(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vannozzi.

- Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Thursday.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

Tonight, a few stories we'll get into later in the broadcast.

Ice raids and detainments happening across the state this week.

We'll talk to an advocate who was on the scene of a recent roundup in Woodbridge about what they're hearing from families.

Then, a hospital in crisis.

Jersey City's Heights University Hospital laying off staff and winding down non-essential services.

We'll take a look at the impact on the community.

And later, why is your electric bill so high?

We'll tell you how AI may be playing a role and efforts being made to drive down costs.

But first, a few of today's top headlines.

The race for New Jersey's governor is neck and neck, just days out from the election.

A new poll released today from Emerson College shows Democrat Mikey Sherrill holding on to the lead in a razor thin margin against Republican Jack Ciatarelli, 49 to 48 percent there and just 3 percent voting for someone else or undecided.

Polls throughout the campaign have shown a narrowing race down the stretch.

Several surveys out today, including another from Quinnipiac University, shows Sherrill up 8 points.

On a press call earlier today, the Democratic Governors Association dismissed the Emerson poll as an outlier.

Meanwhile, more than 900,000 voters have already cast a ballot before election day, either early in person or via mail-in ballot.

And an NJ Spotlight news analysis of down-ballot and local races finds fewer candidates are running for local school boards this year than they did last year, with hundreds of people running in uncontested elections.

The New Jersey School Boards Association says it is cause for concern since school boards have a significant impact on both how schools are governed and how taxpayer money is spent.

Also tonight, New Jersey is stepping up to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

The Category 5 storm tore through Jamaica this week, leaving dozens dead and widespread devastation across the Caribbean.

In Hoboken, city officials are mobilizing to aid their sister city, Montego Bay, which was slammed by the storm.

The most powerful hurricane in Jamaica's recent history.

Mayor Ravi Bala says his team has been in constant contact with Montego Bay's mayor, coordinating technical support and other post-storm recovery.

The two cities forged a partnership last year through a U.S.

State Department initiative on climate resiliency.

Bala says Hoboken understands the long road ahead, recalling the toll of Superstorm Sandy, which marked its 13th anniversary this week.

And if you haven't signed up for any of the state's property tax relief programs yet, time is running out.

The deadline to file is tomorrow, Friday, October 31st.

And this year's programs are tied to major savings for both homeowners and renters.

The state's new Stay NJ tax break, which is for homeowners 65 and older, combined with Anchor and the senior freeze, could slash property tax bills for residents by as much as 50 percent, up to $6,500.

Payments are going out in stages.

Senior freeze checks hit mailboxes and bank accounts earlier this year.

The amount is based on how long you've been in the program and how much your property taxes have gone up.

Anchor payments started going out in September on a rolling basis.

Those are for eligible renters and homeowners.

While Stay and J will land in early 2026.

Residents can fill out a single application for all three programs.

Seniors or those who receive Social Security Disability benefits need to complete what's called the PAS-1 form, whether you rent or own your home.

And for those who are eligible, they can apply for a PAS-2 form.

Anchor payments started going out in September on a rolling basis.

Those are for eligible renters and homeowners.

While Stay and J will land in early 2026.

Residents can fill out a single application for all three programs.

Those who are seniors or those who receive social security disability benefits need to complete what's called the PAS-1 form, whether you rent or own your home.

Everyone else should file the new ANC-1 form.

If you're not sure whether you still need to apply, check your status online or call the Treasury Hotline.

Coming up, a look at what's behind ramped up ice activity across New Jersey.

That's next.

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A Middlesex County community is on edge tonight after federal immigration agents on Wednesday took dozens of warehouse workers into custody.

The raid happened at the Savino del Bene shipping warehouse in the Avenal section of Woodbridge.

Advocates say some of those taken had work permits or were still waiting for their immigration cases to be processed.

It's the third immigration sweep in as many months at a Middlesex County warehouse.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security tells NJ Spotlight News the operation was part of a routine inspection at an authorized facility, adding it's part of DHS's ongoing efforts to quote, "ensure compliance with customs and immigration regulations, safeguard the integrity of the supply chain, and verify that warehouse operators are adhering to all applicable safe security requirements."

During the inspection, officers encountered 46 illegal aliens working inside the facility, making up approximately 22% of the on-site workforce.

All 46 illegal aliens will be held in DHS custody pending further immigration proceedings.

For more on the raid and other recent ICE operations in New Jersey, we're joined by Viri Martinez with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.

Viri, thanks for your time.

