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Briana: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News" -- Two separate corruption trials for the senior senator and his wife.

>> I think the ultimate conclusion was reached because of the uncertainty.

Briana: Plus a potential bias crime investigation continues at Rutgers after the Islamic Center is the target of vandalism on the final day of Ramadan.

>> It was one of the few places if not the only where Muslims truly felt comfort and safety on campus.

And now that has been taken from us.

Briana: Also, a warning.

Your Amazon order may be delayed as a labor battle between the Internet giant and its Flex drivers unfolds.

>> This is a workforce that is ignored, the security issues are ignored, the working conditions are ignored.

Briana: And Take Me Out to the ballpark.

Patterson officials unveiled a museum showcasing what was once the centerpiece of the Nigro baseball league -- Of the Negro.

Baseball league.

NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ Announcer: From NJ PBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight news" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us this Thursday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with breaking news.

U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez's Federal corruption trial will begin May 6, as scheduled, but without his wife.

A Manhattan federal judge today ordered separate trials for the couple, who are accused of taking part in a bribery scheme.

After lawyers for Nadine Menendez asked for a delay because of an unexpected serious medical condition that will possibly require weeks of significant recovery, making it difficult for her to stand trial.

Judge Sidney Stein today said the lack of clarity around when Nadine Menendez will be well enough to move forward is one reason he opted to sever the trials.

She also needs to find new lawyers because her current ones could be called as witnesses in the case.

Prosecutors were opposed to splitting the trial, saying they will essentially have to present the same evidence twice.

But attorneys for the senior senator said they wanted a speedy trial to preserve Menendez's ability to run for a seat.

The judge today also denied motions to dismiss the indictment outright and transfer the case to New Jersey.

A tentative separate trial date for Nadine Menendez is scheduled for July 8.

Attorney and former federal prosecutor Brian Wessler says it may be a benefit to the senator.

>> When a husband and wife are tried together, it is not atypical for a jury to look upon the spouse perhaps with a little more favor.

If they have any doubts about culpability, feel content to convict the husband and let the wife go, that is not going to be present here.

I think that probably cuts in favor of the senator.

Briana: Muslim college students at Rutgers University say that they feel unsafe after the Islamic center on campus was vandalized.

Police say the break occurred Tuesday night during ede, which celebrates the end of Ramadan.

They found a ripped Palestinian flag and art pieces with Koran versus destroyed.

The incident is being investigated as a criminal act of bias and hatred.

As Melissa Rose Cooper reports, it comes as tensions have been rising on campus over the war in Gaza.

>> It was one of the few places if not the only where Muslims felt comfort and safety on campus and that has been taken away from us.

Reporter: Feelings of disappointmentNora Asker now has after learning the Islamic center had been vandalized Tuesday night during ede.

The holiday marks the end of Ramadan and is one of the most celebratory times on the Islamic calendar.

>> I received the news of this disgusting and disturbing attack yesterday morning.

The same time I usually wake up and greet my parents and start celebrating our beloved and sacred holiday.

Instead like many Muslim students, I watched in horror as we saw what happened to a space so near and dear to our hearts.

Reporter: The center is not just a religious space.

For more than a decade, students have been able to come here for educational programming as well as counseling and other supports.

>> Our physical presence on this campus is evidence of and a message to everyone in this university that our community belongs here.

Reporter: But for the chair of the Board of Trustees with the center, the vandalism is just one of the latest attacks on the Muslim community since the war in Gaza began.

>> Why is it that the days after October 7, our chaplain was deemed unwelcome?

And his presence to some was seen as threatening because of his call to humanize Palestinian life.

Reporter: Now members of the Center for Islamic life are demanding Rutgers do more to ensure the safety of its Muslim community.

>> Unfortunately, one of the experiences of being a Muslim in America or any public position is that we do occasionally, us and our student groups, receive threats and get reported every civil time -- they get reported every single time and we do what we can to take the steps appropriately but really what we wanted to say with our statement is twofold, yes it's the security conference we need to do better -- concern we need to do better to secure ourselves but also the idea that an action like this was emboldened because we did not communicate in a public setting appropriately enough, to recognize that Muslim experience and recognize the voices that are sometimes silenced.

