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Briana: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," gun store crackdown.

State authorities sue to businesses for selling ammunition without checking ID.

>> They made no effort whatsoever to comply with our laws, the very laws that keep our residents safe and have allowed us to drive for to historically low levels.

Briana: New Jersey has declared a drug warning.

We are being asked to save water as a historic dry spell continues.

>> Every one of us needs to do whatever we can to conserve water.

Briana: Also, high-stakes mediation continues in a major case over segregation in New Jersey's pools.

A new poll finds residents aren't convinced of the problem.

>> we have to make sure people understand it, number one, segregation is a problem in New Jersey schools, and number two, something is going to happen.

Briana: And Donald Trump pays a visit to the White House as his cabinet comes together.

We take a look at what the President-elect has planned.

>> Republicans realize there will likely be a huge blowback to what the Trump Administration is proposing across a lot of the country, and they want these people for cabinet positions and high-level federal jobs to be confirmed as fast as possible.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

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

Briana: Good evening, and thanks for joining us on this Wednesday night.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with a few of today's top headlines.

Attorney General Matt Plotkin says New Jersey is on track to have its second consecutive year of the lowest level of gun violence in state history.

To keep it that way, he is doubling down on gun safety initiatives.

Today announcing the filing of two new lawsuits against New Jersey gun stores that violated state law for selling ammunition to buyers without checking ID or permits.

It stems from 4 separate incidents this year.

He says the stores sold large quantities of AR 15 rifle and handgun ammunition magazines to undercover investigators without first making the legally required checks.

State law mandates customers buying ammunition to have a permit for a firearm.

Platkin said there is a reason New Jersey is one of the safest states in the country when it comes to gun violence.

>> With today's lawsuits we are once again reminding them that we will hold you accountable if you put our residents at risk.

I simply will not tolerate wax and reckless business practices and the firearms industry or any industry that make our residents unsafe.

These are the very kinds of practices that can lead to the next deadly mass shooting.

Briana: Also tonight, shake up in Newark's public safety department.

Longtime city police officer and chief Emmanuel Maranda is being tapped by the mayor is the next public safety director.

He will replace Fritz who quietly resigned after two years at the helm of the department.

Miranda will become the fourth public safety director since the mayor created the office in 2016.

It combines the city's police and fire divisions.

He will oversee Newark's office of emergency management could in a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor's office would only say "after much reflection, the director felt it was the right time to step aside and that -- and allow a new leader to continue the work."

The statement thank him for his service and pointed to the department's ability to drive Newark's homicide rate to the lowest in 63 years.

But the state police retired Lieutenant Colonel was also seen as an outsider by the rank-and-file officers and led the department when a massive ship fire at Port Newark last summer killed two firefighters.

And the weather conditions are giving crews a real fight in putting out that massive wildfire burning on the New Jersey-New York border.

The size of it hasn't changed.

Roughly 2300 acres on the Jersey side and another 2100 in New York.

The state forest fire services says the blaze is now about 2% contained, noting that 30% contained, noting fire crews made progress despite the red flag warning.

A train on the West Milford side of Passaic County has made it easier for fire crews to access roads and get a handle on the spread.

Two homes in West Milford remain threatened.

New York firefighters are doing controlled burns to block flames from moving toward residential areas.

In total, 50 Jersey firefighters are on the line battling the Jennings Creek Fire, but no additional injuries were reported today.

>> We are in active suppression of this wildfire.

We are stylish and good control lines in New York and New Jersey at this time, reinforcing volunteer and wildland working as one team.

We are falling back to areas where it is safe for firefighters to work and have a really good, solid anchor to fight the fire on.

Some of it will creep down towards us, and we will fire it out again, fighting fire with fire.

Briana: That wildfire is just one of hundreds the New Jersey Forest fire service has had to respond to in the last month that have come amid an unprecedented wave of bone dry weather that is led water supply levels to drop, causing the state to clear an official drug warning for the first -- drought morning for the first time in 8 years.

While that doesn't call for any mandatory water use bans or restrictions, some utility committees are taking it upon themselves to issue mandatory conservation notices to all customers.

Ted Goldberg has the latest on the drought and what the state wants residents to do to help.

>> We take water for granted.

Ted: but the DEP Commissioner is not, as his agency has called a drug warning for the state of New Jersey.

>> a warning condition is an administrative tool that impacts supply-side actions, not consumer site actions.

In the warning enables the DEP to order changes to passing flows and streams to reservoir releases and other actions by water utilities to preserve and balance supplies.

