Latest news with #NJPBS
CBS News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
N.J. Democrat gubernatorial debate gets heated as contender clash on taxes, Newark Airport and more
Democratic candidates for New Jersey governor sparred on the issues at a debate Monday night. In a debate hosted by NJ PBS and WNYC, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Steve Fulop, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Mikie Sherrill and former State Senate President Stephen Sweeney battled it out on topics including NJ Transit, the problems at Newark Airport, the problems at Newark Airport, affordable housing, and taxes. At times, the candidates got heated and talked over one another. Accusations flew. Gottheimer accused Baraka of raising taxes by 25% in Newark, which Baraka said he never did. Fulop said Sherrill had "a track record of sacrificing people that are in vulnerable communities, and that is wrong." "That is simply not true," Sherrill replied. Potential NJ Transit strike in focus With a possible strike looming on NJ Transit, the candidates were asked what they would do to stop it. "I would insert myself sitting at the table with both unions because I know what fair is," Sweeney said. "You need to get more money into the system, number one, as I stand alone on the turnpike widening, you need to cancel that, reallocate money. Number two is congestion pricing. We need to get New York back to the table by reverse congestion pricing," Fulop said. Ongoing Newark Airport issues The candidates also addressed the ongoing chaos at Newark Airport, where system failures have travelers demanding action. "You have to fix the radar right now and hire air traffic controllers," Baraka said. "We can bring them from around the country, from places that have, actually, capacity, and bring them here. And the technology is a disaster, right? It's 1973 technology," Gottheimer said. "We need to surge personnel into this area, because we now have 20% of air traffic controllers, some because they're on trauma leave right now because of this, not working," Sherrill said. Immigration issues President Trump's immigration policies have triggered protests, and even led to Baraka's arrest. The candidates turned their attacks to Trump. "Ras didn't do anything wrong," Fulop said. "The president is a criminal, so I guess he thinks everyone else can be a criminal, it's OK to do this. He's breaking every single law, hurting innocent people. When are we going to start really fired up in Washington instead of holding a paddle saying he's a liar?" Sweeney said. "Donald Trump is out of control," Gottheimer said. Trump endorses Jack Ciattarelli Trump announced on social media that he'd be endorsing Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli. After the debate, Democrats said they expected it. "I think that makes a lot of sense because Jack Ciattarelli has kissed his butt for a very long time to earn that endorsement," Sherrill said. In less than a month, voters will go to the polls. The Democrat and Republican primaries are both on June 10.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Who's running for NJ governor in 2025? These candidates are set to debate in May
With New Jersey's primary election less than two months away, many of the gubernatorial hopefuls from both parties will soon be squaring off in debates in the coming weeks. The first set of May debates will be sponsored by NJ PBS, NJ Spotlight News and WNYC with Republicans squaring off on Wednesday, May 7 and Democrats on Monday, May 12. The second set will be later in the month sponsored by NJ Globe, On New Jersey, Rider University and Essex County. The Republican debate will additionally feature Save Jersey as a sponsor. That will see the Democrats debate on Sunday, May 18 and Republicans debate on Tuesday May 20. More: Democratic candidates for NJ governor discuss issues of housing and justice reform The Democratic debates will feature five of the six candidates. Participants will include: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop Rep. Josh Gottheimer Rep. Mikie Sherrill Former state Senate President Steve Sweeney New Jersey Education Association president Sean Spiller did not qualify. Charlie Stile: What's the potent sleeper issue in this year's NJ governor's race? The Republican candidates participating will be: State Sen. Jon Bramnick Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli Radio personality Bill Spadea Former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and Justin Barbera, a Burlington County contractor, did not qualify. Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@ This article originally appeared on Who's running for NJ governor 2025? Candidates set for debate
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Murphy's budget is bad for local news
