A great deal has been said about reopening New Jersey schools in the fall while ensuring that children remain healthy and safe. But worries are also surfacing about what going back will mean for teachers — and even whether enough of them will be willing to return to the classroom.
More than 47,000 new claims poured into the unemployment offices during the week ending July 4, fueling the biggest single-week spike the state Labor Department has seen since early May.
Furloughed state employees and workers laid off when the school year ended in June account for much of that, the Department of Labor said Thursday.
The jump comes weeks after falling unemployment claims. More than 1.3 million New Jersey workers have filed for unemployment since mid-March — the beginning of the pandemic, which forced much of the state to effectively shut down to curb the spread of coronavirus, le… Read the rest of this entry »
New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission appears to be headed for Day 2 of Venezuelan style government service.
Good morning #NJ! It’s 5 am & the line already wraps around the Flemington MVC. After 4 months of full pay & a good night’s sleep @GovMurphy & MVC Commissioner @suefulton will once again turn away thousands of taxpayers they can’t serve & don’t care about. #MurphyExposed#NJGOPpic.twitter.com/jafDf1JFt5
— Douglas Steinhardt (@DSteinhardtEsq) July 8, 2020
Atlantic Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands is for sale. Owner Fred Rast, who closed his theater prior to Murphy’s order in March, says it would take him a week or two to reopen once allowed.
For months, the marquees have been dark.
The release of long-awaited films like “Wonder Woman 1984″ and “Tenet” have been pushed back, while others are being released through streaming services.
But now with churches reopening and the numbers of those testing positive for COVID-19 declining in New Jersey, movie theaters say it’s showtime.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Trenton late Monday, some of the nation’s largest theater chains filed suit against Gov. Phil Murphy and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, challenging the continued closure of the state’s movie theaters as unconstitut… Read the rest of this entry »
We had a Director working that line starting at 6am. I have been in communication with him. We don’t open until 8am.
— Sue Fulton wears a mask (@suefulton) July 7, 2020
Before the doors even opened this morning hundreds of drivers were lined up waiting to get in to state Motor Vehicle commission agencies for the first time in three months, leading police to shutdown one MVC agency due to crowding and to breakup a fight at another agency.
Police in Lodi said they closed the agency at 7:42 a.m. due to overwhelming demand and told drivers to avoid the area and try a different agency or to come another day.
County sheriff officers also shut down a line at the Oakland agency and told people to go home. A reader reported lines at the Wallington agency were also shut… Read the rest of this entry »
The New York Times published a report yestersay that argues that the coronavirus is racist. The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirusis the headline.
The Times sued the CDC to get data that “is far from complete. Not only is race and ethnicity information missing from more than half the cases, but so are other epidemiologically important clues — such as how the person might have become infected.”
State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli offered to resign over leaks to the media from anonymous employees in her office who have criticized her response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to recorded conversations obtained by NJ Advance Media.In two recordings made without her knowledge — one from late May and another about two weeks ago — Persichilli recounted conversations with some of Gov. Phil Murphy’s advisers. They urged her to fire the people in her “inner circle” because they believe these officials are most likely sharing information and recordings with the media, Persichilli … Read the rest of this entry »
DETROIT — A Henry Ford Health System study shows the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine helps lower the death rate of COVID-19 patients, the Detroit-based health system said Thursday.
Officials with the Michigan health system said the study found the drug “significantly” decreased the death rate of patients involved in the analysis.
The study analyzed 2,541 patients hospitalized among the system’s six hospitals between March 10 and May 2 and found 13% of those treated with hydroxychloroquine died while 26% of those who did not receive the drug died.Among all the patients in the study, there wa… Read the rest of this entry »
Frank Di Lollo, owner of Sweet Waters Steakhouse in Westfield, did something this week he has never done before — freeze steaks.
”I ordered $3,500-$4,000 in steaks, $1,000 in salmon, about $2,000 in liquor, $250 in tablecloths,” Di Lollo said. “If the steaks are (in the freezer) over a couple days, we’ll throw them out. We never freeze steaks, it takes away the flavor. We don’t serve s— steaks.” Di Lollo paused a moment. “The guy destroyed us.”
The “guy” was Gov. Phil Murphy, who changed his mind this week about the resumption of indoor dining as other coronavirus restrictions are being eased… Read the rest of this entry »
The Milano family’s restaurant in Red Bank has a great view across the Navesink River of the Murphy family’s estate on the other bank.
There’s a big difference, however. Gov. Phil Murphy can do as he likes in his buildings. But he has issued edicts that keep the Milanos from using theirs.
That was all scheduled to end today. Gov. Murphy had said he was going to permit restaurants to open at 25 percent of indoor capacity in time for the July 4 weekend. But on Monday the governor rescinded that decree.
That was the same day that a local blog posted photos from the prior Saturday of the governor enjo… Read the rest of this entry »
