Announcer: Funding for "NJ Spotlight News" funded by the members of the New Jersey Education Association, making public schools great for every child.

RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

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

More information is online at NJrealtor.com.

Briana: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News" Fred Daibes is back in court today facing separate bank fraud charges.

Plus, calls for a cease-fire from Princeton to the streets of Israel.

We go one-on-one with Montclair states Israeli expert to understand the politics playing out.

>> People are greatly disappointed by the ways in which the government of Israel particularly the prime minister, have been handling in that situation, the road -- were situation.

Briana: Also regional icing 911 call centers to combat a shortage of emergency dispatchers.

>> Now that all that information is being funneled here, we now on a countywide basis can make much more intelligent and better decisions to deploy resources.

Briana: And after two decades, a survivor at the center of child welfare investigations speaks out, sharing his story of neglect that catapulted Mader -- major changes to the states top protection system.

>> I feel like I'm at a point in my life where I'm ready to be me.

Like I've been hiding this for 20 years and nobody expected it.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

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

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us this Thursday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with a few key stories we are following.

It's back to court for one of the codefendants in the Senator Menendez bribery scandal.

Bergen County developer Fred Daibes today pleaded guilty in New York federal court to separate bank fraud charges and faces between 18-37 months in prison under this plea deal.

He was convicted of bribing Senator Menendez with Cashin gold bars and his federal corruption case, all in exchange for the Senators political power and influence.

According to NBC for New York which first reported the bank fraud case, he was initially offered probation, despite offenses carrying 16 separate criminal counts.

But a federal judge throughout that plea deal and then proposed Bashan by the Department of Justice, all after the indictment against Menendez was announced.

Davies is scheduled to be sentenced for the case on January 23 and on October 29 with Menendez for the bribery convictions.

Also tonight, an update on the investigation into the Rutgers women's gymnastics team.

The university has reportedly hired the powerful law firm Lowenstein Sandler to carry out the probe.

According to NJ events media, the investigation will be led by Matt Boxer, the federal prosecutor who previously led other investigations into Rutgers.

The agreement calls for the review to be carried out as expeditiously as possible and approves payment of up to $470,000 for the work.

But agrees to revisit those fees if the investigation needs more time.

The Rutgers president call for an external investigation into the program over the weekend following the abrupt resignation of the University's athletic director, Pat Hobbs.

An investigation by NJ.com that uncovered a toxic culture of bullying and favoritism within the gymnastics team.

Current and former gymnasts spoke out are now calling on the school to suspend Head Coach while the probe is carried out.

And federal authorities are seeking a court order to force polluters to pay millions to clean up a toxic site on the Raritan Bay.

A site featured in our hazard NJ podcast series.

The EPA today announced a proposed $151 million settlement with the company NL industries, its former customers and the town of Allbirds, to finish room 88 -- remediating stretches of an area where toxic waste was dumped.

Bridges remain close to the public to limit the risk of exposure to lead and other contaminants.

Meanwhile cleanup work was delayed for years as NL industries fought claims that it was liable.

Fresher -- pressure from Senator Frank Pallone also EPA to step in and begin cleanup work on its own.

The consent decree would reimburse the agency for the work done so far and provide more money for the rest of the effort.

It also sets aside roughly $18 million to fund projects that will restore natural resources damaged by the original pollution.

Turning to the Middle East, Israeli airstrikes continued today in central Gaza, hitting the courtyard of a hospital there just hours after a temporary pause was lifted that allowed health-care workers to vaccinate Palestinian children or polio.

It was recently detected in the wastewater in Gaza.

Meanwhile, international mediators are finalizing a new cease-fire proposal even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Stance firm that he won't give up control of Gaza's border with Egypt.

That has been a linchpin in the negotiations.

The lack of a deal has propelled mast protest throughout Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel where residents are this meant -- demanding Israeli government do what it can to bring home the remaining 90 hostages out of Hamas captivity.

Here in New Jersey, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations are also reviving , specifically on college campuses, like at Princeton University, where students occupied parts of the campus last spring in opposition to the war.

