>> Tonight on NJ Spotlight news, stepping down.

A valid checkup in District 27 as Brendan Gill withdraws from the race.

His wife is back in.

>> Let's dispel the notion of bathroom politics.

It's not the case here.

>> Plus, a presidential mugshot.

Donald Trump is the first U.S. president to take a mugshot and he is cashing in on it.

And a cannabis in doom loop.

Critics slam the New Jersey cannabis market rollout.

And shrinking the nursing shortage.

William Paterson University launches a school of nursing.

>> We are excited about where the school of nursing can take us to leverage what we can build to contribute to the state.

>> funding for NJ Spotlight News provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association making public schools great for every child.

RWJ Barnabas health.

Let's be healthy together.

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

>> From NJPBS, NJ Spotlight news with Rihanna Badosa.

>> I'm Joanna.

Voters in District 27 scratching their heads at the ballot swapout the past few weeks.

First longtime senator and former Governor date Cody announced he would step down after defeating Senator Mia Gill in a primary face-off.

Then the winner of the primary in June announced she was stepping away and would be replaced by her husband and six County Commissioner Brendan Gill .

Only two announced last night she is back in and he is out.

I am joined now by the chair of the Democratic state committee to help us understand this back and forth ballot shuffle.

Chairman Jones, great to have you with us.

What first looked like backroom politics overriding the will of the people.

Now, I have to ask, it feels like a power grab between a husband and wife.

But in the world is going on in district 27?

>> That's dispel the notion of backroom politics.

That is not the case here.

This was a very transparent and open process.

It is a process that was governed by statute and was followed by the letter of the law to the statute.

>> I will push back on that.

Voters in District 27 voted in the primary for Senator Cody.

After he won that primary ousting Mia Gill he stepped away.

He all but hands the nomination over to John McCann.

>> That is not quite accurate.

So, what drove Senator Cody to take himself out of the election cycle is between Senator Cody and his family.

The reality of it was just sad.

>> But the timing of that, Chairman, to happen after the primary.

What this and attempt to oust Mia Gill?

Including the redistricting of the map that pitted them against each other and now he has stepped down right after the primary.

It seems like John McCann will likely have that seat.

>> Redistricting was settled last year.

The election in the primary between Senator Cody and Senator Gail took place in June of this year.

Senator Cody won that election.

We fast-forward to August.

Senator Cody decided, and it's a question for Senator Cody, to take himself out of the election process.

That created a vacancy.

The vacancy led the county committee in the 27th legislative district comprised of essex County to convene the members of the county committee as prescribed by statute.

That was done.

Senator McKeon was nominated and it was unanimous.

And that concluded the process.

>> That's not what voters went to the polls voting for.

Let's talk about the guilt situation.

-- the Gill situation.

Brendan Gill stepping in after his wife won the primary saying he will run for the sea.

A few days later she says I am back in.

I cannot see a reason why I would step down.

What is happening with the Gills ?

>> That is a question between Mr. and Ms. Gill.

It's a very transparent process.

Today we have a slate ready to go in the general election 2023.

>> There is a lot of criticism that it is the county leaders that end up deciding how much of what -- so much of what happens in the political sphere from the party line down here in New Jersey.

Democrats have consistently said they are for increasing voters rights.

Does this process that just played out a reflection of those efforts?

Is this how elections should go in New Jersey?

Once I have stated numerous times this statute is how we are governed by.

If you are there you would have seen the transparency, how democracy works and how the vacancies are filled.

>> Leroy Jones here of the demo -- chair of the democratic state committee in New Jersey, thank you.

>> Thank you for having me.

>> This picture depicts the political moment of our lifetime, Former President Donald Trump's mug shot taken last night when he was placed under arrest in Fulton County jail in Georgia.

It is the first time a U.S. president has ever had a mugshot taken.

Donald Trump is already using it to rates significant money for his campaign.

The photo is splashed all over T-shirts, mugs, and other items sold on his website.

It is a stark depiction of the legal battle that is about to nominate -- dominate America's awareness as the 2024 presidential election kicks into gear.

Last night Former President Trump was given an inmate number and agreed to a $200,000 bond.

He only had to pay 10% of that.

The Superior Court judge Scott McAfee ruled this week the case will begin October 23 of the a seer -- of this year for the first codefendant.

