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Anchor: Tonight, week one of the federal corruption trial against Senator Bob Menendez wraps up.

Prosecutors came out swinging with stacks of gold bars and piles of cash.

Defense pointing all fingers at his wife Nadine.

>> I'm not saying he won't prevail, he might because it's dependent on the evidence that fleshes out.

The prosecution is loaded for bear.

Anchor: Fingers pointed at the Hoboken Mayor and congressional candidate, some city councilors taking a page from the Menendez trial and accusing him of a series of would propose -- quid pro quos.

Also on the 70th anniversary of the Brown versus Board of Education ruling, inequities found in New Jersey public schools.

>> We have a structure where your ZIP Code determines your academic achievement.

Anchor: And battling homelessness.

The search for solutions to find shelter for the thousands left homeless.

"NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

>> From NJPBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Anchor: Thank you for joining us.

Week one of U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez's federal corruption trial wrapped today with stunning testimony from a second witness in the government's case.

A USDA employee who works as a cultural attaché to Egypt testified about meet export monopoly prosecutors allege Menendez helped arrange in return for lucrative bribes.

On the stand, attach a said in 2019 U.S. had four certified exporters to Egypt when he was abruptly informed Egypt wanted a single company to handle the business and named Hannah as the operator.

This came as a surprise because Hannah had no experience in the field and even asked during a meeting how certification worked.

They went on to say that the cost of the meat soared after the company gained a monopoly, from $400 a container to $5,000.

They argued -- the defense argued it was Egypt's decision to make.

It's the beginning of what is sure to be an explosive trial.

Reporter: Jurors in Senator Menendez bribery and corruption trial got to hold gold that the FBI seized from a master bedroom closet during a search of the home he shares with his wife Nadine.

An FBI Special Agent showed the jury at devil bag stuffed with $100,000 in cash taken from the senator's home office.

Jurors saw wads of $100 bills hidden in the senator's jacket and boots.

>> They started off by giving some of the most impactful evidence, gold at the end of the rainbow, something jurors can touch and feel and see and understand readily.

Reporter: A former prosecutor thinks the government's poor -- scored big points with flashy evidence to underscore their opening statement.

"This was not politics as usual, this was politics per profit," the assistant U.S. attorney told jurors, noting that for years Robert Menendez abused his position to feed his greed and keep his wife happy and he put his power up for sale.

>> They have explaining to do on the gold bars.

Reporter: This for prosecutor says the Menendez defense team blamed Nadine, saying she fell behind on her mortgage and crashed her car.

She kept him in the dark about what others were asking for.

She tried to get cash and assets any which way she could, he said.

>> It's a challenging defense and I'm not saying it won't prevail, because it will be dependent on the evidence that fleshes out.

The prosecution is loaded for bear.

Reporter: The defense of trying to poke holes, arguing Menendez did not have access to the closet full of gold.

Nadine will be tried separately because of breast cancer that will require a missed ectomy.

>> There's a decent chance information will filter in to one or more of the jurors's spaces.

Reporter: He said the blame the spouse defense is not new, but the defense must prove that Nadine blind-sided the senator, who cut his political teeth in Hudson County and beat his first corruption trial with a hung jury.

Today the prosecution started connecting the dots, detailing the senator's decisions on U.S. foreign policy involving Egypt.

They called to the stand the agricultural attaché to Egypt to confirmed connections between the country, Menendez and the codefendant Hannah, who acquired a lucrative monopoly.

>> The family is being enriched to the tune of these gold bars and luxury vehicles.

At the same time these co-conspirators, there is official action taken on by Senator Menendez that directly benefits them and their constituents.

Reporter: Lawyers for co-defendants, both New Jersey businessman who knew Menendez for years, said yes, clients gave Nadine cash and gold, but nothing found in her home can be connected to official X of the senator, and that is fatal to the government's case, said an attorney.

He said it is about giftgiving and not bribes.

Menendez's defense says he was civilly doing his job.

The trial continues Monday.

Anchor: Meanwhile, a nasty battle playing out between other Hudson County officials who are alleging a quid pro quo.

Four councilmembers are calling for the state attorney general and FBI to investigate allegations against the hope a good -- Hoboken Mayor, accusing him of engaging a backroom room deals that personally benefited him.

The allegations just weeks before the congressional primary in which he is running by a group of officials backing his main opponent, the son of battled and Senator -- embattled sender Bob Menendez.

Reporter: Some locals would insist they have proof it was coined here, silly season, the time when politics become frantic, prone to press converses into lawsuits and press conferences about lawsuits.

You have to forgive an observer for saying here we go again.

>> This seems to come up more often than not in election cycles.

Reporter: John runs an online news site that has been covering Hoboken and Hudson County for a decade.

>> If you read this complaint and look at some of the subsequent commentary around the lawsuit, I think it's worth looking into at least some of it.

Reporter: It started with a lawsuit filed last week by the former city director, who resigned without explanation last year.

In the suit, he alleges that among other things, the Hoboken Mayor engaged in a quit Pro quote with another Mayor in exchange for help expediting a dispensary trying to open in a building Co. owned by his wife.

