BRIGANTINE, NJ –  Police in Bringantine were called to the home of Rachel and Robert Declementi on Saturday to find Rachel murdered.  Her husband has been arrested and charged for the crime.  A 36-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife on Saturday in Brigantine, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner announced.

Brigantine Police Department received a 911 call at 4:27 a.m., on Saturday Aug. 22, 2020, and responded to 17 Girard Place in Brigantine. Rachel Declementi, 30, was found deceased in the home with numerous injuries to her body. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, August 24, 2020.  Robert Declementi was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

HOWELL TOWNSHIP, NJ –  Howell police say two suspects are in custody as a result of an investigation into this weekend’s stabbing incident on Markwood Drive. The names of the suspects have not been released.  Monmouth County does not allow public access to inmate records, so the identities of the two suspects is unknown.

According to police, this was an isolated incident and there is no further threat to the community.

“Howell police are currently on scene of a stabbing. This occurred on Markwood Drive,” the department said Saturday. “The victim has been transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Police will be on scene for several hours. The suspect who was operating a silver vehicle fled the area. Residents may be contacted by officers for home surveillance footage.”

LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ – The Lanoka Harbor Volunteer Fire Department said the cause of a home fire that took the life of a pet is under investigation. The department confirmed there were no injuries in the blaze overnight at a home in the township.

Below is a release by the department:

At approximately 0124 hrs this morning we were dispatched to a residential structure fire in our 1st due response area that ultimately went to 3 alarms. Thankfully, there were no fire related injuries but there was the unfortunate loss of a pet. The source of the fire is currently under investigation by the Lacey Township PD, Ocean County Fire Marshall’s Office and the New Jersey State Fire Marshall’s Office.

We would like to thank Forked River Volunteer Fire Department, Bayville Volunteer Fire Dept, Waretown Volunteer Fire Company, Barnegat Volunteer Fire Company Station 11and Toms River Fire Company 2 (RIT) for their assistance in scene as well as Pine Beach Volunteer Fire Company No.1 and Stafford Volunteer Fire Department for providing coverage in town in the event of another emergency. I would also like to thank Ocean County Sheriff 911 Dispatchers, Lanoka Harbor EMS, Lacey Twp EMS, Stafford Township Emergency Medical Services (Rehab Unit) & Berkeley Twp EMS for ensuring the safety of the firefighters on scene.

MORRISTOWN, NJ – Former Governor Chris Christie will not be speaking at the Republican National Convention. This comes after Christie went to the mainstream media news networks and criticized the President’s demeanor, even saying “Trump can’t win” the 2020 election.

Christie had big ambitions after his term as governor of New Jersey was over.   He was the keynote speaker at the 2012 RNC convention but has since fallen from grace.   He lost a bid to be the RNC Chairman after Trump chose Ronna McDaniel instead.  Now, it turns out Christie will not be speaking at the RNC Convention, instead, he will be a paid commentator during the convention for ABC News.

The RNC earlier this year snubbed several other New Jersey Republicans.   Ocean County GOP Chairman Frank Holman was passed over as an RNC delegate. Instead, the wife of former Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore got the spot usually reserved for the Ocean County chairman.

The RNC recently condemned Jackson Township GOP President Todd Porter and Jackson GOP Chairwoman Clara Glory after the pair posted anti-Semitic messages on Facebook.

In fact, the only New Jersey Republican speaking at this year’s RNC convention will be Congressman Jeff Van Drew.

Photo by Phil Stilton/Getty Images.

LAKEHURST, NJ – Residents of Lakehurst are wondering what is happening over at the LaBove Grande, a shuttered banquet hall that sits on the Route 70 and Union Avenue circle.  For decades, the LaBove Grand was one of the more upscale banquets and catering halls in this part of Ocean County, but shut its doors for good in the spring of 2019.

At a recent township council meeting, resident Jean Rosetti asked the mayor and council what the plan is for the former LaBove Grande building. The site had construction crews doing some concrete and block work on the outside, topped with an engraving of a menorah near the front door.

Mayor Harry Robbins said the new owners were opening a senior daycare facility there.

“Ms. Rosetti questioned the menorah on the building adding will the daycare be opened for all people of all faiths,” according to the official meeting minutes on record by the township.

