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>> Tonight on NJ Spotlight news, a firsthand look at the impacts of war.

>> It is a very complicated conflict.

They are refusing to let innocent Palestinian civilians leave areas, so they put them into harms way.

>> Also, lowering the voting age.

>> We recognize that these 16 and 17-year-old have a voice, have an interest.

Let them have that say at the ballot box.

>> The Newark city Council considers allowing students as young as 16 to vote in school board elections.

Plus, on the move.

Millions across the country hit the roads and skies as experts in to a record-breaking holiday travel season.

>> There is a lot of people right now and the plane was definitely crowded.

>> and addressing loneliness.

A new study finds more than 300,000 New Jerseyans will spend their holidays alone.

NJ Spotlight news begins right now.

♪ >> From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight news.

>> Good evening and thanks for joining us tonight.

The United Nations passed a resolution today to help bring more aid into Gaza.

The agreement will appoint a senior U.N. official who will coordinate aid to the board than 570,000 people in Gaza facing starvation.

So far more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed.

The U.S. notably abstained from the vote today because it felt the U.N. did not decisively condemn the attacks by Hamas on October 7.

The resolution did call for all hostages held by Hamas to be released immediately and did not call for a cease-fire at the urging of the U.S.. New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer visited Israel this week and returned yesterday after what he describes as a nonstop trip.

He's here to discuss some of his biggest takeaways.

Great to have you with us tonight.

You just returned from leading an official intelligence committee trip to Israel, where you got to speak to prime minister Netanyahu, intelligence officials and members of some of the hostages held there.

What did you hear in terms of Israel's strategy for their next steps in this war?

>> Thanks for having me.

It was an intense 18 hours or so on the ground, also met with the intelligence agencies.

My focus was how we achieve the objectives laid out by President Biden to get the hostages home.

I know that is shared by the Israelis am including the seven Americans who remain hostage, to do everything we can to crush Hamas, which continues to wreak havoc in the region, fire rockets at Israel, our key ally, and to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, especially dealing with what we know continuous, which is Hamas using an instant Palestinians as -- using innocent Palestinians as human shields.

My conversations were around how we get hostages home and crush Hamas and deliver humanitarian aid and keep every progressive act that is targeted as possible in that effort.

>> Did you hear from Israel that commitment to keep this a targeted attack?

As we know 20,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Hamas right now is using Palestinians as human shields.

>> You can see it.

I saw how sophisticated their tunnel system is, going six stories down.

What happens is Hamas jumps out of tunnels and fires at Israeli soldiers, then goes back into the tunnel system.

It is a very complicated conflict.

They are refusing to let innocent Palestinian civilians leave areas, so they put them into harm's way.

They are using mosques and schools as places where they are keeping weapons and they hurt innocent people in places where they should be evacuating them.

It is incredibly difficult.

What I heard from the Israeli prime minister directly is what lengths they are going to to make sure they are targeted at Hamas, at the terrorist who burned, decapitated, committed the most heinous acts I have ever seen to Israelis and Americans and others on October 7.

>> Should Qatar the playing a stronger role in helping to negotiate the release of more hostages?

>> Absolutely, it is something I talked about at great length in many of my conversations, was the role of the Qataris.

Yes, I believe the Qataris who have relationships with Hamas, have Hamas living in their country, there should be a lot of pressure on them to get this done, to say to Hamas it is time to release the hostages.

That is a key part of making sure we end this war.

I put a lot of responsibility directly on them to get it done.

>> The U.N. just passed a resolution today to get more aid into Gaza.

The U.S. abstained from that vote.

I'm curious in what you think the U.S. strategy should be in terms of supporting Israel moving forward.

>> We have to support Israel.

She is our key ally that was attacked by terrorists who seek to do us harm.

They were all backed by Iran, Hezbollah in the north, Palestinian jihad, the Houthis are continuing to fire in the Red Sea at ships, out of Iraq and out of Syria there has been firing at American bases and our key allies, including Israel.

I think we have no choice but to make sure we fight back and stop terrorist.

>> Congressman, great to have you on.

>> Thanks for having me.

>> Meanwhile, Israel's agricultural sector is in jeopardy because farmers are struggling to keep up with the workload.

