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Briana: Tonight on NJ Spotlight News -- Major wildfires threatening structures and roadways in its path.

>> This may be the largest wildfire in New Jersey for years.

Briana: Housing, not handcuffs.

Some in city Council -- Summit city Council considers a proposal.

And a rental cartel, filing a lawsuit against multiple landlords against collusion in a statewide rent raising scheme.

>> Every one of the landlords knew what they were doing.

They knew the harm they were inflicting.

Briana: Sounding the alarm during this national infant immunization week.

Dr. Fisher: Not immunizing is not putting yourself at less risk.

By choosing not to immunize, you actually put your child at increased risk.

Briana: NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ >> From NJPBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News, with Briana Vannozzi.

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

I am Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with a few of today's top headlines.

First, Attorney General Matt Plotkin is going after what the state claims is a rent setting cartel, filing a lawsuit against 10 major New Jersey landlords and a software company for allegedly colluding to inflate rent prices and undermine competition in ways that violate state and federal antitrust laws.

That, he said, forced tens of thousands of New Jersey residents to overpay every month.

Platkin said the skyrocketing prices are not the result of a competitive market but a manipulation of the market.

Here's how the lawsuit lays it out.

Landlord allegedly agrees to set rent prices based on the now -- Algorithm calculated in exchange for sensitive, nonpublic information to align prices between then and avoid competition that would otherwise keep rent costs down.

Average rents in New Jersey are among the highest in the nation, and the state currently has a shortage of over 200,000 affordable homes.

A.G. Platkin: These renters are being stretched thinner and thinner by the day.

They are unable to save money or pursue homeownership or create generational wealth.

They are unable to plan ahead and leave their children a strong financial foundation on which to build.

It's enough.

It's enough of this greed, and I'm not going to tolerate corporate greed that violates the law and hurts our residents.

Briana: Also tonight, anti-Semitism is becoming more commonplace in New Jersey and nationwide.

A new report from the antidefamation league ranks New Jersey as having the third-highest anti-Semitic occasions, a drop in the year prior but still an alarming level, according to the ADL.

New Jersey was behind only New York and California for reported incidents against hate against Jews.

The ADL does not include a criticism of Israel or anti- Israel activism, but said it is partly fueled by the campus motels against the Israel-Hamas war, where they said rhetoric frequently cost -- crush they wanted to anti-Semitism, adding to intimidation and intimidation against Jews on college ground.

Incidents there rose more steeply than in other settings bit the same time, a rising tide of anti-Semitic acts across the country get a new record this past year, according to the report, up 5% to more than 9300 total.

And the fight to keep international students on New Jersey college campuses.

The ACLU today filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration on behalf of six international students at Rutgers University who had their visa status revoked earlier this month by immigrations customs enforcement, they say, without explanation.

The lawsuit said the student visa status of violated federal law and students rightS to due process, according to the ACLU.

They are asking for immediate restoration of the visas while the cases are pending.

Nearly a dozen students at Rutgers lost their visas along with eight students at Rowan University alongside about 1700 international students nationwide, which the L.A. OU claims as part of a larger attempt to "-- the ACLU claims is part of a larger attempt to "intimidate and interrogate the international community."

Meanwhile, many colleges and universities have signed onto an international lateral against what they say is government over reach and political interference endangering American higher.

A massive wildfire in Ocean County is still raging tonight after burning for more than 12,000 acres, according to the New Jersey Forest fire service, which is continuing to make progress containing the blaze, burning in both both ocean Lakeview Township.

A state of emergency is still in effect for the area, but after this afternoon, evacuation orders were listed for roughly 5000 residents, who were asked to leave their homes and businesses Tuesday night in state fire officials say the domes Road fire is now 40% contained.

One commercial building was destroyed along with multiple vehicles and outbuildings.

Those are structures like garages and sheds.

A full damage assessment is underway and is expected to be extensive as the wildfire will likely burn for a few days.

More than 1000 structures are still under threat along Route 532, one of several local roads that were affected by the wildfire.

Forest fire officials say air fleets will continue with bucket drop operations throughout this evening, but thankfully, no one was injured, given just how devastating this fire could have been.

Raven Santana has the details.

