Tag: New Jersey

Commentary: The Data Mining of America’s Kids Should Be a National Scandal

RealClearWire

As U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland sat down for his first hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, denying a conflict of interest in his decision to investigate parents for “domestic terrorism,” there is a mother in the quiet suburb of Annandale, N.J., who found his answers lacking. And she has questions she wants asked at Garland’s hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee this Wednesday.

On a recent Saturday night, Caroline Licwinko, a mother of three, a law school student and the coach to her daughter’s cheerleading squad, sat in front of her laptop and tapped three words into an internet search engine: “Panorama. Survey. Results.”

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‘The Time Has Come for ‘Gaytheism’:’ Library Promotes Radical, Anti-Christian Books

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Rider University

Rider University is promoting a book in their online library that, according to the publication description, “Argues that homophobia will not be eradicated in the United States until religion is ended.”

“Slouching Towards Gaytheism: Christianity and Queer Survival in America,” written by W.C. Harris, a professor at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, can be found in Rider’s library research guide for “Christian and Religious Privilege.”

The “Christian and Religious Privilege” guide is a subcategory of Rider’s “Privilege and Intersectionality” web page.

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Walt Whitman Statue, a Target of Protests, to Be Removed From Center of Rutgers–Camden Campus

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Rutgers University-Camden Walt Whitman statue

Rutgers University-Camden will remove a statue of the famous poet Walt Whitman from the center of campus as a result of activists’ petitions and a recommendation from a committee of scholars.

The statue of Whitman, featured prominently in the front courtyard of Camden’s Campus Center, will be “relocated to a historically relevant site on campus and contextualized,” interim Chancellor Margaret Marsh recently announced in an email to students and employees.

That new location has yet to be announced by campus officials.

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Star News Network Washington Correspondent Neil McCabe on Trump Move to New Jersey and Next House Freedom Caucus Speaker

Julie Carr

Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Washington Correspondent for the Star News Network Neil McCabe to the newsmakers line to weigh in on his recent story about the House Freedom Caucus’s Speaker choice and the possible motivation behind Donald Trump’s move to New Jersey.

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How Georgia’s Voting Law Compares to Seven Blue, Purple States’ Laws

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Flag with ballot form

Democrats have repeatedly denounced the new Georgia election integrity law that requires IDs for absentee ballots, but seldom criticize blue states that have comparable laws on their books—or in some cases, laws making it more difficult to vote than in Georgia.

“Overall, the Georgia law is pretty much in the mainstream and is not regressive or restrictive,” Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, told The Daily Signal. “The availability of absentee ballots and early voting is a lot more progressive than what’s in blue states.”

Here’s a look at how the new Georgia election law stacks up to voting laws in Democrat-leaning blue states.

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Virginia Opts Not to Join Climate Initiative, for Now

The Center Square

Virginia was not in the first slate of states to join the Transportation and Climate Initiative, which proponents argue will help fight climate change and opponents assert will increase costs for households.

Under the multistate agreement, a state would agree to establish a cap on diesel and gasoline sales and require wholesales to purchase carbon allowances to go over that limit, which effectively creates a carbon tax. The initiative has received support from many Democrats and opposition from Republicans.

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New Jersey Gym Owner Fined $1.2 Million for Defying COVID-19 Lockdowns Vows Not to Pay

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A New Jersey gym owner who repeatedly defied coronavirus lockdowns and was fined roughly $1.2 million told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he doesn’t plan to pay a cent.

Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym, has incurred roughly 60 citations and is charged nearly $15,500 per day that he remains open in defiance of Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 closures, he told Fox News. Smith alongside Frank Trumbetti, another owner of the fitness facility, were arrested in late July after the pair refused to close their business following a weeks-long fight with state, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

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‘Not Interfering with People’s Thanksgiving Dinners’: New Jersey Police Chief Vows to Limit Enforcement of Governor’s COVID-19 Orders

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by Jake Dima   A New Jersey police chief vowed to limit enforcement of a recent string of coronavirus orders from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy ahead of Thanksgiving. Howell Township Police Chief Andrew Kudrick Jr. said he would rely primarily on community judgment rather than law enforcement intervention in response to Murphy’s regulations, according to a statement. The governor’s order limited indoor gatherings to ten people, shuttered restaurants and bars at 10 p.m. and capped the number of attendees at funerals and weddings, among other gathers, NBC Philadelphia reported. “Howell Township Police will rely on the community to be responsible for their own actions without enforcement intervention as they have done in the past,” the chief wrote. “Of course they will respond to egregious violations such as packed house parties, so please think as you plan any gatherings.” “We are not going to be interfering with people’s Thanksgiving dinners or their holiday dinners or their social gatherings, unless it’s something egregious,” Kudrick said, according to NBC News. The New Jersey police boss also criticized Murphy for allegedly exempting those engaged in political activities from the order. “When you exempt certain peoples, especially those who are attending political activities, from the executive orders, I think that same…

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New Jersey Mail Carrier Arrested for Throwing Election Ballots Away

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A New Jersey postal worker was arrested Wednesday for discarding multiple pieces of mail, including election ballots, CBS reported.

Over 1,800 pieces of mail were retrieved from dumpsters, 99 of which were ballots, according to CBS. Federal prosecutors said 26-year-old Nicholas Beauchene was scheduled to deliver mail in parts of Orange and West Orange, New Jersey, according to CBS.

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In New Jersey, Rep. Van Drew’s Democrat Challenger – Wife of Patrick Kennedy – Raises Money to Bail out Rapists and Defendants Charged with Terrorism, Kidnapping, Murder

Neil W. McCabe

The leftwing Democrat running against Rep. Jefferson H. “Jeff” Van Drew (R.-N.J.) has put her money where her mouth is , and is raising money to bail out rapists and at least one defendant facing terror terrorism charges at the same time she is challenging the one-time Democrat, who switched parties after voting against impeaching President Donald Trump.

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New Jersey City Is Deploying a Chinese Firm’s Drones to Enforce Social Distancing

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by Chris White   Elizabeth, New Jersey, is using a Chinese company’s drones to police citizens who fail to employ social distancing guidelines. Past reports suggest the drones are feeding China data. Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage is deploying drones from Chinese-based company DJI to warn Elizabeth citizens who are walking outdoors not to get too close in physical proximity to other people. The drones blare sirens and issue this warning: “Stop gathering, disperse and go home.” Bollwage is dismissing critics of his approach. “If these drones save one life, it is clearly worth the activity and the information that the drones are sending,” the mayor said Friday in an MSNBC interview. New Jersey is considered a coronavirus hotspot — more than 3,000 in the state have died from the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, before skipping across the globe and landing in the United States, where it has killed more than 30,000 people. The drones might not be benign. Past reports suggest DJI poses a substantial security threat to U.S. infrastructure. A 2017 memo from the Los Angeles office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau said officials had “moderate confidence” that DJI’s commercial drones are giving critical U.S. “infrastructure and law enforcement data to the Chinese…

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Cuomo: Coalition of Six Northeast States Set to Announce Regional Reopening Plan

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning that he feels “the worst is over” when it comes to the ongoing coronavirus crisis that has enveloped his state and the nation, and he suggested that a coalition of six Northeast states would be making a joint announcement at 2 p.m. on plans to reopen the economy in the weeks and months to come.

Speaking at his daily briefing on the pandemic, Cuomo said he had been in contact with the governors of Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island about a regional approach to returning to normalcy.

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A New Jersey Hospital Has Six Male ICU Patients with Coronavirus, All Ages 28 to 48

Jason M. Reynolds

One New Jersey hospital in the front lines of fighting the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak shows startling statistics as its section of the Garden State braces for more cases.

Of 11 cases at Holy Name Medical Center, six are in the ICU, and all six are men between the ages of 28 to 48, according to a story by ROI-NJ. Forty more patients are under observation at the Teaneck, NJ hospital, according to CEO Mike Maron.

