New Jersey Democratic Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell resigned Friday after an internal investigation found that he sexually harassed a female staffer and violated state ethics rules on multiple occasions, dealing an early blow to Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration.
Caldwell, who had been in office for only eight months, submitted his resignation Friday afternoon after Sherrill demanded that he step down by the end of the day. Sherrill announced the resignation at a news conference in Trenton.
“The investigation found that the Lieutenant Governor engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office,” Sherrill said Thursday when she <a href="https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/2026/20260924b.shtml">released the investigation</a>. She said the probe substantiated a finding of sexual harassment and the violations persisted despite multiple warnings and ethics trainings.
The <a href="https://www.nj.gov/governor/docs/09.23.2026-Investigation-Report-with-Exhibits_Redacted.pdf">investigation</a>, conducted by the law firm Lowenstein Sandler at the direction of the governor’s Chief Ethics Officer, examined allegations that emerged from an anonymous complaint received in May. Investigators interviewed witnesses, reviewed documents, and interviewed Caldwell himself. 
Investigators found that Caldwell made a sexually charged remark to a female staffer after the staffer’s friend rejected what the report described as Caldwell’s romantic advance. “You young women are looking for young sperm,” Caldwell allegedly told the staffer, referring to the staffer and her friend.
The staffer told investigators that the comment caused her to change how she interacted with Caldwell, distance herself from him at work, and avoid traveling with him when possible. Caldwell denied making the remark, but investigators concluded that his denial was not credible and found that his conduct constituted sexual harassment.
The investigation also substantiated two violations of state ethics rules. Investigators found that Caldwell brought personal guests to several ticketed events without obtaining the required ethics clearance or paying or reimbursing the cost of their attendance. The report identified seven ticketed events between February and May where Caldwell reportedly appeared with guests who were admitted without payment. Ticket prices, where known, ranged from $65 to $300.
The report said Caldwell’s office had repeatedly discussed the rules governing guests with him, including formal ethics training in February and May. Investigators concluded that Caldwell continued bringing unpaid guests despite those warnings. 
The more serious ethics finding involved Caldwell’s romantic relationship with a state employee. Investigators found that Caldwell made multiple attempts to secure a promotion for the woman, including a verbal request and a subsequent email sent from his state account. Caldwell did not initially disclose the romantic nature of the relationship to the officials he contacted, and the report said he admitted to investigators that he and the woman had dated on and off and had recently resumed the relationship.
The state department ultimately declined to advance the woman’s candidacy, and she now works outside state government. 
Caldwell has disputed the findings. Before his resignation, his attorney <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/25/lieutenant-governor-of-new-jersey-stepping-down-following-allegations-of-improper-behavior-sources-say-01093454">called</a> the investigation “unnecessarily protracted and one-sided” and argued that Caldwell had not been given a meaningful opportunity to address the allegations. Caldwell himself previously called the allegations false and misleading and said he expected the facts to exonerate him.
“I’m not resigning because of the report,” Caldwell said, per the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/nyregion/new-jersey-lieutenant-governor-resigns-dale-caldwell.html">New York Times</a>. “It’s false. I’m resigning because I don’t want to be a distraction to the administration.”
“I’m supportive of the Sherrill administration,” he added.
The controversy is particularly consequential for Sherrill because Caldwell was not merely lieutenant governor. He also oversaw the Department of State and served as New Jersey’s chief election officer. He also briefly served as acting governor while Sherrill was out of state.
The resignation comes as Sherrill attempts to establish normalcy in her administration after a controversial first year in office. In July, her administration disclosed that a software error in New Jersey’s motor-vehicle system had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-jersey-registered-thousands-of-non-citizens-to-vote-due-to-software-error">registered roughly 6,600 people</a> who had indicated they were not U.S. citizens to vote, about 400 of whom cast ballots. The disclosure prompted a Justice Department investigation and a demand for additional voter-registration records.
The episode quickly became a political fight over how Sherrill handled the problem. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/shame-sherrill-knew-voter-roll-bombshell-coming-called-trump-liar-doj-official-says">accused the governor</a> of criticizing President Donald Trump’s election-integrity claims while knowing that her administration was preparing to disclose the registration error. Sherrill rejected the administration’s characterization, saying the Trump administration was trying to “weaponize” the issue rather than focus on secure elections.
Sherrill has also faced sustained criticism over her <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sherrill-anti-ice-policy-hammered-fleeing-migrant-driver-injures-dem-mayors-wife">immigration policies</a>. She signed legislation codifying New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits the circumstances under which state and local law enforcement can assist federal immigration authorities. Republicans have subsequently pointed to several crimes involving illegal immigrants while arguing that the policy makes cooperation with ICE more difficult. Sherrill and her administration have defended the policy, with the attorney general’s office noting that New Jersey authorities can still notify ICE in certain cases involving serious crimes and deportation orders.
Sherrill now has to replace her second-in-command less than a year after taking office. Under New Jersey law, the governor will select Caldwell’s replacement, who will not require confirmation by the state Senate.