Gov. Phil Murphy once said supporting local news strengthens our democracy, but his last budget proposal slashes state funding for it. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor) Nearly seven years ago, Gov. Phil Murphy took a bold step toward reviving, strengthening, and transforming local media and civic engagement. In August 2018, eight months into Murphy's first term, he signed a widely popular, bipartisan bill establishing the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, an entity formed to provide financial aid to create and support trustworthy, community-based news. 'I believe the Consortium is a viable means to begin to combat the widespread proliferation of deliberately false or misleading information that threatens our democracy and contributed to getting President Trump elected,' Murphy said then. State funding for the consortium has risen from $500,000 to $3 million. Now, with nine months left until Murphy leaves office, his last budget plan proposes quite a different commitment to the consortium: zero dollars. His spending plan also includes a planned 75% cut in state subsidies to NJ PBS, which operates NJ Spotlight News. The state's current budget provides $1 million in funding to NJ PBS; Murphy's plan would slash that to $250,000. March 16-22, 2025, is Sunshine Week, a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government. As I write this, transparency advocates nationwide are commemorating the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week, an annual observance that highlights the importance of your right to know what your government is up to. For New Jersey citizens, the sunshine is slowly being blotted out by the Murphy administration, which also helped the Legislature take an ax to our public records law last year. Murphy's office declined to comment but noted the governor said when he presented his budget plan to lawmakers last month that it would include some belt-tightening. Even with Murphy's proposed cuts, the state would spend a billion or so dollars more than it takes in. 'And while, yes, every responsible budget, including this one, requires hard decisions — like scaling back programs that we would rather increase funding for — we can, and we must, make those decisions while also keeping our promises, whether it be making the full payment into our pension system or fully funding our public education system,' he said. I'll remember this when Murphy signs a budget in June that will undoubtedly be stuffed at the last minute with hundreds of millions of dollars for lawmakers' pet projects. If you're unfamiliar with the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, take a look at its recent grant recipients, which range from hyperlocal news site Montclair Local to conservative think tank Garden State Initiative to the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness. Its purpose is not to funnel money to corporate media; it's legitimately interested in aiding news outlets, community groups, and other organizations that seek to broaden civic engagement. (Full disclosure: While the New Jersey Monitor has not received any funding from the consortium, I have applied for some. My thoughts on Murphy's plan to end state subsidies for it would be the same regardless.) Chris Daggett, the consortium's interim director, urged lawmakers this week to restore funding to the group (the Legislature has until June 30 to strike a budget that will get Murphy's signature). Daggett told me that with the tsunami of change coming from Washington, D.C., local news is more critical than ever if we want to bridge the nation's widening partisan divide. 'For me this is not about saving journalism, this is about democracy,' he said. 'When people aren't informed, they aren't engaged, and when they aren't engaged, democracy dies.' Mike Rispoli works for the nonprofit Free Press, founded in 2003 to support independent journalism and protect public media. Rispoli — who sits on the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium board but stressed he was not speaking on its behalf — said he understands that states are making very difficult budgetary decisions right now. But Rispoli said today's media landscape, where the Trump administration is going after media organizations it doesn't like and billionaire media moguls are putting editorial pressure on their newsrooms to protect themselves from the president's onslaught, demands more. 'If people care about our communities and what they need in this moment, being able to make sense out of a very chaotic world, this is the moment where we need to be investing more into independent journalism, not less,' he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Politico
13-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
Duplicate Gottheimer super PACs
