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BRIANA: tonight, it's official, New Jersey's newest senator Andy Kim is sworn in, stepping into the vacant seat of convicted former senior Senator Bob Menendez.

Plus, no more book-banning -- the governor signing a long-awaited bill protecting librarians, and the books they stock.

>> Books can be removed from other libraries solely based on the origin, background or views contained within the text or because an individual , finds it offensive.

Briana: Also, the Trenton Mayor on the distance, saying the damaging headlines in the capital city keep coming.

>> We have had many challenges over the years as we are facing them head-on with it is economic development or challenges in the water department or public safety.

But we are meeting these challenges as they come up.

Briana: And the end of Syria's brutal dictatorship has brought celebrations not only to the streets of Damascus, but to the streets of New Jersey, too.

>> We are hoping that we would have to work with it, but we're hoping that good times are ahead for Syria.

Briana: "NJ SpotlightNews" begins right now.

♪ ANNOUNCER: from NJPBS to do this, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us this Monday night I'm Briana Vannozzi.

,We begin with a few tarpaulins.

First, New Jersey officially has a new U.S. senator, Andy Kim was sworn in this evening, starting the job three weeks early after winning his election in November.

Also a position left vacant by convicted Senator Bob Menendez.

Governor Murphy formally appointed him on Sunday, after the seat's caretaker, interim Senator George Helmy,.

Murphy pledged to appoint November's winner at once election results were certified.

That gives Kim, a 42-year-old former congressman a head start, and a smoother transition from the house to the Senate, rather than waiting until January when the rest of Congress is sworn in.

In a statement, Kim said, quote, it's an honor to get to represent the state that give my family a chance at the American dream in the U.S. Senate, a dream that remains to out of reach for our neighbors, and one that I am already on day one so committed to fight for.

Also tonight, the New Jersey State police department is facing new scrutiny after an investigation by the New York Times found traffic enforcement on the state's biggest high risk sharply designed beginning in July 2023.

The report finds citations for speeding, drunken-driving, social news and other moving violations plummeted by 81% across the state that month compared to the year before, and according to data obtained for the report, it continued unabated until March 2024.

At the same time, New Jersey also saw an almost immediate uptick in motor vehicle crashes.

According to the investigation, traffic enforcement is now the subject of the, the investigation by New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, because the inaction by troopers began about a week after a report commissioned by a former Attorney General was released, showing glaring racial disparities in traffic stops, followed by an internal memo sent to the reconciled by union leadership, warning them that every stop and action taken would be highly scrutinized union leaders.

Defended their action saying that they never advised troopers to stop doing their job.

After several years at the helm of the mass transit agency, Kevin Corvette is stepping down.

The president and CEO of New Jersey transit says he is resigning effective January 15 to take a job at an unnamed university in New Jersey in a role connected to the transportation sector.

His resignation leaves the troubled agency in search of an interim director for the last year of Governor Murphy's administration.

In his resignation letter, he outlined several of his accomplishments, like working to fix an engineer shortage, installing and testing positive train control, and taking over a bus service that had been abandoned by carriers.

But his reign came with the controversy with trade broken down at risk of not since Governor Christie's term, and fares went up following the worst summer of commuting since 2017 from it there were also lawsuits lodged for alleged sexual misconduct within the agency.

For his part, the governor called Corbett cycle job, quote, the most difficult jobs in government aside from his own.

And news from the Middle East government rebels in Syria have overthrown the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The Assad family ruled the country for decades, relying on mass killings, torture, and imprisonment to carry out their agenda.

Those human rights abuses severely escalated in the last 13 years as the regime clung to power in the bloody civil war, propped up by Russia and Iran.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in the war, and half of Syria's population displaced.

Thousands of refugees have already begun returning to Syria from Lebanon, while celebrations immediately erected in the streets of Damascus.

President Biden enjoyed international leaders in celebrating the end of Assad's reign, but said the United States would keep a skeptical eye on what comes next as a side asylum in Moscow.

Many people have gathered to celebrate the news.

