NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi

NJ Spotlight News March 13, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News the police-community tension in Paterson is escalating.  Advocates and friends of Najee Seabrooks are continuing their calls for reform, late today one of the state’s leading social justice organizations officially requested the federal Justice Department to intervene and investigate the shooting death of Najee Seabrooks; Residents struggling to pay their utility bills have just TWO days left to apply for help. That’s when the state’s annual Winter Termination Program ends;  In our business report tonight the collapse of the California-based Silicon Valley Bank reverberated throughout New Jersey, hundreds of companies are affected: And Jersey is giving March Madness fans another reason not to count out an underdog. Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Men’s Basketball team is heading to the big dance.

NJ Spotlight News March 10, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News BREAKING NEWS, in a massive show of support, Rutgers University faculty have voted to strike – with 94% in favor. Now the vote doesn’t mean they’ll walk off the job today but union leadership now has the power to call a strike at any point;  Domestic abuse often takes the form of control and manipulation that may never leave a physical mark, it doesn’t always mean a black eye or a broken arm as legislators in Trenton learned as they work to redefine what domestic abuse is in a package of 11 new bills; March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and colon cancer cases are on the rise among young adults under the age of 55 and frustrating healthcare providers, who’ve long warned that colon cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancers; And the debate continues on what is causing all these dead whales to wash up on our shores, freelance writer Andrew Lewis looks at whether it could be sonar related.

NJ Spotlight News March 9, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News the rise in teen bullying recorded and posted online, but there is a clear divide over how to address it. Should there be legal consequences or will that incite more; Atlantic City Casinos are still fighting back against a proposed smoking ban, but at hearings today in Trenton casino workers are saying they’re being forced to choose between their health and a paycheck; Camden residents were promised they’d be hired for new jobs when the state awarded more than a billion and a half dollars in tax breaks roughly a decade ago for companies to move to the city, but WNYC’s Senior Reporter Nancy Solomon tells us new data reveals most companies have only hired a few; AND in Newark tonight the unveiling of a new Harriet Tubman monument where Christopher Columbus once stood and a local artist addressing an environmental crisis…through art.
 

NJ Spotlight News March 8, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News as the U.S Attorney General releases a report finding repeated civil rights violations by the Louisville Police Department in the aftermath of the Breonna Taylor shooting death, outrage about police involved fatalities is spilling over in Paterson in what activists are calling another senseless shooting of a 31 year-old man who was dedicated to preventing these deadly incidents; After the train derailment in Ohio last month, there’s a new sense of urgency in the fight against a proposed South Jersey Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal, students and community leaders staged a rally in Camden, pressuring the city council to oppose the project slated for Gibbstown; And on this International Women’s Day we are celebrating our budding entrepreneurs and the way they’re changing the world. Meet 19-year-old Kamily Flores, the daughter of immigrants, a first-generation college student and now one of the state’s youngest business owners.

NJSpotlight News March 7, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News almost 40 years after EPA workers started cleaning up the Diamond Alkali Superfund site in Newark, the work is far from over, 17 miles of contaminated riverbed exist and the EPA is pressing for a plan for the remaining 9 miles to be cleaned up; New Jersey’s farmers lost out on millions in federal aid during the pandemic, but especially frustrated are the state’s black farmers, Senator Cory Booker is trying to change that; The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a temporary measure to help the poor with food costs during the COVID-19 pandemic ended last month, Governor Murphy signed a measure to help offset the losses, but is it enough for some families; And Anchor Briana Vannozzi goes one-on-one with former Congressman Tom Malinowski about his latest effort to fight off the culture wars in our public schools.
 
 

NJ Spotlight News March 6, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News calls for police department reform and the Mayor’s resignation after a police shooting of a prominent violence intervention activist in Paterson; A county wide EMS effort in Bergen to help towns cope with a dwindling EMT volunteer crisis; It has been three years since the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed here in NJ, what will happen come May when the programs put in place by the federal public health emergency expire; And Rider University’s radio station is named the best college station in the country, tune in to hear what makes them so good.

NJ Spotlight News March 3, 2023

Tonight on NJ Spotlight News: Cleaner water for New Jersey communities as the DEP and EPA announce the launch of the NJ-TAP program; Hudson County gets its first recreational cannabis dispensary but other potential owners are struggling to open up their stores in the county; Jonathan Salant, the long-time DC correspondent for NJ Advance Media who was laid off, talks about the shrinking media landscape and lack of coverage for New Jerseyans; Alex Potter, the widow of Pete Reed, discusses his legacy and life's work with Briana Vannozzi; and, one New Jersey congressman has a bipartisan plan to boost research and development into the treatment of rare diseases.

NJ Spotlight News March 2, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News a desperate plea from educators and mental health experts at the Senate Education Committee hearing today begging for more resources to help combat the rise in teen suicide; And speaking of schools, fresh off his budget address, Governor Murphy is on the road laying out which schools get increased funding and who gets theirs cut;  An appeals court in New Brunswick heard oral argument on a lawsuit filed by the state's leading climate advocates against the Murphy Administration for its failure to implement critical amendments to the Global Warming Response Act; Plus, a big Jersey welcome to our newest residents….Siblings! A pair of eaglets that hatched this week in a nest at Duke Farms in Hillsborough.

NJ Spotlight News March 1, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News Anchor Briana Vannozzi goes one on one with Governor Phil Murphy who defends his 2024 budget; A fifth grader was stabbed just blocks from school in Perth Amboy but Raven Santana reports this is not an isolated incident, bullying and student violence is causing fear and protests from students and teachers;  And war on the waterfront, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today about the decades long NY/NJ waterfront commission dispute, NJ is trying to pull out of the compact; And why are so many dead whales washing up on the Jersey shore, critics say it is the off shore wind development, but is it?

NJ Spotlight News February 28, 2023

Tonight, on NJ Spotlight News we break down the Governor’s 2024 budget, what’s in it and how it will impact you; The Supreme Court hears arguments about the Biden Student Loan forgiveness plan, a program more than 1.1 million New Jerseyans have already applied to; And will they or won’t they? 8000 members of Rutgers Faculty will begin voting on whether to strike or not after working 8 months without a contract.