Below is Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing:   QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’d love to see the governor and the governor’s office get louder on this. I’d love to see him play a more active role in this. We’re two years in and constituents have had trouble getting affordable, accessible, legal cannabis.” – Senator Gopal on home grow cannabis cultivation   TOP STORY: Sherrill and Krickus Bond over Ukraine     The state is investing millions in ‘crisis response teams’, according to NJ Spotlight.   The number of certified home health aides continues to decrease in the sta ..read more

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) announced today that a state grand jury has returned a new indictment against former Wildwood Mayor Peter J. Byron, accusing him of abusing his official position to request a job from a city attorney, then failing to pay state taxes on his earnings from that position for years. A new seven-count indictment was filed on April 16, 2024, against Byron, 68, of Wildwood, New Jersey, who resigned from office in September 2023. He has been accused of the following new offenses: ·    ..read more

ASBURY PARK, NJ – April 22, 2024 – Moxie Strategies, a national boutique public affairs firm, launches today with esteemed public affairs executive Maggie Moran at the helm, and a dynamic lineup of industry leaders. Maggie Moran, Jeannine Frisby LaRue, Pearl Gabel, Hira Shaikh, and Joe Libutti – veteran practitioners from diverse backgrounds – have joined forces to bring a fresh perspective to the traditional agency model with unique depth to create bold impact. Moxie’s dynamic leadership of women, minorities, LGBTQIA, and other professionals will tackle pressing challenges and ..read more

Curtis Bashaw, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, today released the following statement regarding Andy Kim’s decision to vote against the “21st Century Peace Through Strength Act” which requires TikTok owner, ByteDance to divest from the Chinese Communist Party: “TikTok is a known national security risk that allows the Chinese government to continue to spy on American citizens and steal and manipulate data.  In fact, a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shows China used TikTok to meddle in the 2022 midterm elections. This week ..read more

By Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson A single woman raising her grandkids and working two hourly jobs to make ends meet. A retired veteran who relies on public transportation to get to medical appointments. A small business owner who works 12+ hour days to keep the business running. Three very different lives – yet they all share a need for access to health care, especially as we age. Unfortunately, finding time to see a health care provider can be a challenge in all of these scenarios – and even more so if these individuals live in urban areas like the City of Trent ..read more

Below is Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing:   QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We have to subsidize transit. If it could make money on its own, Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central would still be in business.” – Senator Burzichelli   TOP STORY: ‘Civil War’ – An InsiderNJ Movie Review     Senator Menendez’s trial has been delayed to mid-May, according to NJ.com.   A domestic violence survey details the extensive scope of the problem in the state, according to NJ Spotlight.   A NJ Transit study targets $600M in budget cuts, expansion, and reform, according to NJ ..read more

January 6, 2021 You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. C. S. Lewis 1898 — 1963 —— —— —— —— Do the American people really believe in the truths of this nation to the extent that said belief becomes a matter of life and death to them? These truths are well known to us and have been dearly earned over nearly two hundred and fifty years. The first is “E Pluribus Unum,” (Out of Many, One), our motto on The Great Seal. The second is “All Men Are Created Equal” illuminated by Thomas Jefferson, in an age of Kings and ..read more

Below is Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing:   QUOTE OF THE DAY: “He likes Wildwood. It’s not every day you get a president or presidential candidate coming to your community. We’re excited about it.” – Wildwood Mayor Troiano on the planned May 11 rally by former President Trump   TOP STORY: The Last Court Ruling on the Line     The state’s top-notch healthcare persistently underperforms for certain residents, according to NJ Spotlight.   There’s new details on the state’s World Cup contract, according to NJ Spotlight.   There’s skepticism in the state a ..read more

I’ll confess that as an old, cranky guy I went to the movie Civil War deviously prepared to write a negative review. People told me to go see it, but a few of them also told me to go see Saving Private Ryan, which I regretted – not because it was too violent necessarily but because the filmmaker evidently assumes an America so disconnected from reality that he takes it upon himself to attach shock clamps and turn the power to capacity while collecting millions for his supplied “therapy.” No doubt in trying to caution me about the horrors of violence while fire-hosing the screen with blood, Civ ..read more

How things may have been different in New Jersey politics if Tammy Murphy did not run for the Senate. For openers, a federal court probably would not be talking about “Ballot Siberia.” That’s an apt description for how New Jersey’s political system has been turned upside down. And now it’s official. The federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals this week upheld a lower court ruling ending the power of Democratic county leaders to draw up primary ballots that help favored candidates – the so-called county line. The court put it thusly: “Even apart from its placem ..read more