“From what we’ve seen, it’s not impacting children at all — or pretty much anybody under 20,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they don’t have it. They may just process it in a better way, a faster way. That’s the beauty of being young.

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Decision to Vacate DOJ’s Wire Act Reinterpretation a Big Win for Online Poker

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by Johnny Kampis   A U.S. District Court ruling that said the Wire Act only applies to sports betting not only staves off a Department of Justice effort to end interstate online poker efforts,  it will also help facilitate the growth of poker gaming across the country. Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro in New Hampshire ruled on a challenge by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission that the 1961 Interstate Wire Act applies only to sports betting. Barbadoro said the opinion by the DOJ in November 2018 that the Wire Act applied to other forms of gambling is set aside. States were supposed to comply by June 14, but the district court ruling removes that obligation for now. That decision “represents just about the greatest win imaginable” for poker operators, wrote Mark Edelman in Forbes. Edelman, a law professor of Zicklin School of Business in New York City focusing on issues of gaming and antitrust, said the decision “clearly supports the legality of interstate poker compacts, paving the way for online poker’s further growth on a national or semi-national basis.” So far, Delaware, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have legalized online poker, with the last two now attempting to…

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New Jersey Parents to Rally Against LGBT Education Law

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by Rachel del Guidice   A rally this weekend will give New Jersey parents an opportunity to oppose a new state law requiring public schools to teach children about the “political, economic, and social contributions” of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. The new law also requires schools to stress such contributions made by disabled persons, but it’s the LGBT education component that prompted organizers to plan the rally. “When you teach about George Washington, you don’t teach that George Washington had sex with his wife and what he did; we teach what George Washington did as a president,” Victoria Jakelsky, a political consultant and parental rights activist in New Jersey, told The Daily Signal in an interview Wednesday. “But they are twisting it around to say that anyone who is LGBT, they’re going to explain what they did, who their relationships were [with], and incorporate it as gay and lesbian and bisexual people are the history-makers,” Jakelsky, a paralegal by training, said. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed the legislation into law Jan. 31, and it is set to go into effect for the 2020-2021 school year. Jakelsky is among those organizing the rally Saturday from 11…

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Kavanaugh Warns Of ‘Pure Discrimination’ as Supreme Court Denies Church Bid for Historic Preservation Grant

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by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court refused Monday to decide whether religious institutions may be disqualified from public historic preservation funding, after a New Jersey court forbade local officials from dispersing $4 million to 12 churches. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a separate opinion addressing the dispute, calling the lower court’s decision “pure discrimination.” “Barring religious organizations because they are religious from a general historic preservation grants program is pure discrimination against religion,” Kavanaugh wrote. “At some point, this Court will need to decide whether governments that distribute historic preservation funds may deny funds to religious organizations simply because the organizations are religious.” Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined the Kavanaugh opinion. Morris County, New Jersey awards grants for the maintenance of historically significant structures. Several churches dating back to the colonial period have received public support through that program since 2012. The case at issue Monday arose in April 2016, when the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and a local taxpayer brought a lawsuit claiming the Morris County program violates New Jersey’s constitution. The state constitution provides that no person shall be “obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches.” The New Jersey…

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Threat: New Jersey Lawmakers Aim to Keep Trump Off 2020 State Ballot Unless Tax Returns Revealed

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by Connor Moldo   New Jersey state legislators are threatening to withhold President Donald Trump and other politicians’ names from the 2020 state ballot if they refuse to release tax returns to the public. The state Senate approved a bill Thursday that would leave off the names of candidates for president who are unwilling to make their tax returns public, according to NorthJersey.com. A similar effort was devised in 2017, but then-Republican Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill, calling it a “transparent political stunt,” squashing Democrats’ hopes. New Jersey would become the first state to enact such a measure should the Assembly and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy approve the bill, as at least 30 other states have launched efforts to pass similar legislation, but none have become law, according to the Courier Post. These actions, primarily under the direction of Democratic lawmakers, were sparked after then-candidate Trump turned down requests to publish his tax returns, hindering the public’s ability to glimpse his personal finances. “It is so obvious with this president that had voters known some of what seem to be his business interests, he may not have been elected president,” Democratic state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, a sponsor of the legislation, told the Courier Post. The law raises questions about whether it…

