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Briana: Tonight, millions of already cast a ballot across the country.

Early in person voting is set to start in New Jersey on Saturday, as the state steps up election security at the polls.

>> New Jersey law enforcement agencies across the state are working together to secure the right to vote, and to protect voters from any form of intimidation or harassment.

Briana: After a summer of health for commuters, the state's busiest rail lines to see what improvements have been made.

>> Main question is, are things better?

Are we going to ensure things are not going to go off the rails again in so many different directions?

Briana: As more and more sports bets are wagered online, lawmakers measure the industry's impact on the state.

And a new report found homelessness is on the rise statewide.

But the numbers are only a fraction of the crisis that truly exists.

>> There are much, much larger numbers.

Essex County is in the lead.

But the total statewide number through September is in excess of 230,000 people.

Briana: NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ Announcer: from NJPBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News," with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening.

Thanks for joining us this Thursday night.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with a few key stories we are following.

First, with less than two weeks before the November presidential election, the state is ramping up safeguards to protect your right to vote.

Attorney General Matt Plotkin, lieutenant governor Tahitian away, and the director of New Jersey's office of Homeland Security today laid out election integrity plans for the public, which includes updated guidance to law enforcement about their role in election activities, providing more resources to local and county election officials about civil rights violations.

A state voting rights website that answers frequently asked questions about the right to vote, and how to report problems either during early voting or on election day.

Officials are also pointing voters to the division of election's website which explains how to spot political deepfakes online that could be misleading, along with a dedicated email and hotline so the public can report suspicious activity.

More than half a million New Jerseyans have already cast a mail-in ballot, another half a million more have yet to mail theirs in.

Early in person voting starts this Saturday, October 26, and runs until Sunday, November 3.

>> You need to vote.

We want you to vote.

Please get out and vote.

And know that your vote is safe and secure.

As the late great John Lewis said, your vote is precious.

Almost sacred.

It is the most powerful, nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union peered lieutenant governor way and I along with the director are committed to ensuring that every voter in our state is able to cast their ballot and make their voices heard.

This is a foundational component of our democratic process.

Briana: Also tonight, the fight continues in combating learning loss from the pandemic.

What state -- with state and federal leaders doubling down on the importance of high impacts tutoring.

The state has spent $40 million to helps to -- help schools rollout the tutoring, which gives students frequent sessions with a trained tutor several times a week, using the serial that aligns with their classroom work.

Congresswoman Mikey Cheryl, Senate President and it's a good Terry and Senate majority leader Teresa Ruiz visited Kane University to talk about the initiative.

Cheryl introduced a bill in 2023 that would expand access to that type of tutoring, if providing federal dollars to help school districts cover the bill.

She noted students experienced a loss of seven months worth of math instruction into months of reading skills between 2019 and 2022.

With students in K through four grade experiencing the most significant learning loss.

But added this tutoring can help students of all ages.

The drought situation is worsening throughout the state.

Nearly 70% of New Jersey is now under moderate drought conditions.

About a third is in severe drought.

According to a national drought monitor.

That includes all of Ocean County and much of Burlington, Atlantic and to Cumberland counties.

It is due to the unusual stretch of dry weather we have been experiencing, which has also sparked a red flag warning by the National Weather Service.

That is for 11 counties in central and south Jersey through this evening.

As fire danger remains high.

The lack of rain has caused extremely dry brush and the low humidity and gusty wind to that creates the perfect environment for fast-moving brush fires.

The state is urging residents, especially campers and park visitors, to be extra vigilant.

Forecasters say there is no rain in sight for at least the next seven to 10 days.

Last month was one of the third driest Septembers ever recorded in New Jersey history.

Meanwhile, officials from Amtrak and New Jersey transit are trying to avoid a summer of hell repeat, where breakdowns, delays and cancellations cause an uproar from commuters who were left stranded and angry several times throughout the summer.

The CEO's told a group of Congress members this week that they will need a big chunk of cash to do it.

Taking the delegation on a private rail tour along the busy Northeast corridor door, where many of the problems originate, all to see the progress made over the last several months in the infrastructure challenges that persist.

Brenda Flanagan reports.

Brenda: As regular commuter trains rolled along the Northeast corridor, especially Amtrak caboose took members of Congress from New Jersey on a tour.

Democrats demanded to see whether ongoing repairs to overhead electrical wiring would avert and other so-called summer of hell for Jersey rail writers.

They got an iPhone, said Congresswoman Mikey Cheryl.

>> You can see that this is a train system built in the 1930's that has had severe underinvestment for decades.

I don't think anybody feels like we are at the point where we can say to you today, that we have a plan for next summer.