That is because many foreign workers returned to their home countries after the Hamas attack and many Israelis were called to fight in the IDF.

That is where special volunteers from New Jersey stepped in to help.

Raven Santana has the story on how they went to Israel to lend a helping hand.

>> There was one who said this was a red alert to get to your bomb shelter.

It passed.

So that was nerve-racking.

.

I had never experienced that before.

>> She had originally flown to Israel to support her parents after her mother was in the hospital.

The resident said after a few days of caring for her mother, who was making a speedy recovery, she decided to turn her attention to volunteering.

>> Seeing Jerusalem so quiet was very hard to see, because it is really lively.

Not hearing children on Sabbath when kids are running around was shocking.

>> She says she spent two weeks volunteering on small farms in Israel that were in need of help.

>> I volunteered picking pomegranates.

I planted garlic at another form.

I weeded and pruned strawberry plants.

I also worked for this organization and they lend out medical equipment to those in need.

There is no a dire need for wheelchairs -- there is now a dire need for wheelchairs for soldiers that are injured in the horrific, heinous slaughter on October 7.

>> She is not alone.

She is one exhibit of how New Jerseyans have come out in full force to help aid families who lost their homes in the Hamas terror attack.

One of the biggest challenges is never getting where volunteers can stay or who to help once they landed in Israel.

>> No one wants to go to the borders.

No one wants to go five kilometers from Egypt, but that is where the farms are.

We have groups, they are not huge, but we have groups of I would say 10 to 20 that we send out every week to the farms in the South.

It is the one place where I have lodging, because the rest of the country, the hotels are full with evacuees.

Tourists, it is not a time to bring in hundreds of thousands of tourists.

Every piece of property we had, even Airbnb, people in their own homes and they live abroad have opened up their homes for the evacuees.

So you have to find places if you're going to bring people in.

>> That is where Beverly comes in.

She has coordinated with hundreds of volunteers from around the world to send them to farms where there is a labor shortage, and she did most of it all through a WhatsApp group.

>> It is maybe 30 families and each person has a plot of land of their own.

And so when we go down there, we are working for many individual farmers.

That is where it is critical.

Maybe he has a son, maybe he has a son in law helping him, but right now they are all on the front fighting.

>> It is not just physical support needed, it is also emotional.

A senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel has taken a group of 18 members from his synagogue to Israel, where they visited families whose loved ones were taken hostage.

>> We spend the day meeting with families whose loved ones have been held hostage since October 7, no proofs of life, no discussions, no information about their welfare.

That has been horrible.

We met with Israeli leadership, some who are part of the military, some who are part of the government, and talking about how you fight a war and how you negotiate for hostages when you are fighting a war.

We have met with families who lost loved ones.

We have gone to the hospital to see what did shoulders.

-- to see wounded soldiers.

We took tours at homes that were demolished and burned out or people were murdered.

We saw some of that devastation firsthand.

>> He is now giving 100% of the proceeds from his new book "Streams of shattered consciousness" to victims in Israel who survived the events of October 7.

>> Israel was in an unprecedented and unmitigated nightmare.

It still is in it.

Be in by its side and letting people know that jews and non-jews, people who care about civilization and goodness, are there to help them.

That is why we will keep two-minute.

-- keep doing it.

>> Teacher, leave those kids alone, because they may be able to vote soon, at least in Newark where the city Council moved forward a resolution that would allow 16-year-olds to vote in their local scoreboard elections.

-- school board elections.

16-year-olds have this right in other states.

But Newark is leading this effort here in New Jersey.

>> It looks like 2024 could end up being the year of the teenager in New Jersey politics.

In the state legislature, there is a move to allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they are 18 by election day.

18 is the legal voting age in New Jersey.

But in Newark this week, a first in the state measure that would empower 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections got unanimous support from the city Council and the administration.

>> The administration is fully supportive of that legislation.

We believe the students in this city should have a right and how they are educated and the matter in which the schools are run.

And their right to be involved in just the intellectual process and Civics in general.

>> The New Jersey Institute for social justice is working with other groups to move the legislation forward.

The law and policy director for the group spoke in support of the measure this week, calling it an important countermeasure against forces that would curb access to the voting booth.

She says young people have been on the Vanguard of social change.

>> We watched them voice their concerns on social media, in traditional media, on the streets.