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New Jersey Lawmakers Are Trying to Tax the Rain

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by Brittany Hunter   Sometimes life mimics fiction. And sometimes life is so much stranger than fiction you have to double check the headlines to ensure they aren’t satire. The latest doubletake comes from New Jersey, where, under the guise of environmentalism, local legislators have passed a new tax on—wait for it— the rain. Governments are known for a lack of creativity and an uncanny ability to think only inside the box. However, when it comes to getting creative with inventing new forms of taxation, they never disappoint. Chicago, for example, recently implemented a “PlayStation” tax on its residents as part of the city’s previously existing “amusement tax,” which, just as it sounds, taxes individuals on almost all forms of entertainment. California, on the other hand, recently tried to get away with unprecedented levels of extortion when it tried to tax residents for their drinking water and text messages. The water tax is still on the table, but luckily, the Golden State did not succumb to the new ridiculous texting tax. New Jersey, though, might not be so lucky. Blame It on the Rain To be perfectly clear, while the new tax is being referred to as the “rain tax,”…

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10 States Now Offer Dreamers Financial Aid for College

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The state of New Jersey has awarded $1.63 million in financial aid for higher education to more than 500 undocumented students, new government data showed Wednesday. New Jersey’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) reported that 513 students received the aid to cover university and college expenses starting with the 2018 fall semester. “This financial assistance offers these New Jersey students a life-changing opportunity,” David J. Socolow, HESAA’s executive director, said in a statement. “The successes of these first 513 students, who are now attending county colleges, state colleges and universities, and independent institutions around the state, will have a positive impact on countless additional lives.” To be eligible for the financial assistance, students must have attended a New Jersey high school for at least three years and graduated from one, or received the equivalent of a high school diploma in the state. They must also file an affidavit stating that they have filed or will file an application to legalize their immigration status. Male applicants are also required to register for selective service. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed the controversial measure into law last May, making New Jersey the 10th state to provide state aid to undocumented college…

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Nine States Back Environmentalists Trying to Shutdown Search for Oil in Atlantic

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by Tim Pearce   Nine states are intervening in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for approving oil and gas companies to search for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced Thursday the states would join environmental groups in a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from allowing seismic testing off the coast of South Carolina. “The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued what are called incidental harassment authorizations. They would, by their own terms, result in harm to hundreds of thousands of whales and dolphins and porpoises,” Frosh said. “The permits eliminate a major obstacle to testing and we content that the authorizations are illegal.” Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Virginia accompanied Maryland in intervening in the lawsuit. The NMFS, an agency under the Commerce Department, issued “incidental take” permits Nov. 30 allowing oil and gas companies to conduct the tests. Environmental groups sued the federal government Nov. 11 to prevent the seismic testing, which involves air guns booming in the ocean seconds apart for days at a time. Environmentalists contend the permits violate the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Marine Mammals Protection Act and other regulations. The federal…

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Wisconsin and New Jersey are Among the States Looking To Copy Minnesota Model Of Using Federal Funds To Lower Insurance Premiums

