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>> Tonight on NJ Spotlight News, remembering Jimmy Carter.

A champion for peace and humanitarian work.

The impact of his legacy, felt right here in the Garden State.

>> I believe he set the Christian example by living it, working it, doing it every day.

Through all the Carter work projects, the people that I know that were blessed to be able to work alongside him.

>> Are the streets of Newark any safer?

Violent crime is seeing an uptick.

Despite the glowing flood risk along New Jersey's shore, a multibillion-dollar flood prevention plan is scaled way back.

>> How do we live with the short and not just on the shore?

>> And the party is over for party city, but workers say the end came too soon, they are filing a class action lawsuit saying their termination violence state law -- violates state law.

>> It was put down on us with zero communication.

With the leadership overall, they do need to be held accountable.

>> NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

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

>> Hello and thanks for joining us tonight, I am Joanna gaggis in for Briana Vannozzi.

Former President Jimmy Carter died yesterday at the age of 100 be a good the longest living president in American history in the longest married to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died last year of your good President Carter's single time presidency was not regarded as a success by many but he made many changes during his term that change the course of life here in the U.S., he helped facilitate the Camp David Accords striking a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, he engaged in a diplomatic relationship with China and handed control of the Panama Canal to Panama.

He also launched the country's solar energy program putting the for solar panels on the White House, doubled the size of our National Park system, and appointed black people including many women to positions of power in his administration at a time when segregation still existed in the South.

But it was the life you lived after his presidency that perhaps had the greatest impact, winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work with the Carter Center that promoted human rights, advance democracy and sod out peaceful solutions to international conflicts across the globe.

Some of his humanitarian work at home right here in New Jersey, when he helped rebuild homes after Superstorm Sandy and attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for Habitat for Humanity.

We will take a closer look at that later in the show.

Today was the last of the crazy busy travel days predicted by TSA.

A total of 40 million passengers were expected to take to the skies between December 19th and January 2.

Today was one of three of the busiest days predicted.

Travel increased 6% this year according to the TSA.

According to Tripoli, most of the travelers this holiday season were on the roads.

A new report from the New Jersey State police chosen concerning rise in traffic deaths on New Jersey rose over the last year.

A total of 678 people have died in traffic incidents marking a 13% increase from the same time last year and 218 pedestrians were killed in crashes, a 33% increase from last year.

A representative from the state division of Highway traffic safety points to speeding, distracted and impaired driving as the causes for these increases, so as you head out on the road, remember to put your phone down, follow the rules of the road, drive sober and please stay safe out there.

Traffic is flowing smoothly again on Route 80 East in Morris County after a massive sinkhole took out the shoulder and forced all eastbound lanes of the interstate to close last Thursday.

Stickers have been working to repair the gaping hole that was 40 feet across and was caused by the collapse of an abandoned mineshaft under the road.

The state Department of Transportation said crews worked around-the-clock through the rainy holiday weekend to fill the sinkhole with stone, concrete and several layers of asphalt, allowing the section of the highway which is near exit 34, intersection with Route 15 and Wharton, to reopen as of this morning.

At a time when thousands of New Jersey families were left devastated by Superstorm Sandy, it was quite a sight to see former president Jimmy Carter At 80 years old pick up a hammer and start helping people rebuild their homes in Union Beach in 2013.

He came here to support the work of Habitat for Humanity, an organization he partnered with to in his words remove the stigma of charity by substituting it with a sense of partnership.

He was there for the opening of a habitat location in Salem County in 1985 where Sue and Lady now serves as Executive Director.

She had a chance to meet the former president and is here to share the impact he had on habitat.

So great to have you on the show with us tonight.

We featured you in our 21 series for the work that you do with Habitat for Humanity in Salem County.

I want to understand when you take a look at the impact former president Jimmy Carter Had on your organization as a whole, what did it mean to have a former president partner with habitat in the way that he did?

>> We believe we are very blessed to have had him participated in our first dedication, that was in 1985.

He was here, spent the night locally, met with people.

I have run into so many people that have told me that they were little children and they were there to meet the president.

It was a big deal for Salem County to have a president come.

>> That was a ribbon-cutting for the opening of habitat before your time as Executive Director.

