>> Major funding is provided by nj insurance company.

And by the pgse foundation.

>> as the war in Israel enters its second month, antisemitism is on the rise.

Safety concerns spike as millions begin celebrating Hanukkah.

>> There is a lot of fear and anxiety and nervousness in the Jewish community.

And yet we see the determination to not let terrorists win.

>> After months of speculation, the former state Senate President process hat in the ring for governor.

Also, delivering relief to a food desert.

>> They are struggling to have basic needs met.

Transportation is a huge barrier as well as access to a full-service Hershey store that is a portable.

>> Hitting the road to Atlantic City to serve and resorts community.

Funding the future.

>> These are issues that are often forgotten.

>> A university alone provides a multimillion dollar gift to help focus on LGBTQ public health research.

♪ >> Good evening and thank you for joining us on this Friday evening.

From Trenton to Hoboken and all the towns in between, Hanukkah celebrations are underway.

Jews are attending local menorah lighting's entry into the traditional traits that make the festival of lights a little brighter.

On this second night of the eight-day observance, places like Morristown are hosting services led by a children's choir.

Many are feeling a spiritual revival for what is considered a minor holiday, hoping to spread the light during one of the darkest times in recent Jewish history.

Celebrating in the shadow of the war in Israel and rising anti-Semitism.

The nationwide morning for the 1200 mourning for the 1200 killed during the Hamas attack.

And others being held hostage in Gaza.

It is all familiar territory for Jews whose holidays are frequently a reminder to the resilient and defiant.

>> A spike in anti-Semitic incidents is not stopping synagogues from celebrating the second night of Hanukkah.

>> We had a big dinner.

We served potato lactose -- latkes and we sing songs.

>> He says members of his congregation had not been scared off by the recent rise in eight.

Yesterday in Albany, a man was arrested after allegedly firing a shotgun outside of the synagogue.

>>.

Is no way he could see that is anything but in anti-Semitic incident.

I feel for those teachers, God willing those students, were unaware.

Their parents finding out about this.

Knowing that the place they bring their children to be educated and safe and secure was threatened from the outside.

>> We cannot let outside actors, especially people who wish to do us harm, dictate to us or tell us or describe for us what our Judaism should look like.

>> There is a lot of fear and anxiety and nervousness in the Jewish community.

And yet we see this determination not to let terrorists win.

Not to let hate succeed.

>> He the Jewish Federation.

>> Jews in this country are a tiny percent of the population.

But we represent a massive percent of hate crimes.

>> The majority of those incidents reported have to do with harassment.

Over 50% of 135 total incidents that we have tracked.

>> He says those numbers are probably too low.

Antisemitic and Islam a phobic attacks are not always counted accurately.

>> That is for a variety of reasons.

People do not know how to support it.

-- report it.

They fear retaliation.

>> He says Hanukkah comes at a great time for the Jewish community, even as the war between Israel and hamas has seemingly no end in sight.

>> Celebrate out a holiday that is about religious freedom.

About the minority of Jews who wish to remain true to some sense of Jewish traditions.

Fighting against a much more powerful photo.

>> The lesson of Hanukkah is one of endurance, resilience, hope.

The knowledge that in the end we can light our lights and use that light to push back the darkness of terror.

>> A darkness Jews hope can be overcome by the festival of lights.

>> The 2025 gubernatorial race is shaping up to look a lot like the election from eight years ago.

Sources for former Senate President Steve Sweeney are now confirming he will announce his campaign on Monday for the Democratic nomination for governor.

This was first reported.

He was preparing to run in 2017 but backed out after North Jersey Democrats would not support his bid.

Then in a stunning 2021 political shakeup, he lost his senate seat to a Republican, which left some political observers to say he might be sidelined from a statewide race for good.

His announcement means he will join the mayor of Jersey City, who is the Democrat who has tossed his hat in the ring.

He said it was getting lonely in the race.

The Jersey City mayor also prepared a gubernatorial run in 2017 but backed out unexpectedly.

Longtime Democratic assemblyman will run for Congress.

He will seek the nomination for the House seat in the third district.

Kim is giving up his position to run for a Senate spot.

A new report is sounding the alarm on the 59 crisis pregnancy centers operating across the state.

The Planned Parenthood action fund of New Jersey calls them antiabortion centers and fake health facilities that discourage pregnant people from getting abortion services.