Reporter: Rutgers maintain they take every came of -- every claim of hate and bias thoroughly conducting investigation is when warranted.

A spokesperson adding in a statement the safety and well-being of students is a top priority, the RUPD will continue to increase public safety presence on and around campus.

Additional campus safety resources are available to students.

>> Although we appreciate the support shown by them, the Rutgers administration failure to address the concerns earlier has not only allowed but affirmed the recurrence of further hateful acts towards her Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students here on campus especially.

Now is not the time for empty gestures.

Now is the time for action.

We urge the Rutgers administration to take concrete steps in order to ensure the safety and security of our Muslim community here at Rutgers.

Reporter: Governor Murphy and the state Attorney General both say they have launched a criminal investigation into the incident, and although the vandalism has left members of the center said, they say it's not enough to keep their voices from being hurt.

For NJ Spotlight News, I am Melissa rose Cooper.

Briana: A group of high school students are facing potential bias crime charges after they allegedly organized a white student union in response to the school's black student union.

That according to the school's superintendent evolved into something more characteristic of a hate group.

This is not the first bias incident to be alleged in the small Camden County suburb.

The town has been dealing with escalating racial tensions for years that have more recently come to a head.

Matt S. has been covering it all as the founder and editor of NJ Pen, and he joins me with the latest.

So good to have you on the show.

Really disturbing, what has been happening at the Collingswood high school.

Can you give us an update on how the students have been disciplined?

What they did exactly?

Matt: sure.

I think to give you an update, I kind of have to go back to a year ago.

When there were student walkouts at Collingswood high school.

Because minority students were protesting what they describe as biased treatment by their teachers, the staff, the administration, and what we have seen now is a year after that, we are actually marking evidence of it coming from peers as well.

There was a big student walkout a year ago, determined to draw attention to the cultural and race issues in the high school.

From that, there was a community meeting with a lot of emotional testimony deliver talking about their experiences of this nature.

There were efforts made since then to form a communitywide DEI community outside of the school.

That communicate on issues.

there was a Black student union formed.

That was the following summer.

Now back to where we are here, about a year later from the stuff that happened in 2023.

What was all -- What we saw was right before spring break, there were a group of students that were disciplined because they apparently organized a white student union, which was meant to be an ironic response to the BLack student union And it is stopped the what you could call a joke and started functioning as a traditional hate group.

And so, a couple of days before spring break, there were slurs defaced on another student's car, that student was white, some believe that is a case of mistaken identity from who's vehicle that was, aside from that there were incidents of -- whose vehicle that was, aside from that there were incidents of racial discrimination made against black students is what the allegations say.

Briana: Are the students facing charges for any of this?

Matt: It is being investigated by the County prosecutor's office and Collingswood police.

The prosecutor's office said it is an open investigation ended will not, -- and it will not comment.

They are still gathering investigation.

There is this gray area where they will have to determine if they bring charges to the defendants, if they choose not to press charges, if they choose to press, they could probably bring charges immediately.

Briana: What is behind what seems like now many years of racial tension in Collingswood?

When you talk to people who are from that area, they see it as a pretty progressive place and yet we know through these students and families' testimonies, you mentioned they have been facing incidents like these for years.

Matt: I always tell everybody that Collingswood is a siphon, it is what you want it to be for whatever group -- it is what you wanted to be for whatever group.

Sexuality or gender orientation, it can be a proxy for whatever you want to put onto it.

A lot of people do that.

What the school [INDISCERNIBLE] If you go back on the census for the past decade, you are seeing wealthier families moving into town, it is getting less white demographically.

But I think also you have to acknowledge this stuff has been happening.

And people are not really meaning it for whatever reason for whatever away that would have an impact -- going back to 2011 and 2012, there was a story of a coach that was rude in his coaching duties and he sued the district because he was not playing enough white fighters.

In instructions.

From there, at that meeting, you had people coming up at that time saying, when I was a young kid, I could not participate because I was blood.

There were other people last year who talked about their children growing up.

In a town where they had never had any sort of involvement being told the kids in elementary school work flashing -- were flashing gang signs.

There are Black kids who say there are a majority of white, almost predominantly white staff that discipline them differently than the white kids.

You have to believe people when they are saying these are their lived experiences.

And you also have to acknowledge it is not getting better, whatever the issues are, they are still persistent.

