October 30, 2019

Murphy says he's optimistic about reducing health care costs for N.J. teachers

Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday night he and other New Jersey leaders are negotiating a way to help the state’s public school teachers take home more pay by revamping their health care benefits a decade after a controversial overhaul increased premiums.

Murphy stopped short of specifically endorsing a new bill, one that has divided his two fellow Democrats who lead the state Legislature, to reduce the cost of health benefits for tens of thousands of educators in the Garden State.

But the governor said he and other state leaders have been “working very constructively” for months on the issue with the New Jersey Education Association — the state’s largest teachers union — and that members of both the state Senate and Assembly have been involved.

“I’m optimistic something can happen here. It has to happen.” Murphy said during a town hall meeting at Union Township’s senior center. “If we claim that our most precious assets are our kids ... educators are on a pedestal. They have to be.”

Read more: https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/10/murphy-says-hes-optimistic-about-reducing-health-care-costs-for-nj-teachers.html

October 30, 2019

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump Kills al-Baghdadi & Got Booed at Baseball Game

October 30, 2019

Paying to park at American Dream is like 'taking it through the nose,' Murphy says

If you think having to cough over as much as $30 to park at the American Dream mall stinks, you’re not alone.

Gov. Phil Murphy is among the critics of the retail and entertainment complex’s paid parking plan, which he said Tuesday night is like “taking it through the nose." Especially considering more than $1 billion in taxpayer money could be involved in helping American Dream.

Murphy, speaking on News 12 New Jersey’s Ask the Governor, instead said New Jerseyans should get a discount when they visit the newly opened facility in East Rutherford.

“We’ve had this cross to bear for 17 years, we ought to get a hometown discount,” Murphy said.

Read more: https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/10/paying-to-park-at-american-dream-is-like-taking-it-through-the-nose-murphy-says.html

October 30, 2019

Bayonne without a hospital would be a very different Bayonne, officials say

Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis remembers driving his mother to Bayonne Medical Center nine years ago when she was struggling to breathe.

As soon as she got into a bed in the emergency room she went into cardiac arrest.

“Four days later, she was having open-heart surgery,” Davis recalled. “If I had to go to Jersey City Medical Center, my mom would have (only) made it to the Turnpike entrance.”

His mother survived the medical emergency, but Davis now fears that CarePoint Health’s decision to sell Bayonne Medical Center puts the 131-year-old hospital at risk of closing. The health network announced Tuesday that it plans to sell both Christ Hospital and Hoboken University Medical Center to RWJBarnabas, and find a “strategic partner" to take over the hospital in Bayonne.

Read more: https://www.nj.com/hudson/2019/10/bayonne-without-a-hospital-would-be-a-very-different-bayonne-officials-say.html

October 30, 2019

Trump's campaign hasn't been paying towns for security at local events. N.J. lawmaker wants an

Trump’s campaign hasn’t been paying towns for security at local events. N.J. lawmaker wants an investigation.


WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Minneapolis earlier this month, the city’s mayor asked for $530,000 to cover his extra security costs. Trump then went on Twitter to call James Frey a “radical left mayor” and accused him of trying "to stifle free speech.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. said Frey has a point.

He said the Trump campaign, which had $83 million in the bank at the end of September, should be paying those costs, and on Monday asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate why it’s not doing so.

“Donald Trump’s presidential campaign may ignore their obligation to reimburse local officials for the significant assistance provided at these political events,” said Pascrell, D-9th Dist. "But FEC regulations on reporting disputed debts clearly state that these disputes must be reported until the dispute is resolved.”

https://twitter.com/BillPascrell/status/1188852557839511552

Read more: https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/10/trumps-campaign-hasnt-been-paying-towns-for-security-at-local-events-nj-lawmaker-wants-an-investigation.html

October 30, 2019

Beto O'Rourke suggests al-Baghdadi death happened 'despite' Trump, 'not because ...

October 30, 2019

Beto O'Rourke suggests al-Baghdadi death happened 'despite' Trump, 'not because ...

October 29, 2019

N.J. plane crash: Pilot killed was renowned cardiologist, accomplished aviator, friend says

The pilot killed in a fiery plane crash on a residential street in Woodbridge Tuesday was a renowned cardiologist who was flying to New York City to give a lecture, according to the manager of Linden Airport.

Michael Schloss, 74, was the person behind the controls of the craft that crashed in a Colonia neighborhood at about 11 a.m., Linden Airport Manager Paul Dudley said.

Dudley knew Schloss for over 30 years and described him as an outgoing, generous man who loved to fly and did it “exponentially well.” A little over 10 years ago, Schloss made an emergency landing in Linden in the same type of plane.

Officials said earlier the plane, a Cessna 414, was headed from Loudoun County, Va. to Linden when the twin-engine plane fell out of the air less than four miles from its destination, igniting a blaze that burned multiple houses. Federal crash investigator, who arrived at the crash scene shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday, said the pilot did not make any distress calls.

Read more: https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2019/10/pilot-killed-in-fiery-nj-crash-was-renowned-cardiologist-accomplished-aviator-friend-says.html

October 29, 2019

Firefighters who admitted to health benefits fraud have withdrawn pension contributions

ATLANTIC CITY -- Four local firefighters who pleaded guilty in the federal investigation into state health benefits fraud have withdrawn their pension contributions, state records show.

Ventnor’s Corey and Edward Sutor, Margate’s Michael Sher and Atlantic City’s Michael Pepper have all withdrawn the contributions they made to the Police and Firefighters Retirement System, a spokesman from the state Department of Treasury confirmed.

The withdrawals mean the PFRS Board of Trustees, which typically decides whether a member must forfeit any portion of their pension due to a criminal conviction, would not review their cases, the spokesman said.

The former firefighters, who all resigned from their public employment upon pleading guilty in the past two years, face up to 10 years in prison for their roles in the multimillion-dollar prescription kickback scheme that took advantage of generous state-provided health benefits. Although the first charges were brought more than two years ago, and only one of the 25 who pleaded guilty has been sentenced, public interest in the fate of the public employees’ pensions remains high.

Read more: https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/crime/firefighters-who-admitted-to-health-benefits-fraud-have-withdrawn-pension/article_34387e2c-a28b-59c7-9d4f-4ded9abbfe1a.html

October 29, 2019

Dark Money Feeds into Hoboken Election

Conflicting accusations generate heat going into the last week of Hoboken municipal elections.

Councilman Michael DeFusco raises the alarm about a political action committee funded by a Jersey City-based developer possibly helping candidates on a ticket supported by Mayor Ravi Bhalla.

Meanwhile sources close to the Bhalla camp question a flyer apparently paid for by a donation from Frank Raia, a developer convicted of voter fraud in the 2013 election cycle.

In a press release, DeFusco claims the PAC funded by Mack Cali is poised to hijack the Hoboken City Council election.

Read more: https://www.insidernj.com/dark-money-feeds-hoboken-election/