As I understand it, you were on the ground yesterday in Woodbridge.

Can you tell us what you saw and about how many folks you saw get arrested yesterday during that ICE operation?

So yesterday when organizers, community organizers got on the ground in Avenal outside of the warehouse, the state of chaos that existed was really alarming, right?

There were over 50 ICE agents outside.

They were over--they were dressed in police vests that had "HSI" under it in very small lettering.

They had BB guns.

They had military-grade weapons and helmets, as you can see.

And there were over 35 community members that were taken, but over 80 percent of the warehouse was empty because they also arrested folks that they couldn't really confirm their citizenship status.

And this really goes to show the - you know, immigration enforcement is here in New Jersey.

It happened yesterday in Avenal.

It's been happening in New Jersey.

And we have a bill called the Immigrant Trust Act.

It's been sitting in the legislature for years, and it hasn't moved at all.

And this is a bill that would really slow down the immigration process, immigration arrests in the state of New Jersey, protect our communities, protect our neighbors, right?

From ICE collecting information about immigration status, and then eventually funneling folks through the detention and deportation system.

Have you spoken with leadership, state legislative leadership about that bill and what are they saying about whether or not they'll post it?

That bill, as I said, has been sitting in the legislature for years.

Our coalition at the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, we have been fighting for this bill and our community has been fighting for this bill for years.

We actually went to Speaker Coughlin's office straight after the raid that happened at the warehouse.

We went straight to his office to, again, sound the alarm of what's been happening.

Every day, community members are calling the leadership's office.

They've been calling.

They've been sending letters.

And so they this bill, they know about this bill.

And the fact that it has not moved at all, it has not been passed, is really a slap to the face and to our communities, right, who woke up yesterday to go to work.

We should mention, of course, having a Woodbridge that's in Speaker Coughlin's district there in Middlesex County.

What reasons were you and your team, were you and your association able to gather about why these folks specifically were being detained?

And do we have any idea where they're being held, where they're being processed?

Immigration enforcement has been really active and really heightened in the state of New Jersey.

Middlesex County Legislative District 19 is one of the most diverse districts in the state of New Jersey.

And the fact that legislators from that district haven't been active on the bill, that would really stop the expansion of so much enforcement in our communities.

We got on the ground yesterday and again saw so many ICE agents.

Our organizers were talking to community members, talking to families who got alarming calls from their loved ones.

And many of these folks, they got funneled into -- they got funneled into a butt, into these cars that have 10 to 15 seats, and then they were just disappeared.

And so community organizers are still in communication with family, trying to get a sense of where these folks are.

And we have some community members we know that they'll be at Delaney Hall, because New Jersey has two detention centers in the state of New Jersey.

We have Delaney Hall, which opened earlier this year, and we have Elizabeth Detention Center.

So New Jersey is a place where we, you know, New Jersey is a place where community members are actively being ripped apart from their communities and then being transferred to a detention center where they are hidden away from our, from our community.

Let me ask you about one of those detention centers.

Some commissioners from Essex County sent a letter to Secretary Noem, Department of Homeland Security Secretary, about the conditions there.

What are you hearing from the community?

Of course, GEO Group, which operates Delaney, denies allegations that conditions are inhumane, as the commissioners categorized them.

What do you hear from the community, from family members who have loved ones who are being held there?

I first want to say that these corporations, these massive corporations that own detention centers like Delaney Hall, like Elizabeth Detention Center, they are huge.

They are multibillion-dollar prison companies.

And what's happening in Delaney Hall is not singular to just Delaney Hall.

We have been hearing concerns about people just -- people who are getting sick who are being denied their medication.

People have diabetes, have high blood pressure, and they're not getting the medical attention that they need.

They're getting a pill, for example, that will sedate them, knock them out, and then by that point in time, they're obviously not complaining about any of their health concerns because they're not awake to really feel anything.

You know, earlier this year, we saw a lot of issues about the actual infrastructure of the building.

And so this building is unsafe.

And the conditions inside are unsafe.

I want to get your response, Viri.

Another community member, Ruperto Vincenz Marquez from Atlantic Highlands, co-owner and chef at Emilio's Kitchen there, was detained, apprehended recently, October 19th.

We do have a statement though, from the assistant secretary at Homeland Security, who said that Ruperto entered the country illegally, an immigration judge issued final order of removal on July 19th, 2025, July 18th, 2025.

And that work authorization, of which he did have legal work papers, doesn't give anyone legal status to remain in the US.

What's your response to that, Viri?

