>> Major funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided in part by NJM insurance group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

And by the -- foundation >> With less than two weeks until election day and millions of votes already cast, a new University poll shows the race for the White House closer than ever.

>> There are small movements but one point movements are not significant, so we don't know what the outcome is going to be.

>> Light Rail commuters demand stricter safety measures after the recent River line crash as lawmakers call for a full investigation.

>> It is my hope that when the investigation lays out the information, we will have a better understanding of what occurred and how we can prevent it from happening again.

>> Poor living conditions continue for folks in the Stanley Holmes village.

NJ decides 2024.

Nelly Poe is poised to replace Bill Pascrell but her stance on the Middle East conflict is raising concerns.

>> Her proposed response to a question in regard to an arms embargo on Israel was astonishingly uninformed.

.

>> NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

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

Briana: thank you for joining us on this Wednesday night.

A few key stories we are following.

The East Orange school District is under fire from the state for violating regulations after the school system failed to notify the department of budget problems.

The East Orange school board voted to approve widespread layoffs including 71 in school staff positions and four district employees, all due to an estimated $8 million budget gap, according to the board.

According to the Department of regulations, districts at risk of falling into a fiscal deficit need to promptly notify the state of the conditions that caused the budget gap.

Representatives from the DOE met with officials earlier this week and say they are gathering more information to better understand the situation.

Also tonight, there is a statewide ban on open fires with stage three fire restrictions now in effect in all 21 counties.

No open campfires in wooded areas or fire pits, using wood or charcoal until further notice.

You can however use an elevated stove propane or gas or electricity.

The move is in response to prolonged dry conditions, increased wildfire activity and a worsening drought.

A commissioner says the next several days are a concern because wind gusts our forecast in excess of 20 miles per hour with very low humidity, perfect conditions for fire spread.

New Jersey's fall fire season usually runs from mid-October until early November but has ramped up this year.

The chief of the forest fire service told reporters he can't recall a time in his career when we've had this much dry weather and no relief in sight.

New Jersey has experienced 934 wildfires since the start of the year, burning more than 6700 acres of land.

When it comes to the November presidential election, a new poll finds the only certainty is that no one has any idea how this is going to end.

A University poll shows that major events like resident Biden dropping out of the race or an assassination attempt on Donald Trump have barely caused the needle to move, with 47% of potential voters surveyed either definitely or probably voting for Harris and 44% for Trump.

According to one pollster, that means shifts of a single point can be consequential to the outcome but are nearly impossible to capture in a poll.

Both candidates are even when it comes to certain issues like being seen as understanding day-to-day concerns of the average citizen.

Republicans have a slight advantage on being trusted to handle things like economic growth, job creation and inflation.

Murray says there is more than enough room for the outcome to go either way as the result of a small shift in turnout.

>> I can't foresee anything, it is something beyond our imagination, that could move the needle right now.

It is going to be decided by 10 or 20,000 votes in each of these competitive states.

Briana: Tensions were high at a public meeting in Palmyra as South Jersey residents repeatedly voiced their frustrations with New Jersey transit's River line.

Late and canceled trains, dangerous track crossings, crime and more recently, fatal accidents.

State Senator Troy Singleton called the meeting which included presentations from top officials.

It comes weeks after a train operator was killed and dozens of passengers were injured.

Ted Goldberg reports.

>> It starts with a conversation and then progress is made.

Ted: The hope is progress can be made after a crash of a river line light rail train that killed someone and injured more than 20 other people last week.

NJ transit officials said the hybrid line has faced cutbacks and safety concerns over the past few years and they outlined the issues they've had with the custom-made diesel powered cars.

>> This is a fleet that as you identify, the obsolescence that exists in 20-year-old vehicles that are the only ones in the world, we have to identify what is the problem, we have to engineer a solution and we have to manufacture the part because there is no place to go to buy it.

Ted: Mike Kilcoyne gave a presentation explaining why the trains frequently break down, blaming excessive heat leading to equipment failure.

He said the trains are being repaired or replaced over the next few years but the turnaround time for these custom parts is 39 weeks.

Riders and former riders were not thrilled.

>> I promised my daughter that I would mention this summer she was stranded in Camden and record station at seven months pregnant.

>> My wife was pregnant last year, she was going on a train and she fainted on the river line because there is no air, no AC running.

