>> Funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided by NJ and insert scripts or -- serving the needs of businesses and residents for more than 100 years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the cross Blue Shield Association, New Jersey realtors, the voice for real estate in New Jersey, and for more information go online at NG realtor.com.

And by the PSEG foundation.

[TYPING] ♪ From NJPBS, this is NJ Spotlight News.

>> Good evening and thank you for joining us this Thursday night, I am Briana Vannozzi.

Zeroing in on the opioid crisis, one month after the FDA approved and over-the-counter version of Narcan, advocates are hopeful about the future of the public health crisis.

With the opioid overdose reversal drug never -- readily available.

Hundreds of pharmacies are participating in a program that makes Narcan available for free to anyone who asks for.

But as recovery specialists note, especially -- accessibility is just the beginning, not the end of treatment.

Brenda Flanagan reports.

>> Kaman, Mary, we got wake up.

-- >> This nurse the trip -- shown how to administer Narcan by nasal spray.

>> I'm going to push the plunger and that is when does.

>> That will cause someone to go into withdrawal, which is instant.

If they don't feel great when they first get it.

>> I woke up wanting to punch someone when you get -- when I got Narcan.

>> This woman over D -- overdose five years ago and regained consciousness after receiving two doses.

>> They were like, you died for a minute.

It was just a vicious cycle.

When I got treated I went and got more and then I got treated again with Narcan, not even a month later.

And then I finally was like going to go to rehab.

>> She spent months in several rehab programs, including even his village.

She is now a group facility recovery coach at recovery centers of America's Bay house.

The private facility has 138 beds and offers 30 day inpatient treatment with group and private therapy.

She is a nursing manager here, and gave a Narcan demonstration, offering multiple free samples.

>> One dose is not enough, especially with how it is with Fentanyl being in everything.

So we can't continue to give Narcan every 2-3 minutes until we have some response.

>> The FDA authorize the sale of Narcan over-the-counter without a prescription.

The New Jersey harm reduction coalition offers it for free via its website.

Between 2017 and 2022, New Jersey logged almost 80,000 incidents of Narcan used to counteract overdoses.

Andrea Allen came to the demo from Fort Dix.

>> I live out in that part of South Jersey and we see a lot of overdoses.

Having another kit would be really important, especially with people thinking that soldiers that don't do.

This is really important.

>> A people a day die of an opiate overdose on average a new dirt -- she New Jersey.

And now there's tranq.

It is a potent mix of opioids, explains the project manager.

>> I hated so much, making -- adding Fentanyl makes it so much more dangerous.

>> The doctor helps people transition back to their home structure.

She says it is rough for patients returning to inpatient trip.

>> They take that Narcan to be safe.

If they come in and they have family members that are still outside, that is one of their things.

They're like AMI look for help but when I go back home, mom is still using and that is still using, how can I function?

>> It is a scary experience to die.

And to continue to play Russian relay with your life every single day.

And then it took me getting Narcan twice to realize, got, I can't do this anymore, it might not be a next time.

>> Rosario is starting to become a counselor helping others fighting addiction.

Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

>> Support for the medical report is provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

>> The state Attorney General's office is launching a corruption investigation into development deals in Camden.

According to a report by NJ advanced medias Ted Sherman, the city and a major nonprofit group working on revitalization efforts they are have recently been hit with a number of subpoenas.

It appears that the records being Sock are related to -- being Sock are related to transactions tied to George Norcross, a powerbroker.

He wields tremendous influence in Camden and New Jersey politics at large.

Tax incentives given to him -- Camden have been heavily scrutinized by the Murphy administrations and opponents of Norcross.

A task force convened by Governor Murphy four years ago look into his business dealings and concluded the tax incentive program was rewritten to favored the Norcross families special interest.

A spokesperson for the family says that the warning of this economic tax incentives has already been quote exhaustively reviewed.

Meanwhile, in North Jersey, tenants at a Newark housing complex say they -- they are desperate pleas for help being neglected after an Essex County Superior Court Judge gave landlords a second extension this week to fix major repairs at Georgia King Village.

It is a low income housing community where renters say they have been living with mold, leaky pipes, and rats.

Melissa Rose Cooper has the story.

>> Their tenants, they don't own the property, landlords have access to it anytime that they feel like it is a problem in there, whether there is a health and safety issue.