We know that our community leaders are, you know, workers, our business leaders, our neighbours are being swept up and profiled in this chaos that immigration enforcement is perpetuating and that the federal government has a huge hand in, right?

That's why we fought for more funding for the Detention and Deportation Defence Initiative, right?

And we know that this, you know, we have good legislation that's sitting in the legislature where assembly members have refused to pass and have refused to move.

The Immigrant Trust Act would codify the protections of our community members and expand these protections and reduce the number of arrests that exist, right?

People are waking up every single day to go to work.

Roberto woke up one day to go to work to serve the community that comes into his restaurant.

The workers yesterday went to work, to work at the warehouse.

They have been working in for days, weeks, years.

Yeah.

And now they're funneled into the detention system.

We have to leave it there.

Thank you very much.

Martinez is with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.

Thank you so much for your time and your insight.

- Thank you.

- Uncertainty is growing around the future of a Jersey City hospital.

After several workers at Heights University Hospital were laid off this weekend, as the facility's operator says it's scaling back non-essential services amid deep financial losses.

But even with those steep cuts, the hospital is still in danger of closure.

Senior correspondent, Joanna Gagas reports.

There's a major controversy playing out at a Jersey City hospital that was just saved from bankruptcy a year ago.

Formerly known as Christ Hospital and owned by CarePoint, it was taken over by a new health system called Hudson Regional Health earlier this year.

But less than six months later, the new owner is now saying the hospital, renamed Heights University Hospital, will likely need to close.

"This hospital has been, just like the rest, has been completely ignored by prior ownership.

No investment in infrastructure, no investment in mechanicals."

Dr.

Nizar Kafaya is president and CEO of Hudson Regional Health, or HRH, that took over the three hospitals in the CarePoint system, including ones in Bayonne and Hoboken.

Kafaya says the client base in Jersey City made this hospital the most vulnerable of all of them.

"It serves a completely underserved population.

65% of the population that's being seen at the Heights Hospital is either charity care, undocumented, self-pay, or managed Medicaid.

After we took over the management of these hospitals, we were faced with the fact that the state cut charity care by 50%."

He says those state cuts, combined with federal changes to Medicaid, left its future uncertain.

So the hospital undertook what Kefaya calls a "right-sizing," shrinking its 520 full-time staff by about 100 positions and closing what the health system calls "non-essential services."

The operating room has closed down to two nurses and emergency only operations.

Our cardiac pulmonary unit has closed down completely.

Our med-surg unit that does post-op surgery patients, they are closed completely.

We have about 250 members at Christ Hospital or Heights University Hospital, and all of them were targeted for layoff.

Since that time, we have no written notice telling us exactly who resigned, who was laid off, and who is not targeted for layoff.

We don't have at all.

Part of the uncer of the nurses to its other union says that's a viola States Warren Act that re mass layoffs.

They say th that they violated collect state labor laws.

This is we've everything we have with our labor law attorne state and then the state' in place now for almost t members were also shocked day before the layoff no City Planning Board for on the property.

Given al private owners intended t build luxury condos.

That thinking that it's always failing operation.

The pe up with a financial suppo a letter to the state tod dollars in stabilization aid.

Senator Raj Mukerji, who represents the Heights neighborhood, plans to introduce a bill to provide the hospital with state aid, but cautions approval of the real estate project.

I'd be disappointed if the city allowed development to occur here unless it was with strict guard guardrails and in conjunction with a plan that would ensure the hospital stays afloat, that an ED, the emergency room was kept intact along with other essential acute care services.

Hudson Regional has called for the state to respond to their request for funding by November 10th or says they'll consider a complete closure.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Joanna Gaggis.

- Well, artificial intelligence may be revolutionizing our lives, but it's also straining New Jersey's power grid.

Data centers fueling the AI boom are multiplying across the state, consuming enormous amounts of electricity and water.

It's become a flashpoint in the race for governor, while lawmakers propose new rules to manage demand and industry groups warn against over-regulation.

Our senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan joins us with more on what's driving the surge and the growing fight over who should pay for it.

Brenda.

Hey, Brie.

So, lots of folks love using AI, but it comes at a premium price.

New Jersey ratepayers saw their electricity bill spike by almost 20% this summer, costs driven up in large part by the enormous power that'll be needed to run new data centers, according to analysts.

These buildings house stacks of complex servers and cooling systems, and they're popping up all over the U.S., particularly here in New Jersey.

But keeping track of them isn't easy, partly because it's a highly competitive industry that doesn't like to share intel.

