Category: GENERAL/POLITICAL NEWS

Bill Re-Establishing Fire and EMS Crisis Hotline Heads to Governor’s Desk

TRENTON NJ–Senator Fred Madden’s legislation, S2898, that would establish a 24 hour crisis hotline for fire and EMS professionals and their families heads to the Governor’s desk after clearing its last major legislative hurdle in December when the Assembly passed the bill with a vote of 76-0. The bill previously passed the full Senate with a vote of 39-0 in January of 2019.

Our fire and emergency services personnel are currently underserved when it comes to coping with the stresses of their duties. Since the discontinuation of the hotline in 2009, there has been a void in the treatment of those professionals who need help most. Presently, fire and emergency service personnel may contact the similar Cop2Cop hotline; however, as the names suggests, this hotline has been tailored to serve the law enforcement community, and the operators of this hotline are not equipped to handle the specific stresses that firefighters and emergency services personnel face day to day.

The Hotline would operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and would service fire and EMS professionals and their families experiencing depression, anxiety, stress, or any other psychological or emotional disorder or condition. Specially trained operators would be available to help callers with the varying stresses that come from their duties. The conversations would be confidential. However, the Division of Fire Safety in consultation with Rutgers University would be permitted to establish guidelines for the monitoring of any fire or emergency services caller who exhibits signs of an extreme psychological or emotional condition that could result in harm to themselves or others.

The bill is now awaiting consideration by the Governor.

Republican Congressional Candidate Running Against Incumbent Norcross Bows Out of Race

CHERRY HILL – NJ CD-1 GOP candidate Josh Duvall released the following statement:

“When I launched my campaign against Donald Norcross for New Jersey’s First Congressional District last May, I knew it was an uphill battle with long odds. Nevertheless, I believed there was at least a small window of opportunity to be a legitimately competitive candidate in one of the toughest Democratic districts in the

country.”

“However, after much thought, prayer, and deliberation, I have decided to drop out of the race.”

“As the minority party in South Jersey, we must reach out to traditional Democrats and Independent voters who feel left behind by today’s radical far-left agenda driven Progressive Democrat party, not push them away. We must have a big tent party that is welcoming to people from all walks of life who have come to the realization that this upcoming election represents a choice between individual freedom or government run socialism. We must make the case for applying our timeless principles to the problems of our time, instead of attacking those who don’t pass an arbitrary Republican purity test. We must lead from the front, engaging our constituents with commonsense ideas and practical solutions that make sense to them, instead of agenda driven rhetoric that we’ve all come to abhor.”

“It has been made clear, this messaging strategy is not shared by the leadership of the GOP. Instead of engaging the 85% of non-republican voters in this district with common sense ideas, the party approach has been to attack and disparage anyone who doesn’t support every word and decision of President Trump. Instead of talking about issues and solutions, we’ve reduced our ‘outreach’ to name calling and posting Trump memes on social media.”

“There is no pathway for a candidate who puts people above party, and pragmatism above politics.”

“To all of my supporters, donors, friends, and family members; I want to sincerely thank you for your continued perseverance and steadfastness. Working on your behalf to reach out to voters and defend the values and ideals we cherish has been an honor. While this leg of the journey didn’t end the way I wanted it to, I’m confident that the best is yet to come for me, my family, and the good people of South Jersey.”

“While I’m ending my candidacy for Congress, I will never stop fighting for those enduring ideals that I believe offer the best opportunity of prosperity for all people; namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, in a free society.”

New Audit: Problems with Pennsylvania Voter System

HARRISBURG, PA–An audit of the state’s voter registration system uncovered “potentially bad data and sloppy record-keeping,” but stopped short of saying the results revealed any inappropriate voting.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale’s examination of the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) found what he said were more than 50,000 cases with potentially inaccurate voter records. While he called the estimate conservative, the review “did not validate the thousands of cases/situations identified.”

DePasquale, who is running for Congress, noted a lack of cooperation by PennDOT and four county election offices in compiling his audit. He also said the Department of State denied his office access to potentially relevant documents.

“It is past time to improve this system,” DePasquale said.