New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidate Mikie Sherrill Holds Election Night Party

Top Democrat Resigns After Investigators Find He Made Crude Remark To Female Staffer

dale caldwell

government ethics

mikie sherrill

new jersey

politics

sexual harassment

A New Jersey Democrat who rose to his position thanks to Governor Mikie Sherrill is facing calls to resign after a report accused him of making comments about “young sperm” to a female staffer. 
Sherrill and other top Garden State Democrats called for Lt. Governor Dale Caldwell to step down after an <a href="https://prod-i.a.dj.com/public/resources/documents/Caldwell.pdf">ethics report</a> found evidence he engaged in sexual harassment and attempted to get a promotion for his lover. Caldwell, a Methodist pastor and former university president, was picked by Sherrill to be her running mate in July 2025. 
“The investigation fully examined the evidence, followed the facts, and protected everyone’s privacy. In my Administration, we are committed to doing what is right, not what is politically expedient,” Sherrill said on Thursday. “The Lieutenant Governor’s resignation is necessary and in the best interest of New Jersey residents.”
The report was conducted by law firm Lowenstein Sandler at the request of the governor’s top ethics officer. 
Released Thursday, the report said it found “credible evidence” that Caldwell “made a romantic advance toward a female staffer&#8217;s friend.” After being shot down, the report said Caldwell told the staffer, “You young women are looking for young sperm.&#8221;
This comment caused the staffer “to change the way she interacted with [Caldwell] at work, to attempt to distance herself from him, and to avoid travel with him when possible,” the report said.
While Caldwell denied making the comment, the report said investigators did not find his denial credible. 
The report noted two additional ethical violations it substantiated against Caldwell, including a finding that he “attempted on multiple occasions to secure a promotion for a state employee with whom he had a romantic relationship.”
According to investigators, Caldwell admitted he did not disclose his relationship with the employee when making the promotion requests. 
Investigators also said that Caldwell “brought personal guests to ticketed events without advance ethics clearance and without payment or reimbursement.” He continued the practice even after receiving “formal and informal guidance,” according to investigators. 
Caldwell has strongly <a href="https://www.insidernj.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Revised-Caldwell-Press-Release.pdf">denied</a> all wrongdoing, and his legal team said the report was &#8220;character assassination.&#8221;
“This unnecessarily protracted and one-sided process lacked the requisite due process that should be afforded every citizen of this state,” his lawyer Thomas Calcagni said. “The Lieutenant Governor was not provided a meaningful opportunity to address each of these anonymous allegations or offer readily identifiable witnesses who possessed more pertinent, first-hand knowledge of the events in question.”

Top Democrat’s ‘Young Sperm’ Comment Sparks A Whole New Problem

An illegal immigrant abducted and sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl after being cut loose by the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Guatemalan national Lester Noe Perez-Amador, 27, is accused of snatching the child from her home in Washington Borough, New Jersey, around the early morning hours of September 5.
The illegal immigrant knew the child, authorities said. Police located and rescued the young girl as she was running toward her home.
The illegal immigrant crossed the border illegally and sneaked past authorities when he entered the United States, DHS said. The Cameron County Police Department arrested Perez-Amador in March 2024 for DUI.
At the time, local police officers transferred the illegal immigrant to ICE, which released him onto the streets, according to DHS.
Since the kidnapping, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer with local authorities asking them to transfer the illegal immigrant to federal custody for deportation if he is released, according to DHS.
&#8220;We are urging Washington Township authorities to transfer Perez-Amador into ICE custody so we can do what Biden failed to do the first time — get this criminal illegal alien off of our streets and back to Guatemala where he belongs,&#8221; a Homeland Security spokesperson told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;The safest way to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets is by lodging arrest detainers. Because some sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to work with ICE law enforcement, criminal illegal aliens are released from jails into American communities to perpetuate more crimes. Seven of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE,&#8221; the spokesperson added.
Within 24 hours of receiving a report of the crime, police nabbed Perez-Amador.
He is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a victim under 13, endangering sexual conduct with a child, kidnapping with bodily injury, and home invasion burglary.
&#8220;When a child in our community is at risk, law enforcement responds as one,&#8221; Warren County Prosecutor Jessica L. Cardone said in a statement.
&#8220;I witnessed first-hand as all involved agencies worked with focus on one common goal — to bring this child to safety. Protecting our children is a responsibility we take very seriously, and our commitment does not end with an arrest,&#8221; Cardone added.
The first-degree aggravated sexual assault charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, according to <a href="https://www.fox5ny.com/news/man-charged-sexual-assault-6-year-old-girl-after-kidnapping-from-nj-home-police">Fox 5</a>. A charge of first-degree kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with 25 years of parole ineligibility, and first-degree home invasion burglary carries up to 20 years.