>> This past summer, I was one of the passengers that was stuck at Penn Station trying to get home to get my kids back to bed.

Seeing nothing but canceled trains on all the screens there.

The main question is, are things better?

Are we going to ensure things are not going to go off the rails again in so many different directions?

Brenda: the group pressed for answers but praised Amtrak for making interim repairs to keep NJ transit's locomotives moving along the breakdown plagued New Brunswick to New York sections of track.

As Amtrak CEO explained -- >> I have been partnering with our colleagues to look at all of the systems involved.

That is the infrastructure, the electrical infrastructure, key overhead wires, the substations that feed them, and with their equipment to look for opportunities for damage to occur between the systems.

To be clear, we have unique set of system failures that happened.

Brenda: any full system upgrades hinge in part on a diagnostic report from outside investigators hired to investigate the summer of hell fiasco.

>> To see what the smoking gun or may the major cause was.

And that, we still don't know.

We can speculate but I don't see the point of that.

They -- while they are doing the repairs, they are also doing this investigation to determine if there is one thing or some major thing that has caused the problem.

Brenda: that study is due in November.

.

There are a lot of different timelines to consider here.

For rail riders, only one really matters.

>> This last summer was horrible with the train experience.

Brenda: riders recall so many hours lost.

The frustration of getting stranded by canceled trains.

>> People should not suffer.

People like me, I suffer.

I was there for 5, 7 hours, wasted my time.

I had no idea where to go.

The buses were not there.

>> It is definitely inconveniencing these passengers.

My family, some of the people coming in here for -- for college games and everything else.

They need to get that fixed.

Brenda: In transit has come under fire and it finally hired a customer advocate who has yet to make -- meet critical transit riders.

>> That comes with the nature of commuter rail.

We know that.

People would rather deal with some pain up front if they know it is going to be resulting in concrete progress.

Brenda: To that end, NJ transit is repairing its locomotives and ordered a separate study of its electrical systems.

Amtrak is investing more money to upgrade overhead power lines, it supplied for $300 million in federal grants.

>> While these repairs are occurring, we are trying -- they have applied for a long-term capital project, two grants, one to upgrade wires, one for the signal systems, for the area from New Brunswick or North Brunswick to Newark.

That is where these things need to be replaced.

That hopefully will also be announced within the next month or so.

Brenda: Of course, politics control congressional pursestrings and oversight.

The November election results could derail even the best laid plans.

In New Brunswick, I am Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Continuing to cover the situation at the Stanley Holmes village in Atlantic City where residents have complained for years about the deteriorating conditions.

Mold and pests, no heat or hot water.

There is hunting lawsuits and threats from federal lawmakers over the repairs needed at the state's oldest public housing complex.

The city -- the city's housing authority revealed plans to fix the problems but a Senior correspondent reports that the solution is not so simple.

>> Residents living in these affordable housing units in Atlantic City called Stanley Holmes village have faced years of tick -- of decrepit and dangerous living conditions.

>> Broken windows, lots -- locks that don't work.

There is a lot of issues with mold.

In part because of water intrusion, the pipe is breaking down, causing steam to building unit.

I had one client last year get an electric shock because he had water coming out of his electrical outlet.

Joanna: This offense have faced the last two winters without reliable heat or hot water.

The matter ended up before the courts and a court order was issued this year, requiring Atlantic City Housing Authority that runs the village to replace the crumbling heating system.

There is only one problem.

>> Long-term capital projects are very hard to complete when you don't have the funding to put projects out 30 years and fund them for 30 years.

Joanna: Michael Brown came on as a consultant for the a CHA, that is also replaced its administrative staff.

Grounds as their biggest challenge is funding from HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

There are 3.36 million dollar annual budget falls short of their $20 million in emergency deficiencies and 100 million dollars in deferred maintenance projects.

They say the previous a CHA administrative staff mismanaged the funds.

Brown says they can't afford to replace all of the gas lines, so instead, here is what they have done.

>> We were placed 60% of the infrastructure for the heating system in village one and village two, as well as a lot of the pipes that feed village three.

With that said, what you see and read is what has not been fixed.

Because the funds are not there to fix everything.

That is why the transfer plans came into play.

Joanna: Brown explaining residents will be transferred out of village three so it can be redeveloped, saving millions of dollars on constant repairs.

Olga represents several of the residents in the lawsuit and takes issue with that plan.

>> The court ordered them to replace the heating system, and they made representations in court repeatedly that they were working on it, they were going to meet the court's deadline of October 1.

And then in June, we find out that they are not in fact replacing the heating system.

And looks like they never intended to replace the heating system.

