English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Newark, NJ

NEWARK, NJ — No snow is expected in Newark this weekend, but local residents should prepare for some teeth-chattering temperatures, weather forecasters say.

Newark is among the Essex County municipalities still reeling from a severe winter storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow in the region last Sunday.

Another storm forming in the south is expected to bring strong winds and coastal flooding, but just a dusting of snow to New Jersey – mostly at the Jersey Shore, forecasters say.

Newark is under a Hazardous Weather Outlook and a Cold Weather Advisory until 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, according to the National Weather Service.

Here is the weekend forecast for Newark, as per the NWS:

CODE BLUE IN ESSEX COUNTY

Essex County is extending an ongoing “Code Blue” alert, which will be in effect from 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31 to 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7 (all day).

Here’s what happens during a Code Blue, officials say:

“When a Code Blue is declared, a network of warming stations operated by the county and its municipalities and shelters operated by the community-based organizations will be opened. The warming stations identified include a variety of public libraries, senior centers, civic and community centers, school buildings, houses of worship, firehouses and first aid squad buildings. Warming stations are generally opened during the day and may not provide overnight accommodations. Shelters do provide overnight accommodations. In addition, shelters that regularly require occupants to leave during the day will suspend that practice so people can stay indoors.”

View a list of participating shelters below, visit www.NJ211.org or dial 2-1-1.

“The cold temperatures and inclement winter weather puts the health and safety of our homeless residents are risk,” Essex County Sheriff Amir Jones said.

“We appreciate our partner agencies opening their doors to provide a warm and safe place for those in need,” Jones added.

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A potential energy conflict may be brewing, pitting Newark efforts to stop fossil fuels against state priorities aiming for more affordable and reliable energy sources.

An ordinance sponsored by Newark City Council President C. Lawrence Crump, introduced last month, amends land-use codes to prohibit new or expanded fossil fuel facilities, including fossil fuel generation.

A second ordinance prohibits the “use of city funds” for those purposes.

The two measures, which also stop the renewal of a business license necessary to operate fossil fuel facilities, are up for a vote following a second public reading on Wednesday, Feb. 4.

That’s just two weeks after Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order No. 2, which considers waiving compliance for permitting or siting for electricity generation and grid stabilization projects.

EO2 also orders the DEP to take all steps to expedite the permitting processes applicable to the modernization of existing gas-fired power plants.

“This is potentially a big deal on two fronts,” said NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor.

“First, it sets a precedent of a municipality passing an ordinance that conflicts with state energy priorities – and asks what happens to the city should that happen.

“But probably more importantly, it creates a paradigm where a town that has this very important infrastructure could stop energy production that all of the state’s residents rely upon. And that’s when things could get scary for the entire state.”

The legality of Newark’s ordinances may also come into question.

While not an apples-to-apples comparison, Berkeley, California became the first city in the US to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings in 2019.

But four years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempts local regulations that ban natural gas.

The city eventually repealed its ban in January 2024.

“The bottom line is New Jersey needs to increase its energy load and its infrastructure for all kinds of energy sources,” Cantor said. “We have seen our energy costs skyrocket as a result of New Jersey becoming a net importer of energy, rather than an exporter of energy.

“Gas remains our most affordable and reliable and source of energy. We look forward to continuing to address those challenges with the Sherrill administration.”

Opponents of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s $6.2 billion plan to build two new bridges across Newark Bay argued that one span will do the job and better align with new Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s goals.

Those against the project greeted newly minted Authority Executive Director Kris Kolluri with a call to use their “one bridge” plan instead of building twin bridges that are scheduled to begin construction this year.

About 50 people spoke for and against the plan before the Turnpike Authority board this week.

The opponents, representing various advocacy groups and elected officials in Jersey City and Hudson County, remain skeptical despite a Dec. 19 announcement by then-Gov. Phil Murphy that the turnpike widening between Jersey City and Bayonne was scrapped.

Attorney John Reichman, representing EmpowerNJ and the Turnpike Trap Coalition, said the project should be reexamined and brought in line with the priorities of Sherrill’s new administration, which include reducing the cost of living and efficient and effective government spending.

“We recognize the governor stated the bridge should be replaced. But that does not mean that the bridge should be doubled in size,” Reichman said.

“Building one four or six-lane bridge instead of building two new bridges would accomplish the project’s goals while saving billions of dollars in construction costs (and) reducing air and noise pollution and construction time,” he said.

The current $6.2 billion plan calls for construction of two cabled-stayed bridges across the bay carrying four lanes of traffic each and replacement of the approach structures.

Opponents of the larger plan to widen the turnpike extension between Bayonne and Jersey City, which Murphy scuttled, questioned what happens to traffic from the twin bridges.

They expressed concerns that the proposed four-lane eastbound bridge would create a bottleneck when the highway transitions to the two-lane extension at Exit 14 A in Bayonne. A bottleneck would result in demand for the added lane, they contend.

“There will also be worse traffic on local Jersey City streets. We will be spending $12 billion to make traffic worse,” Reichman said.

Turnpike Authority spokesman Tom Feeney reiterated that the agency evaluated building a single bridge and rejected it. The agency addressed the reasons in the environmental assessment released in October 2023 and in formal responses to public comments made during a June 2025 public hearing in Bayonne, he said.

It was rejected because it would not achieve the minimum level of service or accommodate traffic volumes predicted for 2050, officials said.

Not building four lanes in each direction will continue “imbalances between merging, exiting and through lanes” and existing safety problems where the bridge and eastbound turnpike extension meet, authority officials said.