They can go in there.

But they chose not to because they don't want to.

>> Expressing her disappointment with what she says continues to be deplorable living conditions at Georgia King Village in Newark.

A judge gave the management company L and M development a one-month extension to make necessary repairs of the complex.

Yesterday, lawyers confirmed some apartments were not access.

All they did was put Band-Aids on the issue, the Senate says.

>> It's not just a Band-Aid, -- let's not just put a Band-Aid on it, let's get down to the cause of the problem.

Once we get down to the cause of the problem, we will no longer have these problems.

I won't have to talk to you or nobody else.

The infrastructure, they need brand-new pipes, internal and external pipes, they need brand-new elevators.

>> Heavy downpour.

Through this wall.

Now, it's going to the wall.

>> This is a resident, sharing the flooding coming from her basement taken last weekend.

>> This is it.

Same thing.

Basement flooded.

>> When we visited her in February she was dealing with a rat problem.

Since then she said management had patched up the whole -- had cashed up the hole and she has not seen rats.

>> I'm not happy, I'm not like -- I don't like it, I want something to be -- something to be done.

>> The judge gave -- gave them two weeks to give them -- to inspect apartments that had not been accessed.

>> This is a historical building, this is been around for 57 years.

To preserve it would be an honor.

To do that.

But if we continue to let it go like it is going right now, and we have slumlords like L and M, it will be around.

Band-Aids is not going to fix it.

Temporary fixes will not resolve the situation.

They have to get to the cause of the problem.

Put some money there.

We don't need any more new windows or any more new glasses, or any more new floors or bathrooms or playgrounds.

Let's fix the infrastructure so that we have hot, heat and hot water, we have operable elevators, and we have exactly what we need and we will be having this discussion.

>> A spokesperson issued a statement saying that we continue to work with our residents and the city on resolving any outstanding issues to ensure that we are providing the high-quality of formal housing the community deserves.

The next court proceeding is expected to take place next month.

>> In the children are now making up the smallest ever share of the U.S. population.

Down to 73 million people in 2020, from more than 74 million people just 10 years ago.

If that is an all-time low according to a foundation that put together the data.

New Jersey's child population dropped by more than 57,000 children over the past decade.

While the overall numbers are decreasing, diversity among those kids is expanding.

And it New Jersey the number of kids of color jumped 10% over the last decade, now representing 58% of that total population for 2020.

To help us understand what this means for both our children and the future of our country, I am joined by Peter Chen, a senior analyst.

It is so great to have you in the studio.

First of all, to what can we account for the fact that we are seeing this child population decrease?

This has been happening really over time as well.

>> I think that is definitely true.

We have seen birth rates decline, nationally and in New Jersey over this time.

, and the child population has been buoyed by a higher immigration level which has started slowing towards the end of the decade.

I will say that in the most recent calendar year, after 2020 census came out there was eight -- an uptick in birds.

We don't know if that trend will continue but we have seen a small uptick in 2021, in total births in New Jersey.

That's a sign that families are to be having more kids.

Maybe a positive sign towards population growth.

>> It's interesting that although the population is declining, diversity among our kids is growing.

In New Jersey in particular, among Hispanic children.

What are the implications for the future there and how we go about crafting policy so that those kids are front of mind?

>> I think diversity and equity and inclusion have become buzzwords.

But when dealing with the child population it is really a necessity because kids are coming in with a really diverse array of backgrounds and experiences that they are bringing into the whole school system and the public health system.

And it is really important that we have cultural competence across all of these areas.

One example is that there is a bill currently going through the New Jersey legislature to make sure that all state departments in New Jersey produce forms in the top 15 most spoken linkages.

That's great.

I can top 50 most spoken linkages get you through a lot but not the whole range of diversity.

When we think about a municipality like Patterson or Jews -- Jersey City we are talking about maybe 150 languages being spoken within one school district.

Thinking about the necessary policy changes, it really requires thinking about what those children are expensing.

And just as context for the diversity itself, we see these census-based categories, white, black, Hispanic, Latino, Asian.

But these are not monoliths.

Within the Asian population there is a really diverse array of backgrounds.

If it contains literally half the world's population.

It's a huge continent with lots of people and lots of backgrounds.

And some races and ethnicities are not included in the census like all Eastern or North African populations, who have historically been asked to answer as white.