They are out here talking about Black Lives Matter, they are out here talking about gun violence, talking about climate change and any number of issues they care about.

We have to watch them.

Oh, it will be great when they have a say.

But they have had a say.

>> With a budget of over $1 billion, you would think the school board might attract more voter attention than the recent turnout of just over 3%.

One councilperson says empowering 16 and 17-year-olds, over 7000 of them enrolled in city schools, should be just start.

>> I have no problem with looking at the possibility of engaging 16 and 17-year-olds, but I also believe if we are going to move in that direction, then we should also figure out ways to enable residents who are, regardless of their status, who represent the majority of this new population that encompasses our Newark public schools, a voice in the process.

Let's look at municipal elections.

We do have a large percentage of legal residents who may not be citizens yet.

Other cities around the country have enabled and allowed those individuals to participate in municipal elections.

>> Ramos said he also supports making the current student member of the board of ed a full voting member, which is not the case right now.

The current ordinance will have a second hearing and devote early next month.

If adopted, it could be in place for the April school elections.

David Cruz, NJ Spotlight news.

>> The Attorney General's office launched an investigation into the conduct and training practices of the Clark Police Department after a series of allegations were made against some officers on the job, including the chief of police, the police captain and a sergeant.

These range from a barrette language used to great crime victims and suspects, racially influenced policing and hiring practices, deprivation of civil rights, coverups using public funds to hide misconduct, and abuses within Clark's internal affairs that failed to follow proper recalls.

In 2020, the union County prosecutor's office and Attorney General's office took control of Clark's Police Department, firing its leadership and launching an initial investigation after it came to light that audio recordings existed, including Clark's mayor using antisemitic and misogynistic leg which.

That investigation revealed new possible criminal conduct that the AG says requires further investigation.

These possible violations followed New Jersey's law against this termination.

The AG and Union County prosecutor are still overseeing all operations of the Clark and PD and said in a recent report these allegations do not reflect the commitment of most officers in the Clark Police Department who do their job honorably.

if you are watching this, hopefully you have already hit the roads or hop a flight to wherever you are going this holiday season.

If not, expect big crowds at the airport and traffic on the roads.

The Port Authority says we are in the middle of a peak travel period lasting yesterday until January 2.

Rose Cooper talked to travelers to get a sense of the holiday rush before Christmas.

>> Hundreds waiting patiently inside Newark airport as they look over their luggage to hit the baggage carousel.

Some even taking the opportunity to take photos with loved ones, while others like Samantha passing the time with her friends after flying in from Georgia.

>> It has been good.

There is a lot of people right now and the plane was definitely crowded, but doing it alone with these two could have been worse.

>> She is used to traveling for the holidays come about says this time is a little different.

>> Definitely busier this year, but we did not have dogs last year, the last two years.

I moved away three years ago.

The last two years were more smooth sailing.

>> She is one of millions of Americans traveling during what AAA is calling the busiest holiday travel season in years.

A spokesperson says 2.6 million New Jersey residents are expected to get out of town this year.

That is up 2.7% from 2022.

>> We are actually feeling travel up across all modes of transportation for the year end holidays.

Air travel is up 5.1%.

And other modes of transportation is actually up 16.3%, so a huge jump in those traveling by train, bus, or cruising.

>> As you can see, things are pretty busy at the airport, but travelers say the crowds are not stopping their excitement for spending time with their families.

>> We are in New York for three days and then to visit family.

>> Noble tripping the increase in travel to the slight drop in overall prices.

>> We have seen airline prices come down compared to where they were last year, so people advantage of those cheaper prices and we have also seen some relief at the gas pump.

So prices are trending much lower than they were a year ago.

Over the past couple days, they fluctuated a little bit, but there are still plenty of stations across New Jersey selling gas below three dollars a gallon.

>> Another reason why driving remains the top mode of travel.

>> We have 3.4 million New Jerseyans traveling to their destination this season, almost 90% of those traveling.

It still remains the easiest way to move a family.

If you are a family of four or five, it is much cheaper to throw everybody in the car than it is to pair you for airfare -- to pay for airfare or cruisefare.

Roadways will be extremely busy, so if you are an earlybird or night out, leaving early or late is your best option.

Or taking the road less traveled.

Knock yourself off the major highways.

It might be longer, but you have a better chance of moving forward instead of sitting in traffic.

Same goes for the airports.

If you are flying to your destination, get to the airport much earlier than you originally would.

>> Whether you are hitting the road or the skies this season, Noble says it is best to practice extra patients to make sure everyone makes it to and from their destination safely.

>> We generally think of the holidays as a time for gathering, being with family and friends, but new research shows more than 300,000 New Jerseyans will spend this holiday season alone.

Loneliness, especially during the holidays, is a growing mental health issue that impacts millions and can lead to higher mortality rates.

Senator Andrew Zwicker wrote an op-ed pointing to legislation that would deliver more support to the state.

I am joined by a professor at the University of Texas at Austin to talk about what you can do if you are feeling lonely.

Great to have you with us.

Your work focuses on loneliness and how people can create meaningful connections around them.

For those who may not have a nuclear network around them, how can you make connections?

>> Thanks for giving me an opportunity to talk about that.

When you think about your social network, most of us are very aware of our close ties, that we have friends, we have family.

When we as researchers look at who you interact with all day, we spend a lot of time with what we would call weak ties.

That might be your neighbors, who you might not call a friend, but you see them for your walk.

It might be the priest or -- be the barista that knows your order, or the guy on the treadmill at the gym.

These are people in your life that you may not be as aware of.

Assess who is in your social network.

Those would be people that we would include that you may not be as aware of, and they are still important.

>> Do those people then act as a solve to loneliness, or do we need to have more meaningful connections in our lives to prevent loneliness from happening?

>> Actually, both sets of people matter and they serve different functions.

Your close ties are the people that may give emotional connection or a sense of belonging, and they may also be the ones that would show up if you are sick.

The people who do the best have both sets of ties.

The weak ties give you stimulation and novelty.

You may have noticed during COVID that at the end of the day, if you were not with your close ties, you did not have a lot to talk about.

I took a snack in the kitchen, me too.

Talking to someone outside the household was stimulated, was -- was stimulating, was still interesting.

You can feel grounded by those people, so they are familiar.

They give us a sense of, this is my life and I expect the same things to happen on a daily basis.

>> People might hear the issue of loneliness and say that sounds like a sad problem, but in reality it can be a deadly problem.

There are increased rates of mortality among people who are lonely.

In one study said it is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day in terms of the impact it can have on your help.

What is the impetus on us, on people in the community to go out and seek out those who might be lonely?

How do we help?

>> In that case, if you are lonely, we know volunteering, that giving to others is very beneficial.

It has counter evidence to that, that it is like giving up 15 packs of cigarettes.

There is a tremendous bonus from volunteering.

If you want to alleviate other people's loneliness, but if you don't want to be lonely, you can counteract that effect.

Maybe you do not like to start a conversation with the barista, but find a group that is volunteering and all of a sudden you are with other people and doing something collectively that feels good, that feels meaningful.

That is the end to loneliness for you and the other people.

>> This is great advice, especially around the holidays.

Thanks for being with us.

>> Thank you for giving me an opportunity to talk with you.

>> In our spotlight on business report tonight, Patterson relaunched its guaranteed income program, giving residents a monthly payment to reduce their hardships.

The first payments will go out this month to 200 low income residents who will each receive $400 a month over the next year.

Those payments coming on a debit card.

The residence who receive the money were selected in a lottery that Patterson ran in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania's center for guaranteed income.

The first year of the program saw 110 residents receive the payments that they used on groceries, utility bills and rent.

One woman was able to have her first real Thanksgiving dinner thanks to the program.

A favorable inflation report led to stocks closing up for the eighth week in a row.

Here is a look at the closing numbers.

The markets will remain closed on Christmas Monday.

♪ And that is going to do it for us tonight, but don't forget to download the NJ Spotlight news podcast so you can listen anytime.

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

Have a great holiday weekend.

We will see you right back here on Monday.

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

And RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

>> Our future relies on more than clean energy.

Our future relies on empowered communities, the health and safety of our families and neighbors, of our schools and streets.

The PSAG foundation is committed to sustainability, equity and economic empowerment, investing in parks, helping towns go green, supporting civic centers, scholarships and workforce development that strengthen our community.

♪