>> Being a business casual suit in 85 degrees heat, waiting almost an hour and a half just to have the train canceled again and again.

Ted: The crowd included the family of Matthew Dickinson, a 15-year-old who was struck and killed by a river line train in Palmyra this past summer.

>> As we sit and speak about timeliness and delays, it is troubling to see the rate of speed at which the train travels.

>> We've got major signal problems at this end of the line.

Gates come down when there are no trains and then gates don't come down when there are trains and it's a miracle you don't have more incidents.

>> I live in Riverton and there is no fence along that river line.

On the side of Palmyra, I think we need fencing on both sides.

Ted: Residents are also demanding more answers as to why a downed tree wasn't removed last week, resulting in the death of operator Jessica Haley.

State Senator Troy Singleton said he couldn't answer specifics about her because the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

>> It is my hope that when that investigation lays out its information, we will have a better understanding of what occurred and how we can prevent it from happening again.

Ted: Residents who came to Tuesday's meeting were also angry about unreliable service.

>> It is a bit of a joke where I no longer need coffee because I have enough cortisol.

Ted: And safety on the trains.

>> Bike theft and vandalism at the trains is a problem, especially where I am, at Beverly Edgewater Park.

I've had my bike stolen they are, my son has had two bikes stolen.

>> There is a thing that made the system unique, but that is no risk -- that is no excuse for not providing reliable service.

Going through the pandemic and the logistic supply where we could not get the parts we needed was impacted by the aftermath of the pandemic.

Ted: The NJ transit president has been hammered all summer after raising fares 15% across the board.

On Tuesday, he heard more criticism about safety concerns.

>> It starts with you Kevin.

My first suggestion would be to look in the mirror and see what can you do different?

You've been in this seat since 2018, yet leadership has changed according to you but you are still sitting there.

>> I think it is very shortsighted that we do not have these solutions in place, that we have an unsafe rail line for our children, to play and go to school.

Ted: NJ transit contracts the river line to a private company.

The river line has the lowest reliability of New Jersey's light transit lines and the angry folks who turned out Tuesday evening are hoping something can change.

Briana: Living conditions at the state's oldest public housing complex in Atlantic City has been the subject of complaints and lawsuits for nearly two years.

Residents of Stanley Holmes Village say they have been subject to periods without heat or hot water during better winter months.

Poor living conditions and even gas leaks.

The Atlantic City Housing Authority unveiled a new plan to make repairs ahead of the winter season, but several residents showed up to say they've already had to go without basic necessities as recently as this morning.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis is in Atlantic City with the latest.

Joanna: The homes have -- the village has been in disrepair for years.

Residents complain of mold, rats, no hot water.

These homes are run by the Atlantic City Housing Authority that recently replaced its administrative staff.

They held a press conference today at City Hall to outline their plans for repairing the boiler systems in these villages, with the mayor and the city Council to show solidarity with their new leadership team about the repairs underway.

>> It is the oldest public housing complex in the state of New Jersey.

Housing authorities nationwide have a backlog of 60 billion dollars.

>> It is a property that has long since outlived its useful life and as Executive Director of the Housing Authority, I focus is on the quality of life for our residents.

>> When I leave here, I'm going to a home that is cold, where there is no hot water for me to wash my hands.

Joanna: Residents who live in these units came to the meeting to say they've had no heat or hot water the last two days.

Members of the Housing Authority did come here after that meeting to troubleshoot the problem.

We will bring you a more in-depth look tomorrow at the repairs underway, but these residents say it cannot come soon enough.

Back to you in the studio.

Briana: Some lawmakers are getting behind recent reforms from the Attorney General's office aimed at speeding up investigations into sexual assault.

They want to codify into state law, Newark mandating that testing -- mandating the testing of all so-called rape kits, forensic data law enforcement collects from assault victims during the investigation.

The legislation will also accelerate how quickly the material is tested and as Raven Santana reports, clear a large backlog of thousands of untested kits.

>> I had the privilege of being a undersheriff and Sheriff.

I saw firsthand, the victims in their most wonderful moments.

That never leaves you -- in their most vulnerable moments.

That never leaves you.

Raven: The former Sheriff knows firsthand how the evidence in rape kits are critical for catching offenders or exonerating those falsely accused.

>> This was left of the -- of the counties.