Professor Philip Odankor of the Stevens Institute of Technology explains.

PHILIP ODANKOR, Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, University of New Jersey: They're trying to make it as difficult as possible for you to find out how much electricity that data center is going to use, because, once you know that, you know their capable -- their processing capabilities, and you kind of know what they're capable of doing.

So there's a lot of effort being put into keeping this information as secret as possible.

So a lot of it is being redacted.

A lot of it is being put under red tape, you name it.

So trying to get a full picture of where data centers are popping up and what their capabilities are is challenging.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Adancor is a professor of systems engineering.

He says Jersey is a magnet for this new industry, close to customers, including universities, medical research, and fintech in New York City and Philadelphia.

One industry analyst puts the New Jersey number at more than 80 data centers built or under development in New Jersey.

They now include two massive new projects under development, the 300 to 400 megawatt facility from Nebbius in Vineland and 140 plus megawatt center by CoreWeave in Kenilworth.

The data center capacity in New Jersey is around a little over 500 megawatts.

And between CoreWeave and this new one being put together, I think combined, you're already looking at close to 400, 500 megawatts.

So just those two are going to more than double our data center capacity.

Just like that.

We need to as a state, we need to as a region, get more generation on board either to meet this growing capacity or these facilities need to bring their own generation.

I'm not sure what the answers are at the moment, but but these are some of the considerations that need to be answered.

Now, that's Ray Cantor with New Jersey's Business and Industry Association.

He says data center development, while not exactly a wild West market, is fast outpacing the power sources that make it run.

That electricity is distributed through PJM, the nation's largest grid system, serving 13 states and Washington, D.C.

Demands outstripping supply, especially in New Jersey, where electricity rates are expected to rise again next summer.

DR.

ANTHONY FAUCI, President, National Institute of Energy and Climate Change: It takes about 18 months to develop a data center.

Yet to build the capacity for those data centers could take years.

So there's a disconnect between the growth of the load and the ability to address the generation.

We need to close those gaps.

We need to figure out where the energy is going to be coming from.

We need to do permanent reform, so we get generation on board quicker.

We need to maybe repower some of our natural gas plants, maybe bring some of the older ones back online.

But we need policies in place that allow it to happen.

Now, the impact on electricity cost is so radical, some advocates want to create a special billing classification for data centers, charging them much higher rates for the electricity they use.

A recent FDU poll showed 68 percent of New Jersey voters agree with that idea.

Assemblywoman Andrea Katz has proposed a rate surcharge, which could then help pay for upgrading the power grid's electrical lines and substations.

- The number one issue that I hear from my bosses, my constituents, my voters, is that their bills are going up really fast, really high, very quickly.

And we know that there's two reasons for this, the increased demand on the grid, which is what these data centers are putting on this large increased demand.

And also our infrastructure needs a lot of improvements.

Our grid needs a lot of work.

So my bill looks to address those two issues at one time.

Now a similar bill that it imposed tariffs on data center rate increases has already passed the assembly.

And then there's Beyonce.

It stands for bring your own clean energy and would make data centers provide their own power.

It's proposed by the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental advocates taking a carrot and stick approach.

According to Claire Langrie.

The basic one sentence summary of NRDC proposal is we're proposing to allow data centers to join PJM's grid as fast as they want, but not guarantee them firm service.

So they'll be given interruptible service until they bring their own capacity.

Now the Nebby Center in Vineland will be self-powered with a very high tech cooling system to lower energy demands, but it's fueled by natural gas.

The NRDC campaigns for clean energy over fossil fuels, and it's proposed based on the idea that deep pocket tech companies profiting from AI like Microsoft, Google, Meta and Amazon should pay for the extra energy this new technology consumes.

The states will be the deciding factor about if this data center race is a race to the bottom or a race to the top.

And to put it really bluntly, the states are the ones who ultimately decide, when there's not enough power to go around, if the data center gets shut off or if Grandma's House gets shut off.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, a PJM spokesman told us they wouldn't comment on these ideas, but that they're talking with stakeholders and will file a proposal in December with FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to address some of these concerns.

They want to make the whole process of forecasting energy demands more accurate and to give state agencies like the BPU more input, especially on the large megawatt data centers.

Brenda Flanagan, for us, great reporting, as always, Brenda.

Thanks so much.

BRENDA FLANAGAN, PBS NEWSHOUR CORRESPONDENT, "THE DEMOCRATICS OF THE FUTURE": Thanks, That's going to do it for us tonight.

But a reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us anytime by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

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

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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