>> I wonder as well, we know what the census was up against in 2020 with the pandemic, so how much can the state account for that?

>> The most recent reporting shows that there was an undercount in black and Latino and Hispanic children.

Particularly with the overlap between them, black children who also identify as Hispanic Latino.

That is a continued concern moving forward, ensuring that not only are we counting all of the kids as they are, but also whether we have the services necessary to support them through their lifecycle.

>> We should note that although the report says young people are having fewer children, you are back from maternity leave.

Doing your part.

Thank you so much and congratulations, thank you for joining me.

.

-- Peter.

>> The world of E-Sports is growing its footprint in South Jersey.

A 7100 square-foot E-Sports gaming venue opened today near Rowan University in Glassboro.

It's got up to 70 High-end per -- high-end personal computers to run up to the to do games like call of duty, league of legends.

The site is designed for what they call serious gamers, that is according to the owners, nerd Street, which has five other similar locations across the country.

This facility is the first to be located near a college campus.

The University is working with them to develop curriculum and internship opportunities around E-Sports, with plans to create club and get this, even varsity level teams.

It's a last dibs on the remaining federal pandemic relief money for the state.

Which has helped New Jersey significantly over the last three years.

The Murphy administration and lawmakers are deciding how to spend about $1 billion still on the table.

There is no short about -- shortage of ideas on where the money should go.

John Wright Meyer joins me now.

>> John, it's good to see you.

Before we get to your story, I want to ask you about this news of the day that the economy has slowed more than expected in the first quarter, what does that mean for us here at home?

>> Good to see U.S. well today.

-- you as well today.

It's a mixed bag.

On the one hand you see another quarter with growth so the third straight that we have seen with growth which is usually a good thing but we also see the rate of growth slowing for the third straight quarter.

Bringing this back to New Jersey, we are in the middle of analyzing and -- a proposed budget that the governor has put forward.

We could be on the verge of a recession if the trend continues and we eventually get into negative territory.

That is something that the governor and lawmakers have to keep in mind as they craft the next state budget, because what happens with the economy brings itself to revenues and revenues provide the money that ends up getting spent in the new fiscal year.

This is something to definitely keep an eye on, but again, it does represent growth and growth is usually a good thing.

>> Which of course has been the looming discussion of a potential recession on the horizon.

Let me shift gears about $1 billion left in federal pandemic eight, what are the proposals right now -- aid, what are the proposals right now?

>> Along with this new budget that the governor is proposing, he also has some ideas how the state should spend down its mailing COVID-19 pandemic aid that was received from the federal government, we initially got more than $6 billion from the American master plan act and there is a little over a billion dollars left.

The governor has identified a few different things, a boardwalk fund to help Jersey shore order walks, spending some of it to help local governments that have been kind of dealing with higher government employee health care costs, somewhat triggered by the pandemic, money for -- money for affordable housing, a whole bunch of ideas the government has before it and as the budget process plays out we will probably start to hear some ideas that lawmakers have as well.

The governor has said this money should be spent down during the new fiscal year so that starts on July 1.

New Jersey has a long time to spend this money, but also we are still seeing some issues as we move through the pandemic and hopefully it's all right.

With the impacts on the economy as well.

>> We also heard from GOP lawmakers who were frustrated about the pace which -- with which this money has been spent.

What are some criticisms?

-- Generally that they are not showing enough urgency with this money.

The administration has pushed back on that criticism, saying that it was the prior federal aid packages that were to address short-term needs, that the American rescue plan money is really looking at longer-term big picture investments to improve resiliency and the strength of the economy.

And that is sort of the tension point being played out in the political arena.

>> John, thank you as always.

How else could New Jersey spend its last billion dollars of pandemic eight?

Find out on his story on NJ Spotlight News.org.

Markets reacted to those slowed GDP numbers, as a look at how stocks ended today.

-- here is a look at how those stocks ended.

Make sure you check out NJ Business Beat this weekend, we look at and often overlooked but important part of our economy.

Prisoner reentry.

And the challenges that the formerly incarcerated face when trying to return to the workforce.

That is Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. on our YouTube channel.

♪ >> When it comes to saving the Jersey coastline, coconuts could be the answer.

Scientists in short towns are turning to the humble fruit to help fight against each erosion.

It turns out the outer husks of coconut shells are more like a secret weapon.