New Jersey is home to a large certain population.

One layer who was born in Syria and still has some in the country, it was part of the celebration, and he joins me to discuss how the news is reverberating in New Jersey.

Mayor, it's good to talk to you.

I know you still have family in Syria.

What are you feeling?

What are they feeling in what has just been a stunning, stunning sequence of events?

Guest: So I have some family in Aleppo and Damascus.

They are safe and they are happy.

They are waiting to see what is next.

But as far as having their lives, they have access to food, the power is in and out as it was before, so no changes there.

But they are optimistic.

They are safe, that is the most important thing.

Briana: Did you ever pick sure that this day would come given the sheer amount of poverty, brutality that everyone in that country seemingly has experienced over the last 13 years, and many decades prior?

Guest: Yeah, the first time they started in 2011 and nothing happened, we thought this would be it, we would have to live with this for a long time.

I know people there were struggling.

The money was almost worthless.

Things that cost one lira per se, now is 10,000 liters.

-- 10,000 liras.

So it was very hard to live.

I think this is the time Briana: .

Are you concerned at all about what happens next?

We know it is an Islamist group that the U.S. has still deemed a terrorist organization, that has been making public statements about taking control now, but also respecting the diversity of Syrians.

What are your concerns with now a regime change?

Guest: The fear of the unknown is very natural.

Crucial minorities in Syria were always looked at -- we were always dealt with very nicely, protected -- the Christy and minorities.

We are very anxious to see what is next.

We are optimistic.

I have heard all the right things coming out, but it is the follow-up, I just hope they consider the minorities, the different areas and the different sects that we have in Syria.

The different tribes have to be accounted for.

It will be complicated.

This will not be an easy transition by any means.

Briana: Do other city Americans who you were with over the weekend, do they share that with you?

You are with Prospect Park's mayor, and a large group of folks who were celebrating this, do they share in the joy and also the feeling of nervous uncertainty?

Guest: I think we share the joy that there is a change now.

We are all very optimistic.

I have spoken to the mayor and to many people too about what is next and especially for the Christian minorities.

They are sitting there and just waiting to see what is next.

We are hoping we will have to work with it, but we're hoping that good times are ahead for Syria.

Briana: Montville mayor Mike Ghassali, thank you so much, we will check in with you.

New Jersey is now the latest date to make book bans in libraries and schools illegal.

Governor Murphy today signed the "freedom to read" bill.

Advocates say it is to protect looks from being banned and librarians from lessons in criminal charges.

The bill had a long road to approval and plenty of opponents.

Reporter: Reporter: At today's bill signing ceremony for the Freedom to Read Act, this law library and remembered the night in 2021 when she became the center of the book been attempts that prompted the bill.

>> on that night, a handful of parents called me by name "a pedophile, pornographer, and groomer of children."

At a school board meeting that has since been viewed on YouTube nearly 6000 times.

Reporter: Angered by her opposition to banning several young adult books that contain sexual content and explored clear themes, and fueled by conservatives targeting the 2023 elections, protesters targeted Hicks regularly.

>> I received hate mail, shunning by colleagues, antagonism from administrators, and calls for my firing and arrest.

I have even been confronted on the street and my car has been vandalized.

In January of this year, the spouse of a board member posted videos targeting me on extremist social media sites.

Reporter: Totally worth it, said Hickson at today's ceremony, where she, the governor and the bill's sponsors called it a victory for freedom of speech and parental role.

>> that is why this legislation mandates that books cannot be removed from libraries solely based on the origin, background or views contained within the text, or because an individual finds it offensive.

At the same time, it also empowers local communities to engage in a transparent and thoughtful discussion on the books that should or should not remain in our libraries.

44% of banned books center on characters of color or themes of race or every season.

39 percent explore LGBTQ+ characters or themes.

That is not a coincidence.

These bans are a deliberate effort to erase voices and perspectives that challenge the status quo.

Reporter: Senate Majority Leader Terry Senator Lee's says parents have the ultimate say on what kids should and shouldn't be exposed to and she urged them to exercise that right every day.