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Minnesota capitol

by Evie Fordham   Several states including Wisconsin and New Jersey are seeking to copy Minnesota’s model of federal reinsurance program funding that contributed to a 13-percent drop in premium rates in the state from 2017 to 2018. The Minnesota legislature adopted the program, which uses mostly federal funds to help insurers cover people with medical bills typically between $50,000 and $250,000, in 2017, reported Kaiser Health News. The program enables insurers to lower premiums and is a policy encouraged by the Trump administration. Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker is focusing his campaign on his health care accomplishments, including support for his state’s reinsurance program, reported RealClear Politics. He says premiums will be 11 percent lower than they would have been without the program in 2019, reported HealthLeaders Media. Minnesota’s 2018 reinsurance program received $131 million from the federal government, and many other states have applied or are applying for reinsurance program funding. Alaska and Oregon have programs similar to Minnesota’s in place. The main difference between Alaska’s program, which started in 2016, and other states’ is that Alaska’s covers all costs for people with “highest-cost conditions.” Wisconsin and Maine were approved in July, while Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland and New Jersey are working toward having programs set up by…

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Conservatives Team Up with Immigrants to Tackle Costly New Jersey ‘Hair Braiding’ Regulation

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hair braiding

by Elias Atienza   The New Jersey state chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is helping West African immigrants lobby the New Jersey legislature to change cosmetology requirements. West African immigrants, usually women, operate hair-braiding businesses that are essentially illegal, since state regulations require these workers to get a license, WNYC reported Monday. That license is acquired from cosmetology school, which is often expensive, and degrees can cost up to $20,000. These hair braiders have been lobbying Trenton for two years to pass a bill that would exempt the cosmetology school credentials from the licensing requirement. They received guidance from AFP in order to do so. “Those guys came and said, ‘We are going to work you through this,’” said Anita Yeboah, a braider who works at J&C African Braids in Trenton, to WNYC. “All we can say to them is, God bless them for their time, for all they are doing.” Since hair braiders often work under the table, customers sometimes skip out on their bills and threaten to tell the state the braiders lack a license if they try to complain or call the police. This then causes some braiders in Newark to hire gang members for protection, who go out and collect…

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New Jersey State Senator to Hold Hearings on Marijuana Legalization’s Negative Effects

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TRENTON — One of New Jersey’s longest-serving state Senators said he plans to hold public hearings to question the next governor’s push to legalize marijuana next year. Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, announced Monday he would use his authority as chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus to call public hearings to explore the negative consequences felt in…

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New Jersey Sues Big Pharma CEO For Illegally Pushing A Deadly Fentanyl Drug

Tennessee Star Staff

Officials are in New Jersey are expanding the focus of their lawsuit against a top manufacturer of a fentanyl-based medication to include the company’s CEO. New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino announced Friday that the state is amending its current consumer fraud and false claims complaint against Insys Therapeutics, an Arizona-based pharmaceutical manufacturer. Porrino is targeting…

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Refs Walk Off in Protest After Players Kneel During Anthem at New Jersey Football Game

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Two high school football officials walked off the field in protest Friday night after players from Monroe High School in Somerset County knelt during the national anthem before the team’s game against visiting Colts Neck. The officials, Ernie Lunardelli, 54, and his son, Anthony Lunardelli, 27, stood for the anthem and then abruptly left the field…

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Grover Norquist Praised Chris Christie’s Gas Tax Increase in New Jersey Before He Signed Off on Haslam’s in Tennessee

Tennessee Star Staff

Washington insider Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, praised New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s gas tax increase in New Jersey in 2016, a year before he claimed Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal here in Tennessee is “Taxpayer Protection Pledge compliant.” In the letter he sent to Tennessee state legislators on Monday in which he expressed support for the amended version of Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase that passed the Senate Transportation Committee last week, Norquist also sang the praises of Christie’s earlier gas tax increase in the Garden State. “In New Jersey last year, Americans for Tax Reform supported a tax package enacted by Gov. Christie that raised the gas tax from 14.5 to 23 cents per gallon, but coupled that with a phase out of his state’s death tax, a reduction in the sales tax from 7 to 6.6%, and an increase in the earned income tax credit,” Norquist wrote. “The package, like SB 1221/HB534 was a net tax cut overall. As such, not only did ATR not oppose the deal, ATR urged lawmakers to support it,” he added. “Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the Democratic-controlled Legislature agreed to the hike because the state had run…

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