NJ Spotlight News | NJ Spotlight News: August 31, 2023 | Season 2023

Briana: Tonight "NJ Spotlight News," advocates of change.

Senator Booker joins with New Jersey mayors to talk community violence prevention after the shooting of a Jersey City man.

>> It has an impact when violence happens in our community.

Briana: Plus, pumping the brakes.

Plans for the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail expansion experiences another delay.

Larry: The biggest step is finding what the FTA wants and how to answer questions.

Briana: Overdose prevention, to prevent opioid overdose, medications to hit the market on overdose awareness day.

>> Overdoses are still a crisis in our country.

In New Jersey we wanted to get at the biggest areas to continual overdoses.

Briana: And, reclassifying cannabis.

The Biden Administration seeks to loosen weed restrictions by reclassifying cannabis as a lower risk drug.

>> If it does go through, the biggest winners are those who are current cannabis operators.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" begins now.

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♪ >> From NJ PBS, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Thank you for joining us this Thursday night.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

It is a growing and national problem.

Leaders from New Jersey's biggest cities are coming together to fight it.

Gun violence, responsible for an unprecedented amount of deaths across our state and country.

City officials turning to prevention programs as a means of interrupting cycles of chronic violence, working with residents who are at highest risk, to build safer communities and save lives.

>> The trauma in a community, the ripping apart of our fabric has an incalculable impact when violence happens in our communities.

Reporter: U.S.

Senator Cory Booker was joined by the mayor and others in a roundtable talking about the need for more violence intervention programs.

>> Young people as young as 8, 9, 10, talking about the dress they want to be buried in at that age because they do not see a future.

They see their cousins, their friends, their neighbors, getting mowed down and they just feel it is a matter of time for them.

Reporter: The panel made up of urban mayors and community organizations that have had success addressing violence as a public health issue, Newark standing as a model for programs that have at impact reducing rates of violent crime.

Specifically the Newark community Street team.

>> You have to have data.

We have a lot of presumptions about what is going on, ideas about what will reduce violence.

But you have to have the data.

The way we dealt with Covid is the same way you deal with violence and crime.

You know where it is happening, who it is happening to.

>> Violence is a public health issue.

So much work we do is that the intersection of public health and public safety.

A high-risk intervention team, 25 individuals leveraged their capital to prevent violence.

Reporter: NCST received funding to serve as a model for violence prevention programs.

>> Is there a way to funnel information down to us through the Institute so we can know the resources available?

>> Open to opening of violence and trauma prevention unit.

>> We are funding three national training assistant partners.

We would love to make connections.

>> This is the challenge, getting those resources.

Reporter: Other programs shared best practices for treating trauma before it turns to violence like PEI kids in Trenton.

>> The kids committing these offenses were also the victims of community violence who had untreated trauma and who were acting out because there were root issues that needed to be dealt with.

>> We have developed of outreach and tied it to a larger coalition that includes law enforcement, hospitals, community providers, career development programs.

We are all sitting around the table and assessing, how can we bring resources to bear together?

Reporter: The Attorney General's office is allocating another $15 million for violence prevention programs.

The mayors here can compete for those funds.

In Newark, Joanna Gagis, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: New Jersey pulled into the rift between the Biden Administration and New York City.

This week Atlantic City Airport was tapped as one of several locations the White House suggested could be used to shelter some of the 60,000 migrants who recently arrived in Manhattan seeking asylum.

According to reports, the AC airport is on a list of 11 federally owned our pretties the Department of Homeland Security proposed as a place to re-house and relocate migrants.

The Democratic mayor and others are calling on Governor Murphy to reject the idea, criticizing the White House for failing to deal with issues at the southern border.

Most other locations on the list are outside New York City, including an airport on New York's Canadian border.

Immigration advocates say locations are too far from job opportunities.

The state's most densely populated county has a plan to prevent traffic fatalities.

The Hudson County executive launched a vision zero task force, modeled after other successful programs in Hoboken and Jersey City, where safer streets are saving lives.

Ted Goldberg reports.

>> This is the beginning of a new process, a new Hudson County.

Ted: The zero -- the vision zero task force has a single goal.

>> Not one single more death from anybody in traffic or crossing the street or biking.

Ted: the 20 plus person panel is a version of the vision zero task force in Jersey City and Hoboken, the reason for fewer people killed by traffic in both cities.

None in Hoboken in four years and Jersey City had no traffic deaths in 2022.

>> The ability to travel regardless of your means of transportation is a public right and it is our job as designers and legislators and decision-makers of our transportation system to afford that right every user of our streets.

Ted: A main focus is John F. Kennedy Boulevard, long considered one of the most dangerous roads in the county.

>> a two lane highway.

>> I have had constituents who passed away because they were elderly and lived on the western section and cannot make it across the light.

We have seen an officer get hit.

I have seen with my very own eyes.

Things have to change.

>> I was a retired Lieutenant from Jersey City.

I took part in doing far too many accident reports over my career on Kennedy Boulevard.

We need a change.