We saw after Superstorm Sandy the former president not just come to shake hands,, do the work of helping rebuild homes, and that seemed to be the live he lived, a life of service.

Not many actually do the work.

>> Correct.

He was someone you could work alongside with.

It was actually there to dedicate the first home.

But his life was a life of service.

A almost important to him.

He -- A home was important to him.

He came from humble beginnings.

He did not mind sleeping in church on a cot.

He was a down-to-earth guy.

When we met with him, during his Bible study, he could not have been more warm and welcoming and appreciative of our work for Habitat for Humanity.

Thanking us for what we've done.

>> Both your work and the president himself shared a Christian faith and Christian commitment to serving others.

When you look more broadly at his impact, what was his impact -- the impact of a president really elevating this organization to be able to do more work, to serve more people?

>> I truly believe that was a catalyst for us, in launching our Habitat for Humanity, it's something special.

We are the 23rd affiliate but we are the first in New Jersey, very grassroots habitat.

I believe it led to some credibility to the program and to what we are all about.

Not just giving away homes like most people think, we are putting a roof over their head and giving them hope.

>> That just giving it away, the president sent himself it was taking over the stigma of charity by building partnership.

How do you partner with the folks who are going to live in those home so it is not just charity but it truly is working together?

>> We have to find ways to accommodate them.

Work schedules, abilities, their skills.

But it's amazing to see how at the end of the process, they have accomplished things they would've never dreamed they could have possibly done.

So I believe that our construction manager, to the people that procure and order thanks, everybody is involved and can contribute and they see how many people it takes to help provide a home to them.

With joy.

>> That's an important part.

What would you say the former president -- that former president Jimmy Carter's legacy is here in New Jersey and across the country?

>> I believe he said a Christian example by working it, living it, doing it every day.

By all the -- Through all the Carter work projects, the people that I know that were blessed to be able to work alongside him said, you did not sit down, you did not rest when President Carter was on the site, because he just kept moving.

Even Rosalynn, what a tremendous woman and partner she was.

I'm positive that they are together right now in a much better place and getting the reward he deserves for a life well lived.

>> Dutifully said.

S-- beautifully said.

Sue ann, The executive director of Habitat for Humanity Salem County, thanks for being with us tonight.

>> Thank you so much.

>> New crime reports out of Newark show getting a handle over criminal activity continues to be a complicated challenge for city leaders.

On the one hand, good news, as the murder rate dropped over the last year, but other violent crimes rose over the same time period, calling into question how the city can actually take on the task of keeping its citizens and safer.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan got reactions from city leaders to the latest crime stats.

>> We realize we cannot arrest our way out of this issue and since we changed our approach, it's improved our strategy.

Reporter: Officials announced the city so if murders this year, a continuing downward trend, but the rate of other violent crimes rose by double digits in 2024.

It's a setback city leaders attributed to several issues, especially a spike in domestic violence, says the new deputy mayor of Public Safety.

>> Domestic violence incidents are because of financial issues people are staying in their houses with their abusers because they can't afford to move, because they want to keep families together and they want to keep the children in the house with the person who may be the abuse of.

Reporter: The surge is tied to more stabbings and aggravated assault.

>> 50% of aggravated assault are domestic violence related, we are working with the office of violence prevention and the prosecutor's office to address that in 2025 and bring numbers down.

Reporter: Community activists explained Newark's expanding migrant population has become a robbery target.

>> We find out they keep large sums of money on themselves because they are unable to go to banks and open a bank accounts and they may be living with friends and family and people they may not know so that is known now and they are a large targeted population.

Reporter: Newark's violent crime rate rose almost 20% this year but the homicide rate fell by 21% -- 28% this year but the homicide rate fell by 21%.

Overall crimes have trended downward 10% last year as well as a drop in the homicide rate.

In 2022,, crime fell 6% and homicides by 15%.

>> This work especially, because it represents the collective shift towards prioritizing people over punishment.

Reporter: Newark officials take a twofold approach that involves both law enforcement and violent crime prevention through community outreach.

>> The resources are coming to the houses.

The resources are coming to the community.

We are bringing our resources.

Reporter: Tonya Lewis response to crisis calls with the office of violence prevention and trauma recovery, case that also involve police officers.

