Free Republic

Two months ago, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy cited spiking coronavirus infections in other states as a reason to postpone the return of indoor dining. As restaurants opened across the country, he said, it was clearly sparking new outbreaks. Now, as the state’s restaurant industry prepares to open indoor dining rooms on Friday, some fear the fate of their businesses will continue to depend on how others handle the pandemic.

New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled his fiscal 2021 budget on Tuesday that aims to help plug a nearly $6 billion budget hole through a variety of revenue-raising measures — including renewed calls for a millionaire’s tax, among other rate increases for corporations and wealthy residents. “This budget proposal is not simply about getting New Jersey back to where it used to be, but moving forward to where we need to be by building a new economy that grows our middle class and works for every single family, while asking the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share...

Applications for first-time gun owners in New Jersey have surged fourfold during the national race riots of summer 2020, with residents of the notoriously anti-gun state looking to arm themselves in response to national events. New Jersey arguably has the most restrictive and draconian state gun control laws in the country. The state requires permits for gun ownership that are submitted to towns and cities, with the state police having the authority to deny gun ownership on critics argue are simply arbitrary grounds. The Burlington Country Times is reporting that some New Jersey municipalities have reported a whopping 1,000% increase...

The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have yet to comment after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday dropped its recommendation for travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon returning from trips overseas or out of state during the coronavirus pandemic. "You may feel well and not have any symptoms, but you can still spread COVID-19 to others," the agency warns. "You and your travel companions (including children) may spread COVID-19 to other people including your family, friends, and community for 14 days after you were exposed to the virus."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday dropped its recommendation for travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon returning from trips overseas or out of state during the coronavirus pandemic. The CDC updated its guidelines on its website. Though the two-week recommendation was changed, the federal agency did caution travelers that they can still contract the novel coronavirus while traveling. “You may feel well and not have any symptoms, but you can still spread COVID-19 to others," the agency warns. "You and your travel companions (including children) may spread COVID-19 to other people including your family, friends,...

The state changed their locks, but that didn’t stop a New Jersey diner from inviting patrons to eat inside, despite coronavirus restrictions. Lakeside Diner owners Debbie and Brian Brindisi received a call from their alarm company at 4:30 a.m. Friday to notify them that all of the doors had been broken into in Forked River, NJ.com reported. “We came down here,” Debbie said. “The [Ocean County] sheriff’s department was here. A locksmith was here. Lacey Township police were here. They were changing the locks.” But Brian managed to get inside and refused to leave — then welcomed the breakfast crowd for...

Atilis Gym is partnering with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rik Mehta to continue the fight for small businesses New Jersey’s Atilis Gym co-owners Frank Trumbetti and Ian Smith have fought to keep their doors open during the coronavirus pandemic and now, partnering with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rick Mehta, the gym has become an official campaign rally location. “We took a stand for our constitutional rights and for the rights of all small business owners throughout the country,” Smith told “Fox & Friends Weekend” Sunday. “And it wasn't intended to become political. We were trying to offer a solution to...

NEW JERSEY -- President Donald Trump's proposed $400 a week unemployment compensation to succeed the expired $600 a week benefit, with the state paying for a quarter of it, is "just not workable," New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. This a day after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the executive order "impossible," "laughable" and "just a chapter in the book of Washington COVID mismanagement." Murphy addressed the president's executive order, which was signed at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, over the weekend during a news conference on the coronavirus outbreak. The problem with New Jersey...

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating whether a large mansion party in Alpine broke the governor’s limits on gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, hundreds of partygoers crammed together at a bash, mainly outdoors, at a home on Hemlock Drive from the early afternoon to about 10 p.m., said Alpine Mayor Paul H. Tomasko. He said he does not know the exact number of attendees, but said a majority were not wearing masks or social distancing. He said the party was held by people renting the house with the knowledge of the owner. “Most everyone should be aware...

The owners of Atilis gym in New Jersey reopened on Saturday by kicking down the wooden barricades authorities used to block their entrance amid coronavirus restrictions. Co-owner Ian Smith posted a video of himself and his business partner, Frank Trumbetti, kicking the barriers and entering as a crowd cheers their decision. The dramatic display indicated that the months-long standoff between Gov. Phil Murphy and the gym owners wasn't finished. Smith's caption contained a defiant message for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy: "You will not trample one [sic] our rights and you will not destroy our lives. We will not back...