In return he got a job with a city agency.

This week a press conference was held calling for the Attorney General to open a criminal investigation.

>> It raises the question, how is it exposed and how do you move forward to have something investigated?

Especially in our environment now, investigations require someone to file a complaint and raise a red flag.

Reporter: We will prosper some context.

Ravi is running for Congress against Rob Menendez.

But don't read anything into Menendez's support, they say.

Ramos says he has seen his share of election time lawsuits and presses.

>> It's a long-standing Hoboken tradition is it not?

Seems to be.

I don't think it is a campaign issue, just more of a timing issue in which the allegations were alleged by a former director that called upon us to look at what is going on.

Reporter: The campaign calls us a political stunt and the administration has hinted at unspecified wrongdoing on the part of Pellegrini that has been referred to law enforcement.

That would be referred to Pellegrini's lawyer who says his client has been contacted by any law enforcement.

As for councilmembers calling for inquiry into his clients allegations?

>> I've never met these Council persons, I don't know who they are.

I wouldn't even know who they are if I bumped into them on the street.

Reporter: Philip left of the allegations and said he would support an inquiry from the Attorney General.

The AG had no comment on whether it is conducting any investigation into any of this.

Less than a month to go before the primary, it's almost beside the point, because as one old Hoboken hand presented -- predicted today, no one will be talking about this in a month.

Anchor: 70 years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court should it limit decision in Brown versus Board of education, saying that separating kids in schools on the basis of race is unconstitutional, but research says that premise remains unfulfilled in New Jersey.

The latest evidence from a Rutgers University report, looking at Latinx students in the state, students in effectively segregated schools while facing other barriers.

>> A lot of it is known anecdotally.

Reporter: Latinx students represent over a third of the states school population and half of all preschool age students.

But a new report from Rutgers University finds they are not receiving adequate levels of resource to support will -- develop an and well-being.

>> Is not a one place in that's one of the big impacts of the report.

Giving a picture of the trajectory of the typical Latinx student and giving an idea as to what their life looks like through school.

Reporter: This doctor is a lead author of the report.

It has been two years in the making and focuses on student in grade pre-k through 12.

>> Having the data laid out in this way tells you expected what you are dealing with.

Reporter: One of the barriers she found problematic was the student a guidance counselor ratio.

2019 through 2020 when the statewide ratio was 351 to 1, it was 517 to 1 in heavily Latinx schools.

>> What information our students getting in post high school options, are they getting information that's not biased?

Reporter: The report also found Latinx students are attending increasingly hyper segregated schools and they are more likely to experience higher levels of poverty.

The Latino network action committee commissioned the report and is arguing the state must address segregated schools.

The executive director says it's much more than education.

>> We have a school system structure where your ZIP Code determines your academic achievement.

It determines your health, your academic achievement because it determines your access to teachers, mental health resources, resourcing in general.

>> I think an important aspect of the report that was shocking to me is out of the groups shown, we have the lowest rates of college enrollment.

Two year and four year colleges.

We are not just below the state average, we are under other racial groups.

That something we need to address.

Reporter: This is the co-author of the report, and she points out while there are alarming disparities, there were some positive findings, including in communities like Dover and Union City were they are seeing Latinx students excel.

>> How can we learn from these district to help students and districts that are not doing as well?

>> The overall perception of people that Spanish is a lesser language.

Reporter: This is the executive director of New Jersey teachers of English to other languages says there is equal value in investing in Latinx students.

>> I look at the teaching crisis in New Jersey and I see these students as an untapped resource where they are going to come out of high school bilingual.

They are so well prepared to be our future educators.

Reporter: Everyone I spoke with hopes the report will push and support legislation to better provide resources and prevent barriers for Latinx students across the state.

I am Raven Santana.

Anchor: In our spotlight on business report, the four year battle between a warehouse developer and a town is over.

New Jersey leaders are using state money for the first time to purchase a large chunk of farmland in Warren County slated for nearly 3 million square feet of warehouse space.

It may not be the last.

As Oberg reports, the preservation of the land could serve as a model for other areas.

Reporter: People in white Township used to call this land the Jan Dal property with a little discussed, now it is called buck would farm with smiles and tears.

>> It is a great win for us in the county.

Reporter: The State agricultural developing committee bought nearly 600 acres to preserve this as farmland, paying around $.7 million.

>> How does this compare?

>> It's a big one.

Reporter: The executive director says she reached out to the Pennsylvania-based developer last summer to see if they would be interested in selling.

They planned to build a warehouse which led to mobile -- two locals mobilizing against them.

>> At the time where has to developing was still very hot and the zoning would have allowed to million square feet, that's worth a lot in the market.

Reporter: The company will make a decent profit after buying the land for $11 million in 2019.

She says they were ego -- eager to close six month after agreeing to a sale.

>> They removed a dilapidated house we didn't want to buy because it would be a liability and they disposed of it.

They sailed up an old septic tank.

>> One of these rows there is a seed planted.