Good Thursday morning! I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record here, but that's because something more important is broken: The campaign finance system. How else could you explain the emergence of a second pro-Josh Gottheimer super PAC that has the same staff as another Gottheimer super PAC and is airing the exact same ads? The new super PAC, No Surrender — likely named after a song by Bruce Springsteen, who Gottheimer loves so much he faked a Spotify Wrapped to show it — has its filing received by ELEC on Tuesday. By Wednesday, it had already spent almost $800,000 to place the TV ad, which criticizes Trump and says Gottheimer will cut property taxes 15 percent. No Surrender says it plans to spend $5 million. The other Gottheimer super PAC, Affordable New Jersey, has already spent over $8 million. So why are two super PACs doing the exact same thing? In the absence of comment from Gottheimer, it's impossible to say for sure. But it's easy to take an educated guess. Gottheimer at the end of last year had $20.7 million in his House campaign funds. He can't just transfer that to his gubernatorial campaign. But case law is far from clear on much of those funds he can transfer to super PACs to aid his gubernatorial campaign. Federal Election Commission guidance from 2006 doesn't allow candidates to provide outside organizations with more than 25 percent of their funding. Gottheimer rival Mikie Sherrill requested an FEC opinion on whether that still holds. Last week, she got two different answers from the agency, leaving everything up in the air. So is Gottheimer just splitting his money between super PACs as a legal precaution? His campaign has not, and again yesterday did not, say if he's funding the super PACs. But it's hard to imagine they could pop up out of nowhere and immediately raise millions but for Gottheimer's largesse. In the end, we'll know for sure whether Gottheimer is the main funder of this effort when his House campaign finance report is due in mid-April. Because these super PACs won't have to disclose their donors with the state unless 11 days before the primary. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Pablo Fonseca, Davon McCurry, Ed Waters, Mike DeLamater WHERE'S MURPHY? No public schedule QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'Andy didn't defeat Tammy; Tammy pulled out to preserve the party, and to keep unity in the party.' — Gov. Phil Murphy disputing WNYC's Nancy Solomon last night when she said Andy Kim defeated first lady Tammy Murphy WHAT TRENTON MADE BAD NEWS — 'NJ PBS reduces staff amid uncertain state funding, challenges at WNET,' by Current's Julian Wylie: 'NJ PBS laid off seven staffers Wednesday in its news division, NJ Spotlight News. An NJ PBS spokesperson confirmed the cuts in an email to Current. The station is operated by the WNET Group in New York. 'Regrettably, we must now make reductions to some of our staff at NJPBS and Spotlight,' WNET CEO Neal Shapiro said in a Wednesday memo to staff obtained by Current. … NJ Spotlight News launched in 2010 as NJ Spotlight, an independent digital newsroom. The WNET Group acquired the news organization in 2019 … . The FY23 990 form for NJ PBS, the most recent available, showed a $1.4 million deficit. Last year, the WNET Group laid off employees and instituted a staff restructuring that affected 34 positions, including an undefined number within NJ Spotlight News. Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed a reduction of the state's annual appropriation for NJ PBS from $1 million to $250,000. NJ PBS' total revenue in FY23 was $10.7 million.' THE MARVELOUS MR. MEASLES — 'NJ will spend more on vaccination programs, Murphy pledged,' by NJ Spotlight News' Lilo H. Stainton: 'Gov. Phil Murphy wants to increase New Jersey's investment in immunizations in the wake of COVID-19, a proposal that coincides with the emergence of measles cases in the state and falling vaccination rates here and elsewhere. Murphy called for committing an additional $1 million in state funds to New Jersey's vaccine preventable disease program — an umbrella for a half-dozen specific immunization efforts — in the annual budget that takes effect July 1. Currently this work receives $8.4 million, a mix of state and federal funds, according to his staff. … Health officials aim for 95% of kids to be immunized, a rate they have determined provides sufficient protection to those who can't get the shots for medical reasons. State data shows that in the 2023-2024 school year, just under 92% of children in pre-school through sixth grade had been fully immunized, down from 94.4% in 2019-2020, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decade earlier, in 2013-2014, 95.3% of schoolkids had received all their shots. 'It's frightening,' said Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex), the longtime chairman of the state Senate health committee.'' —'What to know about measles cases in New York and New Jersey' TRADING BURBS — 'As Trump-fueled chaos churns, Ras Baraka offers Democrats a progressive choice,' by The Record's Charles Stile: 'It would be easy to mistake Baraka as a candidate for mayor, but he's been taking this message of unapologetic progressivism on the road the Garden State to a Democratic electorate, that for decades, has been force-fed a steady diet of 'suburban strategy' pablum. The suburban strategy was simply an overarching appeal to middle class, predominantly white suburban voters, furious over property taxes, auto insurance rates and sprawl. It was the thread that tied the gubernatorial campaigns of McGreevey, Corzine and Murphy