Potential 2017 gubernatorial candidate Philip Murphy and his family pose for their yearly holiday card.
It’s dangerous to be in an Agustin Torres column before he’s had his morning coffee. The Jersey Journal‘s political editor absoulutely unloaded on presumed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Philip Murphy in Saturday’s Journal, accusing Murphy of an unrelenting string of synonyms for “out of touch rich guy.”
It’s clear that Murphy annoys the often-cranky Torres even more than the usual politician. He says of Murphy, who headed the Frankfurt office of Goldman Sachs from 1993-1997 and later served as national finance chair for the DNC, “His place of residency is on another planet” who aspires to Huey Long populism but cannot “relate to the masses” because he is not “one of them.”
Glen Rock NJ, A two (2) vehicle Friday afternoon, 05/26, collision at the intersection of Hamilton and South Maple Avenues in Glen Rock injured one (1) adult female, who was transported by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s main campus. The victim, who is pregnant, appeared to have sustained non life threatening injuries. Both vehicles involved in the crash were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Glen Rock PD and EMS responded along with a paramedic team from St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center.
Paramus NJ, A two (2) vehicle Thursday morning, 05/25, crash near the intersection of West Ridgewood Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard in Paramus injured the driver of a gold colored mini van, whose vehicle careened off of the rain slick roadway up onto the lawn of a nearby home. Paramus PD patrol officers and a Bergen County Sheriff’s Department Patrol Division K9 officer aided the victim until an ambulance arrived and transported her to The Valley Hospital. The other driver complained of back pain, but refused ambulance transport. Both heavily damaged vehicles were removed from the scene by separate flatbed tow trucks.
Fair Lawn NJ, At approximately 1:45 PM on Thursday, 05/25, Fair Lawn PD, EMS, FD, and Heavy Rescue personnel responded to a report of a chemical release with multiple injuries at Fair Lawn High School, 14-00 Berdan Avenue, Fair Lawn. Upon arrival, first responders observed that the entire building was being evacuated. The chemical was determined to have been pepper spray that had been released via canister in a stairwell of the building. Although there were reports of students choking and gasping for air, no one was transported to the hospital for treatment. Fair Lawn PD is investigating the source of the pepper spray canister.
Paramus NJ, A head on crash in Paramus early Wednesday afternoon, 05/24, was apparently caused when the driver of a vehicle involved experienced an unknown medical emergency. The crash occurred when a 4-door Buick traveling southbound on Paramus Road veered into the northbound lanes and was hit by a Mercedes sedan. The collision occurred near 85 Paramus Road. Paramus PD, EMS, and a paramedic team from Hackensack University Medical Center responded to the incident. The Buick’s driver was transported by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s main campus with unspecified injuries/in unknown condition. A paramedic team was on board the ambulance during its hospital run. Both vehicles involved were removed by tow trucks. An occupant of the Mercedes sustained a minor arm or leg injury. She was not transported from the scene by ambulance. Paramus PD is investigating the incident.
Paramus NJ, Under recent affordable housing rulings by the NJ Supreme Court, our communities are being forced to permit construction of up to 1.5 MILLION new units of unneeded housing in order to satisfy a fictitious population increase of 30 percent in the next 9 years.
Protect our State from ridiculous affordable housing court mandates (which may result in over 1.5 MILLION new units of housing in NJ) by supporting A-4666 and A-4667 to stop the Court actions and study the issue while we still can.
Many of our NJ residents are unaware that their communities will be forced to DOUBLE their housing population in just the next 9 years, destroying all existing housing prices.
Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi is now asking of volunteers. “I’m going to need all volunteers willing to help. I’ve received permission to host a “town hall” session on June 15th at 5:30 at Bergen Community College in Paramus. If the NJ Legislature won’t hold meetings on housing affordability and court forced overdevelopment, I will. The intent of this meeting is to host an open hearing to gain thoughts, concerns and options from members of the public, Mayors and Councils, planners, engineers, traffic experts, board of education members, environmental groups, etc. I will personally pay for transcripts of this hearing and will have them delivered to the Legislature. This will be the first of numerous hearings held throughout the entire State. I will draft a formal letter tomorrow for distribution throughout the County. Anyone willing to help out in the circulation efforts would be greatly appreciated. If you have an hour or two to spare please call my office (201) 666-0881 and ask for Doreen.”
Trenton NJ, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino today announced important changes to the directive he issued last year to prosecutors and police that will better ensure that dangerous and recidivist criminals are detained pending trial under New Jersey’s historic bail reform. Among other changes, the revised directive creates presumptions that prosecutors will seek an arrest warrant and/or pretrial detention for offenders charged with gun crimes, assaults on police, certain crimes involving sexual exploitation of children, or any indictable offense committed while on release or under post-conviction supervision for another crime.
“Bail reform is working, as evidenced by the more than 1,200 dangerous criminals detained without bail in the first quarter of 2017 — criminals who under the old system might have paid their way out of jail and continued to threaten the community, victims and witnesses,” said Attorney General Porrino. “With these revisions to our directive, we’re making sure that detention will be sought more frequently for certain categories of offenders, including recidivist offenders, those who commit gun crimes, sex offenders, and criminals with a history of threatening police and the public with their violent or reckless acts.”