Their arrest is the latest event in their months-long standoff with Democrat New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, whose lingering lockdown order has shuttered non-essential businesses for more than four months. Speaking with Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday, Smith remained defiant despite his arrest. ... Tyrant Governor Murphy has owners of Atilis Gym arrested while encouraging riots in the streets. That’s expected. Cops complying with these orders is what gets me. I’m done taking up for weak ass cops violating their constitutional oath ... murderers are walking free in New Jersey despite the sheriff’s vigilance to board up Smith’s...

A South New Jersey gym was shuttered Monday and its two owners arrested, escalating a battle over the two men's refusal to comply with Gov. Phil Murphy’s coronavirus restrictions. A judge on Friday ordered Atilis gym owners Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti to vacate and cease operations in Bellmawr, N.J. They were charged Monday with disobeying that order, Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill Mayer said. She said Smith, 33, of Delanco Township, and Trumbetti, 51, of Williamstown, were charged with one count of fourth-degree contempt, one count of obstruction, and one count of violation of a disaster control act.

Two New Jersey gyms owners who have repeatedly reopened in defiance of the state’s coronavirus lockdown have been arrested, police said Monday. Atilis Gym owners in Bellmawr— Ian Smith, 33, of Delanco Township, and Frank Trumbetti, 51, of Williamstown — were charged with contempt and violation of a disaster control act, according to the Camden Couty Prosecutor’s Office. The two owners have continually railed against Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order amid the pandemic COVID-19 and even sued lawmakers claiming their constitutional rights were violated when they were forced to close their South Jersey gym.

Health officials in Middletown, New Jersey, are tracking a coronavirus cluster stemming from a teen party — but are getting pushback from parents, according to reports. Authorities said 20 partygoers between the ages of 15 and 19 are believed to have been exposed to the global pandemic at a house party on West Front Street in the city on July 11, ABC News reported Thursday. But health department investigators say they’re facing resistance from the teens’ parents. “We’re asking and pleading with parents and the students that may have attended that,” Middletown Mayor Tony Perry told the station. “You’re not...

Gov. Phil Murphy says he has no patience for critics who say he’s acting like a dictator as he orders sweeping restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic — a charge that renewed with his recent order to wear masks outdoors. “People claiming that power’s gone to my head, that I find some joy in making everyone put a face covering on is ludicrous,” Murphy said Thursday night on NJTV. “It’s also irresponsible.” “Let’s cut that crap out,” he added. “Let’s stick to the basics and the facts, and we’ll be a lot better for it.” Murphy made the comments a day...

Breaking News: President Trump commuting the sentence of Roger Stone...... How about "revenue raisers" or in plain language "higher taxes" to deal with tax revenue shortfalls and recovery from the coronavirus situation? Government officials across the country beginning to broach the subject. Among them New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy..... A Kentucky judge's order putting a cloud over Democrat Governor Andy Beshear's mask (muzzle) order..... "Over the past several week I have been asked repeatedly about what the Town of Eagar plans to do about Covid-19, masks, visitors, riots etc. It is somewhat alarming how many expect and almost invite a...

Wearing a face mask outdoors in New Jersey will now be required by law, Gov. Phil Murphy said. Murphy appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to announce that he’ll be signing an executive order Wednesday, calling face masks “game changers,” NJ.com reported. “They’ve been strongly recommended out-of-doors. We’re gonna turn that up a notch today and say, We’re gonna ask you: If you can’t socially distance, it’s gonna be required,” he said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday there should be a “national requirement” that everyone wear face masks amid the coronavirus. “It’s become almost not even debatable,” the governor told NBC TV’s “Meet the Press.” “Certainly when you’re going out and absolutely indoors. As I mentioned, this virus is a lot more lethal inside than outside. But if you’re leaving your house, put on a mask. I think it ought to be a national, a national requirement.”

Republican members of a U.S. House committee want to know “the science and information” the Gov. Tom Wolf administration used in requiring long term care facilities to accept people who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 or otherwise potentially exposed. Pennsylvania “forced the nursing homes to take seniors who are COVID positive from the hospital back into thed nursing home, even knowing they couldn’t properly take care of them. It was a death sentence for thousands of Pennsylvania seniors,” U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana said Tuesday. However, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, who hosted a briefing on the subject Tuesday, said...

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has filed voter fraud charges against four men, including two Paterson City officials, who allegedly engaged in a mail-in ballot scheme during a special election last month. Grewal charged Paterson City Councilman Michael Jackson, Councilman-elect Alex Mendez, and two other men after the U.S. Postal Inspection Service alerted the state attorney general's office that it had found hundreds of ballots in a single Paterson City mailbox, InsiderNJ reported. According to WNBC-TV, more than 3,000 ballots were set aside over voting fraud concerns in the Paterson City Council election — 16,747 were received, but only...