together in a common bond. But in the age of Trump-fueled anxiety, Baraka is essentially saying that the message just doesn't meet the moment, that the state's 834,000 registered Democrats are hungering for clarity and conviction.' BREAKING WITH CONVENTION — 'Steve Fulop's counterprogramming,' by New Jersey Globe's Zach Blackburn: 'As Democratic candidates for governor tour the state to ask county parties for their endorsement, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has made clear he wants no part of those events. … And as county convention season roars on, Fulop is rarely farther than a stone's throw from the action. On Monday night, the Essex County Democratic Screening Committee met and ended up recommending the endorsement of Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair). As the committee met, Fulop spoke to dozens of voters in the Essex County town of Montclair — the hometown of Sherrill and New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, who are both running for governor. On Tuesday night, Bergen County Democrats convened and endorsed Bergen County's own, Rep. Josh Gottheimer of Tenafly. As the Bergen Democratic convention proceeded, Fulop met with dozens of voters at an Elks Lodge in Tenafly. … Fulop's has made his counter-programming a selling point. At Tuesday night's meet-and-greet, he told attendees he's not only the most thoughtful candidate regarding policy but also the candidate most willing to have tough conversations with voters throughout the state.' MORE POWER — New Jersey voters think the state needs more power plants but there is no clear winner or clear partisan divide about what kind of power that should be, according to a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll. The poll, done in cooperation with the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey, found that voters are against importing coal and gas power from other states. But they are not so clear about what to do instead. 'As electricity costs are spiking in New Jersey, state residents are overwhelmingly against importing power that includes coal energy and prefer nuclear or natural gas as options since wind is clearly not an option anymore,' said Eric DeGesero, executive vice president of the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey. Respondents were asked three different questions about whether they preferred gas-fired power plants or nuclear power, including one question where they could choose green energy. Roughly a third of voters picked one of the three power sources. But support for gas and nuclear were age dependent. 'A lot of the opposition to nuclear power comes from people who remember Chernobyl or Three Mile Island,' said Dan Cassino, an FDU professor and executive director of the FDU poll. — Ry Rivard THE PHIDDLE EAST — Gov. Murphy on April 25 plans to leave for a week-long economic mission trip to three Arab Gulf states, his office announced. He and the other attendees of the trip to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates plan to return to May 3. The trip is sponsored by Choose New Jersey. —'State gun range lieutenant accused of stealing ammo, selling it for $475K+' —'Murphy signs law to tweak liquor rules at MetLife Stadium for 2026 FIFA World Cup' —'NJ Transit bus crashes into building in Leonia' —'N.J. faces alarming threats in an unsettling extremism climate, officials warn' TRUMP ERA —'Trump is backing away from police reform. What that means for Trenton, 11 other cities' —'How cuts to education department will impact thousands of NJ families' —'Trump kills Fort Hancock group, so what will happen to Sandy Hook's crumbling buildings?' —'Emine Emanet, Jersey Kebab owner arrested by ICE, walks free from immigrant detention center' LOCAL ORANGE — 'Orange councilman arrested, charged with making terroristic threats,' by New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein: 'An Orange city councilman was arrested on Monday and spent the night in jail on charges of making terroristic threats and brandishing a gun in October 2024. Kerry Coley, an East Ward councilman since 2014, surrendered at the Orange Police headquarters on Monday and was released from the Essex County Correctional Facility the following day, the Essex County Prosecutor's office said.' POTTERSVILLE — 'Holmdel spending $4.5 million to keep farm from being turned into dementia care facility,' by The Asbury Park Press' Olivia Liu: 'Potter's farm could soon be preserved for open space, after the Township Committee voted on Monday to introduce an ordinance to buy the farm, preventing the construction of a novel — but controversial — dementia village. The committee to pay $4.5 million for the farm. … The plan was to build a 105-bed dementia village, the first of its kind in the United States. It would be called The Enclave and provide services like grocery stores and theaters within a fully-enclosed perimeter. Neighboring residents were not happy that a health care facility would be built right next to them on farmland zoned for residential use.' THEY DON'T WANT AN EMR RECYCLING