Reporter: Even after the company bought the land five years ago it was still used for farming.

Dave works for the state agricultural committee and says now the land has been sold he has a lot to do.

>> Working with farmers to make sure they are using practices that conserve the soil, when they are doing their planting and tilling, the soil is not running off.

Reporter: Preserving farmland is important for him, as many garden state communities consider confronting farmland into space for warehouses.

>> I have young kids and it is important for food and climate security.

For making sure the land is always available to produce food for our community.

>> A tremendous amount of money for one piece of land but it is worth it because we don't want New Jersey to become one big suburban tract development of houses on tract housing and shopping centers.

Reporter: Leaders who spoke at the closing also praised the people who initially spoke out against the warehouse plans and cap speaking for five years.

>> We kept the fire on the issue.

We brought it to the politicians's attention.

We attended County meetings.

>> I will miss seeing the orange serve -- shirts and our committee meetings.

[LAUGHTER] Your work and effort will not be forgotten.

>> I wish I was treated nicely by the public.

[LAUGHTER] But I want to thank the public.

Reporter: This is the directors last major project before she retires in June.

She says if communities are concerned about farmland becoming warehouses, they should call her office and see if it is feasible to buy the land.

>> We can assess whether it is possible or not.

We don't have the financial resources to buy every warehouse proposal in the state, so we tried to be strategic and only do those that make a lot of sense.

Reporter: While they probably can't cut a $27 million check every week it could be worth a look for places that want to keep their farmland and hold onto rural heritage.

In white Township, Ted Goldberg.

Anchor: Stocks held steady today after hitting milestones on Thursday.

Here's how the markets closed on the week.

♪ >> Support for the business report provided by Riverview Jazz, presenting the 11th annual Jersey City Jazz Festival.

Event details including performance schedules and location are online.

♪ Anchor: Finally, a look at how New Jersey is trying to address a long-standing issue -- chronic homelessness affected nearly 2000 residents last year when the state conducted its annual point in time count.

That means they were without shelter for at least a year or repeatedly.

Another roughly 10,000 people were considered homeless.

There are models that have proven effective in combating the problem.

A mental health writer explores this in our series, "the change project" examining our social challenges and the actions making positive change.

This was a beautifully done piece.

What were the models you decided to look at and how did you narrow it down?

It seems like through your reporting a lot of groups are trying to do good.

Bobby: There really are and when you look at the most effective models across the state, there are a couple that really stood out.

One in particular to start with is street outreach, essentially programs like the rescue Mission of Trenton and Mercer County that provide direct outreach six days a week to people expensing homelessness.

They often also follow up with housing services and behavioral health as well.

There's that component, but in addition, what the outreach workers often do is build trust with people experience in homelessness.

Many of the outreach workers have also been homeless as well, so there is an understanding between people.

That trust is often the key point to people taking the next step of getting into housing.

Often times it takes years to build that trust but it is the next step into getting into long-term, sustainable, permanent housing.

There is that aspect and there is a broader model that has seen success not just in New Jersey but across the country called housing first.

Essentially housing first is putting somebody into a house or apartment before anything else, without any prerequisites, going to a sobriety clinic or a church service, say, but when the are in the house they receive wraparound services.

Things like constant middle health support from a therapist, making sure they are budgeting finances properly, medicine every if they need it.

Often that's with a social worker by their side every day.

Anchor: Give them the stability first and that enables them to address some of the other issues.

Bobby: Exactly.

Once you have the stability, there have been success models through the state.

One in particular I was able to see was the Camden coalition in southern New Jersey.

There is a man Craig who first received housing from the coalition while still battling a substance use disorder but soon was able to go through a detox program and with the help of the coalition has remained housed eight years later.

That's often because of the daily work of outreach and clinical and social workers.

Anchor: That's one story and we are talking about thousands of people.

What are the other examples these are effective?

Ultimately what is the big driver behind why people are homeless?

Bobby: There've been a lot of other examples in terms of success of the housing first model.

Newark right now has done a good job of putting folks into remodeled and repurposed shipping containers that allow for them to start there and eventually get into a more permanent home.

That has shown success across the country.

If you look at a place like Houston, they've been able to house over 30,000 people since 2012 largely because they have the space to build more housing but also because they have city and state officials as well as nonprofit leaders all on the same page, looking at the same data, making sure the people who need it most are getting what they need.

Anchor: Isn't that intersection of mental illness that is causing folks to become homeless or chronically homeless, or are there other factors at play?

Bobby: That's one component, there are a lot of other factors in play.

The most recent data, what drives homelessness from 2023, 1 was people asked to leave a shared residence.

A domestic dispute or other reasons.

The second reason was eviction.

There's also long-standing issues like structural racism, domestic violence issues, as well as the lack of affordable housing in New Jersey and across the country.

Those are the main issues right now.

Anchor: Everyone can check out the full series on our website, it is incredible.

Thank you for your reporting.

That does it for us tonight but don't forget to download the "NJ Spotlight News" podcast so you can listen anytime.

For the entire team, thank you for being with us my have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday.

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♪