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Politics

NJ Paid $250K to Change One Word in Agency Name

New Jersey spent $250,000 to replace a single word in a state agency's name, and Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger wants voters to know exactly what that bought. The state's Juvenile Justice Commission dropped "Juvenile" from its title last year, rebranded as the Youth Justice Commission after lawmakers decided the old word carried too much stigma for an agency focused on rehabilitating kids. Simple enough idea. Except the swap triggered a cascade of real costs: new email addresses, domain names, vehicle wraps, office supplies, and fresh uniforms for the commission's 300 officers, according to Michael Symons, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office. Former Gov. Phil Murphy put $250,000 into the state budget to cover it.

Jersey Ledger Staff |
Politics

NJ Gas Prices, Cost of Living & World Cup Fares: April 2026

A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows New Jersey residents catching a modest break on grocery and household costs since last fall, but the gas pump is canceling out whatever progress they've made. Prices near or above $4 a gallon are hammering drivers across every income level, every zip code. There's no demographic that's escaping this one.

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Business

Atlantic City's $17.6M Atlantic Avenue Paving Project Begins

Atlantic City put shovels in the ground this spring on the $17.6 million paving and streetscape overhaul of Atlantic Avenue, the final leg of a corridor rebuild that's been years in the making and carries a total price tag of $24.8 million when you count both phases.

Jersey Ledger Staff ·
Politics

FDU Poll: NJ Voters Support Any Plan to Cut Energy Bills

Seventy-six percent of New Jersey voters want new natural gas plants built. That's not a fringe position. That's the headline number from a new Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll conducted with the International Union of Operating Engineers, and it's the kind of cross-partisan consensus that Trenton doesn't see very often.

Jersey Ledger Staff
Wind turbine amid rolling hills and mountains at sunset, symbolizing renewable energy and sustainability. Environment

NJBPU Awards Clean Energy Grants to 19 NJ Municipalities

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities awarded grants to 19 municipalities last week under its Community Energy Plan Grant program, part of a sustained push to help local governments map out clean energy strategies and cut utility costs for residents.

Karen O'Brien
Business

NJ Transit's First New Multilevel III Rail Car Arrives

NJ Transit finally got something to celebrate Monday. The agency's first Multilevel III rail car rolled into the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, and for commuters who've been packing into 50-year-old equipment, it's not nothing.

Jersey Ledger Staff
Business

NJ Drivers Pay $27 Per 1,000 Miles in Tolls, 2nd Highest in U.S.

New Jersey drivers already know the drill: merge, pay, repeat. But now there's a number attached to the pain. At $26.92 per 1,000 miles driven, New Jersey ranks second in the country for toll burden, more than three times the national average of $8.57 among toll-collecting states, according to a new study.

Jersey Ledger Staff ·
Politics

CD-12 Democratic Candidates Face NAACP Forum in Somerset

Dozens of Democratic candidates packed First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset on Saturday, auditioning for the chance to flip New Jersey's 12th Congressional District in 2026. The New Brunswick Area Branch of the NAACP ran the forum. The questions weren't soft.

Jersey Ledger Staff

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