CENTER THERE? — 'Cherry Hill tries to keep its green space — and only working farm — untouched,' by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Alfred Lubrano: 'The council unanimously implemented an awkwardly worded yet potentially powerful law known as the Agriculture-Horticulture Commercial (AHC) Overlay Zone. It formally grants the township's only working farm (Springdale at 76 years old, famous for its tomatoes), as well as a venerable garden center that grows flowers and plants (McNaughton's at 96 years old), official designations as agricultural properties. And that could unlock agriculture-preservation funding from Camden County and the state that would allow the farm and the center to keep doing what they do — in perpetuity.' —'Housing prices rising quickly, Montclair mulls affordability fixes' —'Whistleblower lawsuit by Paterson housing inspector tossed by judge' —'[Bergen County] cop stole drugs from evidence vault, made $600K in deposits, AG says' —'Former [Cliffside Park] EMT accuses borough of quid pro quo to ignore questionable request' —'Toms River fire election ended in a tie, then someone found another ballot' —'Two Central Jersey towns reject more money for schools; four others OK more than $100M' —'Lacey voters reject all three questions in $92 million referendum for school projects' —'Voters deny request from Shore Regional to raise taxes for school upgrades' —'Voters in three South Jersey towns approve school bond questions that will raise local property taxes' EVERYTHING ELSE R.I.P. — New Jersey's revered Monmouth University Polling Institute to shut down in July, by POLITICO's Madison Fernandez: Monmouth University is shuttering its nationally recognized polling institute, citing 'changing political and media landscapes.' Monmouth University President Patrick F. Leahy announced the closure, effective July 1, on Wednesday. The New Jersey Globe initially reported the news last week. Leahy said the decision came in collaboration with the university's Board of Trustees following a 'year-long review of all of the University's Centers and Institutes.' 'At its height, the Institute played a prominent role in helping to elevate the University's image and to amplify its reputation to households across the country,' Leahy said in a statement. 'However, the changing political and media landscapes have made it both more difficult and more expensive for polling organizations to operate.' THE TORTOISE AND THE PUBIC HARE — 'Man caught trying to hide live turtle in his pants at Newark Airport,' by The Record's Kyle Morel: 'The incident occurred Friday when a Transportation Security Administration body scanner went off during a routine check at the airport, according to a TSA press release. An officer administered a pat down and 'determined that there was something concealed in the area of the man's groin.' When asked if there was something hidden in his pants, the man, a resident of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, reached in and pulled out a live turtle wrapped in a small blue towel. He told officials it was a red-eared slider turtle, and the animal was estimated to be about 5 inches long. Port Authority police confiscated the turtle and contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local animal control officials. The man missed his flight and was eventually escorted out of the checkpoint by police after questioning. 'I commend our officer who conducted the pat-down in a very professional manner in an effort to resolve the alarm,' said Thomas Carter, TSA federal security director for New Jersey. 'I believe this is the first time we have come across someone who was concealing a live animal down the front of his pants. As best as we could tell, the turtle was not harmed by the man's actions.'' NJ'S VERSION OF FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS IS MONDAY NIGHT RAW — 'Does N.J. wrestling have a violence problem?' by NJ Advance Media's Patrick Lannia and Kevin Armstrong: 'When the melee started across the gymnasium, Jennifer Trexler's motherly instincts took over. Her mission was to pull her son away from trouble, so she made a beeline for the bleachers, where a brawl was erupting and spiraling into chaos. Words were exchanged and punches were thrown. Police officers charged in, broke up the fighting, made arrests and hauled out two combatants in handcuffs in the ugliest scene New Jersey high school wrestling has witnessed in several years. The matches should've been a step on the way to glory for many wrestlers. … Instead, the testosterone-fed free-for-all stained the sport and the state, both of which became infamous on CNN, Fox News, local networks and across the internet. In the end, few escaped the splatter, which hit athletes, the governing body of New Jersey's high school sports, lawyers, judges and parents.' —'Brookdale Community College off the hook, 3 years after audit of improper spending' —'DeLorenzo's Pizza on Sloan Ave in Hamilton is closed by state Division of Taxation' —'New Milford eighth grader wins 90th annual North Jersey Spelling Bee'