They are saying they can't afford to and making these repairs instead.

Joanna: Takes issue with residents being forced to relocate without assurances they will be moved to a another housing property in any better condition.

A CHA says it will offer financial support.

A resident in village one had this to say at yesterday's meeting.

>> I am a tenant that lives four doors down from the boiler room.

And today, as I speak, I do not have heat or hot water.

Joanna: Her complaint led to leadership coming to her apartment after the meeting to troubleshoot the issue.

Turns out, it was another busted pipe.

They have recently installed new sensors on the pipes to detect failures rather than trying to dig a ball of the pipes that run under the housing units.

>> Things are looking up your things are trying to come together.

Because at one time, there was no communication.

We have to understand that this is a new administration.

Joanna: While residents are cutting them slack to get these renovations underway, the courts are holding them in contempt for not completing the full repairs as ordered, meaning plaintiff's red will be cut by 75% until it is done.

In Atlantic City, I am Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: The rise in popularity of legalized online sports betting has also appeared to cause a surge in the number of people struggling with gambling addictions.

Those who work in the compulsive gambling space told lawmakers today the volume of calls to addiction hotlines is way up, and the collars are getting younger and younger.

The industries proved to be in an economic boom to the state as Ted Goldberg reports, the legislature is figuring out how to balance the dark side of the betting business.

>> It is clear New Jersey not only took the lead, but since the gold standard for illegal and regulated sports betting market.

>> No doubt, gambling is an effective revenue-generating resource.

But at what social cost?

Ted: We New Jersey legalized sports gambling, supporters said it would legalize something many people already do a legally, and raise money.

Critics said more people would have their lives ruined.

At a joint hearing, it sounded like both sides were right.

>> Sports books that have been stood up in Atlantic City's casinos have created indirect or direct jobs of approximately 4000.

This is a number we love to see.

>> The more revenue generated from online and sports wagering, the more calls we receive, which translates into more and more people needing help.

Ted: Illegal Internet betting raised nearly $200 million in state wide this past August.

At a time when foot traffic in Atlantic City casinos has not completely recovered since the pandemic.

This casinos have seen a rise in revenue thanks in large part to online sports betting.

>> On a nationwide basis, sports betting group 30% this year and traditional gross gaming revenue only grew .1%.

Legalizing sports betting has shifted the activity from the illegal black market to the legal regulated market where protections could be put in place.

Ted: Some say those protections are not enough.

That while people have always gambled illegally, making it legal has encouraged more people to place bets.

And sometimes, become addicted.

>> 1% to 3% of the adult population in the United States has a gambling problem.

But of that percent, it is 6% in New Jersey, most likely due to the abundance of gambling opportunities and excessive advertising.

Ted: according to Rutgers data, 85% of sports bets lose.

Two thirds of those bets are in game.

The companies excepting these wagers say they do have protections in place for people who could become problem gamblers.

>> We provide information to all of our players about the rules, the risks, and the odds of the games they play.

>> We contribute time and resources to organizations like the community foundation of New Jersey, the community Food Bank of New Jersey.

Ted: That same Rutgers data shows sports bettors are 10 times as likely as other gamblers to show symptoms of high risk gambling.

It can be hard to identify and help them.

>> We are in a gambling where alcohol was in the 1950's cigarettes were in the 1940's.

There is a stigma associated with being a gambler or having a problem.

People are not going to self identify.

Ted: Especially since some gambling behaviors are being learned by first-graders.

>> Some of these websites, they start them watching gaming and placing virtual bets and they triage them.

These kids are being primed as young as seven and eight.

We work a lot with elementary students.

50% of the boys that come to our center are already gambling with their parents online.

>> Ultimately, I hope the committee's work here will be addressing that in a way that is responsible.

Ted: It is a delicate tight rope for state leaders, balancing a burgeoning industry and the addiction that can come with legal sports betting.

In Trenton, I am Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: In our spotlight on business report, less air pollution and smelly fumes on the New Jersey Turnpike.

The state just secured a major grant from the federal EPA for $250 million to build charging stations along I-95 for electric trucks.

The grant is part of the clean corridor program which supports projects in three other states, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut, considered the most heavily used freight corridor.

It will build a infrastructure that enables heavy-duty electric trucks to travel here.

The project includes 20 freight truck charging sites and 450 charging ports across the state.

Transportation is the leading source of greenhouse gas pollutions in New Jersey and nationwide, with diesel powered vehicles considered a major source of the pollution most harmful to human health.

The state has been pushing incentives to switch to electric vehicles and trucks as a way to significantly cut down on those emissions.

>> This is how we make progress.