Having been a Sheriff, I can assure you that the practice was for all of them to be tested so it was quite alarming.

Raven: That is why he is pushing a bill to clear the backlog and make sure all collection kits are tested.

The legislation that was advanced by the Senate Law and Public Safety committee also requires testing facilities to notify law enforcement within 24 hours of a test being taken, a measure supported by the Attorney General, who over the summer announced a directive requiring all kits be tested, regardless of how old.

>> It provides a process so that those kits are done before December 2025 in a methodical fashion, and candidly it fires the -- it follows the Attorney General's directive he issued in August.

As a result of that, it codifies that and also provides a timeline so that kits are tested within 10 calendar days moving forward, so that victims have some assurance that the process is being followed in a timely manner.

Those results are distributed.

Other states that have done this for years have had the opportunity to find -- in one particular state's case, they've found a 13,000 criminals over the course of four years, folks who have done these crimes multiple times.

>> Ending the rape kit backlog has been our campaign since 2010.

We don't know what New Jersey's backlog looks like because the inventory only looked at what was on shelves during a couple of years, and even that was over 2000.

Raven: The director of policy and advocacy at joyful heart foundation, a nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault with a number of resources while also pushing reforms and adjust leash and to ensure justice for them.

>> A 10 year report on the state of the backlog was issued nationally a couple of years ago, and what we found was good news, which is that the backlog is diminishing.

At one point there were anywhere from 300,000 to 400,000 untested kits across the country and now we are under 100000 and by some counts we might be under 60,000.

We are excited about New Jersey getting on board and starting to adopt our six pillars.

Raven: The legislation would allow science, not discretion to solve crimes.

>> All of these ideas and biases and victim blaming people bring to this decision, it is not a good idea to have one person making a decision like that.

Taking the discretion away makes sense because you have DNA, which is science.

You get a profile, it might hit someone on the database.

That is science.

There is no bias.

Raven: The Attorney General is already on board.

Briana: In our spotlight on business report, both Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump have floated multiple tax plans as they compete for votes in the November election.

Each would affect your wallet and the state budget differently, with analysts agreeing to proposed tax breaks all carry a hefty price tag that would undoubtedly add to the federal deficit.

That is of course assuming the policies don't get blocked by Congress.

Budget and finance writer John Reitmeyer looked into each candidate's signature tax issue and what it will mean for New Jersey and he joins me now.

John, it looks like there is a new tax proposal every day.

Clearly this is a top issue, so how do you lay out what each major candidate is proposing?

John: The economy is a huge issue this year and the candidates from both parties seem to be leading with tax policy.

We see some differences and what I try to do is take a look at these tax policies from the lens of a New Jersey resident and primarily through some of the challenges we face in New Jersey, it is a high cost eight.

We tend to have high median incomes here but not everyone does but it is a high cost estate.

Things like the local and state tax deduction, which we used to have unlimited at the federal level was capped years ago at $10,000, some thing that Former President Trump has talked about undoing.

It is interesting because he is the one who signed the law that enacted that cap but I think he has recognized the challenge that poses for people in this region and that is one of his proposals.

In New Jersey we also have a high housing cost, whether that is buying a home, renting a home, paying property taxes.

These are issues that New Jersey residents struggle with and we see Vice President Harris coming out with plans that would address some of this affordability challenge.

One of them would be tax credits for first-time homebuyers and then she is also looking at tax credits, existing -- expansion of an existing child tax credit.

For a lot of residents, there has been this of inflation and it has not spared the childcare sector.

Briana: So what would they cost because there are different numbers I have seen and as I know you have looked into from analysts about what it would add on to what is already a very large federal deficit.

What are we looking at?

John: There are ranges and there has been a lot of good research by nonpartisan outfits that try to assess and they look at these over a time horizon.

Maybe not the biggest hit in the first year but over 10 years if these policies were to be enacted, they could add to billions in new debt because it has sort of fallen out of fashion for politicians in general that especially candidates to try and balance any tax cuts with what we would call pay for's.

Vice President Harris is talking about increased taxes for high income earners and for corporations, so that does soften some of the projections in terms of what would be added to the deficit under her plans, whereas we just see a whole bunch of tax cuts being proposed I the Former President and the projections right now, a little more robust in terms of what would be added to the deficit, and that is not necessarily the core issue that people focus on these days, but it is a big deal because the government, unlike the state government budget that has to be balanced, the federal budget has a pretty wide operating deficit and does not need to be balanced.