They helped natural beach grasses to grow, and they are a savior to marshes.

Ted Goldberg reports as part of our online -- ongoing serious peril and promise, which looks at the cumin source of climate change.

>> The American littoral Society has brought big changes to the shoreline of the shark River in Neptune.

>> There would not be a beach here at all.

Just picture that.

>> This is its habitat restriction program manager.

This is the million-dollar dollar project includes introducing plants that grow roots and protect sand from erosion.

The plants themselves are protected by logs made out of coconuts.

Yes, coconuts.

Which also absorb the energy from waves.

>> It does not reduce erosion, it reduces emotion rates.

We will still have erosion happening but we are stashing a more solidified kind of shoreline using these logs.

>> It is sustainable, it is biodegradable, it is relatively inexpensive.

And it works very well in restoration practices, where we are trying to reestablish the edge of a marsh for the edge of a beach.

>> Coconut fibers are also being used to reduce erosion rates in the Delaware Bay and Barnegat Bay.

They should last for a year and a half in the water and two or three years on higher ground.

>> You are adding something that is a temporary structure, something that can go away after time once you plants and the Writz established and you bring back more of the natural shoreline.

He distantly plastic residue or anything.

>> There was a proposal to build a Hardball, I'm OK, but they said that they wanted to restore the natural environment and enlisted us.

>> With a bulkhead you won't get the beach to come back.

The wave action just revolve -- reverberates off and moves out.

This will allow sand to be deposited here and lead to wildlife and -- to come back, it's -- it's fantastic because it is achieving the goal of uh, preventive flooding.

In a natural way.

>> Rick and Martha Cantrell live two blocks off the river in the -- this section of Neptune.

They say that this area was flooded badly -- during Superstorm Sandy and they are happy to hear a natural solution could protect them in the future.

>> It is much better for the environment, the less metal the better it is around here.

We are so fortunate to live so close to the river, and enjoy the natural beauty of the dunes.

>> This project was paid for with FEMA money and by local societies.

The agency has also been successful in creating shorelines with oysters and hope -- hopes to see this project expand.

>> We hope to see the success of this project and hopefully that we can do it elsewhere, so that we can get these nature based approaches much more commonly throughout New Jersey.

>> Wouldn't last for 50 years, we don't know.

That's why we try to do these projects is low-maintenance so that we can build a pond in the future.

We are dynamic and flexible just like the environment with these projects.

>> There is a catch.

It cannot be used and what is called a high-energy environment or the coconut will break apart.

Meaning the fibers are better suited for places like bays or inlets compared to the ocean coast.

In Neptune, Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.

>> Finally tonight, honoring a hometown music icon.

The original Jersey boy, I am talking about Frankie Valley, -- Valli, returned home to see a street named in his honor.

He grew up in a housing project here before making it big.

Now the corner of Stephen Crane prop -- Plaza and Frank than Avenue will bear his name and manner -- memory.

You won't be able to pass it without humming at least one of his many hits.

Congratulations to our Jersey guy.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

But be sure to tune into Reporters Roundtable with -- David Chris Mullin morning.

He talks with Declan O scale and about the struggle to move the GOP away from the conspiracy theories and election denying extremists that make up the MH EA branch of the party, plus a panel with local reports.

Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. on our YouTube channel overview wherever you stream.

And a reminder, you can now this into NJ Spotlight News anytime via podcast, go ahead and download it and check us out.

I am Briand of Vannozzi, Dachshund Briand of Vannozzi, thank you so much.

Have a great evening and we will see you back here tomorrow.

>> The members of the New Jersey education Association, making school straight for every child.

RW Jay Barnabas health, let's be healthy together, and committed to the creation of a new long-term sustainable clean energy future for New Jersey.

Funding is provided by Dr. right back a los and T Waterloo's, support is provided by the Marcos foundation and the Sheriff and Philip Milstein family.

>> Or Stead will provide renewable offshore wind energy.

Jobs, educational, supply chain and economic opportunities for the garden state.

Orst committed to providing a newe, clean, sustainable futurea ford, >> I became an ESL student -- teacher to give my students what I wanted when I came to this country.

And the opportunity to learn, to dream, to achieve, a chance to belong and to be an American.

My name is Juliet, and I am proud to be an MJ -- NJ EA member.

♪