Mayor Robbins responded the daycare will be opened to everyone and added it is a privately owned building.  According to township records, the new owners of the property are identified as 800 ROUTE 70 LLC ETAL, operating out of a PO Box in Lakewood Township.

The engraving which appears to look like a menorah has been on the building for a very long time.  It’s not a new feature but now appears more prominent due to the construction of a block wall nearby.  Recently, the menorah was revitalized, but archival photos show the structure had been adorned on the wall for at least the past five years, maybe much longer.

TRENTON —   Governor Phil Murphy today signed legislation (S855), which requires the title of “chosen freeholder” to be changed to “county commissioner” and all “boards of chosen freeholders” to be known as “boards of county commissioners.” The bill also requires counties to update their letterheads, stationery, and other writings, as well as their websites, to bear the title of county commissioners in place of freeholders or chosen freeholders within one year of the bill’s effective date, January 1, 2021.

A source within the halls of the Ocean County administration building today said with the change in January, Freeholders are hoping to use the change in government to usher in a ward system that would have four ward freeholders and three at-large freeholds.  Those wards would consist of districts in southern ocean county,  a Toms River Regional district, a Brick Regional district and a Lakewood Regional district.  Each district would vote for their own “commissioner” seat in the November elections.  This is great news for Lakewood as the community will be able to finally elect their own representative to the board of “commissioners”.

Insiders say the change is being heralded by Freeholders who want to mitigate the influence of Toms River based freeholders which are the majority on the board.

If Lakewood is districted with Jackson and Plumsted, it could usher in a new era, possibly with an Orthodox Jewish representative finally having a seat on the board.

According to Murphy, the bill would not require counties to update or replace signs or other writings to reflect this title change within this timeframe if doing so would require the expenditure of county funds. In these cases, the title would be changed whenever the writing is next updated or replaced in the ordinary course of business.

“We have an obligation to ensure that governance in New Jersey is inclusive and representative of the tremendous diversity of our great state,” said Governor Murphy. “Amid a national reckoning to reexamine vestiges rooted in structural racism, this action will eliminate the use of the term ‘Freeholder’ in county government— a title that is an outgrowth of a time when people of color and women were excluded from public office.”

“Changing the title of ‘Freeholder’ is long overdue. People know the term is offensive and refers to a time when only white male landowners could hold public office,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. “As a former Freeholder, I was fully aware that this title was not inclusive of African American woman such as myself. History is constantly evolving, and our terminology needs to keep up with it to be more reflective of where we are as a society.”

“Proudly, New Jersey is no longer the only state with this title,” said Union County Freeholder Angela R. Garretson. “Although we may be the last state to end this vile categorization of county officeholders, we are the first to pass legislation and sign it into law, with overwhelming bipartisan support from State leaders with integrity and vision. I am also happy, so many county level officials joined the movement to update and embrace the universally understood and inclusive title of county commissioner.”

“As we work to bring justice and equality to all Americans we must recognize that symbolism matters,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney. “The public job title of ‘freeholder’ perpetuates a legacy of bigotry that disenfranchised groups of Americans and denied them full rights and equal opportunities. We should be diligent in erasing all remnants of oppression that are unjust and divisive.”

“The term freeholder is outdated and it’s offensive to women and minorities,” said Speaker Craig Coughlin. “The term dates back to a time before the Revolutionary War when only white male owners of debt-free land were allowed to hold public office. New Jersey is the only state in the country that still uses the term freeholder. It is long past time that we right this wrong and change the title to commissioner.”

“As a former freeholder, I believe it is important that the public knows the substance of what a freeholder does rather than what the term freeholder is,” said Senator Joe Pennacchio. “Today’s action was nine years in the making from when I initially proposed the abolishment of the antiquated term. The title ‘county commissioner’ will lend itself to transparency. This revamp will ensure more Garden State residents better understanding the function of this important position in county government.”

“Today’s decision to change the word freeholder to county commissioner is long awaited,” said Senator Vin Gopal. “In Monmouth County, where we have towns like Freehold Borough, Freeholder Township and Upper Freehold – not only will changing this tile avoid confusion and increase voter participation, it will tell women and our communities of color that the State of New Jersey does not associate itself in any way with these archaic values of the past. This is a proud day in our history.”