The two groups must coordinate between crime investigation and social or mental health response, conflicts have arisen.

>> They are doing one thing and we are doing another but always collaborating together to ensure we get to the end goal and that is to take care of the victim.

>> We are working with people outside the yellow tape to say that you experience anything, witness anything, do you need any assistance?

We have social workers here that you can speak to or if you need to speak to someone in law enforcement we can navigate that for you.

Reporter: The mayor presided over a significant Police Department shakeup, recently appointing a manual as public safety director and Sharonda Morris as police chief.

Meanwhile the department continues its progress under port order reformed -- court order reforms >> Nothing works without Public Safety.

Public Safety is the most important aspect of any community.

If people don't feel safe coming out of their homes, moving about their neighborhood, nothing else will work.

Reporter: Advocates say it is a process that will take training commitment and funding to regain the public's confidence in its police force.

Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

>> The Army Corps of Engineers has scaled back a plan that would've installed several massive floodgates in the back bays and inlets found in ocean, Atlanta, Cape May and Burlington County's.

The high cost with a ticket price of $16 billion plus some environmental concerns around the gates made the plan controversial.

Ted Goldberg has an update on what a new plan will now include and the updated price tag which has been slashed in half.

>> Will have to wrestle with the question of how do we live with the shore and not just on the short?

Reporter: There's a lot of energy in these waves around Manas one.

It's great for surfers but bad for people who always have to worry about flooding.

>> Is a fact of life that will get worse as climate increases its impact upon the shore.

Reporter: Healy is the American littoral Society, and coastal conservation group based in Highlands.

He's happy to hear about the new proposal from the Army Corps of Engineers, which plans to help communities hurt by Superstorm Sandy that frequently deal with Bayside flooding.

It scaled down from the original promotion which would've built floodgates to use during storms.

>> They had not done environmental impact assessment but we believe that environmental impact would have been really unacceptable.

Reporter: The new plan which is projected a cost of $8 million is half the price tag of the original $16 billion proposal.

Billingham says the new version is harder for excluding those floodgates, which are expensive to maintain and that for wildlife.

>> Water, fish, no move throughout the systems.

If you start to put walls in between its interchange with the ocean and between different parts of the bay itself, you start to reduce the oxygen that is available to marine life and you start to retain pollutants that will come off the land.

Reporter: He says much of the money will be spent on getting homes off the ground.

>> Elevating houses.

Elevating and perhaps targeting critical infrastructure like police stations and EMS and fire stations.

Those are the steps that the Corps of Engineers are saying are implementable and can be done.

Even though they will come with a high cost.

>> I think we will have another type of catastrophic event in my future and I worry about that all the time.

I think that without starting this project and without being able to help people, I was lucky to be able to do it.

I knew I was going to have to raise the house when I bought it.

But a lot of people don't have the financial flexibility to be able to raise a house and go move out of it, go find another house to live in.

>> The Williams is a science teacher at the Ocean County vocational technical school.

She knows a thing or two about putting her home in Ship Bottom.

>> I experience a sunny day flooding and the nuisance letting that you get.

.

Have to pay attention to the beaches and say what I can come home sometimes.

Coming home from work sometimes I can't actually get down my street.

Depending on whether or not it is warm or cold out, I may or may not wade through water.

I keep waders in the back of my car to get to my house -- to my house at times.

Reporter: The Army Corps of Engineers has a more achievable plan.

>> I don't know the definition of achievable as they were saying but I do think that it's a little bit more of a reasonable approach right now in what they are trying to do and actually get something on the ground in a more reasonable time period.

>> The plans raise questions about whether people should live in areas that are susceptible to catastrophic flooding from the ocean or from bays.

But people like Billingham are realistic and know people want to live as close to the shore as possible.

>> The first thing we should do is not intended to build in high hazard areas, and we should go back and try to mitigate some of the wrist that people now are facing two major based solutions like that Corps is proposing.

Reporter: They propose new regulations for building along the coast.

But there's been significant opposition from local government and business groups.

In the meantime, the Army Corps of Engineers is proposing raising around 6000 residential structures, down from 19,000 in the original proposal.

And flood proofing nearly 300 infrastructure facilities, like police and fire stations.

Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

>> in our spotlight on business report tonight, party city employees are suing their employer after the New Jersey-based party store announced on December 20 that it was filing for bankruptcy and laying off staff effective that same date.

One employee we spoke to who worked at a corporate job at party city for almost three years shared when it was like being laid off on a virtual meeting.

>> It is really the way that this was put down on us with zero communication and I think with the leadership overall, they do -- they do need to be held accountable.

This was a big group of people.

I was only there for three years but there were people there that were hitting 20 or 30 years.

It just felt like a patrol to them.

Or look like independent -- betrayal to them.

More like an abandonment.

The executive team did not take any of these people's lives into consideration at all when they had zero communication sent out to us.

>> Workers in New Jersey are entitled to 90 days' notice before being laid off under the state's strict warn act that applies to any company with 100 or more employees.

That would include party city that has some 400 employees just at the headquarters alone on top of the 25 stores across the state and a total of 850 stores across the country.

.

Those New Jersey employees who got their payslips -- pink slips have filed a class action lawsuit against party city.

We know that party city give employees notice December 20 that they were fired effective immediately.

Tell us about the New Jersey Warn act and the federal act and why you have brought this case.

>> Both acts require that employers give adequate notice before people are terminated.

Under the federal law, 60 days.

Until the warn act, 90 days.

Written notice that it is time for basically you to start taking steps, precautions looking for jobs and saving money, etc.

against the moment he will not have income or insurance.

Thus the purpose of the Acts, to get notice.

In Lik is a pretty city, no notice was -- In the case of party city, no notice was given prior to December 20.

>> You said you filed suit for both violations, violations of both laws.

When employee brought this suit.

Explain who is included right now in class-action lawsuit and who is not.

>> The class-action six to create what is called a class that will include all those who were let go of the 20th of December and all of homework.

the headquarters -- whom worked at the headquarters.

It may lead to further terminations at other locations including the stores, those are not included because those employees have not been terminated.

The purpose of the termination was to get rid of the people who are no longer doing the buying and corporate work.

The stores are in overdrive to Titus out -- try to sell out inventory during the holiday season, post holiday season sales.

We have only included those who have been critically let go without notice from that location.

But it's around 400 people.

>> We also do not know yet when those stores will close.

Is it possible that party city finds itself in violation once again if those stores are not close with enough notice -- closed with enough notice?

>> As there is a wind out of the stores, they will complete the sales and at that point the employees are let go.

The terms and conditions and circumstances of that, we don't know yet precisely.

But that is a common sequence that happens in all the big shutdowns like Toys "R" Us, which was the largest of the New Jersey-based retailers to go through this.

>> What are you seeking for your employees?

What does the law provided for the warn act is violated?

>> Each of those two Acts will provide something subtly different, under federal law, you get two months of back pay, that is normal pay plus all the benefits they would've received that they did not like health insurance, that's a 60 day package.

The New Jersey law is unique, it provides one week of severance per year that the employee was employed, which would be baroness for a person who has been there for 30 years, that is 30 weeks, almost a year.

For someone just hired, it's not very meaningful because they only get a week or two.

We were able to modify the New Jersey law also everybody gets four weeks no matter how long they were working, and then on top of that, they would get what the New Jersey law had provided up until the amendments that were effective two years ago.

>> You were a part of those amendments when Toys "R" Us closed its doors, you were a part of those losses against the company -- lawsuits against the company.

How if a company has filed for bankruptcy do they make those payments, if clearly they are out of money?

>> Bankruptcy is not the equivalent of being out of money.

When big companies go bankrupt, they sometimes have millions or hundreds of millions of dollars or assets and in this case party city claimed that it has a billion or more dollars in assets, so this is a question of they are going out of business because they are -- because their current assets cannot pay the money that they owed to banks and private equity owners which could be $2 billion.

They will never make enough money to pay back all the creditors so they go bankrupt.

And does not mean that they are facing an empty cupboard.

>> We will be following this case.

Thanks for the insight so far.

Great to have you with us.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

Before you go, a reminder to download the NJ Spotlight News podcast so you can listen to us anytime.

For the entire team here at NJ Spotlight News, thanks for being with a great night and we will see you back here tomorrow.

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