>> is in fact your household is not aligned with whatever the subject matter is, that opens up opportunities for conversations, to explore, to engage in different ideology or to say this book is not for your age demographic and it's going to go back.

>> sadly due to a now about to be federal administration again and a U.S. Supreme Court which are heavily on the other side of this, it really matters more than ever before what state you live in, you choose to bring your family up in or where you choose to work and this is yet another example.

Not every state is doing what we're doing today, in fact, many states are doing the opposite.

Reporter: it's true, the temperature of this debate has been turned way down since the election last year where it appeared to back fire on conservatives.

But there is a governor's race just around the corner and as Murphy suggested, and you wind is about to blow into the White House and the heat could get turned up again before you know it.

I am David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: The state capital city has been making headlines over the last several weeks for all of the wrong reasons.

A Department of Justice investigation in November revealed a pattern of misconduct and abuse by the Trenton Police Department.

And that a scandal was uncovered within the city troubled water utility where a worker falsified drinking water tests are more than a year, submitting water for testing from his faucets at home, instead of nearly a dozen locations he was supposed to collect samples for Trenton waterworks.

And if that wasn't enough, the city is now part of a federal criminal investigation into a contractor used to replace lead service lines.

The company was charged with fraud for lying about replacing lead lines in Newark but leaving them in the ground, a scheme that likely carried into Trenton.

Residents rightly want answers, and so do we.

Joining me now is Clinton Mayer, Reed Gusciora.

Thanks for coming on the show.

Obviously it is been a tough situation there in Trenton.

You seem to be playing whack a mole it seems.

Let's start with the issue with Trenton waterworks.

This is an agency that has had a history of incidents theft, payroll issues, water quality issues.

Do you trust the individuals who are running this department?

Guest: Well, we always have to reassess what we're doing.

We provide water to five municipalities including Trenton.

We are serious about providing reading the safe water district standards.

We believe we do that a majority of the time, but we are an agency that from time to time is plagued with problems not unlike the area.

Briana: So the water is safe?

Guest: We believe it is.

It is tested hourly, at the filtration plant, there are three testers that go out and we are the ones we discovered the tester was not meeting expectations and we reported him to the prosecutor's office, as well as notifying DEP.

That is after the DEP did their own that they decided to throw out the entire results as a penalty, so to speak for year.

Briana: Do you think this latest incident warrants by DEP stepping in further?

This utility has been under state oversight, but should the DEP step in and take complete control here?

Guest: I don't think they need to take complete control.

We welcome their involvement.

They have actually been in the plan for the last of the viewers themselves and so they have been providing us assistance.

We want to assure the public that we're meeting safe water drinking standards and that we take our job seriously.

Briana: Let me switch gears.

There was a city Council last week wearing six questions about the DOJ report unveiling a pattern and practice of misconduct by the city's police officers.

What can you tell the public about your plans to reform not just the culture, but also what they see and experience every day of the street?

Guest: Well, there were visitors that came into the Council and talked about grievances since the 1990's and before, so it has been a tribute to a cultural issue.

We are the first administration is tackling this head-on.

We invented the DOJ to come in, we also suspended the two police units that were problematic.

We are providing the training necessary.

But the other true recommendation of the DOJ report is that we are working on it to fulfill.

We need more training of our police officers.

Briana: Is director Steve Wilson on the right person to carry out this job, do you still have free -- full confidence in him?

Guest: He disbanded the two units.

He brought in mental health counseling to partner with police, Arrive Together.

So we have made a number of reforms before the DOJ came in and certainly before the report was issued.

Briana: But are you satisfied, mayor with how things are going in the city?

Truthfully.

I mean, you are a resident, he represents Trenton in the legislature, are you satisfied with how the submissions are being handled, truly?

Guest: I think there is a lot of good that is coming out of the city.

We have had many challenges over the years and we are facing them head-on whether it is economic development, or challenges in the water department or public safety.

But we are meeting these challenges as they come up.

I think more credit is due to the response we have been making and the end results.