Briana: There's been a lot of talk about why the inflation has been so high.

For New Jersey, let's go big picture.

What are the proposals that would have the most impact?

You mentioned the child tax credits and childcare credits.

What else?

John: We could broaden this out because things like immigration policy, I'm a change policy, it all comes back to the economy and impacts our bottom lines but when you were looking at what these candidates are leading with, it is exactly what we discussed.

That is a big issue for a lot of New Jersey residents and the housing issue is also a big issue, but things like overtime, taxes on wages, on tips, what happens with Social Security?

These are all things New Jersey residents care about, even if they are not tailoring these proposals to us specifically.

Briana: We didn't hear a lot about retirees.

You can see the full piece online at NJSpotlightnews.org.

While the presidential race may be a tossup, many of the congressional seats in New Jersey are heavily favored for incumbents and Democrats.

That appears to be the case for State Senator Nelly, the Democratic nominee in the ninth District expected to win the race against Republican Billy proper and replace the late Congressman, Bill Pascrell.

Poe is also facing pushback from her own party over support of Israel's war in Gaza, especially from residents in Patterson, home to the largest per capita Palestinian-American population of any city in the nation.

Our senior political correspondent digs into whether the issue could affect her votes.

David: The race is most difficult because someone other than the late Bill Pascrell will be representing it for the first time since the late 1900s.

In a race where a loyal Latina Democrat is facing a Trump supporting Republican African immigrant, the battle lines are still very familiar.

>> My opponent could not be more different than I am.

My opponent believes in conspiracy theories.

My opponent does not believe in freedom, the freedom for a woman to have the ability to her reproductive rights.

>> I'm not necessarily bringing a giant platform from the national level, I'm bringing it here locally, and I think by doing that and talking to the people and finding out what is on their mind and realizing the situation is a lot more nuanced.

The Israel-Palestine conflict for example.

David: In Patterson, that is an issue that hits home for the thousands of Palestinians and Arabs who live here.

Bill Pascrell was facing some heat from these for voters and from the looks of things, that is not easing.

Speaking personally, a spokesperson for Palestinians for Palestine says we should look beyond the major party candidates because neither Poe nor cramp us seems to get it.

>> State Senator Poe's response to a question regarding an arms embargo on Israel was astonishingly uninformed.

She doesn't understand, the basics of the current situation in Gaza and she doesn't understand U.S. military aid is a process.

>> No one wants this war.

Certainly everyone in Patterson, everyone throughout the country, everyone I speak to wants to be able to have an immediate resolution to this situation that is happening in the Middle East.

>> I see a lot of people on the conservative side say you have to support Israel and a lot of people on the liberal side say you have to support Palestine.

I don't support either side.

I support America and I'm here to represent Americans.

We have to come to a more diplomatic solution.

>> That talking point of not funding foreign governments is an argument of the Trump wing of the Republican party.

That answer signals to me more broadly where he falls under the Republican tent.

That is what concerns me, like OK, you say we shouldn't be sending money to foreign countries, are you then saying we should be spending money on housing and food and mental wellness on people, or are you going to come at me with let's build the wall?

David: In the battle of ideas, if history is any guide, most voters here would be pro poe, which despite some shaky performances by the Democrat is likely how this race will break.

>> She hasn't been able to study the issues for a year the way other candidates have had to study the issues.

Her opponent is clearly a thoughtful guy that has put a lot of thought into these positions he's taken.

He is a veteran, so he has a really interesting candidate.

He is a immigrant and a person of color.

He is definitely outside the mold of the mainstream for a Republican candidate.

David: He is counting on that to turn voters away from Poe, but knows that this is still a solidly Democratic seat and with two weeks to go, she only has to stay on course in order to win.

Briana: That's going to do it for us tonight, but David Cruz continues the conversation tomorrow night on Chat Box.

He talks with a political science professor about the concerns among some Democrats over soft support for Vice President Kamala Harris from black and brown men.

He also talks to New Jersey's interim Senator about what the Democrats need to do to hold onto the Senate.

That is Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on our NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

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

>> New Jersey Education Association, making public schools great for every child.

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And New Jersey realtors, the voice for real estate in New Jersey.

More information online at NJrealtor.com.