We need to look at the Kennedy Boulevard safety hazards from a holistic point of view.

Ted: It is hard to disagree on safe streets, but figuring out how to get there could pose problems for leaders with different priorities.

>> It is important that everybody buys into this and work together to come to good compromises and solutions to problems to ensure everyone is safe.

>> We have been car centric for a long time in New Jersey and Hudson County.

Things have to change.

Not just because of crashes, but because of the environment.

We know we need to invest in transit.

There is a mindset change that will have to happen.

Ted: The task force member talya Schwartz knows it will be a process.

>> Figuring out where difficult intersections are and putting up flex posts making visibility easier.

Paint helps slows cars, narrowing lanes sometimes.

Ted: 15 people have died this year in traffic related accidents in Hudson County.

Reducing that number to zero could be a challenge in New Jersey's densest County, but the task force believes it is a goal they can achieve.

Ted Goldberg, "NJ Spotlight News ."

Briana: After more than two decades of promises, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail extension is hitting another hurdle.

This could add two more years onto the project.

The federal government pulled its notice of intent that gave the green light for New Jersey transit to begin work on an environmental impact study for construction.

The Rail agency wants to extend the line by nine miles into Bergen County, which was part of the original proposal.

But the federal government says it needs updated information.

The last application was submitted in 2018.

Joining me to discuss the latest roadblock is nj.com transportation and commuting reporter, Larry Higgs.

What is the FTA asking for now?

Larry: Basically seven items to be restudied in the environmental impact statement for Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

The reason they are is because the original route for Hudson-Bergen Light Rail was going to go to Tenafly.

That was true OK did back when officials objected and said we do not want it to come here.

Originally NJ transit filed and environmental impact statement in 2007.

They filed a supplemental draft in 2018.

They held hearings on it in 2017.

It sat dormant for a while.

What the FTA is saying, we need a do over in parts of the EIS.

NJ transit is saying it could add 24 months to the length of the project, a tentative estimate.

Briana: The other question, which lawmakers from Bergen County pointed out in their outrage over this, why did it take the federal government five years to review this study?

Larry: There are politics of course.

During the Trump Administration these reviews went on hold.

The biggest example was the gateway project.

The same thing happened here.

When there was a change of administration the FRA started catching up on projects and that is one of the reasons given for the delay, they had to play catch up ball.

Briana: The big running joke is, this line has never made it out of Hudson County, despite the fact it has been in the works since the early 1990's.

What are the next steps to get this line built, which a lot of folks want done?

Larry: finding what the FTA -- what the FTA wants, finding answers to those questions in the fastest, most effective way possible.

NJ transit is hoping for, and sponsors and officials, are hoping federal money could pay for at least half of this line, which was estimated to cost $2 billion in 2020.

Obviously, the longer you wait, the more other states and municipalities are able to get their applications in and of the pot of money dwindles.

Briana: Larry Higgs, thank you.

Today marks international overdose awareness day, a solemn reminder of the thousands of lives lost to the crisis, and a call to action for those fighting to end it.

The state Department of Health unveiled New Jersey's first new harm reduction center in five years.

A community based program that offers access to Naloxone, along with sterile syringes and resources to get treatment and care.

New Jersey has seven harm reduction centers, but local organizations have been stepping in to fill in the gaps, raising awareness about overdose and helping those whose struggles often go unseen.

Melissa reports from Paterson.

>> Naloxone works quick, nine times out of 10 it will not go wrong and you save somebody's life.

Melissa: That is why the program manager of black lives matter Paterson said it is important everybody knows how to administer Naloxone.

Often known as Narcan, it is known as the first step to saving lives.

She was showing people what to do inside this harm reduction center.

>> A lot of the community members are neighbors that live around here.

At first it was, I do not use this, I do not need it.

But this is our community.

We want to make it better.

Melissa: The Narcan training is one way harm reduction centers and other organizations are marching -- marking international overdose awareness day, to educate people on the effects of opioid overdose and how to prevent it.

>> We have done 50 plus years of the drug war that has ripped people from families, taken jobs, opportunities and money, and caused overdose deaths.

We have seen overdose deaths spike dramatically.

And fastest for Black, Hispanic and LatinX residents.

New Jersey has invested over $1.6 billion a year in that drug war.

We need equivalent money in harm reduction.

Melissa: They are adding a new harm reduction center run by the nurse Association of Central Jersey, the first facility of its kind to be approved in five years.

Right now there are seven operating in the state.

>> One thing really important to us is that this saves lives.

Anything we can do to save more lives is worth doing, and a tremendous priority.

Melissa: Sarah Adelman says the Naloxone 365 program which provides free anonymous access in pharmacies has been a big success.

Since its debut this year they have distributed more than 47,000 kits.

>> Overdoses continue to be a crisis in our country.

In New Jersey we wanted to get at some of the biggest barriers to continual overdoses.

That is getting the reversal drug into as many medicine cabinets as possible.

In the past New Jersey has done giveaway days but Naloxone 365 is a way to make that possible every day of the year in pharmacies across the state.

