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Essex County Politics · January 20, 2021 3:26 AM
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NJ SPOTLIGHT NEWS | JANUARY 20, 2021

Jan. 19, 2021: President-elect Joe Biden speaks at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center in New Castle, Delaware.
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When he becomes president Wednesday, Joseph Biden is expected to make immediate changes in policy areas upended by President Trump — first through executive orders, then through an aggressive push with a Congress controlled by Democrats.
Up first, as Biden has promised, is an overhaul in the nation’s response to COVID-19 and its rollout of the needed vaccines. Then a return to work combating climate change. Beyond that, a new Biden administration is expected to have broad impact on life in New Jersey. From finances to climate to COVID-19, NJ Spotlight News looks at key areas where Biden is said to be making changes.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · January 19, 2021 3:24 AM
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LILO H. STAINTON, HEALTH CARE WRITER | JANUARY 19, 2021
NJ Spotlight News

Jan. 15, 2021: Linda Leeman gets vaccinated at the Edison Vaccination Facility.
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In New Jersey, COVID-19 vaccines are now available at more than 160 locations — including hospitals, pharmacies, community health centers and government-run clinics — and four of the state’s planned six mega-sites are now immunizing eligible individuals.
But six weeks after the first New Jersey resident got her initial dose, the statewide operation continues to run at far less than full speed. Concerns include public confusion, a complex sign-up system, an initial workforce shortage in some places, and perhaps the biggest hurdle of all, not enough vaccines to meet the demand.
“We’ve got plenty of people (to administer vaccines), it’s not an issue” at the Gloucester County mega-site, state Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester), a former county freeholder, told NJ Spotlight News last week. “We just need the vaccine,” he said. “We’ve really got to step it up now.”
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · January 18, 2021 4:32 AM
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By ASSOCIATED PRESS
01/17/2021
Politico

National Guard soldiers head to the east front of the U.S. Capitol.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event.
The massive undertaking reflects the extraordinary security concerns that have gripped Washington following the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. And it underscores fears that some of the very people assigned to protect the city over the next several days could present a threat to the incoming president and other VIPs in attendance.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · January 18, 2021 4:20 AM
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RAS J. BARAKA | JANUARY 18, 2021
NJ Spotlight News

Ras J. Baraka
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The first major changes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule, which are designed to reduce lead traces in drinking water, were announced before Christmas, to give cities plagued by high lead levels some guidelines and goals.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the new rules were a top priority to “accelerate reductions of lead in drinking water to better protect our children and communities.”
Acceleration is the operative word. This problem, like many health issues, disproportionately affects Black and brown people in older homes in cities across America, but lead is found in drinking water indiscriminately, in suburbs and rural communities alike.
Among the new rules is the gradual removal of lead service lines that connect individual homes and buildings to the water mains, giving municipalities a 33-year window for full replacement.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · January 16, 2021 3:52 AM
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By CARLY SITRIN
01/15/2021
Politico

The New Jersey state capitol.
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New Jersey state offices will close their doors on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, and state employees will work remotely in anticipation of possible unrest in Trenton, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday.
“We felt that was the right thing to do given the level of tension right now in the country,” Murphy said the end of his regular coronavirus briefing in Trenton.
“We just thought to help us facilitate any security response measures, the fewer folks in and around Trenton the better," state Police Superintendent Pat Callahan said.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · January 15, 2021 4:53 AM
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COLLEEN O'DEA, SENIOR WRITER | JANUARY 15, 2021
NJ Spotlight News

Feb 11, 2020: The first hearing of the Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics
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New Jersey’s political parties and campaigns should adopt anti-harassment policies and the state’s election watchdog should get the power to investigate allegations of sexual assault and harassment in political campaigns, parties and lobbying, a committee investigating the state’s toxic political climate recommended.
The ad hoc Workgroup on Harassment, Sexual Assault and Misogyny in New Jersey Politics was created a year ago in the wake of allegations of assault and misogyny against then-candidate Phil Murphy’s gubernatorial campaign and a news report on the political culture in the state. Its 76-page report, released Thursday, followed several public hearings and discussions.
Other recommendations include requiring all elected officials, candidates, party officials and workers to complete anti-harassment training, prohibiting practices that would keep complaints secret, monitoring events that have proven particularly problematic and enacting a package of bills to improve the treatment of assault victims by the criminal justice system.
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