Ted: The driest two-month stretch in state history has led leaders to ask people but not demand that they use less water, from Governor Phil Murphy two liters of water utilities.

Gov.

Murphy: The big picture take away is that every one of us needs to do whatever we can to conserve water.

To that point, and it goes without saying this is not the time to be lighting outdoor fires, either.

We simply cannot risk it.

>> Discontinue primarily outdoor irrigation which uses a large amount of water.

From shorter showers to using your dishwasher to winterizing your irrigation system, all of these actions can collectively help preserve our state's valuable water resource.

>> Conserving your usage of shorter showers or turning off the water when you brush your teeth, loading full loads to maximize the efficiency of dishwashers and washing machines.

Ted: The drought has depleted water supplies at reservoirs statewide.

These reservoirs usually have a lot more water.

And dry conditions have been blamed for the spread of wildfire.

Earlier this week the assistant division fire warden explain how the Jennings Creek wildfire spread in West Milford.

>> We are currently in historical numbers for our critical fuels, the forests are being dried out, we are seeing stuff we haven't seen in quite some time.

Gov.

Murphy: The numbers are frankly staggering.

Since early October, the New Jersey Forest fire service has responded to 537 fires.

To put that in context, that is 500 more fires than we saw during the exact same period last year.

Ted: Leaders are using people to use -- are asking people to use common sense.

Wildfire injection started when someone shut illegal incendiary rounds from a shotgun.

>> Please be careful with fire.

Please ensure that the wood stove ashes, fireplace ashes are contained in fireproof containers, steel containers.

Don't dispose of the things in a careless manner in the woods.

Gov.

Murphy: You can't get inside of somebody's shower, so some of us, a lot of it in fact has to be folks doing the right thing for the overall good of the order.

But the very fact we are raising this from a watch to a warning, that in and of itself is not just indicate technical steps that are being taken, but it indicates a level of seriousness.

Ted: While nobody like the thought of the government in the shower, the future forecast is also fairly bleak, with a little precipitation in the cards this week.

>> We need several months of at least average range if not substantially above average rain in order for us to emerge from these conditions.

Ted: If the drought gets worse, we could see a drought emergency, and that could bring more stringent regulations as to how people use water statewide.

For "NJ Spotlight News," I'm Ted Goldberg.

Briana: President-elect Donald Trump today met with President Biden for a highly anticipated and historic Oval Office meeting.

Both called for a smooth transition, with the president promising to help accommodate that, resuming the tradition that Trump dismissed when he left Washington in January 2021.

The President-elect has wasted no time building his next administration, naming nearly a dozen cabinet members and key White House staff positions.

The meeting also comes as lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill for a lame-duck session as they prepare for a new Congress to be seated next year.

For all the latest I'm joined by our Washington, D.C., correspondent.

Ben, good to see you.

Obviously a busy day on the hill, everyone sort of shot out of the cannon.

What can you tell us, I guess the most up-to-date information about the leadership roles that are being voted on today?

Ben: About an hour ago, roughly, we learned that John Thune would be the next majority leader of the Senate, who held that role for years.

-- taking over from Mitch McConnell, who held double for years.

New Jerseyans won't really know who he is, but probably he is one of the few remaining establishment Republicans in power, more hawkish on defense issues particular than a lot of the Republican party, which now has the big stamp of Donald Trump.

Briana: So the Senate has control by Republicans.

Where do we stand in the house?

Are there races that have yet to be called, and when might we know about balance of power there?

Ben: There are races on the West Coast that are outstanding, California in particular.

But it is really a snowballs chance in hell at this point that Democrats will win the house.

Republicans almost certainly will.

To put a finer point on it, that is what all the planning in town is circling around.

This will be a Republican trifecta for the next two years.

Briana: So we know of course that President-elect Trump has been tapping and naming folks to be members of his cabinet.

That of course would require Senate confirmation.

Talk to me a little bit about who we know as far as who the president wants in and the likelihood that they will get confirmed.

Ben: So far he hasn't filled out a ton of his cabinet.

He has named a man named Pete Hegseth, a Fox News contributor, to run the Pentagon, to be the Secretary of Defense.

There are a few house appointments.

Elise Stefanik, the New York Republican, will represent the U.S. at the United Nations.

Lee Zeldin, a Long Island Republican, he will run if he is confirmed the EPA.

Trump has not named a whole lot of folks to his cabinet.