Without barriers like cost or anonymity or insurance, people can get Naloxone and have it on hand to help save a life.

Melissa: Starting next month Narcan will be available for over-the-counter purchase across the country, but New Jersey officials say they are committed to keeping it accessible to everyone.

I'm Melissa Rose Cooper.

Briana: U.S. health officials this week recommended easing restrictions on marijuana.

The drug is still illegal at the federal level, even as adults use recreational markets expand in New Jersey and across the country.

According to reports from Bloomberg news, a top leader at the Department of human health services sent a letter Tuesday to the DEA requesting marijuana be classified from a schedule 1 to a schedule 3 drug, which would be one of the most significant reforms to cannabis in modern history.

To discuss is Rob Mejia, an adjunct professor at Stockton University's cannabis department.

You are tuned into what is happening within the cannabis industry.

How big a deal with this be if marijuana gets rescheduled?

Rob: It would be historical.

To give quick context, in 1970, when Nixon was president, he put in the controlled substance act.

That created five categories of drugs.

At that point, cannabis was a level 1 substance which means it was highly addictive, no medical applicability, subject to a lot of abuse.

It was put in the same section with heroin, LSD, Peyote.

It is remarkable that happened.

We have been living with that system since 1970.

This would be the first time it moved from a schedule 1 to 3.

Schedule 3 is where kata been -- ketamine and anabolic steroids are.

Briana: These are drugs that can legally be obtained with a prescription.

Yet we have all these cannabis markets, New Jersey included, where folks can buy this legally if you are of age.

How has that affected the industry from expanding, when at the federal level it is still illegal?

Rob: The biggest winners if this goes through -- let me say first it is not a done deal.

The FDA, health and human services, in consultation with the National Institute of drug abuse have been conducting a medical and scientific review of cannabis.

They have come up with a recommendation to be placed on schedule 3.

Now it is up to the DEA to decide if it should go to schedule 3.

It is not a done deal, but if it does go through, the biggest winners are those who are current cannabis operators.

When it goes from schedule 1 to 3, that means the part of the tax code cannabis has been laboring and pummeled under called 280E, did not allow for normal deductions, and you could not run it as a normal business.

You had to pay exorbitant taxes.

Getting rid of 280E will open up profitability for cannabis operators and open up investment.

Now it will be more attractive to invest in a business with regular cash flow.

The fact 280E would go away is the biggest thing cannabis operators are dancing about.

Briana: This classification has hindered folks with getting lines of credit, doing regular banking, folks looking to break into the cannabis industry, will it make it easier for them?

Rob: It should because it is a signal that we could loosen regulations going forward, so when Congress is back in session, they can take up the safe banking act again and be hopefully more palatable for them to do that.

It does indicate banking may open up.

Briana: Robert Mej is ania adjunct professor at Stockton university's cannabis department.

Thank you.

In our spotlight on business report, New Jersey transit's locomotive engineers today unanimously voted to authorize a strike.

But it could be months before they walk off the job.

The Brotherhood of locomotive engineers and trainmen, which represents nearly 500 workers at the agency, took the vote after years of contract negotiations stalled.

The union is calling for higher wages and hope the strike authorization will be a bargaining chip as talks continue.

But federal law prevents them from striking while in active mediation with Jersey transit.

It could be up to nine months before a strike would start.

New Jersey transit is urging them to accept the contracts that 14 out of 15 unions have agreed to already and said service will remain uninterrupted over the holiday weekend.

It has been one problem over -- after another for wind developer Orsted.

They said this week they will take a hit worth $2.3 billion on U.S. projects including the one planned off New Jersey's coast.

They blamed a perfect storm of supply chain problems and higher borrowing costs for the setback, which could delay the premier wind solution until 2026.

Both Governor Murphy and President Biden view the sector as key to fighting climate change.

It is also part of Governor Murphy's ambitious goal of bringing 100% clean energy to Jersey by 2035.

Orsted stock shared -- shares tumbled 20%, but they will press forward with projects.

Recent public polling shows declining support for the industry.

Orsted is an underwriter of "NJ Spotlight News."

Turning to Wall Street, here is how the markets closed on this final day of August.

>> Support for the business report provided by Newark alliance, presenting The Future is Newark and Halseyfest Street Festival September 14 in downtown Newark.

Briana: That will do it for us tonight, but don't forget to download the "NJ Spotlight News" podcast so you can listen anytime, anywhere.

We want to let you know about a change coming to "NJ Spotlight News."

Beginning this Monday, September 4, this newscast will air weeknights starting at 6:30 p.m. on NJ PBS with the same encores at 7:30 and 11:00.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

From the "NJ Spotlight News" thank you for being with us.

See you tomorrow.

>> RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

And Orsted, committed to the creation of a new, long-term, sustainable clean energy future for New Jersey.

>> Orsted will provide renewable offshore wind energy, jobs, educational, supply chain and economic opportunities for the Garden State.

Orsted.

Committed to the creation of a new, long-term, sustainable clean energy future for New Jersey.

Online at US.Orsted.com.

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