It also alleges the unlicensed medical locations are giving patients inaccurate information about their health that can lead to larger public health problems .

Joining me for more on the report is the executive director of Planned Parenthood New Jersey.

Thanks for joining me.

These antiabortion centers and crisis pregnancy centers are not new.

They have been around for some time.

Leaders from the state Attorney General's office issued a warning.

What was the purpose of issuing this report and doing a deep dive on them?

>> Thank you so much for having me on today.

And for raising this up.

Oftentimes we get pigeonholed into just talking about abortion obviously because that is one of the big things that we do.

There is a lot that we care about.

Maternal and infant mortality, cancer rates, STI rates.

When we were looking at the increasing raise of STI's and looking at what was going on, one of the things I came up was many of these antiabortion centers or crisis pregnancy centers that existed New Jersey.

As the report indicated, they outnumber Planned Parenthood centers three to one in the garden state.

They claim to do STI testing.

They are not regulated facilities.

To our knowledge, they are not employing licensed professionals.

At a time when STI numbers are increasing, that raises a lot of concern about public health.

>> Is the concern that it is misleading consumers, not just in terms of reporting accurately healthy data but also in terms of the services they are providing?

That is essentially what the Attorney General laid out in the consumer warning.

>> He said they often times use deceptive advertising.

One of the things that Planned Parenthood help Center staffers have talked about anecdotally for years if not decades is the mobile vans or units that these centers typically use and parked outside of Planned Parenthood health centers.

Those vans oftentimes will have volunteers or employees, no one really knows who these folks are.

Parked outside of health centers.

They will say to individuals who are walking out, is there a line?

Why don't you come here?

The patient to might be in a hurry or have kids at home, all of the demands of the day unknowingly go into the van thinking it is a health care provider.

It is disruptive.

It is upsetting.

>> Is there a call to action through the report?

Or is it just to raise awareness?

>> Our biggest concern right now is what is happening with those STI tests.

What is the treatment option?

No one knows.

They are essentially unregulated.

The report tries to pose an outline of what we think we know.

And tries to ask regulators and stakeholders to try to examine questions.

>> Thank you so much.

>> Thank you again.

>> In Atlantic City, were casinos and hotels abound, there is still not a single supermarket for local residents.

They are forced to take public transportation that comes at a hefty price.

Now some hope to change that by bringing a grocery store on wheels into communities.

>> My first time here I about to -- bought tea, oranges, grapes.

Today I bought milk and bread.

>> This mobile grocery stores within walking distance from her Atlantic City home.

She said she would normally have to drive farther.

>> It is like an hour.

I usually have somebody with me.

>> Now every Friday, her and her neighbors can come here and getting their shopping then.

They are bringing a mobile grocery store to Atlantic City.

>> This is exactly how it sounds.

It is a small grocery store on wheels.

You can get rice and beans and cross the -- pasta.

Seafood is a big seller for us.

>> Many of the products are the same things you will find out traditional stores but at prices that can be up to 50% less than the supermarket, making it more affordable.

She says it is so important.

>> Atlantic City is a place where it looks like casinos and wonderful restaurants and shows.

But when you start to drive around and look, there are 70 vibrant communities.

They are struggling to have basic needs met.

Transportation is a huge barrier.

As well as access to a full-service, affordable grocery store.

When you peel back some of the layers of the city, we are trying to give our residents a hand up and allow them easier access to affordable food.

>> Atlantic City has been considered a food desert for years.

It remains without a supermarket.

Plans were in the works to bring one in to the city.

But after the Casino reinvestment Authority rejected several proposals to build a full-service supermarket in Atlantic City earlier this year, a supermarket chain pulled out.

>> It was devastating.

We told people it would open and it did not.

We have to find a solution.

A permanent solution.

This is a temporary fix.

>> Residents say they are happy that the mobile grocery store is around.

>> They cannot get any better.

This is good.

I hope I see it all over the city, not just here.

>> The mobile grocery store will continue coming to Atlantic City for the next several months.

Virtual health is hoping to make it available on Saturdays soon.

>> In our spotlight on business report, the state is taking offshore wind plans into high gear.

A Danish developer pulled a plug in a couple of projects off the coast line.

The Murphy administration almost immediately directed the state to put other offshore sites out to bid.

This means essentially starting from scratch.

Clean energy advocates tell us they are undeterred.

>> Offshore wind is not dead.

It is at a turning point.

The industry is bigger than just one project.