Trumps legal team asked his case be severed from the others.

Sentinel --fentanyl linked to overdose deaths.

A vital amount can be the size of a pencil tip.

Tackling the crisis led to out-of-the-box thinking.

One idea is providing test kits so drug users can see if the drugs are contaminated by Fentanyl.

Test strips are illegal in some states but Cory Booker and Josh Gottheimer are supporting legislation to get the kits into the hands of the people most at risk of overdose.

>> More than 409,000 Americans died last year from the opioid at the damage.

Folks are not surrendering to the darkness but saying, we can show a different way.

>> COVID is no longer dominating the news cycle but there is a new strain dominating the new cases reported this summer called e.g.

five.

The strain is more transmissible than the last variant of Omicron.

A health-care writer is here to lay out the latest in the Covid evolution.

Great to talk with you.

It has been a while since we checked in on the Covid numbers.

Tell us what is going on in the world.

>> There is no need to panic, but the numbers are definitely going up.

We have heard about it for a while, 20% increases in hospitalizations last week.

In New Jersey, over the last six weeks, hospitalizations essentially doubled.

But that from a really low point.

The lowest point ever.

So, it's important to keep in context is that when you talk about these numbers going up we are tall -- still talking in the hundreds.

100, 300 people may be hospitalized now with Covid, a very small number.

Even as infection numbers are going up more, people point out it is not a real number because we are not capturing the home tests.

The truth is, people are not going to the hospital as much as they used to be.

Joanna: your reporting delves into older senior citizens in group homes and senior homes that are the most vulnerable.

What is the risk now as we see hospitalizations increase?

Lilo: the risks continue and that's where most people are focused with concern.

Everybody is encouraging that group to be the first to get vaccinated.

We have a new vaccine coming out in mid to late September.

Pharmacists expect older people to come first.

That more vulnerable group.

Nursing homes are definitely still having outbreaks.

There were nearly 1000 people, staff, and residents that had tested positive in the last week.

That would have been at least one week old, the data.

So it is hard to tell.

But it is still circulating, for sure.

Joanna: Are we at the point with the outbreaks is that it compares to other viruses and outbreaks we might see in a nursing home?

Lilo: Yes.

Sorry to go back to the vaccines, but this year you are likely to see and hear about three options for vaccines you can get in the fall, or should get in the fall.

The Covid vaccine, of course.

Which, they have the new one coming out as well as the flu vaccine, that a lot of people get every year, especially in nursing homes and if you are in a higher risk group.

Then there is RSV, available also for higher risk groups and there are infant options as well.

Doctors want us to use these tools.

Joanna: Obviously we are just reporting on this.

You are not in position necessarily to projects, but does it look from your reporting like there will be high demand for the vaccine among average citizens, younger people?

Lilo: Not based on what I am hearing.

I think there is a tremendous amount of confusion over who can get it still.

Do you have to have been boosted last year to get this?

Do you need the original series?

My understanding is everybody can get the new vaccine and it does not matter what your past history is.

Please, talk to your doctor.

Pharmacists told me they will expect a certain number of people are the beginning, but nothing like the past.

Joanna: Lilo stand in health care writer, thank you so much.

Back-to-school can be exciting for students and parents.

In Pattison was a little more than a week to go the feeling is anything but helpful.

Late last month a ceiling collapse at public school three caused the district to close the school forcing kids into new unfamiliar schools, in some cases far from home.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan at funding challenges that led to crumbling schools and overcrowded classrooms in Patterson.

>> Less than two weeks from the opening of school and it is a disaster.

Brenda: Cory Teague says parents are panicking after PS3.

Raising safety issues for incoming staff and 300 plus students at the K-8 school.

Teague a former school board member says it's from PS3 will now split up attending three different schools in the district.

>> Three overly crowded schools.

We already have overly crowded schools.

Like 50 kids, 40 kids in the classroom.

Where will they put them?

>> By the time we narrowed it down, we were comfortable with the schools we chose area -- chose.

We were looking to see which schools could accommodate the great spans.

Superintendent Lori Nold took the job in July and said it some kids will gather at PS3 to be bust across to town to Martin Luther King Elementary and others will attend local schools within walking distance.

