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Businesses pray for hiring boom after fed unemployment benefits expire
Nancy Mercurio is looking forward to Sept. 6. Mercurio, who owns a Haddon Heights dog sitting business, brought back most of her employees when appointments resumed in June 2020. A few didn’t want to come back, she said, so she’s had three positions open for months. The responses she’s gotten aren’t encouraging. Some interviewees don’t […]
Progressive activists call for investigation into senator for alleged ‘no-show job’
Sen. Nicholas Scutari, who was the subject of several investigations into his job as Linden’s prosecutor, is facing intensifying criticism, now from a group of progressive Democrat activists who want the state’s Joint Legislative Committee of Ethical Standards to probe Scutari’s actions. One of the activists behind the ethics probe demand, Sue Altman, director of […]
Growing chorus of immigrant advocates urge Murphy to sign bill banning ICE contracts
It’s been six weeks since immigration advocacy groups began urging Gov. Phil Murphy to sign the bill on his desk banning federal immigration detention center contracts. Now, those calls are mounting — even coming from across the Hudson River — as progressive groups press the Democrat to make New Jersey the fifth state to ban […]
N.J. continuously failed to keep women prisoners safe from sexual abuse, DOJ says
After years of repeated sexual abuse committed at the hands of corrections officers in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, New Jersey officials reached an agreement with the federal government to overhaul the women’s prison system. On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Justice announced new reforms would be implemented at Edna Mahan, the state’s only women’s […]
N.J. cops can’t share immigration info with feds, appeals court decides
New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive, an order restricting authorities from sharing immigration information with federal officials, has been upheld by a federal appeals court, ending a legal battle between the state and two counties. The three-judge panel rejected the counties’ arguments that federal law pre-empts New Jersey from implementing the directive, which immigrant advocates say has […]
Announcement of mask mandate in N.J. schools greeted with cheers, boos
New Jersey teachers and students getting ready for school this fall will have to add one more thing to their back-to-school lists: masks. New Jersey will reinstate its mask mandate for all K-12 students, teachers, and staff, regardless of vaccination status, for the upcoming school year, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday. “I want as much […]
N.J. courts adjourning some eviction cases for 60 days
On the heels of major changes to the state’s eviction moratorium, eviction cases in New Jersey courts will be adjourned while applications for rental assistance are processed. The New Jersey Judiciary said Thursday the adjudications will allow time for parties to resolve the cases using rental relief funds, if possible. In order for the eviction […]
As eviction moratoriums change, who is protected in N.J.?
Moratoriums and executive orders put in place to keep renters in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic are expiring across the country while health concerns and high unemployment rates continue. But even as the Centers for Disease Control reinstates a 60-day eviction ban for parts of the country — a ban President Joe Biden has […]
Hurdles persist for undocumented immigrants seeking N.J. driver’s licenses
It’s been three months since New Jersey implemented a law allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses and members of that community say they face multiple hurdles trying to obtain them. From being denied translators to getting turned away despite possessing valid documents to a booked-solid appointment system, advocacy groups argue too many people keep running […]
With Legislature in recess, N.J. Supreme Court justice delays retirement
New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia is delaying her retirement date until the state Legislature returns to approve her replacement, according to a statement released by the courts. She had planned to retire on Aug. 30 in advance of the new court session, which begins Sept. 1. But with the Legislature on an extended […]
N.J. lawmakers brag of leading a diverse state. But legislature is overwhelmingly white
New Jersey officials boast that they lead one of the most diverse states in the nation, but white men are still making most of the decisions in Trenton. And while the diversity of the chamber’s members has risen over the last 10 years, most communities still aren’t accurately reflected in the state Legislature. “It’s changing, […]
Fraction of N.J.’s rental assistance fund has been distributed, state says
The state’s biggest rent relief program aimed at helping New Jersey tenants on the brink of financial crisis has helped just 11% of applicants so far, according to the state agency overseeing the fund. Of the 113,000 struggling renters who applied for the second phase of New Jersey’s COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program, 13,489 households […]