Part of it, I imagine, has to do with whatever the culture is in the school.

Part of it has to do with the climate from the homes.

It could all be aggravated by the way that people interact post-pandemic.

Briana: Sure.

Matt: A lot of toxic Internet culture carryover.

But I did speak to two students last night, as a matter of fact, who talked about -- what they described as a casual attitude around use of racial slurs by their white counterparts.

And basically what they said is it seems like female students get the worst of it.

From white male students.

If they are called on it -- called out on it, students may shrink from the things that they were saying.

They often don't do it around other male students or in groups where teachers might be within earshot.

But it is an ongoing thing where these students describe this, beginning even in elementary school.

Briana: Wow.

Very widespread.

Matt S. is the editor and founder of NJ Penn which covers Camden County.

Matt, thanks so much.

Amazon's Flex drivers are the latest workers to speak out about unsafe labor conditions with the online giant.

They say Amazon is indiscriminately cutting their pay and disregarding safety for drivers working in New Jersey.

Flex workers use their own vehicles to deliver packages for Amazon.

It is a gig job similar to Ober and left -- Uber and Lyft.

Some have even been met with violence.

Joana G. has the story.

Reporter: Amazon Flex drivers rally today demanding better wages and improved safety conditions while they deliver packages.

>> Paid $160, sometimes $100, we went on from $160 to $120, now we are down to $86 for four hour blocks.

Not only that, they are also sending us out there instead of giving us 32 stops, we are getting up to 50 stops, for the same amount of money.

>> Have a son who suffers from autism so I used to do the night route where I used to make $200.

I used to do that at night because I could spend the day with my son.

But right now because of the wages going down, I am not able to continue to.

Reporter: Drivers say they were never told the delivery rates would change.

They just saw the numbers dropping off over the last few months.

As Flex drivers, they use their own cars and are not reimbursed for their travel.

>> Amazon Flex drivers are a group that is overlooked and underestimated.

Amazon is the largest employer in the state of New Jersey.

But these workers so far don't count because Amazon has decided to call them independent contractors.

This is a workforce that is ignored.

The security issues are ignored, working conditions are ignored.

Reporter: Many deliveries are now happening overnight at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., leaving drivers to navigate pitch black roads and homes, or worse, threats from homeowners because they are arriving in the middle of the night in unmarked cars.

They are asking for company lamps for their cars.

>> We have had drivers getting friends with guns, dogs.

Amazon sells the lamp on the application and it says Amazon Flex, but of course we have to buy it.

If you are going to have us out there in certain areas and certain times, then just give us something more -- so people can identify as a better.

Reporter: Some have even faced injury from dog bites or gunshot wounds.

In urban areas, they have been subjected to crimes during those midnight deliveries.

>> At 3:30 a.m., 4:00 a.m., they come up to us, one of the women drivers here was mugged.

They ended up taking away her car.

Reporter: We reached out for comment to Amazon and they do offer a helpline but employers are directed to call 911 in emergency situations.

>> What the drivers are asking for is eliminate the overnight routes.

You won't see FedEx making a delivery in the middle of the night of a normal package.

You won't see UPS doing that.

Because it is common sense.

It is very obviously dangerous to clients and customers.

This group has asked to eliminate those overnight routes and for the daytime routes to make sure that drivers are clearly identified, that customers know they are coming and they know who to expect.

Reporter: The workers attempted to deliver this petition and the request of their manager today and were met instead with a closed door, managers who would not let them inside or even speak with them.

>> They know what they are doing.

They closed the door because they don't want to give the letter to Amazon.

>> I feel neglected.

Because I feel like if we are here doing all this stuff for you and this is the way you are treating us, that is not fair.

>> What they are doing by closing the door on us is showing proof that what we are completing about is actually factual.

>> Management closed the door on them and that is not a surprise to us.

Reporter: The drivers say they will continue to rally and protest until a change is made.

Briana: In our spotlight on business report, the East Coast answer to Silicon Valley is in Princeton.

That's where the governor, tech and state leaders marked their first up today in launching the state's first formal hub for artificial intelligence to put New Jersey at the forefront of an industry that sparks as much worry as it does wonder.

Ted Goldberg reports.