As Ted Goldberg reports, protesters are back, better organized, and ready for the long haul.

Ted: Princeton's campus was quiet today, but it might not stay that way.

Protesters calling for divestment from Israel reappeared this week, month after their encampment ended.

The school says it has not implement a major changes into how students can protest, but some don't see it that way.

>> Universities across country or trying to suppress the powerful student intifada that started on campuses last spring.

Ted: On Princeton's website, a new section says, you may be wondering whether policies will change in light of last year's activities.

The short answer is no.

In a few areas, we have clarified policies to provide additional detail that will help all members of our community understand expectations.

The clarification says protest a not disrupt ordinary activities, and they can happen on Cannon Green, where signs have been put up all around.

>> The fact that they have Taser policies is a sign that they are scared and they are threatened by the power of our activism and the power of the student intifada across the country.

There is a list of things that are directly pulled from actions that we did in the last year.

So this is clearly in response not only to the events of the last year, but pro-Palestinian organized in particular.

We are here not only to say we are committed to the cause and to keep fighting, but to call them out for their hypocrisy.

>> It's a continued suppression of people speaking out and students who are morally outraged, speaking out a genocide that is funded by our university and the United States.

>> One of the protesters is facing a charge for trespassing and says if police gave her a warning to take down her tent, she didn't hear it.

>> There was a lot of chanting and protesting happening, so it was hard to hear what was happening.

Essentially the officers were walking from tent to tent, and they started drawing pieces of paper at me, which obviously I was building a tent, I couldn't stop, and I didn't know what was happening.

Within I want to say 32nd, they arrested me.

>> She was allowed to graduate, even after being banned from campus for a month.

>> The end of apartheid in South Africa wasn't some sort of heartwarming story with a lot of people who just knew what was right.

It happened because not only was their political leadership, but there was also calls on university campuses.

>> We know the University valorize his historical developments that would never have happened without protest in these very same locations.

Ted: Princeton isn't alone in responding to these protests.

Over at Rutgers, intense and camping are no longer t --ents and camping are no longer permitted on campus.

>> It is a scare tactic.

They want to make students on this campus right now fear arrest, fear standing up and protesting in solidarity with Gaza.

>> The protests have also led to counter protesters.

This week, Princeton students who support Israel absent a letter to the group of Princeton leaders charged with deciding on divestments.

>> The University bar for divestment is campus and community assessment.

We turned in a letter that is not consensus.

>> He leads Tigers for Israel, a pro-Israel group at Princeton.

>> A 66 page long document that makes no mention of the terrorist organization Hamas on the hostages, including American hostages who remain in Gaza.

Ted: As the school year goes along, we can expect more protests in Princeton and statewide, while schools issue new rules, or clarifications of old ones.

In Princeton, I'm Ted Goldberg, "NJ Spotlight News".

Briana: Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in Israel, protesting their own government, after six more hostages were recently found dead in Gaza, including one American.

Casting a shadow on hopes held by families of remaining hostages that their loved ones will come home to them alive.

Including the family of 20 year old Don Alexander who was taken captive during the October 7 attack.

It has also ignited Israel's willingness to put pressure on the government to strike a deal sooner than later.

I'm joined by a Montclair State University President and start -- expert on the studies.

There have been massive protests that have erupted across Israel.

What specifically are these protesters demanding?

>> First of all, thank you for having me.

People are greatly disappointed by the ways the government of Israel, particularly the prime minister, have been handling that situation, cease-fire opportunities and the overall picture of what is going on.

So many people are also -- a large number of people think, and they are not a margin as group.

People from different sectors of society and different political persuasions, they think that what has happened, particularly this last weekend when it was announced that six of the hostages that were alive had been executed by the group Hamas .

That this could've been prevented, and there is fear of what will happen with the rest of the hostages that may still be alive.

They are pretty sure they're trying to -- they want much more flexibility on the ways in which negotiations are going on.

Briana: Are these protesters who had discontent for the prime minister previously, or is this sort of a new crop of folks who are increasingly frustrated, specifically with the hostage situation, as you mentioned?