Starting at the most basic level, making sure that our children, our family, our communities have clean air to breathe that we lift up businesses, like Hermann, who are working hard on this transition.

With partners like PSE&G, because taking the private sector, the governmental sector, the NGO sector, altogether to do this work, that is how it is done.

Briana: A deeper look at a troubling trend across the state, homelessness spiked by 24% over the last year.

Advocates with the nonprofit monarch housing associates counted 12,680 men, women and children who were experiencing homelessness on the night of January 23.

Essex County leads the state in the number of unsheltered residents.

19% of all homeless individuals in New Jersey were counted in Essex County.

Advocates say it makes clear we are in a critical point of the affordable housing crisis, which has been worsened by rising rent cost and shrinking vacancies.

Richard Uniacke is the president of Bridges outreach, a nonprofit that works to end homelessness and he is with me in the studio to share insight about what is driving the increase and more importantly, what is done to help.

I'm glad to get a chance to talk to you.

As we were talking before we came on, it is important to note this is a snapshot and as you say, the numbers are actually quite worse.

What can you tell us?

Richard: We as service providers put everything into the H MIS system.

There is a public dashboard that the New Jersey housing and mortgage finance agency provides.

If you look at that, there are much, much larger numbers.

Essex County is certainly in the lead.

But the total statewide number through September is in excess of 230,000 people, who have interacted with the homeless services, and prevention ecosystem, with prevention being a really important part of what we are seeing.

Briana: We talked about the driving factors from a state perspective.

Is it the same on the local level?

You are doing the street outreach.

Your organization is interacting with these folks on a daily basis.

Are those the main factors contributing to what I would say is a stunning prize, whether it is 24% statewide or perhaps even double that?

Richard: Those are important factors.

We are still seeing people being asked to leave a shared residence, we are still seeing evictions.

Those of the top two causes of homelessness we see across the state.

It is important to note that.

There is this pervasive view that it is drug addiction and mental illness.

While that is prevalent, those are not causal.

What we see both in an outreach perspective and case management setting are a lot of people who are looking to deal with their housing stability, and that is really so much more heavily weighted on people who are worried about their imminent homelessness.

We do a lot of street outreach here, and we also do a ton of homelessness prevention case management.

Briana: We should note that because there are resources in Newark, Essex County, that tends to draw folks.

You will go someplace where you know you might be able to get help.

What are the strategies that have shown some success?

Richard: Some of the biggest things we can do is early awareness.

In Newark, and one of the things we've seen as the mayor aims to end chronic homelessness and establish an office of homeless services, they are bringing everyone together and trying to merge the radar screens.

If you understand where is someone going to appear, if that family is facing imminent homelessness, where is that person going to appear if they are experiencing unsheltered homelessness?

How do we bring that together, basically alert the entire community, so that together, we can react much more quickly and efficiently.

Briana: When you are talking about preventative services, are you -- you are meeting people where they are at, bringing those services to them, to get a step ahead.

What does that look like?

Richard: We think about -- somebody was saying to me, rent eats first.

We talk with partners who are food providers.

If you are going to a food pantry, you are probably housed based on the nature of that food.

But you might be unstable he host.

-- may be unstably housed.

We partner with that charitable Food Network, partners who are part of the community Food Bank.

Their member agencies, to be able to say, you are here for food, are you also worried about your housing?

We can connect you to case management.

Same thing with school districts.

Folks who are homeless, it is obvious to partner with first responders who will engage with those folks on the street.

It is that prevention, housing authorities and schools.

Briana: Let me get you on one more quickly.

How much does the decision on grants passed in Oregon, which criminalized homelessness.

We have seen several towns in New Jersey that have taken their own ordinances.

How much does that affect your ability to do your job and folks being able to get on their feet again?

Richard: It makes it much harder.

You are talking about blood from a stone.

If you are going to fine someone $500 for falling asleep on a bench, it is biologic imperative.

As Justice Sotomayor a said, it is a condition of homelessness.

And this biological imperative to sleep, so what are we to do?

You fine someone for that, they can't pay it, now they have a bench warrant.

It is just harder and harder to get out of homelessness.

What we do is try to fight that and make it easy to get the help you need.

Briana: Thanks so much for coming in.

Great work.

Thank you so much.

Richard: Thank you.

Really appreciate it.

Briana: That is going to do it for us tonight.

Make sure you join David Cruise tomorrow on Reporters Roundtable where he interviews Montville Mayor who is leading the charge to change the state's affordable housing plan.

Plus, a panel of local reporters break down this week's big political headlines.

That is Friday at noon on the NJ Spotlight news YouTube channel.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire team at NJ Spotlight News, thank you for being with us.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

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