Pulled over by the police, rear view mirror point of view

Illegal Immigrant Kidnaps, Sexually Assaults 6-Year-Old Child

child sexual abuse

department of homeland security

illegal immigration

A Jewish advocacy group is demanding Ed Sheeran fire Macklemore as his opening act, accusing the rapper of hijacking two MetLife stadium shows to deliver anti-Israel messaging the group says amounts to antisemitic propaganda.
The Israeli-American Council launched a <a href="https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-907681">petition</a> Sunday calling for the &#8220;Thrift Shop&#8221; rapper&#8217;s removal from the remainder of Sheeran&#8217;s &#8220;Loop Tour.&#8221; Macklemore, born Benjamin Haggerty, performed as an opener at the East Rutherford, New Jersey, stadium on Friday and Saturday nights, telling the crowd of more than 80,000 that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know &#8220;they had not been forgotten&#8221; before leading chants of &#8220;Free Palestine.&#8221; Wearing a keffiyeh over his shoulders, he then performed his 2024 protest song, &#8220;Hind&#8217;s Hall,&#8221; while images from Gaza and pro-Palestinian campus encampments played on the stadium&#8217;s video screens.
Macklemore&#8217;s last major moment of mainstream attention prior to his post-October 7 activism came with 2012&#8217;s &#8220;Same Love,&#8221; a song in which he recounted believing as a child that he might be gay.
&#8220;Hind&#8217;s Hall&#8221; takes its name from the moniker stadium demonstrators gave Columbia University&#8217;s Hamilton Hall after occupying the building during 2024 campus protests, and from Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed in Gaza. The IAC&#8217;s petition argues the song choice was &#8220;not incidental,&#8221; noting that some of the campus unrest it commemorates involved trespassing, building takeovers and vandalism.
&#8220;This was an Ed Sheeran concert &#8211; not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,&#8221; the petition states, adding that &#8220;freedom of expression does not mean freedom from responsibility.&#8221; The group, which says it represents more than 150,000 Israeli-Americans and belongs to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, addressed its petition to Sheeran, his tour management, upcoming tour venues and promoter Live Nation.
The advocacy group StopAntisemitism amplified the controversy on X, posting video of the performance and writing that &#8220;Jewish patrons should not be subjected to this propaganda.&#8221; The group also revived criticism of an earlier Macklemore bit in which the he appeared onstage dressed as an Orthodox Jew with an exaggerated prosthetic nose, calling on the rapper to issue &#8220;apologies and refunds&#8221; to fans.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here we go again &#8211; despite massive backlash surrounding Macklemore opening for <a href="https://x.com/edsheeran?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@edsheeran</a>, a repeat occurred a few moments ago at <a href="https://x.com/MetLifeStadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MetLifeStadium</a> in New Jersey.
Jewish patrons should not be subjected to this propaganda. <a href="https://t.co/dRvFkHWA2T">pic.twitter.com/dRvFkHWA2T</a>
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) <a href="https://x.com/StopAntisemites/status/2096391930011693523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
As of publication, Sheeran had not publicly responded, and Macklemore remains listed as an opener for the tour&#8217;s upcoming dates.
Macklemore has built a lengthy track record of pro-Palestinian activism since Hamas&#8217;s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzRwTyNSSEr/?hl=en">appearing</a> at a Washington, D.C. rally that November to declare Israel&#8217;s military campaign in Gaza &#8220;a genocide.&#8221; He released the original &#8220;Hind&#8217;s Hall&#8221; in May 2024 and a sequel later that year, donating proceeds to a Palestinian refugee aid group. At a September 2024 Seattle festival, he <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/macklemore-america-comment-statement-1235112628/">led a crowd in chanting &#8220;f*ck America&#8221;</a> before debuting &#8220;Hind&#8217;s Hall 2&#8221; — remarks that got him pulled from a Las Vegas festival days later.
The rapper&#8217;s commercial peak came over a decade ago, in 2012, with singles &#8220;Thrift Shop&#8221; and &#8220;Can&#8217;t Hold Us&#8221; selling 13.4 million and 9.8 million digital units, respectively, <a href="https://chartmasters.org/cspc-macklemore-popularity-analysis/">according</a> to ChartMasters.