“Some county election officials are busy replacing voting equipment ahead of next year’s presidential election,” DePasquale said. “But keeping voter registration records up-to-date is an equally important task. And as we all know, the next year’s presidential election may be one of the most historic elections and one of the most closely watched elections in not only Pennsylvania but in U.S. history. The closeness of Pennsylvania in 2016 means that every single record is important.”

The state created SURE more than 15 years ago, and the system holds the records of more than 8.5 million registered voters. The audit covered Jan. 1, 2016, through April 16 of this year.

DePasquale’s office handed down 50 recommendations he says will strengthen the Department of State’s policies and management controls. The auditor wants the Department of State to work with counties to resolve records management issues, including duplicate voter records.

Of the 50,000 cases with potentially inaccurate voter records, in 24,408 cases, the same driver’s license number was listed in more than one voter record, while 13,913 were potential duplicate cases. Furthermore, 6,876 had a possible date of birth (DOB) inaccuracy, while 2,230 had potential DOB or registration date inaccuracies and 2,991 were records of potentially deceased voters.

As part of the audit, DePasquale selected 196 voters from the more than 8.5 million registered and requested source documents to verify the accuracy of data within SURE. The team was able to test 58 records and confirmed those were accurate.

However, the team was “unable to form any conclusions as to the accuracy of the entire population of voter records maintained in SURE since we could not test 138 or 70 percent of the records we sampled due to source documentation not being made available,” they said in the audit.

DePasquale said his audit did not suggest inaccuracies in votes cast during the 2016 presidential election or that deceased voters or people living illegally in the country had voted. The Department of State did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but

told WESA

the findings were “flawed and misleading.”

published here with permission of The Center Square

NJ Assemblyman Moriarty Takes Credit for New Minimum Wage of $11

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP NJ (January 3, 2020)–Thousands of people across the state started their new year with a dollar raise thanks to the rise in the minimum wage to $11. The increase is a result of the legislation signed into law last February to put NJ on the path to a $15 minimum wage by 2024 for most workers.

CNBNews graphics file

According to Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty, a prime sponsor of the legislation, “Putting New Jersey on the path to $15 was the right thing to do to help level the playing field for our hard-working residents.” The minimum wage will continue to increase by one dollar every January 1st until it reaches $15 in 2024.

Someone working 40 hours per week will now make $ 4,472 a year more at $11 an hour than they did a year ago at $8.85. “With almost $90 more each week, minimum wage workers today have a much better chance to thrive than they did a year ago.”

However, not all workers received the same raise. Due to concerns for some industries, the minimum wage for employees of small businesses, farms, and seasonal businesses rose from $8.85 to $10.30 an hour. All Seasonal and small business employees will reach $15 an hour by 2026, and farmworkers could reach $15 by 2027 with legislative approval.

“By raising the minimum wage in a controlled way, we will ensure our workers are treated fairly while our businesses continue to thrive.” Assemblyman Moriarty added, “This is just one way we are fighting for New Jersey Workers. Looking toward 2020, we plan to take on the misclassification of employees and bring transparency to forced arbitration in employment contracts.”

source

https://servingsouthjersey.com/

Video: Dan Crenshaw Explains Exactly Why Killing Qasem Soleimani Was A Great Move

WHO IS DAN CRENSHAW?

Daniel Reed Crenshaw

[1]

(born March 14, 1984)

[2]

is an American politician and former

United States Navy SEAL

officer serving in the

United States House of Representative

for

Texas\’s 2nd congressional

district

since 2019. A member of the

Republican Party

, he was elected in the

2018 midterms

While serving in the

Helmand Province

of Afghanistan in 2012, during his third deployment, he was injured by the detonation of an

improvised explosive device

; he lost his right eye and required surgery to save the vision in his left eye.

[16]

After the injury, he was deployed to his fourth and fifth tours of duty in

Bahrain

and

South Korea

.

[16]

As a Navy SEAL, he earned two

Bronze Star Medals

, the

Purple Heart

, and the

Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal

with

valor

. He medically retired from military service in 2016 as a

Lieutenant Commander

.

[16]

~CNBNews editor

republished here with

permission of The Daily Caller

Democrat Congressional Candidate Flora Says ICE Contract with Essex County Jail Has To Go!

(January 4, 2020)–US Democratic Primary Congressional Candidate John Flora (NJ-10) has a clear message for leadership in Essex County.