In its responses to public comments from the hearing, the authority said it is rebuilding and increasing the bridge capacity to improve safety and accommodate the current and future growth of the port facilities, in addition to development in Bayonne, Jersey City and Newark.

Free-flowing traffic on the extension will make it a reliable and preferred travel route and will alleviate traffic on local streets, since drivers end up their seeking to avoid traffic, authority officials said.

There also were representatives from unions and a statewide infrastructure group that spoke in favor of the project. They contend the twin bridges are needed to accommodate additional growth at the port in Bayonne and demand from continued construction of new housing in Jersey City and Bayonne.

Construction on the first bridge is expected to start in spring 2026 and will take eight to 10 years to complete. After the first bridge is opened, the existing 70-year-old bridge will be demolished and a second span constructed in its place.

Reichman said the project’s future will be a test for Sherrill.

“Whether Gov. Sherrill decides to go ahead with the deeply unpopular plan will be an early test of her campaign promises,” Reichman said. “Keeping the existing plan in place will mean it’s business as usual in Trenton.”

NEWARK, NJ — A leading cause of maternal mortality drops when the minimum wage for workers goes up, researchers from New Jersey say.

New research from Rutgers Health found that state-level increases in the minimum wage are associated with lower rates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy – one of the leading causes of maternal mortality for pregnant women in the United States.

The study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, can be seen online here.

According to the study, a $1 or greater increase in the minimum wage was associated with 64 fewer cases of maternal hypertensive disorders per 100,000 women over five years.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy – including gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and eclampsia – pose serious risks to both mother and baby. Elevated blood pressure during pregnancy increases the risk of stroke, heart disease and seizures, and is associated with preterm birth, Rutgers researchers said.

In 2023, hypertensive disorders caused about 16 percent of maternal deaths globally: the equivalent to about 42,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Rates of these conditions are significantly higher among women living in lower-income communities, where chronic stress and economic insecurity are more prevalent. Women also are more likely than men to earn minimum wage, researchers said.

“There is an abundance of research linking higher minimum wages to improved health outcomes,” said Slawa Rokicki, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

“Our findings add to that evidence by showing meaningful benefits for maternal health,” Rokicki said.

To examine the relationship between minimum wage policy and maternal health, Rokicki and co-author Mark McGovern, a health economist and associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, analyzed 28 years of state-level data from the Global Burden of Disease study alongside changes in state minimum wage laws from 1992 to 2019.

During that period, 61 state-level minimum wage increases of at least $1 occurred. The researchers compared maternal health outcomes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia before and after these changes, while accounting for demographic factors, political context and other economic policies such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

The greatest reductions in hypertensive disorders appeared two to four years after a wage increase – a lag that likely reflected the time it takes for higher wages to translate into reduced stress, improved nutrition and healthier behaviors, Rokicki said.

The findings are particularly relevant for the 20 states where the minimum wage remains at or below the federal level of $7.25 per hour, she said.

“The federal minimum wage hasn't been raised since 2009 – it’s a poverty wage and is worth less now than it was in the 1960s,” Rokicki said.

NEW JERSEY MINIMUM WAGE

New Jersey has a much-higher minimum wage than the federal level: the Garden State’s hourly minimum wage increased to $15.92 earlier this month.

Tipped workers’ minimum wage will rise to $6.05 an hour, though employers must match the $15.92 minimum wage if a tipped worker’s income would fall below that level with gratuities included.

New Jersey’s wage floor is among the highest in the nation. Washington ($16.66), California ($16.50), and Connecticut ($16.35) are the only states with a higher statewide minimum wage, though minimum wages are higher in some parts of New York and Oregon.

FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE

The push for a higher federal minimum wage has also been supported by advocacy groups such as One Fair Wage, which says that it is “nowhere near enough to keep up with the cost of living.”

Meanwhile, tipped workers such as restaurant servers are excluded, forcing them to rely on an unpredictable source of income as the cost of living rises.

Nationwide, nearly 50 percent of workers earn less than $25 per hour, according to new findings from The Make America Affordable Now PAC. The report shows that 67 million workers across the United States earn below that threshold.

The gap between wages and real living costs is stark. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, there is no county in the United States where a worker can afford to meet basic needs on less than $25 an hour. Even in the nation’s least expensive counties, a worker with one child would need at least $33 an hour to cover essentials like rent, food, child care, and transportation.

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Newark City Hall will be closed and all non-emergency municipal services will be suspended on Jan. 19 for the holiday.

NEWARK, NJ — Newark City Hall will be closed and all non-emergency municipal services will be suspended on Monday, Jan. 19 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Police, fire and other uniformed emergency services personnel will work as usual, city officials said.

Here are some other updates to know for the holiday:

GARBAGE/RECYCLING – Trash and recycling will be collected as regularly scheduled in Zone A on Monday, Jan. 19 and should be placed curbside the night before. DPW service centers will be closed and will not be available for mixed-trash and recycling drop-off.

PARKING – Alternate side of the street parking regulation enforcement will be suspended.

CITY SERVICES – The Department of Health and Community Wellness’ inspection services, transportation for seniors, and health clinic, will not operate on Monday, Jan. 19. In addition, the Bureau of Vital Statistics will be closed. Residents will not be able to apply for permits, birth certificates, name-change certificates, marriage licenses, nor pay water or tax bills at City Hall. The Medical Director and Department’s Division of Surveillance and Prevention will be on call for medical and public health emergencies.

COURT – The Municipal Court will also be closed on Monday, Jan. 19. However, a judge will be available to preside over bail hearings for defendants in custody. Residents can make payments on parking and traffic tickets through the website www.njmcdirect.com. To utilize this website, residents will need their summons number, including the prefix, and the City of Newark’s court code, which is 0714.

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