Workmen today delivered boxes to pack supplies at PS3 where supplies will take 4-5 months and it cost more than $2 million.

>> When the ceiling tile fell in the asbestos issue is what obviously rose to a great level of concern.

We are also very concerned about the structural integrity of the building overall.

Brenda: PS3 is one of 17 Patterson public schools build more than one century ago.

The district has been trying to demolish the building since 1960 when a Columbia University report warned about asbestos.

>> It is sad.

I should not see my school fall apart.

Brenda: Linda Rodriguez remains -- remembers attending PS3 and she complained at our recent public meeting.

>> You guys should do better to provide a better school for students.

It is 124 years old.

>> We were slated to fix two classrooms this summer and also put in a bathroom in the school.

We did not expect on the first floor that the ceilings would fall.

Neglect is not the cause.

It is just age and the systems reaching their useful life.

Brenda: they have spent nearly .5 million dollars making repairs at PS3 over the past three years.

The district keeps pouring money into patching up old schools with funding from the New Jersey schools develop at authority.

Patterson built two new ones in 2016 and is listed for a new high school.

Nine other substandard schools including PS3 linger on Patterson's report placement list.

>> If we valued Patterson's children and children in the other poorest communities in New Jersey, they would have been funded.

We would have given them adequate facilities a long time ago.

Brenda: the district wants more state funding to keep up and build new schools.

To bring PS3 up to modern educational standards requires expansion more than double the current Strayer -- Square footage.

>> We have to sit down and make hard decisions about school three.

Brenda: the public will gather for another hearing on the issue August 29 at PS2.

In Patterson I am Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News.

Joanna: Legalizing cannabis was supposed to boost state revenue while also righting the wrongs of the war on drugs.

More than one year into its launch advocates called the roll out a doom loop blaming licensing delays and mismanagement by the cannabis regulatory commission.

Ted Goldberg spoke to the group behind to report about why they are worried for New Jersey's marijuana industry.

Ted: This is medication that can be given with no harm, no overdosing, no death.

I think it was a natural fit to go to a better medication.

Ted: Better medication persuaded him to stop working in pharmacies and opened Newark's first dispensary selling recreational cannabis.

It took 3.5 years to go from an application to getting a license to sell medical.

Then another four months until he could sell recreationally.

>> You can open a pharmacy in 3-6 months.

Cannabis business takes 3-4 years.

The hurdles, the obstacles, I think it is overly regulated.

But, I understand that this is a brand-new market and everybody wants to make sure we do it the right way and I support that.

I think it's too hard.

Ted: Irving has been selling recreational cannabis for a week now.

It cost 100,000 dollars to add recreational.

>> It's all my life savings, loans, lines of credit, and properties.

It's a lot of money.

We try to stay self-funded to keep the decision-making in house.

>> Entrepreneurs spend between $1 million-$3 million for dispensaries and up to $40 million for cultivation.

Many times by the time the facilities are finished the entrepreneurs are at the end of their financial rope.

Ted: Todd Johnson leads the New Jersey cannabis trade Association or CTA and says it is too difficult for New Jersey dispensary owners to get in the game especially compared to other states that are also legalizing cannabis sales.

Todd: New Jersey was expected to be stronger than Missouri and Maryland and have a $1 billion plus market right out of the gate whereas in our first full year of legal adult used cannabis sales, I don't even think we topped $800 million.

Ted: The CTA released a report this week chastising New Jersey for creating what it calls a doom loop, blaming the bureaucracy at the cannabis regulatory commission for disappointing cannabis sales.

This year New Jersey is projected to earn $38 million in cannabis taxes.

That is slightly less than Montana with a populated -- population of around one million people and much less than Oregon which has less than 50% of New Jersey's population.

According to the CTA New Jersey earned a $20 million in tax revenue during the first nine months of recreational sales.

>> We need to remove obstacles in the beginning to get to the real ones like municipality support and raising capital.

Ted: Part of the equation is New Jersey's tax rate on cannabis.

Surprisingly, it's much lower than what Montana and Oregon are charging.

Others in the cannabis industry agree it's a process to open a dispensary in the garden state.

They do not put all the blame on the CRC.

>> I cannot access traditional banking per se.

How do I raise money for my cultivation facility and retail operation?