“We are a sanctuary state, not a detention state,” said Flora. This comment comes in response to the Essex County Freeholders’ recent decision to approve the creation of a civilian task force to oversee the Essex County Correctional Facility. “We need to stop housing ICE detainees in Newark. It has succeeded more in tearing families apart than in finding criminals or making our neighborhoods safer.”

Flora is well aware that Essex County has received over $2 million dollars from ICE for their facilities to hold ICE captives. ICE has the power to hold people without proper justification simply due to immigration status or allegations.

“This issue shouldn’t be decided by revenue,” said Flora. “Our country touts the idea of family values on one hand, and then destroys them with the other. As a new father and teacher of immigrant children, I find this practice abhorrent.”

The Jersey City teacher has experienced the result of broken families in his daily work. Flora believes this panel is a waste of time and resources. He directly challenges the County Executive Joey DiVincenzo’s recent comments: “Creating the Civilian Task Force is an example of what we can accomplish when people with different perspectives work together.” But Flora believes that “Families aren’t separated when different perspectives work together.” DiVincenzo’s statement that “My goal…is to operate a safe and professionally run jail” was also challenged. Flora had the following to say: “I can’t see anything ‘safe’ and ‘professional’ about keeping children from their parents?”

Local protestors have responded that creating a citizen board is really just a distraction. “The real issue at hand is whether or not we even want an ICE center in our district,” said Flora.

Flora is set to run in the Democratic Primary as a replacement for long time incumbent Donald Payne Jr in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District. Before being elected to Congress, while serving as an Essex County Freeholder, Donald Payne voted in favor of a new contract with ICE that constituted a massive expansion of immigration detention in Essex County and in NJ.  The new contract meant that 1250 immigrants would be held in the Essex County Jail and the neighboring privately run Delaney Hall as a favor for ICE.

“We need to protect families,” said Flora, “regardless of where they came from.”

U.S. Democratic Primary Congressional Candidate John Flora (NJ-10) Says Media Attacks are Unfair

January 3, 2020,

OPEN LETTER FROM US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE JOHN FLORA (NJ-10)

“Dear Reader:

The media has put a spin on my words and has framed me as an anti-Semite. That is simply not true. My name is John Flora. I am a teacher and resident of Jersey City.

I hear what goes on and I see what goes on. I also know about distractions to progress.

This allegation and gas-lighting from a radio “personality” has distracted everyone from my words. I was not speaking against the Jewish community. I was speaking for them. I was also speaking for the Black community. I was speaking for the entire community. Why is that being framed as anti-Semitic?

I am being accused of supporting actions against Jews by someone who obviously doesn’t even know my life path. I already released a statement on the massacre that occurred in my neighborhood, attended interfaith vigils, visited the shooting site, and was on the news discussing the tragic events as a concerned parent. But 101.5 radio personality Judi Franco must have missed all of that.

I never condoned hateful words at an inappropriate time. I also do not agree with the actions taken by the media to twist my press release and say I was holding a vigil for the accused. My message was that we still need to talk as a city, as a nation. The radio station responded by email stating “Our initial reporting mischaracterized what your news release said. We have corrected the body of the article”.

The discovery of this radio host’s op-ed of my alleged racism comes to a surprise to my friends and family who know me. My record of helping my environment and teaching children of all faiths and backgrounds is certainly not reflected in her opinion of me. I have done nothing but celebrate the diversity of Jersey City and will continue that work for NJ-10. I refuse to let a radio personality, especially one suspended from her job for referring to the Attorney General of New Jersey as “Turban Man”, to smear my reputation. She is simply lying to all of you about me.

To be very clear, there is a problem in Jersey City and elsewhere that is causing anti-Semitic feelings. I do not validate these feelings. I just know they still exist and need to be repaired. Everyone involved should be searching for more tolerance, not more division spurred by misleading headlines.

I am running as a progressive Democratic Primary Candidate in New Jersey’s 10

th

Congressional District. Our campaign is spreading a message of hope, tolerance, and love for all, and I will always demand that for my constituency. But I will not sit back and become someone taken down for sheer lies and mistruths.

In Solidarity,

John Flora

Former Jersey City Official Charged with Stealing JCETP Funds

NEWARK, N.J. – The former acting executive director of the Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP) has been charged with embezzling JCETP funds, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.