2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Night 2 – Show

Long-Forgotten Rapper Hijacks Ed Sheeran Concert With Bizarre Islamist Propaganda

antisemitism

concert

concert tour

free palestine movement

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Every year, labor unions collect billions of dollars in dues from public employees. But how union officials spend that money — or whether it even benefits workers at all — is often a mystery.
This Labor Day, two New Jersey public school teachers have a $40 million question they believe will resonate across the country: Where are our dues going?
Marie Dupont and Ann Marie Pocklembo say the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) broke its promise to members like them when it created a dues-funded pipeline to advance its own president’s political ambitions. The teachers <a href="https://www.fairnesscenter.org/cases/dupont-pocklembo-v-njea-spiller/">allege in a lawsuit</a> that NJEA membership materials indicated that regular dues were separate from voluntary contributions to the union’s political action committees. Dupont and Pocklembo, who were not interested in supporting the union’s PACs, took this promise at face value.
But according to their <a href="https://www.fairnesscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dupont-Complaint-09.30.25.pdf">lawsuit</a>, the union quietly funded its super PAC, <a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/education/njea-our-politics-is-people-powered/">Garden State Forward</a>, with tens of millions of dollars in mandatory dues, then transferred more than <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/29/a-40-million-flameout-in-new-jerseys-race-for-governor-puts-scrutiny-on-teachers-union-00429668">$40 million</a> from Garden State Forward to union-tied political groups that backed then-NJEA president Sean Spiller in the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Meanwhile, the union had failed to report its massive contributions to Garden State Forward as political activity on its annual IRS returns going back to at least 2013, according to an IRS <a href="https://www.fairnesscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IRS-Complaint-Re-NJEA-Exhibits-09.30.25.pdf">complaint</a> by the New Jersey Policy Institute, which says the NJEA sent more than $100 million to Garden State Forward.
Following this scrutiny, the union’s latest <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/210524390/202631959349302213/IRS990ScheduleC">annual IRS return</a>, filed last month, now appears to report its Garden State Forward contributions as political activity for the first time — a welcome change, but one that likely leaves members wondering why the union reported tens of millions of dollars in similar spending differently in prior years.
A <a href="https://networkcontagion.us/wp-content/uploads/Mission-Aborted-Final-Report.pdf">recent study</a> on national teachers’ unions suggests a larger pattern of obscured political spending. The report found that the NJEA’s parent union, the National Education Association (NEA), reported less than $100,000 in staff compensation for political activity in the 2024 fiscal year, representing a 99 percent decrease from the union’s average of $7.9 million over the previous decade. Yet the union’s overall political spending did not drop by a similar amount. And the following year, the compensation category bounced right back, the study found. This means political work may be routed through outside organizations rather than shown directly on the NEA’s own books, according to the report.
Political activity is only one category of union spending where members may find it nearly impossible to verify how their money is being spent. Even basic financial reports can leave members in the dark.
The Chicago Teachers Union, for instance, long resisted releasing five years of audits until pressure from members — represented by the nonprofit Liberty Justice Center — and lawmakers forced its hand.
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-chicago-teachers-mystery-audits-163dedcb">Those audits</a> eventually revealed adverse opinions from the union’s own auditors, who said the financial statements previously given to members left out related foundations holding tens of millions of dollars in assets.
It’s not just teachers’ unions that seem willing to hide the ball from their own members.
In Connecticut, my firm represents Professor Earl Ormond, a former police officer now overseeing the criminal justice program at a community college, and Ryan Bilodeau, a state corrections officer, who want transparency from union officials.
A <a href="https://codes.findlaw.com/ct/title-31-labor/ct-gen-st-sect-31-77/">1957 state law</a> requires public-sector unions to file annual financial reports with the state labor commissioner and, crucially, says members can request state-conducted audits of those records. Ormond and Bilodeau should have access to that information — except that most unions in the state have never filed those reports, and the labor commissioner, who has the duty to enforce the law, <a href="https://insideinvestigator.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Unknown.jpeg">has not been doing so</a>.   
“When you can’t get straight answers about where your money is going, your trust in the union starts to break down,” <a href="https://www.fairnesscenter.org/cases/bilodeau-v-afscme-local-391/ct-employees-sue-unions-for-ignoring-financial-disclosure-law/">Bilodeau</a><a href="https://www.fairnesscenter.org/cases/bilodeau-v-afscme-local-391/ct-employees-sue-unions-for-ignoring-financial-disclosure-law/"> said</a>. “Auditing the spending is the core of everything. If someone is hiding financial details from you, it raises red flags.”
Only after Ormond and Bilodeau <a href="https://www.fairnesscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CT-Complaint.pdf">filed suit</a> did the commissioner finally <a href="https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/dol/2022-new-design-system/about/divisions/wage-and-workplace-standards/31-77-instructions-letterhead-050826.pdf?">notify labor unions</a> that they must follow the law. And last month, the court entered judgments in Ormond and Bilodeau’s favor, with their unions stipulating they will comply with applicable financial reporting laws now and in future years.
The legal victory puts union officials across Connecticut on notice that their members can turn to the courts to enforce financial transparency requirements.
Union members from Chicago and New Jersey are also demanding to be treated as more than cogs in a political machine or revenue streams directed by union insiders. It’s time for union officials to step up and respect their members’ rights by following basic transparency and disclosure laws before a lawsuit becomes a public servant’s last recourse.
***
Nathan McGrath is president and general counsel at the Fairness Center, a nonprofit, public interest law firm that provides free legal representation to those hurt by public-sector union officials. The Fairness Center represents Dupont, Pocklembo, the New Jersey Policy Institute, Ormond, and Bilodeau.