Those are a handful of the picks.

Our senators, Cory Booker and incoming Senator Andy Kim, will weigh in and vote on those nominations in the new year.

The idea is that Republicans realized there will likely be a huge blowback to what the Trump Administration is proposing across a lot of the country, and they want these people for cabinet positions and other high-level federal jobs to be confirmed as fast as possible, because effectively they will have two years to really pursue their agenda before the midterm elections in 2026.

Briana: I wonder how that will fare for New Jersey sending some fresh faces to Washington come new session.

Are they essentially lame-ducks, given what you are saying?

Ben: They're not really lame ducks.

They start at the bottom of the pecking order.

And also I should point out that Mikey Cheryl and Josh Gottheimer are both expected to declare the candidacies for governor within a week.

So what happens when you have this churn, like New Jersey does, people leave -- they come to Washington, they serve a few trims in the house, and then they leave, and you lose institutional knowledge and seniority.

And of course with seniority comes more choice and powerful committee assignments, and that means more clout and more money for states.

Briana:B Ben Hulac for us on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

Despite New Jersey being ranked as having some of the most racially segregated schools in the nation, most New Jersey voters don't believe it.

That is according to a new Fairleigh Dickinson poll released today which found the majority of families are satisfied with the amount of diversity in their town.

The survey comes as a statewide lawsuit that could prompt more school district mergers enters its second year of mediation.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis looked into the poll's findings and where things stand in the courts.

>> We have to make sure people understand, number one, segregation is a problem in New Jersey schools, and number two, something is going to happen.

Joanna: And yet on both measures it seems New Jersey voters are largely unaware of the issue, first that New Jersey is the sixth most segregated state for Black students, 74 let you know, and that a court case -- seven for Latino, and that a court case could dramatically change New Jersey schools.

>> 65 percent of residents say they have heard nothing about the case whatsoever.

Joanna: The numbers come from a Fairleigh Dickinson poll taking the pulse of awareness of the problem and getting their take on possible solutions, none of which have been made public because the case is in mediation right now, send it there by New Jersey's Attorney General, Matt Pl;atkin, who argued an agreement could be reached outside a court order.

To understand the solution, you have to understand the problem, says Rutgers University's Vandeen Campbell.

>> The harms are clear for students in segregated schools they are singly not progressing at the same pace as students in mixed schools or in white-isolated schools.

I never -- another measure, college enrollment, and test scores, they are not having the same experiences and outcomes.

What you see in the data is that generation after generation, the students in these contexts recently behind.

Joanna: According to New Jersey's Department of Education come have New Jersey students breakdown by demographic, a diverse mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds.

But of the state's 663 school district, 80 of them contain 90% or more of Black and Latino students.

The FDU poll shows 79% of respondents think their town reflects a good mix of racial backgroundss.

>> There is very fuel schools in New Jersey that look like that.

Joanna: Daniel asked voters in his poll what they agreed to.

Unpopular were emerging districts or busing students across town lines.

>> Regional magnet schools, the idea is that counties or large areas would set up a magnet schools that would attract students, attract students from anywhere in the county or the area could come, and those schools would achieve a degree of racial integration.

60% of voters say that is OK with them.

Why?

This is popular because it does not mean fundamentally reshaping education.

Joanna: A system that is built on the idea of home rule.

Reverend Charles Boyer took a survey of families in largely Black and Latino districts and found the same perspective merging.

>> They wanted desegregated resources, desegregate how Black children in particular are treated in comparison to all groups.

They wanted a curriculum that was inclusive of who they are and recognize them and their humanity.

They very much wanted to be in the very schools they were and, but they wanted their schools to have just as many resources and the quality and level of education.

Joanna: But advocates like New Jersey's Institute of social justice say you cannot address segregation in schools without addressing it in housing.

>> All these issues are directly connected.

Issues of housing affordability, economic equality, are related to issues of segregation.

New Jersey has one of the largest racial wealth gaps, which is driven by a significant racial homeownership gap.

Joanna: Driven by redlining practices that have kept people of color out of New Jersey suburbs.

But the deadline for any solutions has been pushed back again.

Mediation has been expended to January 15, although an update is due this Friday.

For "NJ Spotlight News," I'm Joanna Gagis.

Briana: In our "Spotlight on Business" report, 10 months after the state approved rules for cannabis consumption in New jersey, business owners say they are still waiting for the regulatory board to give them details on the process or how to apply.