Sudhan M. Thomas, 44, (photo) of Jersey City, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with embezzling funds from an organization receiving federal funds. Thomas is expected to make his initial appearance on Jan. 9, 2020, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court.

According to the complaint:

Thomas served as JCETP’s acting executive director from January 2019 until his resignation in July 2019. JCETP is a nonprofit organization that operated to assist Jersey City residents to prepare for and enter the work force. JCETP received substantial amounts of its funding from federal grants from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Using his access to JCETP funds and control of JCETP’s bank accounts, from March 2019 through July 2019, Thomas embezzled more than $45,000 from JCETP. Thomas caused checks to be drawn from JCETP accounts that were made payable to others, but ultimately received by Thomas. He also embezzled JCETP funds by issuing JCETP checks made out to cash that Thomas either cashed himself or used to obtain bank checks that Thomas made payable to his entity, Next Glocal, which were deposited into a Next Glocal bank account that Thomas controlled. Thomas used the JCETP funds deposited to Next Glocal’s bank account to pay for his personal expenses, including payments to Thomas’s landlord in Jersey City and airfare and hotel expenses for a trip to Hawaii, and to fund transfers to Thomas’ family trust account.

The count of theft from an organization receiving federal funds carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), under the supervision of Special Agent in Charge Michael Mikulka; and special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Supervisory Special Agent Thomas Mahoney, with the investigation leading to today’s charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tazneen Shahabuddin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee M. Cortes Jr., Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit, in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

20-003

Defense counsel: Christopher D. Adams Esq., Roseland, New Jersey

ICE Lodges Detainer against Mexican illegal Alien arrested in SC for Sexual Abuse of a Child

CHARLESTON, S.C. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) lodged an immigration detainer Tuesday against an unlawfully present Mexican man arrested in North Charleston earlier this month

for sexual abuse of a child.

Carlos Bartolo-Rios was arrested December 19 by the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, of which ICE and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office are members, after executing a state criminal warrant at Bartolo-Rios’s North Charleston residence for first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Mr. Bartolo-Rios is currently being held by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office while awaiting trial for the state criminal charges he faces. ICE has lodged an immigration detainer against Mr. Bartolo-Rios and will seek to take him into immigration custody for removal proceedings at whatever point he may be released from criminal custody for the crimes he faces in South Carolina.

“This case is an excellent example of ICE’s ongoing focus to prioritize its immigration enforcement efforts toward unlawfully present foreign nationals who pose a clear threat to public safety,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Atlanta Acting Field Office Director John Tsoukaris. “Despite attempts by some to confuse the public, ICE does not conduct any type of random or indiscriminate enforcement and the agency’s targeted enforcement efforts make communities safer for all persons whatever their immigration status may be.”

In fiscal year 2019, more than 90 percent of all persons arrested by ICE within the Atlanta field office, which includes Georgia and the Carolinas, either had a criminal conviction, a pending criminal charge, or were already subject to a removal order issued by a federal immigration judge.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE tip line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s

online tip form

.

ICE is focused on the arrest and removal of public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.

GUEST OPINION: US assassination of Qassem Soleimani Adds Uncertainty to Unstable Region

Following the news (3 January 2020) that a US drone strike on Baghdad airport had killed General Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force;

Richard Thompson, Editorial Director at GlobalData, offers his view on the implications of this escalating conflict:

\”Suleimani’s killing increases fears of war in the region and of major disruption to regional oil supplies through military or cyber-attacks against oil facilities.

\”Unlike the short-term spike in oil prices that we saw after the attacks against Saudi oil facilities in 2019, this is likely to add a security-risk premium to oil prices for the foreseeable future.”

“Fears that Iranian reprisals will further destabilise the region and disrupt Middle East oil supplies saw oil prices jump about 4% following the news of Suleimani’s assassination.

“The assassination of Qassem Suleimani by the US is a major escalation in the conflict between the US and Iran in the Gulf and it adds considerable new uncertainty to an already unstable region.

“It is certain that Iran will strike back against US interests in the region and those of its allies. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has described the killing as a criminal act and has promised retaliation. The question now is what will that retaliation look like and what will be the further consequences of that.

source Global Data