“In the first five months of bail reform, we’ve maintained a constructive dialogue with all stakeholders, including law enforcement, the Judiciary and community leaders, and we’ve replaced the theories behind our original directive with real-life experience and data,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “These revisions to our law enforcement directive reflect a renewed confidence that our new system enables us to protect the public by detaining the most dangerous offenders, while avoiding the costs, both fiscal and social, of warehousing indigent non-violent offenders in jail pending trial.”
The bail reform law, which took effect Jan. 1, replaced New Jersey’s monetary bail system with a risk-based approach, requiring courts to assess the likelihood that a defendant will flee, commit a new crime, or obstruct justice by intimidating victims or witnesses. There are two essential decisions for police and prosecutors. First, they must decide whether to charge by complaint-warrant or complaint-summons. If they want to seek pretrial detention or, in the alternative, want the court to impose any conditions of release to mitigate risks, they must charge by complaint-warrant. When a warrant is issued by the court, a defendant is arrested and taken to jail to be held for up to 48 hours. Second, prosecutors must decide whether to seek pretrial detention. Within 48 hours, the defendant will have a first appearance in court, where, if the state has filed a motion to detain, the judge will decide whether to detain or release the defendant, potentially with conditions.
To assist law enforcement and judges in deciding about a defendant, the Administrative Office of the Courts developed a computer-based risk assessment, the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), which factors in the nature and seriousness of the crime charged, as well as information on the defendant’s adult criminal and court-appearance history. The PSA offers three risk indicators: (1) a six-point “failure-to-appear” (FTA) risk scale; (2) a six-point “new criminal activity” (NCA) scale that gauges likelihood of re-offense on release; and (3) a “new violent criminal activity” flag, which flags defendants likely to commit violent crimes if released.
Last month, the Attorney General’s Office sent a letter to the Administrative Office of the Courts requesting certain changes to the PSA and the decision-making framework employed by the Courts’ Pretrial Services Program in making recommendations to judges about pretrial detention. Specifically, the letter requested changes to the PSA and decision-making framework that would make it more likely judges would impose detention in cases where a defendant is charged with a gun crime, eluding police in a vehicle with risk of death or injury, or any new crime committed while on pretrial release, probation or parole. Those requests are pending, and the Attorney General’s Office is continuing to work with the Courts regarding such goals.
The changes announced today to the bail reform directive are separate measures taken under the Attorney General’s authority as the state’s top law enforcement officer. The directive governs prosecutors and police statewide with respect to their decisions about a defendant and what they will seek from a judge, namely, (1) whether to seek a complaint-warrant to arrest a defendant, and (2) whether to seek pretrial detention or release subject to protective conditions.
The following are key changes that, among others, are being implemented through the revised directive:
A new presumption is created that law enforcement will apply for pretrial detention for any indictable crime committed while a defendant is on pretrial release for another crime or on post-conviction supervision such as parole or probation. Previously, there was a presumption only if the new offense was a first- or second-degree crime.
The forms of post-conviction supervision triggering the presumption discussed in the first bullet have been expanded beyond traditional parole and probation to include two forms of supervision routinely imposed on sex offenders: (1) community supervision for life, and (2) parole supervision for life. As a result, there is a presumption that prosecutors now will seek pretrial detention for any sex offender subject to such supervision if they are arrested for a new indictable crime.
Consistent with the request made to the Courts regarding the PSA and the Pretrial Services decision-making framework, the revised directive also establishes a presumption that police and prosecutors will apply for pretrial detention for any defendant who commits a Graves Act firearms offense or possesses a firearm as a convicted felon, or who eludes police in a motor vehicle creating a risk of death or injury to any person.
There is a new presumption that police and prosecutors will apply for pretrial detention for any first- or second-degree crime if the defendant has an NCA score of 4 or higher. Previously that presumption was triggered only if the defendant had an NCA score (or FTA score) of 5 or higher.
Police and prosecutors are subject to a new presumption that they will apply for pretrial detention for defendants charged with third- or fourth-degree crimes if the defendant has an NCA score of 5 or higher, or an FTA score of 6. Previously there was no presumption for third- or fourth-degree cases.
There is a new presumption that police and prosecutors will apply for a complaint-warrant in (1) any case involving second-degree eluding, as discussed above, (2) any case where a defendant is charged with third-degree assault on a police officer or other public official or employee causing bodily injury, or (3) any case where a defendant is charged with manufacturing or distributing child pornography, or related crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.
There is now a presumption that police and prosecutors will apply for a complaint-warrant in any case where the PSA generates an FTA or NCA score of 3 or higher, whereas the original directive set the threshold at 4 or higher.
Ho Ho Kus NJ, A utility pole and pole mounted transformer on Blauvelt Avenue in Ho-Ho-Kus were both KO’d by a wandering SUV on Wednesday afternoon, 05/24. The driver and occupants of the vehicle were shaken up, but uninjured in the crash. Ho-Ho-Kus PD, FD, and EMS personnel responded. The damaged vehicle was removed by a tow truck and PSE&G attended to the downed utility pole and transformer. A portion of Blauvelt Road was closed for an extended period as PSE&G crews worked to return conditions to normal.
Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Phil Murphy wants to raise New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, but his canvassers are working for $12.50, Assemblyman John Wisniewski said Tuesday, rolling out a new line of attack as the June 6 primary nears.
Wisniewski, a rival candidate for the Democratic nomination, caught the $2.50 discrepancy in Murphy’s campaign reports filed with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission and cut a new web ad accusing Murphy of hypocrisy. He called on Murphy to give his canvassers $45,000 in back pay and a salary hike.
Ridgewood NJ, since 2010 ,the class action, brought by the three municipalities on behalf of ratepayers, alleges that Ridgewood Water owes $14 million in past overcharges and claims the Village of Ridgewood improperly applied water company revenues to other areas in its municipal budget.
The three municipalities Glen Rock, Midland Park and Wyckoff have alleged that the utility company, operated by the village of Ridgewood, overcharged customers from 2010 to 2016 and improperly used company funds to supplement Ridgewood’s municipal budget.
The towns want $17.4 million returned to ratepayers, including $13.8 million in alleged overcharges and $3.6 million in transfers from the utility’s fund balance from 2010 to 2016.
By way of background, the Ridgewood Water Utility supplies water to Ridgewood residents and to the residents of the neighboring communities of Wyckoff, Midland Park and Glen Rock. Importantly, the Water Utility is not regulated by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) or any other neutral and impartial governmental agency. This case concerns a scheme devised by the Village of Ridgewood to unlawfully off-load a portion of the Village operating budget to the extraterritorial ratepayers of the Water Utility. The scheme was simple: through the accounting devise of “indirect costs,” the Village used its Water Utility to transfer substantial Village operating costs that are wholly unrelated to the operations of the Water Utility to the ratepayers of the Water Utility. In effect, the residents of Wyckoff, Glen Rock and Midland Park have been subsidizing the Village of Ridgewood Operating Budget so that, during periods of economic difficulty, Ridgewood does not have to make the tough choices that all other communities make by reducing expenditures or raising taxes on their own residents.
In the past seven years, the Water Utility has raised its rates by some 37 percent. The Plaintiffs in this litigation assert that these massive rate increases are unlawful and excessive. Plaintiffs demand, among other things, a full refund of the seven years of unlawful rate increases.
Police in New Jersey are looking for a man who broke into a home in Belleville last week — and the sketch authorities released looks more than a bit like Zorro, the fictional mask-wearing character of western drama fame.
Cops say the suspect broke into a home on Eugene Place around 3:45 a.m. Friday. Authorities believe he got inside through an unlocked side door.
John Brennan , Staff Writer, @BergenBrennanPublished 11:41 a.m. ET May 20, 2017 | Updated 10:47 p.m. ET May 20, 2017
In a move that could turn out to be the trigger for turning the long-dormant American Dream Meadowlands into a reality, project operator Triple Five announced late Friday that it has closed on $1.6 billion in construction financing for the long-stalled project.
The deal is expected to set the stage in the coming days or weeks for a billion-dollar bond issuance that would provide the rest of the funding for the 2.9 million square foot first phase of the entertainment and retail project.
New Jersey led the list, as expected, but money rolled in from nearby New York and Pennsylvania, as well as Florida and California
New Jersey is one of only two states with gubernatorial elections this year, so the eyes — and the wallets — of the nation are focused on the Garden State.
The state Election Law Enforcement Commission has said that this year’s primary is on its way to becoming the most expensive in New Jersey history. As of its last campaign reporting date, May 8, the 11 major-party hopefuls had already raised about $22 million in just their candidate accounts, excluding outside committees. While 88 percent of that money came from New Jerseyans, people from 36 other states and the District of Columbia, as well as the United Kingdom, also contributed.
Democratic frontrunner Phil Murphy was responsible for roughly two-thirds of the total amount contributed as of the 29-day pre-primary reports. The $15.1 million he has spent on his campaign is unrivaled in size. But Murphy has also been the primary beneficiary of money contributed by each of the states that has given the most to New Jersey’s candidates this year.
These are the 10 states from which candidates had gotten the most money as of May 8:
TRENTON — A pair of Republican state lawmakers is looking to do away with tenure for state Supreme Court justices, proposing a constitutional amendment that would have voters give them a thumbs-up or thumbs-down every four years.
State Sens. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) and Michael Doherty (R-Warren) say the move would make the justices accountable to New Jersey voters, but some worry the move would further inject politics into the state’s highest court.
Currently, New Jersey’s seven justices are appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate with an initial term of seven years. Then, if the governor reappoints and the Senate again approves, a justice gets tenure until hitting a mandatory retirement age of 70.
By NICK CORASANITI, AUDREY CARLSEN and SERGIO PEÇANHA
Gov. Chris Christie is on his way out. Primaries are on June 6. Here’s what matters — and a few things that don’t — about six candidates vying to replace him:
