>> Funding for "NJ Spotlight News," provided by -- The members of the New Jersey Education Association.

Making public schools great for every child.

And, RWJ Barnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

♪ BRIANNA: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News, " A historically low crime rate is the big headline out of Newark today.

The mayor toting a growing trust between cops and the take placen reverse that and begin to see a positive outcome.

BRIANNA: also, chaos on the hill.

As the year comes to a close, millions face another government shutdown as Congress rushes to pass not just a spending bill, but funding for Ukraine and Israel.

>> And I am also very concerned that we are getting the humanitarian aid that is so necessary to get into Gaza.

BRIANNA: Plus, Matter of Faith.

New Jersey religious leaders join me to discuss the rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and its impact on their houses of worship since the October 7th attacks.

>> Now I say, well, if you go into the city, perhaps you should be a little bit more careful.

I can't even believe I am mattering those words to you right now.

BREANA: and, at capacity.

Animal shelters in the state are overflowing with an influx of pets.

>> is a problem affecting shelters primarily in major metropolitan areas.

BRIANNA: "NJ Spotlight news" begins right now.

♪ Announcer: From NJPBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vannozzi.

BRIANNA: Good evening, and thanks for joining us on this Thursday night.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

Well, after spending years dubbed as one of the most dangerous cities in New Jersey, Newark is riding a new streak, logging an overall drop in violent crime, and the lowest homicide rates for the city in more than 60 years.

State and Newark leaders today touted their improvements and hailed their approach to treating violence and trauma as a public health issue as the main reason they've been able to chip away at crime in Brick City.

But can it be maintained?

Melissa Rose Cooper reports.

>> our young people, they need to understand that their situations don't dictate their destination.

They can.

But it doesn't have to.

Reporter: the message out to rake best -- al-taric best wants kids passing through the Hub Arts and Trauma Center in Newark to know.

For the last 17 years, the founder and CEO of the city's first youth focused Trauma Recovery Center has been providing a place for young adults to escape their problems in the while engaging in activities meant to lift them up.

>> I want to best understand how important it is for you to see the light in these young people's faces when you see them dream again.

When their behavior started change because somebody loved on them.

Reporter: the Hub is one of several organizations in Newark being credited for helping to curb crime in the city through partnerships with the Newark PD and the office of violence prevention and trauma recovery.

>> we have done over 400 mediations.

We have been able to help recover stolen cars and missing children at a rate that is unprecedented in conjunction with our partners and ultimately doing the work alongside law enforcement and doing the work that law enforcement cannot do.

And this is relationship based work.

So our partners are the people we have relationships with and we would not be able to do it without them.

Reporter: the public safety director announcing today, the city has seen a drastic reduction in violent crimes.

>>.

>> You will see that in 2014, Newark police reported 95 murders.

That is a 51% decrease, from 95 to 47 in 2022.

-- 24.

Comparing murders from 2023 to 2022, we show an 8% decrease.

From 51 murders last year to 47 murders this year in 2023.

And I am pleased to report that our Homicide close-out rate, which is the number of homicides resolved by Arrest, is 81% this year, which is phenomenal for our detectives.

Reporter: data also shows a 13% decrease in nonfatal shooting incidents in 2023 compared to last year, as well as a 9% drop in aggravated assault.

>> In the middle of the year we were experiencing a serious of Take.

I think the evidence has shown that we were expressing a serious uptake.

In the middle of the year.

I think the evidence has shown that when we work collectively, not only can we stop disaster from continuing to take place, we can reverse that and begin to see a positive outcome.

>> called love.

We are all working collaboratively.

All the neighborhoods that had these false narratives about how we are going back and forth with each other, these numbers are a testament that that is a myth.

Right now we might have someone offs when people have disputes that they don't know how to handle.

Whenever we have these one-offs, our job is to make sure that the narrative is what it is, it is a one-off.

Reporter: 50 new police officers were also added to the city this year.

Community advocates say they look forward to continuing the work so the streets are safer for everyone.

For NJSpotlightNews, I am Melissa Rose Cooper.

BRIANNA: Time is running out yet again, for Congress to avert a government shutdown.

Federal lawmakers are staring down a fiscal Cliff to pass a spending bill by January 19 with the money tied to crucial government programs, including funding to Ukraine and Israel, and a second deadline in February when money for the rest of the government runs out.

But none of that seems to be speeding up an agreement between House and Senate leaders to pass a dozen spending bills that should have been done nearly three months ago.

For the latest, I am joined New Jersey Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee.

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, it's good to talk to you.

You all are looking at a number of budget headaches going into this new year.

Do you see a deal being brokered on the spending bill's in enough time?

Rep. Watson Coleman: thanks for having me and happy holidays to you.

I don't think we have a choice.

Republicans have not shown themselves as IRS of governing because of the things that they put aside as they do some of the trash bills and resolutions that they have done.

But we don't have a choice here.

We have all of our spending bills either coming due on January 19 or February 2.

And if we don't pass those bills, we do not give the agencies the authority to spend the resources that they need to meet the needs of everyday families in this country, international aid, and things of that nature.

There is no alternative to this other than these incremental spending bills that last for, like, two weeks or a week or whatever.

That is no way to govern.

BRIANNA: The stopgap measure is not something that, at least the folks you are talking to, would consider at this point?

Rep. Watson Coleman: That is not something we find acceptable.

That is not something that is respectful of the needs of our country and our allies.

We will have to consider whatever the Republican majority puts on the table, but I tell you, we will fight vigorously for our family, our communities, our elderly, our children, our innocent people, and our allies.

We will continue to do the kind of fighting that we did this last year, and we will continue to try to pursue the purpose we made on behalf of everyone in the biggest Congress when we were in charge -- the progress we've made on behalf of everyone in the previous Congress when we were in charge.

VIVIANA: are you concerned when, about funding for Ukraine and Israel being on the chopping block when we know defense spending in general has been in the crosshairs?

Rep. Watson Coleman: I am very concerned about being able to support our allies in protecting themselves, protecting their countries, and ultimately protecting us, Brianna.

We are not supporting people just because we want to, we supporting them because we have a stake in their safety and security as well.

And I am also very concerned that we are getting the humanitarian aid that is so necessary to get into Gaza.

The devastation of Gaza and the thousands of innocent people killed there is inhumane, and it is an acceptable.

And this country, the peace-loving leading country that we have always been, we need to seek to be.

BRIANNA: Secretary Blinken was in Mexico looking at order reform, at immigration policy.

Do you anticipate your Republican colleagues using immigration and the border policy as a leverage point in some of these negotiations?

Rep. Watson Coleman: Yes, of course, I do.

I believe there are measures that can be introduced in the border that makes sense, whether it is technology, we can stop people from seeking asylum.

We are not evil.

We are not mean.

We are not hateful people in this country.

We need to find a way to manage what is coming across the border.

Why are they coming across the border?

Would they be leaving countries that are prosperous and safe and secure for their families?

Absolutely not.

Who are we, the United States of America?

We tell you, "bring us your POOR.

Bring us of those that need to be sheltered."

That is who we are.

We need to be it in a moment when it is needed.

BRIANNA: Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, thank you.

Happy New Year to you, what will undoubtedly be another busy one.

Rep. Watson Coleman: Thank you and the same to all of your listeners.

God bless.

BRIANNA: From gold bars and the sweeping indictment to surprising U.S. Senate campaigns , New Jersey had its fair share of big political moments this year.

And it looks like 2024 will be equally as significant.

Senior political correspondent David Cruz breaks down the top political stories of 2023, and what New Jerseyans can expect in the new year.

David: when 2023 began, Senator Bob Menendez seemed a shoo-in for reelection.

McGrath' big concern was the potential for a Red Wave in November's legislative elections.

But then -- >> On Friday the Southern District of New York brought charges against me.

David: that changed everything, with Democrats calling on Menendez to resign, and the senator apparently unelectable.

Would be successors emerged quickly.

First, Congressman Andy Kim and then First Lady Tammy Murphy, putting the Murphy legacy and the county party line on trial.

>> If anybody can make a run at the county organizations, it is going to be a well-financed, well-known, well-liked candidate like Andy Kim.

If anybody can put a dent in him, he can.

DAVID: Republican strategist Chris Russell knows how important the county line is.

Candidates on the line almost always win.

On paper.

>> on paper, like you said, she will have an all out attempt to hand her the lines or most of them.

Having been on the other side of the campaign with Andy Kim in 2018 when I worked with Tom MacArthur and got a very tough race that Andy ended up winning by about a point, do not take this guy for granted.

David: the primary will be the most interesting statewide race, according to most experts.

Republicans would need Menendez to be the candidate in order to have a shot at the Senate seat in 2024.

Add that to the beating they took in legislative elections , and the GOP could see 2024 as a rebuilding year.

2025 and the governor's race is where their sights are set.

Russell, who is a Jack Ciattarelli guy, says besides picking a candidate, the state's GOP will have to reckon with itself.

>> I think the party will have a decision to make about where we want to go as a party in this state.

David: is it a Ciattarelli GOP or is it John Bramnick?

Or someone with the more conservative elements of the party, who many still blame for the GOP losses in November?

As for the Jersey City Democratic mayor Steven Fulop, who has been running alone until a few weeks ago, he seems unworried about fellow Democrat Steve Sweeney, who's just announced, or Mikey Sherill, or Josh Gottheimer, whose enthusiasm for the race will also be determined in early 2024.

>> Former Senate President Steve Sweeney is in the mix.

There will be other candidates.

I don't think it changes what Mayor Fulop is going to do.

He will continue to talk about how we can fix some of the big issue going on in the state and what kind of solutions he can bring to the table.

>> Some of these other candidates like Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill, they have a big decision to make first which is, are they even running for reelection in 2024, or will they focus all their energy on the governor's race?

David: the thing about these lookahead stories is that when it comes time to look back, you almost always end up saying, "Wow, I didn't see that coming."

David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.

BRIANNA: As 2023 comes to a close, the war in Gaza continues.

The Israeli military is targeting the central region of the strip and warning residents, including those at the A L-BURIJ refugee camp to evacuate to shelters.

This, after an Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas militants killed dozens of Palestinians sheltering near one of the last functioning hospitals in southern Gaza.

The W.H.O.

says efforts to deliver medical supplies and fuel to the hospitals have been difficult, with starving displaced and desperate Palestinians stopping the convoys in search of food.

Here in New Jersey home to large , populations of Jewish and Palestinian Americans, communities are figuring out how to confront the peril of this war.

And we have launched a different kind of conversations looking at the issues.

Matter of Faith is part of the podcast project aiming to better understand how faith intersects with and influences our private world.

In our pilot episode, which drops today, I spoke with Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz and Imam Deen Shariff about how the rise in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic threats since October 7th are.

-- are impacting their houses of worship, and their advice to the faithful.

Here is a clip.

You touched on something, Rabbi, that I wanted to go to.

We have seen a rise in hate, violence, threats against both Muslims, Jews in America, in New Jersey, so if your worshipers are not feeling safe to come together and practice their faith, and a lot of us really rely on that community and being together in person, how are you helping them navigate that if they don't feel comfortable coming to the synagogue?

Guest: is the one place I would say they do feel comfortable.

One hour a week.

We meet Friday nights at 5:30.

We used to get -- people thought , oh, you are doing really well Gewirtz, you have 180 to 200 every Friday night.

In suburban Jewish area has, that is considered a good amount of people.

But I have 1300 families.

I know if I was selling salami for a living, I would never be effective with only 30% of the people.

My point is that since the war, we have 800 people who come every Friday night and they are not all with gray hair.

People in their 30's and 40's and 50's.

They tell me that the one place they will not get attacked is in the synagogue.

That doesn't necessarily mean physically -- I mean, they will not walk around having names called.

No one will question their faith or their ability to exist.

It is true we have security, and security costs have gone up exponentially.

I don't know if I told you this, but the night before Rosh Hashanah and the new year, we were swatted.

We had a bomb threat and we all had to leave 8 minutes into services.

So are we safe?

Probably not completely.

But existentially, emotionally, spiritually, no one feels safer than they do in the synagogue with other Jews right now.

Guest: I think there may be a false sense sometimes of safety in the house of worship.

And like Matthew, the people feel more comfortable in the house of worship.

Because they have a sense that the people that are there are not going to harm them.

However, when you are in the city and you are traveling in the city -- >> I had to even think about whether I wanted to wear this K UFI, today, in light of the fact that the three Muslim men were shot at in Vermont were wearing KEFFIYAHS, which are a Palestinian scarf.

They were identified as a result of wearing that scarf.

The same with the hat.

So for the first time, I had to think about whether or not I was going to wear it.

I said I will wear the KUFI.

It is just something that I wear most of the time.

However, I do warn women that they have to be very careful because if they are wearing a hijab, or wearing the traditional dress of women, it is very easy for someone to spot them as Muslim women.

So they have to be very cautious.

It does mean sometimes that you dress modestly, but you don't always have to dress in a way that is obviously in Muslim garb , right, it can be something that is modest and at the same time, contemporary.

I tell the women that they have to sometimes adjust their garments so they can dress according to Islamic principles, it doesn't necessarily have to be cultural.

BRIANNA: So, asking them to scale back, almost, so as to not be a target?

Guest: Yes.

Guest: Isn't that amazing?

This is not 1933.

This is 2023.

>> And the idea that, and it makes me we are not the same relative to to to think that we have to tell our congregants.

By the way, I have been telling mind a same thing.

I used to say show it was all pride.

Loud and proud.

But now I say, well, if you go into the city, perhaps you should be a little bit more careful.

I cannot even believe I am uttering those words right now.

Guest: Especially if they are by themselves.

Guest: Sure.

My parents who have both gone, the only time I would ever say thank God they are not here is now.

My father was barely born in this country.

You didn't speak English.

He had a European accident until he was seven.

All that his parents did to fight for the right to not have this kind of behavior exist in America -- they came here to run away from that, and look what it is we're facing.

And what you just said before, America has still not been the place it needs to be.

Guest: Right.

BRIANNA: You can find the full "Matter of Faith" conversation wherever you download our NJ Spotlight News podcast, available now.

Listen and share.

In our Spotlight on Business Report tonight, the largest healthcare provider in Hudson County is urging state leaders to find $130 million in emergency cash for its three hospitals.

That is Christ Hospital in Jersey City, Hoboken University Medical Center, and Bayonne Medical Center, all operated by a cure health system.

The nonprofit says inflation and unpaid medical bills of pushed it to a financial breaking point.

Care point recently launched an online petition addressed to Governor Murphy and top lawmakers calling for the state bailout.

The Jersey Journal has reported care-point is being sued by more vendors for failing to pay for services.

State officials have warned of financial problems at that three hospitals since October.

Local Hudson, leaders are also joining the hospital system's call for emergency health.

On most weeks today, the -- on Wall Street today, the major indexes looking to log one of their best winning streaks in years.

Here is how the markets closed.

♪ BRIANNA: If starting the new year off with a new family member piques your interest, in, of course, I am talking about the four-legged kind, you are in luck.

That shelters are inundated right now, and according to national surveys, rescues are heading into 2024, the most overcrowded they have been in years.

You can chalk that up to the pandemic era pet adoption boom that has leveled off.

Ted Goldberg visited a Humane Society in Newark today, which just happens to be open for adoption.

♪ [Dogs barking] TED: there is a lot of good boys and good girls at the Associated humane societies in Newark.

Maybe too many.

>> Approximately 450 under our care.

You look back a year and half ago, we probably had 250.

TED: the CEO says intake has gone up 30% for dogs and cats from this time last year.

>> It's a problem that is affecting shelters, primarily in major metropolitan areas.

Hey!

TED: that includes Slim Jim, who has lived here almost.

>> A year.

>> he came in emaciated.

He was only a puppy, about seven months old.

His prognosis looked very grim.

We did send him out to the emergency.

They hydrated him, gave him whatever meds he needed.

>> Six.

Good boy.

TED: slim Jim beat the odds and went after recovery the same way he goes after toys and any food within striking distance.

>> He always had that glimmer in his eye, like, I want to fight, I want to make it through.

It was slow but he did eventually get better and now, you would never know that he was once emaciated.

TED: While slim Jim has become a big, beefy boy, his energy has made him hard to adopt.

The dog rescue coordinator says an ideal household is people who can keep up.

>> An active family, older kids.

Anybody in that range.

He loves people.

He loves people.

He has been on MEETS people and he does well, but as soon as they go to pet him, he get overestimated and starts jumping.

People like a calmer dog.

TED: the center is full of dogs and cats looking for a new home.

Like this one that has been here nearly 600 days.

Rosenthal says many of them have been surrendered by their owners, which has more and more led to additional animals calling this shelter home.

>> Everything is much more expensive these days too, you know, in terms of food and housing.

People have to make hard choices and unfortunately, if they are moving their housing arrangements don't allow them to bring an animal there.

>> That have been a few weeks where we got maybe 10-15 dogs out between rescues, adoptions and fosters, and the very next day, 15, 17 or 20 would come in.

TED: Rosenthal says that shelter is now working with community groups to help families who think they might have to give up their beloved pets, making it easier to keep their furry friends.

>> People have made the mental decision to surrender them onto the come here, so we need to get to them early.

We are doing that by partnering with community food banks and also with animal control officers who are on the field not just picking up stray animals, but stopping, doing educational seminars.

TED: These are pets that have been adopted from this shelter just in December.

Rosenthal hopes to add more pictures soon with animals finding their forever homes.

In Newark, Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

BRIANNA: And that will do it for us tonight.

I I am Brianna Vannozzi.

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

Have a great evening.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

♪ ANNOUNCER: NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

And, by the PSEG Foundation.

♪