>> There is great discontent, for other reasons, but this time we are having an addition of people who are coming to protest because of the situation.

All the polls that are being conducted these days in Israel among the Jewish population but also the Arab population is showing great discontent among sectors that previously have been identified with the more religious and conservative political sectors.

Briana: How likely is it that this public pressure will amount to the outcome they are seeking?

>> I think it's very difficult, because there are so many players in this equation.

At this point, I am not optimistic that this is enough, but this is giving a sign, on the one hand to the enemy, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian kind of network, in a way they're seeing if they can get the public in Israel against the government.

But that would be the glass half empty.

The glass half-full is perhaps the Biden administration and Congress, a sign that there is room for the American public to influence and for the government to influence what is going on.

So the pressure should be on both sides greatly.

It looks like neither one or both sides are interested in reality on anything by extending the war for different reasons.

Briana: Thank you so much for lending some of your expertise.

>> My pleasure, and thank you for having me.

Briana: In Bergen County County, and effort is underway to regionalized the 911 dispatch services and make it free for the neighboring towns that decide to opt in.

It's been a long-term goal of the County executive there says he sees it as a way to save taxpayers money and streamline emergency services.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis takes a look.

>> The technology, the equipment, the backup, the redundancy is unbelievable.

Joanna: He is explaining Bergen County's call center which is now handling 911 dispatch for his Hudson County we knew Sue Pelletier.

>> -- they were doing dispatch for several years and they chose to move on to Bergen because is a cost-effective move, is costing them over a million dollars to run dispatch with personnel/247, benefits and all that.

>> They are the first in the policies outside of Bergen County to begin utilizing the Bergen 911 dispatch services, but dozens of towns within the county have also made the move to regionalized their dispatch services.

>> As time went on, there were less and less, a public safety answering point, and other towns would be a call taker they would answer incoming 911 and forward it to the agency that is actually dispatching for them.

We took that over for 39 agencies we do that for now.

Joanna: So someone calls 911, the system routes a call to Bergen County and then they contact your dispatch, police or fire?

>> Yes.

Joanna: They considered partnering with Hudson County but they would've had to pay up to 350 thousand dollars plus upgrade costs.

>> The cost factor burden was about $158,000 a year to move to their facility.

That saved us a little bit more money because some of the software costs and annual licenses were being covered by Bergen, so we didn't have to pay that out-of-pocket.

So it was a pretty big advantage for us to move to Bergen.

Joanna: The state is requiring all emergency response systems to upgrade to a program called next-generation 911, but that comes at a healthy price tag.

That's where Bergen County has stepped in to eliminate that cost for its municipalities.

>> For example if you are in a high-rise building where you would just get Geo located, it can pinpoint if you are in Giants Stadium.

The equipment is so expensive, for every little agency to upgrade their desk, it's upwards of a quarter million to upgrade for just one desk.

So it makes sense to come here.

>> There is no call for a county to have to capitalize and go out and borrow money for all this infrastructure.

That is now here at our facility, which we already have.

Joanna: In a county with 70 municipalities, gym to desk a has a vision for regionalized their services countywide.

>> Now that all that information is being funneled here, on a countywide basis we can make us more intelligent and better decisions to deploy resources, assets, and things like that around the county.

Joanna: The run audits before adding any new talents so that properly trained staff can handle the demand, with their track record, he believes moral sign on for more services, like their EMS response vehicles that deploy throughout the county.

>> What we believe will happen as time evolves, those towns will see the service we are providing and take advantage of the other services that we provide.

Joanna: A shared service model that actually seems to be catching on, and hopes to save more lives.

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

Briana: Solar energy projects around the Garden State were in focus this week.

First up, Governor Murphy on Wednesday signed a new law increasing incentives for building new solar farms on old landfills and brownfield sites, with the goal of making those projects more attractive at sites that will need some environmental cleanup first.

Then on Thursday, federal, state, local officials joined with solar developers at a project in Edison to tout the impact of 150 $6 million the EPA awarded to New Jersey early this year that is meant to find committee solar projects in the state.

