Monday that ended the nationwide mask mandate covering public transportation. Hours after that ruling, the ...
TRENTON, NJ — Entrepreneurs looking to create a startup in New Jersey now have a new tool to help them get started. The New Jersey Innovation Evergreen Fund (NJIEF) has been approved by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Board to help increase access to resources and venture capital ...
TRENTON, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy has put planned gender identity and sexual orientation lessons on hold for first and second-graders after it outraged some parents and lawmakers. Under new sex education guidelines that was slated to start in September, a 30-minute lesson called “Pink, Blue and ...
TRENTON, NJ — Legal recreational marijuana sales are finally expected to start, a year and a half after New Jersey residents voted to legalize cannabis. The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) has granted seven medical marijuana companies the ability to start selling in a matter of ...
TRENTON, NJ — Certain state employees will be allowed to work from home for year. Calling it a “bold step toward modernizing New Jersey’s State workplace landscape,” the New Jersey Civil Service Commission voted to approve a pilot program empowering State of New Jersey departments and ...
TRENTON NJ — There’s a new state initiative to get more men of color to become educators in the state. The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) and Rowan University are teaming together for an initiative called "Men of Color Hope Achievers" (MOCHA), to recruit male minority teachers, ...
TRENTON, NJ — Lawmakers are considering a boost in paid maternity leave and disability payments for middle-class workers. The bill, S-508, would increase the maximum benefit from the insurance programs that allow employees to take time off to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, a sick ...
Trenton, NJ — Child care access and education is getting a boost from Trenton. Senate Majority Leader and education advocate Teresa Ruiz (D - District 29), along with Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D - District 5), Sen. Joe Vitale (D - District 19), and Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D - District 31) ...
TRENTON, NJ — Many of us remember the horrific events of September 11, 2001. But there is a whole generation of students who are unaware of what unfolded that day 21 years ago. One lawmaker is making sure to change that. “The events that unfolded on September 11, 2001 remain one of this ...
TRENTON, NJ — Two bills advanced in the Senate, with one aiming to provide more protections for first responders. Legislation approved by both lawmakers in the Assembly and Senate last week prohibits employers of first responders from discharging, harassing or otherwise discriminating against an ...
TRENTON, NJ — For a third year in a row, New Jersey has reached a record number of acts of prejudice and bias incidents. According to a preliminary report compiled by the New Jersey State Police, the total number of bias incidents reported for 2021 represents a 29 percent increase from the ...
HIGHTSTOWN, NJ — Making sure no one goes hungry, while keeping restaurants afloat. It started with the creation of Soup Kitchen 411 in 2016, which has since become the top-rated hunger awareness charity that connects people in need to free meals near them. Chairman and Co-Founder Ken DeRoberts ...
TRENTON, NJ — Eleventh grade students may be able to skip a required exam needed to graduate. Proposed legislation to temporarily suspend the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment passed the Assembly. Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D - District 28), Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D - District ...
TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey makes another move to crack down on those annoying robocalls. Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced a new partnership with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support investigations of illegal robocalls. New Jersey joins more than 20 states that ...
TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey high school students may soon be able to sleep in a little later. According to the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 85% of New Jersey schools start before 8:30 a.m. New legislation from Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin (D - District 19) and ...
TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey’s last remaining coal power plants will be shutting down. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has approved a petition filed by Atlantic City Electric Company (ACE) that modifies Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Power Sales Agreements (PSAs) between ACE ...
TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey drivers may have to wait longer to pump their own gas. Despite bipartisan support, it seems a bill introduced to have the self-serve gas option at stations, has been stalled after a lack of support from State Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D - District 22). “The ...
TRENTON, NJ — After enduring two years of systemic failures of the Department of Labor (NJDOL) during the pandemic, both Republican and Democratic Senators are demanding changes. During a heated three-hour labor hearing March 10, Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo was grilled about the ...
TRENTON, NJ — Migrant children seeking refuge in New Jersey will now have access to legal representation for free. The Department of Human Services (DHS) announced a partnership with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) to provide free legal counsel and social services to unaccompanied minors seeking ...
NEW JERSEY — How can New Jersey’s economy make a full rebound post-pandemic? Business executives from large and small companies, government leaders and members from trade groups, nonprofits, and academia across New Jersey will join together to discuss the topic at the New Jersey Chamber’s “ReNew ...
TRENTON, NJ — A little relief may be coming at the gas pump if a couple of senators get their bill proposals passed. As prices at the pump hold steady at record-breaking highs of over $4 in the state, Sen. Shirley Turner (D - District 15) announced she plans to introduce legislation to ...
PORT READING, NJ — New Jersey is making a strong commitment to help Ukraine as it continues to deal with the impact of the war created by Russian President Vladimir Putin. More than 250 pallets of medical supplies and equipment and 40,000 doses of medications will be sent to the country under ...
PATERSON, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy has a few reasons to raise a pint to celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day. Murphy announced, while attending an Irish flag raising in Paterson, that he will lead a four-day, two-city economic mission trip to Ireland in April. The delegation will visit Dublin and ...
TRENTON, NJ — Lawmakers are aiming to make New Jersey more welcoming for veterans and military families by expanding tax credits for the companies that employ them and ensuring dependents of military personnel have access to community-based services. The Senate Military and Veterans’ Affairs ...
TRENTON, NJ — Individuals who are on the autism spectrum may soon be able to declare their status on their driver's license. Legislation sponsored by Sen. Kristin M. Corrado (R - District 40) that would allow individuals diagnosed with a communication disability, or an Autism Spectrum Disorder ...
TRENTON, NJ — When Sadaf Jaffer was asked to run for the Assembly seat 16th Legislative District last year, she visited the Center for Women in Politics. For inspiration, she searched for a timeline of other Asian American women who had served in the same position, and she soon realized, there were ...
NEW JERSEY — For more than 14 years, Maggie Doyne has spent her time caring her 50 children. Biologically, she has two. But she is legal guardian to more than four dozen children in Nepal. Doyne grew up in Mendham and decided to take a gap year in Nepal after graduating from high school in ...