“It is beyond time we change the title of ‘Freeholder,’” said Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker. “As a term dating back to before the Revolutionary War, whose meaning was historically intended to keep county-level office restricted to white, male, debt-free property owners it is not only outdated and archaic, but it is offensive to people of color and women. Our racist and sexist laws and conditions historically kept people from voting, owning land, and much. Removing from New Jersey’s political titles this exclusionary term, while only a small and symbolic part of the work that lies ahead of us to break down the walls of systemic racism and sexism, is a step in the right direction.”

“This has always been about encouraging more residents to participate in their local government for me,” said Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce. “Most people don’t know what the term freeholder means.  This change will increase public awareness and update county government into the 21st century.”

“Removing vestiges of racism and sexism found in names or titles that have no place in our society today is an important step among many needed to bring an end to systemic bias,” said Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson. “‘Freeholder’ was never an effective title for the county public office holder. For persons of color, it was more of a reminder of the sordid and oppressive ideals of its colonial-era origins. It’s time to end the confusing and hurtful conversation surrounding the term ‘freeholder’ and rename the position.”

“New Jersey is the only state in America that still uses the outdated and offensive title ‘freeholder’ for its elected county officials,” said Assemblywoman Angela McKnight. “The title dates back to pre-Revolutionary War in an era when county-level office holders had to be debt-free property owners, which, at that time included only white men. It is long overdue that we change the title to ‘county commissioner’ and forever eliminate the archaic and hurtful term of ‘freeholder.’”

“This is not about the people who serve as Freeholders, but rather the title,” said Dr. Jonathan Holloway, President of Rutgers University. “The title Freeholder has a legacy that grows out of denying people access and the right to have a voice. Our present day should simply not look like that.”

TRENTON, NJ – So far in 2020, with COVID-19 as an excuse, states hosted mail-in ballot elections this spring.   In total 558,032 ballots were rejected by NPR this weekend.    In the 2016 general election, just 318,000 ballots were rejected.  This statistic is grim news for the integrity of the 2020 general election where a call for a total mail-in ballot is being sought by Democrats.  Democrat states lead the nation in the number of ballots rejected and voters disenfranchised.

California led the country in disenfranchised voters with 102,428.  The Golden State was followed by Washington State (95,000), New York (84,000), Pennsylvania (37,000), Maryland (35,000) and New Jersey (35,000) by NPR county, but New Jersey’s estimate has been as high as 40,000.

Data from NPR.ORG

TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichili on Friday announced that one of the reasons New Jersey’s positivity remains above the one percent threshhold, now at 1.42 percent is because of high positivity ratings in long term care facilities.

Are the daily figures released by Governor Phil Murphy being skewed by the higher rate of infection in those facilities?  It would be more honest for the New Jersey Department of Health to provide a more accurate assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic by splitting the numbers from long term care facility figures from the general population figures.

The state has been conducting tests in nursing homes, veterans’ homes, prisons and state-run care facilities.   Those facilities have a much higher positivity rating than the state total.   New Jersey’s homeless population has a positivity rate of 9%.   State run veterans homes have a positivity rate double the state total at 3%

“We have focused on vulnerable populations with long-term care as a priority. We have performed 587,000 tests of long-term care staff, returning a 1% positivity and 355,000 tests on residents with a 2% positivity. Approximately 23,000 tests have been performed in our developmentally disabled facilities and group homes, with a 2% positivity,” Persichili said. “Our psychiatric hospitals continue to test regularly and report over 6,000 total tests performed with an average 10% positivity in the patients. The veterans homes have a run a total of 21,000 tests, returning a 3% positivity.”

Persichilli said correctional facilities are in the third phase of testing their entire populations, including their vendors, and to date have run 154,000 tests. This past week they completed 4,168 individual tests, 32 returned positive.

New Jersey’s federally qualified health centers have performed over 90,000 tests of the uninsured and underinsured and homeless population, with a positivity rate of 9%. This includes nearly 5,000 seasonal workers. We are in the process of running a pilot at our homeless shelters. We have tested 324 individuals with point-of-care testing with no reported positive results.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ – The tourism industry in New Jersey continues to suffer under the COVID-19 lockdown, but more devasting is the indoor dining ban that is also impacting shore area restaurants and restaurants across New Jersey.  New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy cites a 9 month-old incident in Hunan Province, China as the underlying science of his continued closure of the restaurant industry.  That report, however, is not being taken seriously by any other governor in the United States.  In fact, 48 Governors across America claim different science than the science New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy touts.  This month, New York Governor Mario Cuomo reopened restaurants outside of New York City.