>> The founder of the law firm blaze responsibly strongly disagrees with the CTA report and says the larger issue is municipalities making approval overly complicated.

>> Investors follow the news and the trends.

They have seen headlines.

When headlines say it is a doom loop, money is not going to come into our state.

>> They issued a bunch of approvals for applicants last year.

Then a few months ago, they decided to change the rules, change their process.

Ted: As of today New Jersey has 39 recreational dispensaries.

The CRC has its next meeting two weeks from today.

We could see more dispensaries across the state soon.

In Newark I am Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight News.

Joanna: In our spotlight on business tonight a new charge against medieval times this week claims the dinner and tournament company violated workers rights in its efforts to stop them from unionizing.

The charges brought by the National Labor Relations Board cite examples of medieval times withholding raises for employees that had unionized illegally firing a union supporter, and shutting down the TikTok account of the union group medieval times performers United.

The land hurst location unionized last year, the first of the nine castles to do so, demanding higher wages and better safety at a job they say can be extremely dangerous.

Workers at the California location have been on strike since February.

Here is a look at how the markets rebounded to end the week.

>> Support for the business report provided by the Chamber of Commerce southern New Jersey, working for economic prosperity by uniting business and community leaders for 100 and 50 years.

Membership and event information online at chambersnj.com.

Joanna: New Jersey's nursing shortage lead to understaffing in hospitals, even contributing to an ongoing nurse's strike.

Nurse numbers have been on the deadline for years, made worse by COVID.

One school is tackling the issue head on creating the William Paterson University school of nursing.

Joshua Powers, Provost and a Vice President of academic affairs joined me to talk about it.

Josh, great to have you on this show.

You were the driving force behind the creation of the William Paterson school of nursing.

We know there is a nursing shortage in New Jersey and in the nation.

How much did that shortage factor in to the creation of the program?

Joshua: thinking -- thank you for having me to talk about this.

That nursing shortage was one of the primary reasons for doing this.

Right now the estimates are either around 13,000 unfilled nursing positions around the state.

We see tremendous opportunity and needed to address that particular challenge.

We now have probably one of the largest nursing programs in the state, both at the undergraduate and graduate level.

We are very excited about where this school of nursing can take us to leverage what we have built for even greater contribution to the state and at the state.

Joanna: Let's talk about the program.

Tell us what the students will walk away with whether it is graduate or undergraduate?

Joshua: sure.

If there are a couple of things important to keep in mind.

A lot of the areas where we have built tremendous expansion has been through our WP online.

We launched a series of programs right at the start of the pandemic that have grown extraordinarily, because they meet the needs of working professionals.

So, that particular component, also an affordable way to pursue a nursing education, has been an extraordinary game changer for us.

With the school of nursing and partnerships we have developed around it, it will allow us to leverage that more, particularly in some of the allied health professions.

Joanna: You could have made this just a nursing major, a nursing degree.

Instead you dedicated a school to it and you leaned on insight and expertise from some of New Jersey's hospital systems.

Talk about that process and what you gain from those conversations to better prepare these young professionals.

Joshua: sure.

As anybody in the nursing area recognizes, the partnerships with area health providers is critical.

In part because of the need for cynical sites where students can go to have an opportunity to learn with -- in the hospital and all of the things that go along with that.

So, we have very strong relations here in Wayne with Saint Joseph's.

It's been an incredible partner.

Atlantic health has been another partner.

They have a huge need for nurses.

We have a need to engage them around teaching opportunities in our curriculum to be able to allow that to expand.

The school of nursing, the framework of that, whether a new leader will allow us to do that.

Joanna: Do you anticipate this program will help solve or at least majorly reduce the nursing shortage we see?

Joshua: I am not under the illusion it will solve the nursing shortage.

But, I think we have found the key things that make that possible.

Our biggest need is faculty.

There is a faculty problem.

We do not have enough faculty to deliver our programs.

But if we partner with health systems and allow nurses to be on our faculty, something we have worked very actively to do, then our school of nursing will help us to even more.

That is a key way to get the capacity to do some of that.

Joanna: Josh Powers from William Paterson University, thank you so much.

That will do it for us tonight.

Download the NJ Spotlight News podcast to listen to us anytime.

I am Joanna Gagis.

Thank you for being with us.

Have a great weekend.

We will see you back here Monday.

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