>> Green energy advocates concede getting the turbines -- turbines going will not happen as soon as plan after a Danish company pulled the plug on a couple of windfarms off the South Jersey coast.

>> It was a gut punch to have them pull out unexpectedly.

The simple reality is there are multiple projects moving ahead.

>> Another project started generating power for New York just this week.

In New Jersey, Atlantic Shores awaits final permits to get started.

Governor Murphy directed the board of public utilities to speed up the proposal process.

>> Every other state is experiencing the same challenges.

I think New Jersey has done a great job pivoting.

>> And offshore wind expert explained that New Jersey has baked and solutions.

Including high interest rates and spiraling costs.

>> There is a mechanism in that bid that if there is huge inflation again, the figures in that will be indexed and tied to the inflation rate.

>> There are some proposals.

>> And more to come next spring.

He heads of the economic authority.

He said the cancellation hit hard.

For a facility that builds these crucial constructions.

>> In terms of the long-term viability of this early important.

There is a long game.

>> He said the new wind port in Salem County will ultimately serve the entire region.

All it needs is customers.

Atlantic Shores said it is committed to New Jersey.

They applaud the governor's decision.

But obstacles remain, including local opposition.

>> If you do not move, you will get arrested.

>> Some cross -- grassroots group say they will continue to discourage offshore wind.

Advocates say the state needs to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

>> Offshore wind will not be the silver bullet.

But literally every degree matters.

We need to create a port -- power source for the 21st century.

>> Turning to Wall Street, a new jobs report says unemployment unexpectedly declined.

Here is how the markets reacted.

♪ You can watch that right here.

Sunday morning.

♪ A $3 million gift may Rutgers University alum will make a first of its kind program at the school of focus on LGBTQ+ health issues.

It was named after the Dean of record school of health.

I asked him what his plans were and how he envisions it improving lives.

Welcome to the show.

This is a really big honor.

What are your plans?

>> Thank you for acknowledgment that.

The plans are to make sure the School of Public Health is always addressing LGBTQ health issues.

These are often forgotten.

They are hoping that the school in the long-term will think of this from a resource perspective.

In a community engagement perspective.

>> You have already done a lot of the university in terms of public health and looking at a lot of these issues.

Where do you go from here?

You have a $5 million pot of money.

And some extra money that the Chancellor is kicking in.

How do you expand not just the resources but how you influence public policy?

>> We are trying create a site that is even bigger.

Hopefully it will provide seed money for bigger grants.

Often the research stays in the papers and does not get translated.

Last year we were able to collect data.

On folks as they were going to their health care provider.

There is still work being done.

>> Is there anything like this in New Jersey or even nationally?

>> There are some endowed chairs.

There was one at Yale in the humanities.

Rockers is pushing -- rutgers is pushing the boundaries.

When we think about these issues , LGBTQ folks are part of that conversation.

This is keeping the population at the forefront.

Thinking how this population continues to be discriminated against in our society.

Also in more subtle ways.

Making it a safe space for students and scholars and researchers to do their work.

>> I'm wondering if that speaks to the timing of this.

What we have seen happen not necessarily in New Jersey but elsewhere in terms of legislation.

Items that have acted against the LGBTQ community.

Do those go hand-in-hand?

The timing of launching this at Rutgers and the fact that all that is happening?

>> Certainly.

We have had many conversations.

Do I think that was an increased motivation?

Probably.

We have to be upfront and open when confronting these issues in real time.

>> Congratulations.

>> Thank you for having me.

>> That will do it for us tonight.

Turn into Reporters Roundtable this weekend.

We will look at whether it is Chris Christie's last stand.

And we will have all the weeks political headlines.

In then we talked to a representative about the latest in Congress.

From the expulsion of George Santos to the debate over Middle East policy.

Check it out Saturday and Sunday.

All right here.

For the entire team, thank you for being with us.

Have a great weekend.

We will see you here on Monday.

>> Making public schools great for every child.

And barnabas health peer let's be healthy together.

>> Our future relies on more than clean energy.

It relies on empowered communities.

The health and safety of our families and neighbors.

Of our schools and streets.

We are committed to sustainability and economic empowerment.

Helping towns go Green.

Supporting civic centers, scholarships, and workforce development that strengthens communities.

>> Look at these kids.

What do you see?

I see myself.

I became an ESL teacher.

The chance to belong.

And be an American.

I am proud to be a member.

♪