News

New York City will now phase in the start of in classroom learning, an abrupt change. Mayor Bill de Blasio says he met for hours with school union leaders on Wednesday over many school concerns.

“Although they acknowledged that some real progress had been made that not enough had been made and more needed to be done.”

The Loved and Lost project is a statewide media collaborative that launched in June to name and celebrate the lives of very resident in New Jersey lost to COVID-19.  It's being coordinated by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and was originally a project of  NorthJersey.com.

The Krueger-Scott Mansion in Newark, built in 1888, is getting a makeover -- and a new mission in life.

The mansion will be restored and constructed to hold working areas, private offices and community gathering spaces. The work of local artists will be showcased and there will be exhibits about the mansion’s history.

New Jersey millionaires are in for a tax hike.

Gov. Phil Murphy and top lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled state legislature on Thursday announced a deal to raise the income tax rate on people making more than $1 million and give $500 rebates to middle-class families.

Businesses in New Jersey, like everywhere else, are up against it these days.

Things could get even tougher in July 2021 if an automatic tax is triggered to replenish the depleted unemployment trust fund and repay a federal loan the state accessed to continue paying unemployment benefits. Christopher Emigholz of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association said the loan repayment though, is reversible.

Acclaimed jazz guitarist Vic Juris died on December 31, 2019, at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston at the age of 66 after a six-month battle with liver cancer. This Sunday, September 20, from 4-5 p.m., fellow West Orange guitarist Dave Stryker (they lived on the same street) will give a nod to his late friend while also performing some of his own material at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s Virtual Social, which can be viewed on the NJJS Facebook page (NJJS).

New York City officials are urging folks to get the flu shot in an effort to help the coronavirus situation. The City is launching a multi-media ad campaign to encourage folks to get vaccinated.

“With Covid-19 still around, it is especially important to protect yourself from getting the flu and needing medical care.”

Health Commissioner Dr. David Chokshi says officials are trying to keep the energy and time spent on flu cases down because of coronavirus which has similar symptoms

“This year’s flu vaccine could be the most important one you ever get.”

New Jersey Transit commuters will have one less headache to deal with in the years ahead. Ground was broken Tuesday in South Amboy on the four-year project to replace the Raritan Bay Bridge, just 112 years old.

Governor Phil Murphy was there. He said the project will put thousands to work. “It is projected that this project will create and support more than 5700 good, overwhelmingly union, jobs,” he said, “and pay the workers on site here more than $350 million in wages.”

Trains will use the old bridge while the new one is built slightly west of it.

 Today (Tuesday)  begins a month of celebrating New Jerseyans with Hispanic or Latino roots.

It's the latest observance that will be different in 2020.

As Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy says the COVID-19 Pandemic will make the celebration not as vibrant as in years past.

"Across New Jersey Hispanic Heritage Month is one of our most colorful and meaningful celebrations and so much else this year we will have to celebrate a little differently."

The state of New Jersey is predicting it's just a matter of time before cases of the Coronavirus occur in schools. It's how public health officials deal with the issue is of primary importance.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy says there has NOT been a reported case coming out of schools in the state and they are working to keep things that way as much as possible.

"I think it's about what we expected, It feels to me that the system is working, steps are being taken as it should be."

The state of New Jersey is preparing for Flu season.

Health officials say they are aiming for a 20 percent increase in the number of people vaccinated. New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli says they are worried COVID-19 coupled with the Flu will be a major problem in the state.

"This year we are preparing for the possibility of a twin-demic, a severe flu season and a resurgance of COVID-19 which could strain healthcare resources."

Perischilli says they are asking people to obtain a Flu shot as soon as possible to prevent the spread of that virus.

The famous annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be a TV and online event only this year because of coronavirus. 

Macy’s says this year on Thanksgiving, it will put on a television only special presentation with the production focused in and around Herald Square in Midtown. 

There are now 55 positive coronavirus cases with New York City school staff with in classroom learning still on track to begin next Monday.

Mayor de Blasio says the infection rate among school faculty is well below half a percent, with nearly 17 thousand staff members tested.

“That tells us how much all the efforts to fight back this disease are working. And it tells us the folks who work in our school system have been really careful and diligent.”

A lawsuit has been filed to try and get the capacity increased for indoor dining when it reopens September 30th in New York City. Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis accuses Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio of discriminating against New York City restaurant owners by only allowing 25 percent capacity for indoor dining. “25 percent capacity is still treating us differently than the other municipalities in the state. Every other municipality is operating at 50 percent capacity.” She says the city meets coronavirus data metrics.

