NJ Spotlight

Fifteen immigrants detained — or previously detained — at the Bergen County Jail filed a complaint this month with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, alleging abuse, medical neglect, sexual assault and other “deplorable” conditions they say are rife at the Hackensack facility. The groups Freedom for Immigrants, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Unlocal Inc. filed on behalf of the detainees.

Health experts caution that unvaccinated people, including children, should not be flying to infection hot spots. Travel across the United States has remained strong, with 2.2 million travelers taking to the skies on Sunday, even as COVID-19 rates spike in many states. Most of those cases are due to the delta variant of the coronavirus; delta now accounts for nearly 75% of new COVID-19 cases in New Jersey and 83% across the country.

A COVID-19 mask mandate could be back on the table. After the nation’s top infectious disease expert said this weekend the U.S. is “going in the wrong direction.”. Officials announce 594 new, positive cases and 3 new deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 902,870 cases in the state and 26,579 confirmed and probable deaths.

Reaction was swift, but not all LGBTQ groups criticized the GOP candidate for governor. So-called culture wars dominate the governor’s race in New Jersey. Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli sparked a firestorm of controversy by criticizing the state’s new LGBTQ curriculum, drawing strong criticism from supporters of Gov. Phil Murphy. But...

An award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News. She's worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News. And later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 in New York City. A Burlington County native, she's honored to be serving and covering her home state.

Federal grant is for road improvements along port’s main access route. Backups caused by tractor trailers waiting to enter Port Newark and Elizabeth sometimes stretch for miles. That could ease with help from a $44 million federal Department of Transportation grant, part of a project to reconfigure the port’s main access route.

Once again, the state is searching for a new pension director. They could could earn far more with private companies. With little fanfare, Gov. Phil Murphy and lawmakers have abolished a long-standing cap on how much the state can pay a key employee — the director of investments for the public-worker pension fund.

County officials forecast modest rise in flights, but critics predict more will come. A planned expansion of Trenton-Mercer Airport will result in only a few dozen extra flights a day over the next 15 years, Mercer County officials say. Opponents, however, pointing to four new taxiways and a much bigger terminal building, say that the county and the Federal Aviation Administration are planning a bigger expansion without saying so.

Lakewood Mayor Ray Coles wants people to know government officials and community leaders are working very hard to increase COVID-19 vaccine coverage in the Ocean County township. And, slowly but surely, it is working. “It’s not a public-relations campaign anymore, it’s not television ads, or newspaper ads. It really comes...

Miles of Lower Hackensack River NJ wants designated as Superfund site. The state will pursue the cleanup of the Lower Hackensack River as a federal Superfund site. This is the first time that a New Jersey river is being proposed for Superfund listing and marks a critical step toward remediation of river sediments contaminated with mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other pollutants from past industrial practices.

Lower uptake is attributed to vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, among other reasons. State and health officials in New Jersey continue to push for more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, as deadlier variants of the coronavirus emerge. But in some towns, vaccination rates lag far behind state goals. Low vaccination...

Former New York Giants running back applauds funding of marijuana research by NFL and players association. Calls for federal government to unchain the science. About six years into my career with the NFL, a trainer told us that we would all start getting blood tests to check our liver function. We were all healthy football players, mostly in our twenties. Why did we need liver function tests?

Some critics say that focusing on the pass rate is not a valid indicator of the quality of a teacher prep program. About a decade ago, Essex County College of New Jersey restructured its education program to be more hands-on and geared toward the strengths of its students, who are predominantly Black and Latino and from underserved communities.

More fallout from the pandemic. Nursing homes may have managed to outlast the COVID-19 health crisis, but they’re now victims of a changing industry. Officials announce 803 new, positive cases and 4 new deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 900,841 cases in the state and 26,568 confirmed and probable deaths.

Bergen County's Health Care Center is scheduled to shut down in December. Bergen County’s Health Care Center will shut down in December, sending many patients scrambling for another home. It will be the fourth New Jersey nursing home to close so far this year, a trend that worries the state’s...

‘I let them know that I am fully vaccinated but it’s up to you to make that choice’. Some barbers in Camden are being recognized as community ambassadors in the effort to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s part of a new program led by Rutgers University-Camden and the Center for Child Services, sponsored by NJ Health Initiatives. The idea is to facilitate people learning about the importance of vaccines from the people they trust.

State Sen. Chris Brown (R-Atlantic) resigned his seat this week to take a job in Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration; Brown had already announced his decision not to run for reelection. Former Republican Assemblyman Vince Polistina, who’s vying for the open Senate seat in South Jersey’s 2nd Legislative District, discusses the race.

South Jersey Gas Co. also aiming for carbon-neutral operations by 2040. Utility companies are searching for better ways to bolster their equipment against extreme weather and even cyberattacks. The South Jersey Gas Co. recently upgraded its infrastructure, spending $69 million on a new pump station. “This project reduces the risk...

Agency is in dispute with New York over how to split federal funds. The New Jersey Transit budget is in limbo. The agency’s board met this week but could not pass a new budget for the 2022 fiscal year because of an ongoing dispute with New York over how to split incoming federal funding. NJ Transit needs the money to make good on its spending plan. Instead, the board voted to extend the current budget while it works on securing that money.

An award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News. She's worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News. And later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 in New York City. A Burlington County native, she's honored to be serving and covering her home state.