The money comes from the inflation reduction act and is expected to fund enough new solar energy to find than 20,000 household incomes within the next five years.

>> Support for the business report is provided by Riverview Jazz.

Performance schedule and further details for the event can be found online at Riverview Jazz.org.

Briana: Finally tonight, the emotional story of the survivor of devastating Child welfare tragedy that happened more than 20 years ago.

Tyrone Hill, who legally changed his name to Andrew Edwards when he was a teen, is speaking out for the first time about the severe abuse and neglect he experienced that led to major reforms within New Jersey's child protection system.

But a senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan tells us, he's emerging not as a victim, but as a force for change and hope.

>> I feel like I'm at a point in my life where ready to be me.

Like I've been hiding this for 20 years, nobody expected it.

Brenda: Andrew Edwards wants to tell you in his own words what newspapers first reported more than 20 years ago.

Police found the four year old and his brother starving, beaten, and covered in cigarette burns, locked away in the dark basement of a house on Parker Avenue in Newark, by his cousin, who was supposed to be caring for them.

Also hidden there, the mummified brother of their seven-year-old brother who died after being hit by teenaged relative.

>> They put out their cigarettes on us.

They starved us.

Try to put us in ovens.

They threw hot boiling water on us.

Anything you can think of, they did it.

Brenda: Shocked neighbors at candles.

Officials buried Faheem.

Everts way just 29 pounds.

He still has multiple burn scars, but later covered some with tattoos.

>> I used to get bullied, so I didn't want to keep being seen with them on.

And just for the shame I felt at the time.

As I got older, it started to grow on me.

Brenda: But his scars are not merely physical.

His name back then was Tyrone Hill, and outraged advocates reported New Jersey's broken foster care agency had utterly failed to protect him, his brothers, and ultimately thousands of other kids from brutal abuse.

But while his case did prompt a massive court ordered overhaul to fix the system, Edwards himself got shunted from one foster home to another.

>> They said that I was too much of a problem child at the time.

They said I was too much to deal with.

And they didn't want to deal with me.

Renda: The courts declared his mother and unfit parent for neglecting and abandoning the boys.

When Edwards finally got adopted by a foster parent, he tattooed his new initials on himself.

The state settled his lawsuit they $7.5 million trust fund.

He figured he had a new identity, a new life, but when he turned 18, his adoptive parents moved away.

No explanation, no contact, Edwards says.

>> They don't pick up my number.

It's funny, it hurts, but at the same time, I mused to this stuff , -- I am used to this step because of what I've been through as a kid.

I feel like there's not too much you can do to hurt me anymore.

I've been through it all.

Brenda: He's now 26 years Oklahoma living alone in a gated community in Monmouth County with the German Shepherd and a fiercely protective Doberman named Becky.

He would like to open refuge for abused dogs, and he is still tight with his surviving brother.

>> There is no connection like the brother connection we have because we have been through the same thing and we don't want to lose each other.

We are all we have.

Brenda: He likes to work out at the gym and has launched an online website called "for my bro.com," Dedicated to >> >> His late brother.

Sometimes cite wonder what would be like with my brother.

Brenda: Andrew Edwards is ready to reclaim his identity and his original name as NJ advanced media first reported last week.

>> There's only one Tyrone, and the Tyrone that there is, he can impact other people.

Due to the fact that what I've been through as a kid, I think my story is very powerful.

Brenda: He is still wounded and still wary, but he wants to tell his story, Tyrone heals story, to offer inspiration to kids he knows live troubled lives but are looking for a way out of the Argus.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, "NJ Spotlight News".

Briana: That would do it for us tonight, but before we go, reminder to download the "NJ Spotlight News" podcast new so you can listen to us anytime.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

Thanks for being with us.

Have a great evening.

We will be back here tomorrow.

>> NJM Insurance Group has been serving New Jersey businesses for over a century.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, and by the PSG see.

>> We have served generations of New Jersey families and businesses and are committed to driving innovations that put you at the heart of everything we do.

Our members are our neighbors, our friends, and our families.

We are here when you need us most.

Verizon, proud to be New Jersey.

♪