Shawn: there were 1300 homes threatened during the course of fighting this fire come and this could very well end up being the largest wildfire in New Jersey.

Raven: A state of emergency was declared early this morning after a wildfire ignited in the Pine barons and rapidly intensified overnight.

The wildfire forced thousands to evacuate and lead to the closure of a section of the Garden State Parkway.

Trevor: We dispatched resources right off the bat.

The wildfire was about 10 acres to 20 acres upon arrival.

And we had resources there quickly.

We dispatched aircraft, and even with a big show of force, to contain this fire, it still grew to be a large wildfire.

So our initial attack efforts failed because of extreme fire behavior, drive fuels, fire season, windy, low relative humidity, so we had difficulty containing into our initial box, where we try to keep it into prevent it from spreading.

That initial box failed.

We went to bigger, more substantial routes, that failed.

We eventually went to the Garden State Parkway.

It grew out of our reach there and eventually got to route 9 and begin the fire we saw today.

Chief Donnelly: this time last year, we were out 310 wildfires for a total of 315 acres burned.

This year, for the same period, we are at 662 wildfires with a 16,572 acres burned.

Raven: A spokesperson for JCP and I'll set the intense fire initially knocked out fire for 2600 customers.

Chris from: Our crews have been out surveying our lines checking , our poles, our wires, our devices, to see what can handle, power, what damage there is and , we will begin the restoration process as those in surveys are completed.

Raven: More than 5000 followed mandatory evacuation orders or chose to leave voluntarily.

Hawkins served as one of two emergency shelters set up overnight, offering a safe haven for approximately 200 people.

Inside, evacuees has access to snacks, drinks, phone charging stations, cots for the night.

Sheri: People who come here into the Manchester high school location at about 7:00, 8:00 p.m. We had this open until this morning.

It is still technically open.

As you see behind me, our staff is trying to clean up, because everyone has been able to return home, which is great.

I came back to the shelter around 7:00 a.m., and people were starting to learn the evacuation orders have started -- had been lifted at that point, and they started to go home.

Raven: As the smoke gradually clears, they stress they expect the fire to continue to burn for several days.

Chief Donnelly: What you see now is the smoke is disappearing, which means that our techniques are working.

There are going to be little pockets, and therefore that is going to keep us from containing it at 100%, but I think, based on what I'm seeing here, the containment should start to rise up, and definitely a good indication that the crews out there are making progress.

Raven: Despite its scale, the OC cean County fire only resulted in the loss of one small building.

There were no reports of injuries or fatalities.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

Briana: Following hours of public outcry, the summit city Council Tuesday night offering to delay a vote on a controversial new ordinance that would ban camping or sleeping on public property as a way to curb homelessness by way to allow local law enforcement to put people in jail.

The issue sparked intense debate in a marathon meeting that went well after 2:00 p.m., giving councilmembers two more weeks to consider changes to the bill, but some residents say still amounts to injustice.

Ted Goldberg has the latest.

Mayor Fagan: It is how we protect our residents in our district.

Ted: Leaders in Summit are wrestling with that question, and their solution is a controversial new ordinance that would ban sleeping outdoors in public.

Mayor Elizabeth Fagan says it is a necessary step to keep residents safe.

Mayor Fagan: -- in the library on a public computer, in plain view of our kids.

Mr. Boyer: Those people are defecating and urinating, fighting with police, that are harassing residents.

Ted: Councilmember Jamel Boyer says a person experiencing homelessness recently pulled a knife on his 11-year-old daughter, leading him to issue this ordinance.

Mr. Uniacke: There should be arrests in these instances.

I think the challenges conflating that illegal activity with a very condition of homelessness and the biological imperative to sleep as being illegal.

Ted: Summit City Council heard public comment about the ordinance last night into early this morning before the seven-hour meeting even began, some in the faith community criticized the bill and said it would make some big bad neighbors.

Charlene: Those that we love and call neighbor deserved welcome.

They deserve a place to call home, they deserve help and housing, not handcuffs.

Rev.

Scalet: Jesus says care for your neighbor.

Above everything else, treat them as you wish others would treat you.

That is the way we need to shape this community, as neighbors.

Rabbi Friedman: That concept does not appear once or three times, it appears 36 times in the Hebrew Bible.

