This week, we are going to start with something not typical for our reporting.
Andrea Samson, is a Jersey native, EMT, and student who is waiting on a lifeline. In our interview, we cover the emotional reality of running a public donor campaign, systemic barriers, and what it feels like when your soul is tired. We also look at the direct, practical steps you can take to see if you could be a match, or how a single altruistic donor can trigger a paired exchange chain to save dozens of lives.
Moving on to our usual fare- in Trenton with a look at bills moving through along the budget process that’s been criticized for transparency concerns that are not new to NJ Legislators. We also looked at important health data and walked through how residents and communities could use it to inform local decision making with some interesting examples that highlight differences among Counties.
We move onto our continuing coverage of a near-revolt in Berkeley Heights over an attempted take-over of the Recreation Department by a Township Government that’s been wracked with controversy over the past three years.
Saturday we published the full context of an agenda packed with significant items many residents felt was intended to throw a host of controversial items (PILOTS, JCP&L presentation, Recreation Ordinance) in a meeting landing in the middle of a summer-holiday week.
The Recreation Ordinance prompted a public response from former Councilwoman Jeanne Kingsley that informed residents of critical details they could keep in mind in attending the meeting and a Community Voices article from Joe Iadanza raising concerns about administrative bloat.
Laura then blew it wide open with a look at the paper-trail that showed how a missing bill list from the prior meeting would have exposed the Township’s plan as early as January and the political connections between the firm that was hired and County Political machines.
The Township finally responded with an anonymous public statement that was quickly fact-checked by….who else? Joe Iadanza followed up with another Community Voices article raising concerns on how a body long accused of politicization would do the same to Recreation.
Shauna had the unenviable task of covering the 5+ hour meeting that involved 5 billion speakers, all of whom opposed the Recreation Ordinance and most of whom had concerns about or were opposed to the AI Ordinance.
John, never letting well enough alone, published an Open Letter – this time to the Recreation Commission pointing out that while the Township’s approach was both hypocritical and ineffective, the general idea of a publicly available Audit is a good practice.
Onto the Socials
NJ Layoff Notices Continue to Outpace the last Three Years
Rec Takeover Didn’t Happen in Scotch Plains Either
Top Five Articles in June
OPINION: The School Ethics Complaint That Exposed More Than It Intended To
With Little Warning, Berkeley Heights Council Moves to Dissolve Volunteer Recreation Commission
Op-Ed: Reserved Seats, Diplomas and the Problem With Special Privileges
The Paper Trail Behind Ordinance 2026-15: Paid Evaluations, Political Ties, and Omitted Minutes
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