>> We are the first generation of humans to create machines that can make decisions that have always been made by people.

We need to ensure that we don't let the future down.

Reporter: The Microsoft president, Brad Smith, urged caution and optimism towards AI at today's AI Summit at Princeton.

Comparing its wide-ranging impact to that of the printing press.

Smith's alma mater is in the process of building and AI hub, working together with the Murphy administration.

>> I think the creation of an AI hub requires one bring a community together, bring a state together, bring people together.

When it comes to AI, one of the things I've learned is, that is a formidable challenge.

Reporter: Smith and Murphy say the Garden State could lead the way in building ethical AI, following New Jersey's entrepreneurial past.

>> Thomas Edison looked to New Jersey and found 35 acres and created the first and most important research lab not just in the U.S., but in the world.

>> We are a state that has cultivated one of the most talented workforces in the entire world.

We have a New Jersey -- in New Jersey more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere else in the planet.

We are a state that has an unparalleled track record when it comes to unleashing game changing adventure -- game changing inventions.

Reporter: While AI has been studied for decades, the field has exploded in recent years, making now the time to build that hope.

>> This hub presents an extra in every opportunity for us to come together to make bowl -- make bold investments that will impact the region and the state as well as the nation and the world.

>> We are coming together to think ahead about one of the most positive and promising and potentially disruptive developments in human history.

Reporter: Murphy says AI is already making a difference in Trenton.

Simple to find a permit process and helping families find tax relief -- Simplifying the permit process and helping families find tax relief.

>> Leaders like many of you here today will unlock a new century of hope.

From discovering new drugs and medical treatments to developing new personalized educational tools.

>> This is really a way to develop new treatments and give doctors and surgeons new tools, so we will live longer and have healthier outcomes for everyone.

Reporter: Olga T. has taught here since 2003.

She says AI can help process huge amounts of data and help diagnose diseases.

Or the likelihood you will get one.

>> We can start linking every mutation to what it actually means in terms of predicting whether I have curly hair or you have straight or whether this is something that is really critical to understanding, that I might have the at risk for early onset all timers and how to develop drugs that actually address this.

Reporter: She says AI will not replace doctors were surgeons, it will help them.

Other jobs could be at risk, as AI becomes a smarter and a bigger part of our everyday life.

In Princeton, Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: On Wall Street, stocks rebounded slightly, showing investor worries eased after Wednesday's surprised uptick in consumer prices.

Here's how the markets closed for the day.

♪ And make sure to tune into NJ Spotlight News with Raven Santana this week fresh off an award-winning year, New Jersey's film and TV industry is expanding with surging revenue and new studios.

Raven Santana sits down with leaders from still ready counties and cities to discuss the garden state's growth as Hollywood East.

Watch on the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

♪ And finally tonight, step inside a treasure trove of baseball history, located at one of the less remaining Negro League baseball parks throughout the country.

The new Hinchcliffe stadium Museum in Patterson officially opened to the public today, showcasing the artifacts and memorabilia that helped shape the sport.

The Museum takes you through the heyday of the stadium during the 1930's and 1940's Jim Crow era, when crowds would flock to see baseball greats like Josh Gibson and Larry Doby play.

Back then, Doby was just a kid from Patterson.

Denied entry into organized baseball because of the color of his skin.

The 4000 square-foot museum has display cases of the original uniforms and bats, tickets, and programs.

The new center is part of the city's revitalization efforts in the Great Falls region, which included renovating the stadium, the nation's only sporting venue in the National Park system.

It had fallen into disrepair, but it has now reclaimed its unique foothold in history.

In American and of course New Jersey history.

>> My desire for this museum is that it will help with the school system, the mayor, the city, most importantly the state University, it will help generate new generations of students and kids.

All people in fact discover the history of Hinchcliffe Stadium and the importance of the role of bringing it together in the city of Patterson.

Briana: That's going to do it for us tonight, but don't miss Reporters' Roundtable tomorrow.

David Cruz talks to Republican Senate budget officer of Scanlon on whether the GOP party can unite on things like OPRA, the party line, and the state budget.

Then, a panel of local reporters break down this week's political headlines.

Watch Roundtable tomorrow at noon on the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire NJ Spotlight News team, thank you for being with us.

Have a great evening.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

>> New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

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♪