According to Open Tables, America’s largest restaurant table reservation service, only two states currently outlaw indoor dining, the liberal strongholds of New Jersey, New York and Calfornia. Open Table offers a comprehensive guide to state-by-state indoor dining regulations.

Statewide all but two allow indoor dining with restrictions.   Most of those restrictions include limited occupancy.   In some states that have experienced regional outbreaks, governors have scaled back indoor dining major cities, but left indoor dining open in the rural areas of their state.  That’s the case in Miami-Dade County, Florida where indoor dining is currently restricted, but allowed across the state of Florida.

Photo by Shirota Yuri on Unsplash

TRENTON, NJ – Governor Phil Murphy, each morning reads off a list of COVID-19 memorials, those who died of the deadly disease that claimed so many lives between March and May of this year.  There’s just one problem, his daily memorial service is misleading to the people of New Jersey who suspect those individuals are new deaths.  Most of the time, his roll call is of people who passed back in April and May.  He needs to start adding a disclaimer just like the one he gives on his daily death count where the majority of deaths are “new found” deaths from several months ago that are now being reported.

He needs to let the people of New Jersey know the date of death in those memorials, because not only is he creating a disservice for New Jersey residents, he’s creating a disservice to the families of those who died, and many who he killed when he forced long term care facilities to take sick and infected patients.

On Friday, the three names he read, all died back in April, as has been the case for the past few weeks.  The governor owes it to New Jersey to be completely honest in his daily briefings.

There are times in the career of an elected official when you are given an opportunity to show the people of your community exactly where you stand.  There are some great sheriffs in America who are defying the liberal left’s assaults on freedoms and standing up against the left’s local, state and federal overreach.  We all know their names, Joe Arpaio, David Clarke and Bob Songer.

Who is Bob Songer you ask? Sheriff Bob Songer, a sheriff in Washington state defied his governor and attorney general’s assault on the second amendment last spring.  When asked how a sheriff could defy the legal orders of the governor and attorney general’s office, this is what he said.

“Unfortunately for the governor and the attorney general, they’re not my boss. My only boss is the people that elected me to office,” Songer said.

Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy had the opportunity to show the residents of Ocean County who he worked for this week, instead, he chose to facilitate the shut down of the Lakeside Diner in Lacey Township this week, accompanied by local police officers and a locksmith.

It was a moment where Mastronardy could have shown that he was behind the people and elected to fight real crime, not crimes made up by a socialist, leftist governor who is on an out of control political power trip, driven by questionable science and a virus that has been flatlined since early May of this year.

The Lakeside Diner has been committing the heinous crime of serving breakfast, lunch and dinner since June.  That criminal act has put the diner squarely in the crosshairs of Governor Phil Murphy and his attorney general, Gurbir Grewal.  They are hell-bent on inflicting financial damages to anyone who dares defy Murphy’s Law, which is the most strict and toughest COVID-19 policy in all of America.   New Jersey is just one of two states that have outlawed the act of serving diners food inside a restaurant.  The other is California.  Even our neighbors, Delaware and Pennsylvania allow it, but Murphy insists his science is better than theirs, so it remains illegal.   New Jersey residents now eat their food in parking lots and side allows.   A few outlaw establishments exist where the curtains are drawn, the lights are dimmed, avoiding detection from the Murphy brown shirts seeking out and charging those who defy his orders.

No crime has been committed by Lakeside and in their three months of operation, nobody has contracted COVID-19.  How do we know this? Because if there was any indication that any of their customers contracted the virus, through Murphy’s army of contact tracers, you bet your ass we’d all know about it.

As for Mastronardy, he’s an elected Republican party official who didn’t have the courage to stand up to the Murphy administration.  Too much is on the line politically for anyone in any higher office in the state to defy the Governor.  It’s one more sign of the weakness of the party statewide to effectively fight one man who is destroying democracy, eroding freedom and decimating the economy of New Jersey.   Ocean County has long been the Republican Alamo of the Garden State.  It’s freedom’s last stand in the California of the east, but this week General Santa Ana’s army claimed a major victory and breached the walls.