Retailers who want to open a lounge, which are private places where you can pick to light up legally, say they are in limbo, waiting and hoping they will be able to open up and recoup the costs they have sunk into their businesses.

Raven Santana reports.

>> I have my house for sale.

It's that bad.

It is that bad.

Raven: Alyza revealing the uncomfortable reality and challenge of trying to open up a cannabis consumption lounge above her dispensary called the Other Side dispensary in Jersey City.

Also the first black, Latinx, LGBTq, and disabled veteran to open up a cannabis operator in Jersey, is ready to move forward.

The frustrations come after the regulatory commission approved rules for consumption lounges in January, but still no applications are available to entrepreneurs who want to open them.

>> Their process is the application process rights so they have to open the portal and tell us what the fees are going to be, they have to tell us what the rules are going to be.

They are reintroducing, or they have introduced drinks.

What is that going to mean for consumption lounges?

If it is drinks in the dispensary we will sell them, but can people drink water, can they drink coffee?

What does that look like?

Raven: She said the reality is without a timeline or direction from the state as to how she can build out her consumption lounge, she is now stuck in limbo.

>> We have built this business organically through community, and this dispensary is performing very, very well.

The reality is we take on so much debt, there is so much red tape, and the waiting game month over month, paying for rent, upstairs is unfinished because I cannot confidently spend the -- first off I don't even have , the money, but I can't spend the money to do the buildout and not have a timeframe of when I would be able to open and get that money back.

For me, it is space I am paying for at this time, and it is part of my dispensary, it is upstairs, but still coming out of my rent.

>> There has been no delay.

Raven: Chief counsel of New Jersey cannabis regulatory commission admits the process and rules in place could take time, but assures business owners it is all in an effort to complete a safe and efficient vetting process.

>> There is no legislative mandate to accept consumption area endorsements.

But let's be mindful of the fact that the rules and regulations have been on the books for 10 months, which give operators the ability to look at the rules and regulations and understand what a consumption area has to look like to comply with the law.

There are safety measures, there are ventilation requirements.

All those things are on the books and contain 17:30 in our rules and regulations.

Raven: He says the methodical process is all about getting things right the first time.

>> I don't think there are any obstacles.

I think we have the rules in place.

I think we were concerned about the market and making sure this industry gets established before diving into a new space with conception areas.

-- consumption areas.

There is only limited number of states that actually offer consumption areas with Colorado and California being the other two states.

So being a new market, being a new cannabis market, we want to make sure we establish a vibrant market prior to opening of a new path for revenue for these operators.

>> I don't believe there is anything stopping the crc from coming out right now and saying here's our licensing process, they can add it to the existing notice of applications, as they have done before.

Raven: The chair of MacLachlan and Stern's cannabis practice group says there is a lot at stake for owners in the waiting process, reiterating that time means money.

>> We are not just talking shuffling papers.

We're talking not only getting municipal approval, which there is not any set cost involved in that, but there may be licensing fees and they are not insignificant.

>> As far as the commission, we are hopeful to get this done in the next several weeks, hopeful to see it on a December agenda.

If not, it will be on the agenda in the next few months with the caveat that the chair and the Board of commissioners are responsible for setting the agenda.

Raven: In the meantime, Brevard-Rodriguez continues to find ways to use space in her dispensary as she waits for the green light like so many others to begin construction of what she hopes to be a consumption lounge.

For "NJ Spotlight News," i'm Raven Santana.

Briana: Finally, airport workers in Newark and in New York City's two major airports could be getting raises soon.

The proposal from the port authority announced by Governor Murphy and New York Governor Kathy Hochul would increase the minimum wage for thousands of workers starting in January, with automatic increases tied to the regional cost of living.

Workers currently earn $19 an hour and would get a $.75 bump in pay every January until 2027.

Wages would automatically jump to $25 an hour in 2032 if it hasn't already been reached.

The proposal comes after months of requests from union airport workers who said they weren't earning enough to keep up with inflation.

To pay for it, vendors will be allowed to raise prices on concessions capped at 15% higher than what they call local Street -- local office airport Street prices for the same products.

Port authority commissioners will vote on the proposal December 12.

That is going to do it for us tonight, but before we go, a reminder to catch "Chat Box with David Cruz" tomorrow night.

David takes a break from politics and turns to music, talking to actor Hank Azaria about his new Bruce Springsteen tribute band as well as jazz musician Christian McBride.

Watch it at 6:00 p.m. on the "NJ Spotlight News" YouTube channel.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

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

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