N.J. police are cracking down on seat belts

TRENTON — Police across New Jersey will be cracking down on seat belt violations starting Monday, likely handing out more than 20,000 tickets over the next two weeks. Part of a national campaign known as “Click It or Ticket,” New Jersey law enforcement agencies will adopt a “zero tolerance” policy for motorists and passengers not wearing… Read the rest of this entry »

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Watch the Republican Gubernatorial Debate, 8PM

Friendly rivals? Lt Gov Kim Guadagno and Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli

The final televised debate of the 2017 NJ Republican Gubernatorial primary campaign will take place this evening, 8PM at NJTV’s studio in Newark.  The debate can be view here via YouTube, courtesy of NJTV and NJSpotlight.

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli are vying for the GOP nomination to replace Governor Chris Christie as the chief executive of New Jersey’s state government and as the titular head of the NJ GOP.  NJTV’s Michael Aron will moderate the debate.  David Cruz, NJTV’s statehouse reporter and John Mooney, CEO and Founding Editor of NJSpotlight will question the candidates.

The Democrat candidates for Governor held both of their televised last week.

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N.J. teachers layoffs must be based on seniority, not performance, judge rules

TRENTON — A group of Newark parents has lost a legal battle to overhaul the way public school teachers in the state are laid-off — dealing another blow to education reform groups that have tried to dismantle similar protections across the country. In New Jersey, school districts must lay off teachers based on seniority, regardless of… Read the rest of this entry »

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Christie expands public worker fertility insurance coverage to include lesbians

TRENTON — Lesbians and other people who want to use non-conventional means to conceive a child are entitled to insurance coverage for fertility treatments if they work for state government or the public schools, under a measure Gov. Chris Christie signed into law Monday. The law mandating coverage for infertility was defined narrowly, sponsors say, taking… Read the rest of this entry »

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More than $100M in taxpayer money spent on public worker lawsuits each year

The legal settlements and jury awards have come rapid-fire, month after month, year after year: $400,000 to the public works employee who claimed a hostile work environment; $2.1 million to the fire inspector whom a jury found had been harassed; $200,000 to the former police dispatcher who said she was improperly fired; $3.65 million to the… Read the rest of this entry »

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Female Dragonflies Fake Death to Avoid Sex

photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

In order to avoid males of the species bothering them for sex, female dragonflies fake their own deaths, falling from the sky and lying motionless on the ground until the suitor goes away. A study by Rassim Khelifa, a zoologist from the University of Zurich is the first time scientists have seen odonates feign death as… Read the rest of this entry »

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Coast is cleared for 2 new artificial reefs for Jersey waters

TRENTON — Recreational fishermen in New Jersey are a step closer to getting artificial reefs of their own in state waters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave New Jersey permission to build two artificial reefs – one off the Manasquan Inlet and one in the Delaware Bay, state Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said Thursday.… Read the rest of this entry »

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Angry Christie wants more control of Horizon’s board, profits

Governor Chris Christie  (Governor’s Office/ Mykwain Gainey)

JERSEY CITY — Gov. Chris Christie is done asking Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to pay big bucks to expand drug treatment in New Jersey. Now, he’s telling. Christie on Thursday announced he was proposing legislation giving future governors the ability to appoint four new directors to Horizon’s 15 member board, require greater… Read the rest of this entry »

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Sheriff Golden to Trenton: Stop ripping off the 9-1-1 fees

With New Jersey lawmakers busy in Trenton working on the next fiscal year’s State Budget, Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden is calling on the legislature and Governor Christie to stop the diversion of $120 million per year that cell phone users pay for the express purpose of maintaining and upgrading 911 emergency infrastructure throughout the state.

Golden first raised the issue last summer, days after the current fiscal year budget took effect.   Yesterday, the Sheriff highlighted the issue in an interview with NJTV’s Brenda Flanagan.

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Hackers Demand $30K To Unlock Newark’s Computers

Computers serving the City of Newark have been infected by ransomware, according to a report by TAPintoNewark.  The computers are unusable and the hacker has demanded 1.7 Bitcoin, the equivalent of $30,000 to unlock the City’s system.

The City’s police department’s computers were unaffected by the RSA-2048 encryption that was installed on Newark computers on Friday.

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