This week, Mastronardy could have propelled himself into the likes of those sheriffs we see each week, fighting against the tyranny of the left.  Instead, he’s now left with a black eye that hopefully clears before the next election.

TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is losing his patience with the residents of New Jersey, most of them, who do not want to talk to his growing army of COVID-19 contact tracers.  On Friday, Murphy once again lectured his residents about the importance of giving his virus investigators information on where they have been and who they were with.

Murphy said his virus investigation corps is not trying to gather intelligence about illegal COVID-19 activities, like running a business, breathing fresh air or interacting with people, but just an information-gathering government organization looking to stop the spread of the deadly virus which is still killing a few people each day in New Jersey.  That’s the narrative Murphy needs to continue his tyrannical rule across the state.  Without that narrative, his draconian response to the virus is just political fanfare that nobody will buy.

“More than half of the people our contact tracers are getting in touch with are refusing to cooperate,” the governor said. “This is highly disturbing, to say the very least. Again, I reiterate, our contact tracers only care about protecting public health.”

With nobody answering the call, Murphy is continuing to grow his army of COVID-19 contact tracers.

“We continue to build our community contact tracing corps. This week we added another 83 contact tracers to our team and the number of tracers statewide is currently 1,612,” he said. “We’re also reporting increases in the percentage of cases being followed up within the first 24 hours, and that’s also good news.”

The state has released no detailed information about the findings of those tracers.  Where is the virus most likely found?  What kind of establishments are seeing the fastest growing rate of infection, etc. The only information the state shares is the number of growing investigators.

Murphy, who is now trying to shut down businesses, imprison business owners, revoke business licenses and overseeing the demise of thousands of small businesses during his extended business lockdown said his contact tracers are your friends.  He also referred to COVID-19 executive orders as “illegal behavior”, but they are here to help you.

“They care about protecting you and your family and your friends. This is not about a witch hunt,” Murphy said. “We do not condone illegal behavior, especially we do not condone underage drinking, but this is not what this is about. Please, folks, take the damn call. Work with them. Consider it another piece of personal responsibility that we must take to defeat this virus.”

As we has been the case in the past, we can only assume that at some point, Murphy will eventually try to criminalizing contact tracer non-compliance, just as he has criminalized operating a business, eating dinner, working out and other activities associated with being free Americans since the day the country was founded.

TOMS RIVER, NJ – A report today by WalletHub says New Jersey is trailing most of America when it comes to bouncing back from the economic disaster caused by COVID-19 this spring.  That is mostly in part to the extended small business shut down by Governor Phil Murphy, who unlike the other 49 states, has kept many small businesses, restaurants, gyms and movie theaters closed indefinitely.  With no end in sight, employers are running tighter and leaner today than they have in the past.

New Jersey has the 5th highest unemployment rate in America.

With the U.S. gaining 1.8 million jobs in July and the national unemployment rate at 10.2% compared to the nearly historic high of 14.7% at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, WalletHub today released updated rankings for the States Whose July Unemployment Rates Are Bouncing Back Most.

In order to identify the states with the best recovery in unemployment, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on four key metrics.

Idaho, Kentucky, Utah, Nebraska and Montana are bouncing back the fastest as reopening America continues.  Massachusetts, New York, Hawaii, Nevada, Florida and New Jersey are at the bottom of the barrel.

“We looked at the change in each state’s unemployment during the latest month for which we have data (July 2020) compared to July 2019 and January 2020. We also compared not seasonally adjusted continued claims in July 2020 to July 2019,” WalletHub said. “Finally, we considered each state’s overall unemployment rate. Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a WalletHub Q&A.:

Unemployment Recovery in New Jersey (1=Most Recovered, 25=Avg.):

• 267.69% Change in Unemployment (July 2020 vs July 2019)
  • 647,417 unemployed people in July 2020 vs 176,079 in July 2019;
  • 4th worst recovery in the U.S.
• 223.17% Change in Unemployment (July 2020 vs January 2020)
  • 647,417 unemployed people in July 2020 vs 200,336 in January 2020;
  • 6th worst recovery in the U.S.
• 397.96% Change in Not Seasonally Adjusted Continued Claims (July 2020 vs July 2019)
  • 485,809 continued claims in July 2020 vs 97,560 in July 2019
  • The best recovery in the U.S.
• 14.0% Unemployment Rate (July 2020)

5th highest unemployment rate in the U.S