If you’ve watched movies over the past few decades, chances are you’d recognize character actor Luis Guzman.  In one of his most memorable roles, Guzman played an ex-con’s sidekick in the 1993 movie Carlito’s Way. 

Guzman has acted in more than a hundred films and dozens of TV shows. Born in Puerto Rico, Guzman grew up in New York and lived there till 1995 when he moved his family to Vermont.

WBGO’s Jon Kalish visited Guzman this summer in Vermont and brings us this story on the actor's connection to the Green Mountain state.

Saturday, September 12, 2020 at 8pm, The Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn presents its mainstage fall presentation with 12 Angry Men...and Women:  The Weight of the Wait in partnership with The New Press.  

12 Angry Men...and Women will be streamed live via YouTube from New York City's very first Black Lives Matter mural with 159 names of men, women and children killed by acts of racially motivated violence.  The mural is located on Fulton Street between New York and Brooklyn Avenues.

WBGO News Director Doug Doyle speaks with WBGO Journal reporter Bob Hennelly

DOYLE: It was 19 years ago this week that two airliners ploughed into the World Trade Center and forever altered our world. On that day, close to 3,000 people perished, including 343 firefighters who were killed when the WTC towers collapsed.

New Jersey reported another 518 cases of coronavirus Friday, bringing the cumulative total over the last six months of the pandemic to 195,888 positive cases.

The state also reported another nine deaths related to the virus. That means there have been 14,234 confirmed fatalities and another 1,789 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The state’s rate of transmission was 1.08, meaning for every 100 people testing positive, the virus spreads to 108 more people.

Young people driving new cases

Two ceremonies drew large crowds to honor 9-11 victims on this 19th anniversary of the terror attacks in New York City.

At the 9-11 Memorial, family members who lost loved ones turned out in droves. They wore face coverings and brought flowers and pictures of their loved ones who had been killed.

A recording of the victims’ names was played because of coronavirus concerns. “Paul James Bataglia, W.  David Bauer.”

Blocks away a charity foundation holding a similar ceremony insisted the names be read with cleaning of the microphones in between speakers.

The September (10) edition of Ask Governor Murphy focused the reopening of New Jersey schools this past week and the proposed state budget from Governor Murphy.

Governor Murphy joined AGM host Nancy Solomon from his home, practicing social distancing.  WBGO Statehouse Reporter Joe Hernandez also remotely joined the program.

AGM is a WBGO News production in collaboration with WHYY and WNYC.

Click above to hear the entire program. 

There are two ceremonies in Lower Manhattan tomorrow to mark the 19th anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks. 

The Tunnel To Towers Foundation is holding its own ceremony with name reading. CEO Frank Siller said many are not happy that the 9-11 Memorial will be using prior years' recordings instead of reading victim names out loud because of coronavirus.

“I know that it can be done in a safe way," he said. "When the 9-11 Memorial said it couldn’t be done in a safe way I knew that was bogus.”

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has issued about 100 violations to realtors and landlords who tried to block potential tenants because they were going to pay rent using government assistance.

It is illegal to discriminate against a potential renter based on the source of their income, but investigators found “many” online ads warning that Section 8, the State Rental Assistance Program, and other government assistance programs would be denied.

New Jersey reported another 284 cases of coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the state’s cumulative total since the start of the pandemic to 194,667 cases.

The state also reported another 5 confirmed deaths, which occurred more than two months ago. New Jersey has now seen 14,213 confirmed fatalities and 1,783 probable deaths from COVID-19.

The rate of transmission is at 1.1, meaning for every 10 positive cases, the virus spreads to 11 people.

Limited ‘knucklehead behavior’ as indoor dining returns

New York City school buses will be up and running for the start of in-classroom learning but classroom concerns from teachers and parents remain.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the routes are now set and parents can expect school bus schedules by the end of the week.

“Mandatory masks for everyone, adults and children alike on the buses," he said. "That means there will be social distancing. That means there will be windows open.”

The long wait is over for frustrated restaurant owners in New York City.

Indoor dining can resume on Sept. 30 but with many restrictions. Governor Cuomo said all customers will have their temperatures checked, one person from each table must provide contact information in case tracing is needed, masks must be worn when not seated, there will be no bar service and restaurants will have to close at midnight.