In case we wanted to skip over it once or twice.

Ted: Some of the criticism got personal.

>> Watching you get all worked up.

Do you just love the sound of your own voice?

It is not good for public service.

In my opinion, you are a disgrace.

>> Councilmember Boyer, I don't know you, yet I'm embarrassed by and for you.

Ted: While most people who attended oppose the ordinance, it also had plenty of supporters who argue that they or their customers don't always feel safe in Summit.

Miberly: My staff feels sometimes very unsafe when they leave the salon at night, especially on Fridays, and some of my clients expressed concerns about coming into a salon when it is dark or when they are leaving or entering because they feel unsafe.

Marcus: Do I have compassion for alcoholics and drug addicts?

100%.

But when do you draw the line when they are just causing problems, and they refused help?

This is neither humane or compassionate.

Nearly all of Summit residents who asked for help received help.

Ted: Summit leaders said they would offer help, pointing to the success of the city's homeless task force.

They have used community task force to reduce Summit's homeless population from around 40 last summer until five right now.

Officer Peters: It's not just about issuing summonses to persons in need, it's about providing access to resources while ensuring that our public spaces remain safe, accessible, and welcoming to everyone.

Raisa: If people stopped connecting with outreach groups and stopped connecting with emergency services because they are afraid of being thrown into jail, that is an unintended consequence of the ordinance.

Ted: One does not ban sleeping outside in public but keeps the threat of fines and jail time for anyone who sets up a public encampment.

Both ordinances will be discussed at the Council meeting in two weeks.

In Summit, I'm Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Along with the governor's race this year, seats in the assembly are on the ballot, with more candidates running to earn a spot in the legislature than in the last four years.

As the first time they will enter the primary without these coveted so-called County line.

In Hudson County, the Civil War is ratcheting up as eight candidates battle for two assembly seats representing the area in November.

Senior political correspondent David Cruz takes a look.

David: In Hudson County, where politics is always full contact, the mayor of the county seat is running for governor, and he's doing it by poking the party's bosses in the eyes.

Is bad enough Steve Fulop was a vocal critic of the county line while it was being adjudicated out of existence last year, but on top of that, he has put together his own slate of candidates, running against incumbents and party-backed candidates in more than half of the assembly districts.

Incumbent Jessica Ramirez was elected on the county line two years ago.

This year, she's on the Fulop slate, a decision she says some insiders warned her against.

Asw.

Ramirez: I'm proud to be on his slate.

It does take time, right, to not be part of the machine and to be not with the machine and kind of be seen as a little bit of a rebel, especially down in Trenton as well, where the machine is still going.

David: Jersey City City Councilman Yousef Saleh is Ramirez's running mate who represents the height section of Jersey City.

Now a big part of the 32nd district, a diverse swath includes all of Hoboken and much of downtown Jersey City.

Mr. Saleh: You cannot make this up.

You have a Puerto Rican, a Palestinian-American, a Jewish guy running for governor.

Nowhere else in this city or country is a story like that possible except in Jersey City.

David: In the days of the county line, assembly primaries, when they were contested, were rarely competitive.

The race in the 32nd has three slates.

The one unaffiliated with any group or candidate or party organization has the candidates with the highest name recognition.

Ravi Bhalla is the mayor of Hoboken, a former councilman and Congressional candidate, and Katie Brennan, who has been a housing and planning advocate for years, in addition to taking on the Murphy administration in its earliest days.

Mayor Bhalla: We are not going to it represent the interests of the county party or the political machine, we are going to represent you, the people who elected us to serve you.

That's what democracy looks like.

Democracy has never looked like that in Hudson, which is a county that I have lived in for a quarter century.

Ms. Brennan: Everything is new, not just for me.

There is a ton of competition.

Kind of nobody knows what is happening.

In a race, and you picked two, math is complicated, it is really the wild West.

David: They could not schedule time to talk to us for the story, though.

Crystal Fonseca is the department director for the city of Jersey City, and Jennie Pu runs the Hoboken public library.

John: Obviously, this is a new world, with no County line, right?

If I told you two years ago, David, that we would have a primary in New Jersey but actually have six Democrats running against each other, you would think that I had all kinds of inaccuracies.