Briana: I've spoken with city officials throughout the years who say your hands are tied, that some of the corruption with incidents that we see happening are entrenched within the system.

Do you feel that way, like your hands are tied from doing what you would really like to do with the city?

Guest: I think the motivation is there to do things better.

I don't think we are sitting on our hands when it comes to water or public safety.

Warmaking with forms, and Lucy in the next year and beyond whether we are meeting the expectations of change brought about by these reports.

Briana: Maia, I know it is tough to face these problems head-on so I appreciate you talking to us about it.

Thanks for your time.

Guest: Thanks so much.

Briana: With just a year left in her tenure, first lady Tammy Murphy is pushing out final pieces of her maternal health agenda, posting her annual nurture NJ initiative today in East Brunswick, bringing together state and national experts to support New Jersey's mission to become the safest and most equitable place in the country to raise a baby.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports.

Reporter: It's not yet her final about, but as the administration nears its end, first lady Tammy Murphy took the time to highlight all they have done in the last seven years to improve maternal and infant health outcomes in New Jersey.

>> Becoming the second state in the nation to expand Medicaid coverage to 365 days postpartum, which ensures mothers can continue to receive health care in the critical months that from pregnancies.

We followed data to action, with tools like our first in the nation report card of hospital maternity care from our New Jersey maternal data center.

Reporter: She spoke to a packed room of about 700 people at the seventh annual nurture NJ leadership Summit highlighting just a handful of the more than 55 bills passed focusing on maternal and infant health.

>> We have also become the third state in the nation to ensure Medicaid coverage for doula care , and the require community first two based doula training to receive reimbursement.

Reporter: Murphy was one of several speakers to extol the state's improvement from 47th in the nation Florida maternal outcomes to now 20 eighth, from 32nd in breast-feeding rates to know 18th.

And seeing the work is only just begun.

>> You are not satisfied with being 28th or 18th.

We want to be first or second.

So we have got a lot of work to do and while national rankings have improved, it's hard to know how much progress has been made here in the state.

>> As we push these policies through, will they do what they are intended to do?

Reporter: That is the question on the minds of so many in this space.

The maternal infant health innovation Authority is working on a maternal review report to begin tracking that data, but they say that's a common gated process.

>> We are working with the red School of Public Health.

We are looking at the nurture NJ strategies and initiatives and beginning to measure them and one of them where we have seen a real increase is paid family leave, we have seen a 70% increase in women and men using paid family leave since the legislation was enacted in 2019.

Reporter: At their efforts, like the home visitation program that promises a home visit within two weeks for every birthing person, are rolling out much more slowly, sadly missing women like Drea Austin, who died of postpartum complications just two weeks after delivering.

>> The program is going to be fully up and running in four years in total, so we are adding on more counties this year starting in January.

The issue, and I know you will understand this, if we go too fast and we don't have the nurses and can't provide the service, we not only will fall down, we will ruin the program and on top of that, we will not be able to benefit from the practices learned.

So we are learning as we go along and as we go forward, we will be stronger and stronger in every county where we add on.

Reporter: Reporter: Concerns were raised about that.

Not the workforce, that is a vulnerable population in and of itself.

>> We also need to make sure we are focusing on other areas like preventing burnout for the individuals who are doing this kind of work.

>> If we were to nurture the providers, we would be looking at this perinatal workforce that we are desperately trying to grow and hold onto.

.

But without nurturing, we will not get very far.

Reporter: Lisa says that is a major focus.

>> We men need social support.

They need to feel that they have advocates they have supporters, that they have people who will assist them.

So I think much of that work is being done as we look to build this perinatal workforce.

Reporter: And with the creation of the first in the nation innovation authority, it is work they hope will continue long after this administration has moved on.

In East Brunswick, Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: That will do it for us tonight.

But before we go, a reminder to download the NJ Spotlight News podcast so you can listen to us in a time.

I am Briana Vannozzi for the , entire team at NJ Spotlight News, Thanks for being with us.

Have a great night.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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