David: Six candidates who mostly agree on the issues from immigration to affordable housing.

Seeking the same two seats but taking three different routes.

I'm David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: And make sure you tune into Chat Box tomorrow night with David.

He continues his gubernatorial challengers series with one-on-one conversations with Democratic candidate and Congressmen Josh Gottheimer along with former state assemblyman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli.

What sets them apart?

That's Thursday streaming on the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

An overall decline in childhood vaccination rates has led to an increase of preventable diseases both here in New Jersey and across the country.

That issue is a focal point for the state department of health this week as it marks the annual National Infant Immunization Week along with World Immunization Week, honored every April.

They are ramping up efforts to inform parents about the importance of keeping up with vaccine appointments for young kids and babies and the role it plays globally as diseases once considered eliminated have made a concerning comeback.

For more, I'm joined by pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Meg Fisher.

Dr. Fisher, good to talk to you.

I'm thinking about the fact that this week comes with the backdrop that New Jersey is now below herd immunity for diseases like measles, which were considered for a long time a thing of the past, and they are not now.

How does that factor into this, you know, week of awareness?

Dr. Fisher: Well, it is very important that people really again realize the importance of vaccines for public health.

There is no question that New Jersey can protect our children best by getting them immunized.

This week is Infant Immunization Week, and the best time to get your child immunized is right from birth.

The reason is, a baby is born with the mother's production, so whatever your mother is immune to, you are immune to for about the first six months of life.

But that gift is not the gift that keeps on giving.

Every month, you have less protection.

So it is vital that we get you r very young infants immunized to keep them safe.

Not only do we have measles, but we also have pertussis, which is whooping cough, and we had a couple of deaths due to pertussis.

These are preventable diseases.

Pertussis, although we may not totally prevent the disease, we can greatly modify it.

With measles, we can prevent the disease by getting children immunized and protected.

Briana: Are those the two main, are there other vaccine-preventable diseases that we are seeing rear their ugly heads because vaccination rates are now lower?

Dr. Fisher: So far, those are the two that are happening, but we know that there are bacterial diseases, influenza type B and the pneumococcal, and when I was first training, we always had children in the hospital with a disease, it might be pneumonia or an ear infection, infection in the skin, meningitis infection around the brain.

The vaccine came out back in the 1980's and 1990's, and we saw a tremendous drop off in the cases of meningitis.

After that, we got a vaccine for pneumococcus, and right now, we rarely, rarely see a child with meningitis, but we know those bacteria are out there.

So if we don't protect children, we absolutely will see them come back.

Briana: So what advice would you have for parents who are nervous about symptoms, side effects of vaccines and just their general safety?

Obviously we have seen a rise of this since the Covid pandemic.

Dr. Fisher: Yes, we certainly have, and, you know, people should have concerns and should be nervous about anything that happens to their child.

What I would like them to understand is not immunizing is not putting your child at less risk.

By choosing not to immunize, you actually put your child at increased risk.

And what we all want is we want to protect our children.

We want to keep them safe.

We want to keep them healthy.

And the easiest way is to get them immunized and get them protected.

Now, it does not mean you should not have questions.

You should talk to your pediatrician, you should find out all the information that you can get, and if you have concerns, ask your pediatrician.

Get them to help you understand, what are the true risks and the true benefits, and make an informed choice.

Briana: Let me ask you about that very quickly, in the time we have left.

What would you say is the greatest challenge pediatricians are up against right now?

Is it skepticism?

Is it misinformation about vaccines?

Dr. Fisher: It's both of those.

Misinformation has hurt us lately.

Skepticism, I do not worry so much about skepticism, because most people are just a skeptic, if you give them the information, and they trust you, they will get the vaccine.

But the misinformation is really hurting our children, and it is really hurting our pediatricians.

Briana: All right, pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Meg Fisher, always great to talk to you.

Great to get your insight this week.

Thanks for your time.

Dr. Fisher: Thank you so much.

I really appreciate it.

Briana: That's going to do it for us tonight, but before we go, a quick reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch as any time by a subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

Plus, you can follow us on Instagram and BlueSky for all of the top headlines.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

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

Have a great evening.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

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