Vice President Harris Speaks At National Education Association Annual Meeting And Representative Assembly

How Public Sector Unions Hide Member Dues To Finance Political Activism

labor union

national education association

opinion

political action committee

teachers union

A New Jersey beach town tightened its nighttime curfew for minors this week, barring unaccompanied teenagers from the sand after 8 p.m. and from public spaces after 10:30 p.m.
The Cape May City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve the emergency ordinances, which took effect immediately, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/cape-may-bans-minors-from-beach-in-jersey-shore-curfew-crackdown/">according</a> to the New York Post. Anyone under 18 is now banned from the city&#8217;s beaches, beachfront and access ways between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless accompanied by an adult, and from public places citywide between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. The city&#8217;s previous curfew began at midnight during the summer season. The ordinances carve out exceptions for minors traveling to or from work.
&#8220;These ordinances are intended to help maintain a safe and enjoyable environment for our residents and visitors, particularly during the busy summer season,&#8221; the Cape May Police Department <a href="https://www.facebook.com/capemaycitypolice/posts/pfbid02k9iHJDDxJDxqLDi7KSxQWyeY8WSmdy9TedRWVH18JScu4kBgti3CHkXn5hg9MD28l">wrote</a> on Facebook.
Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock said police had noticed minors from neighboring shore towns with earlier curfews were coming to Cape May to keep partying, and that the city wanted to act before a handful of incidents became a pattern.
&#8220;We really wanted to make sure we didn&#8217;t become the afterparty to some of the other towns that have already made this move,&#8221; Mullock said. &#8220;After 10:30, we all know it&#8217;s not normally the best stuff that happens then.&#8221;
The ordinances also impose a bag restriction that applies to everyone, not just minors. Between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., no one may carry a bag larger than eight inches in height, width or depth on the beach or the city&#8217;s promenade — a category that covers backpacks, book bags, camera bags, cinch bags, computer bags, duffel bags and luggage. Bags carrying medical devices and supplies are exempt.
Mullock, the Democratic nominee challenging Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) in New Jersey&#8217;s 2nd Congressional District, said the first night of enforcement went smoothly.
&#8220;Frankly, last night, they were out here and the reports I received is that it worked and we just had families out here enjoying a pleasant evening,&#8221; he said.
Shore towns up and down the coast have spent the summer contending with teen takeovers.
In May, Long Branch police responded to a teen takeover at Pier Village, an oceanfront development of rentals, hotels and shops, where a large group of teenagers was reported to be starting brawls and jumping on cars, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/rowdy-teen-takeover-hits-popular-beach-hot-spot-wave-arrests-assaults-emergency-curfew-video">reported</a>. Officers carrying riot shields corralled the teens in the street and cleared the area, and the city imposed an emergency 8 p.m. curfew that night. Roughly 140 officers responded — 69 from Long Branch and about 70 more from over a dozen neighboring agencies.
Six people were arrested. Five, including three teenagers under 18, faced disorderly conduct charges; a sixth teenager was taken into custody for allegedly eluding police. Officials said more arrests were expected over two reported aggravated assaults connected to the gathering.
Some visitors welcomed the new rules. &#8220;I think that&#8217;s smart. That&#8217;s planning ahead,&#8221; John Christiansen, a tourist from Staten Island, <a href="https://6abc.com/post/city-council-cape-may-new-jersey-passes-curfew-juveniles-18/19677606/">told</a> WPVI. &#8220;It&#8217;s really just a few bad kids that cause trouble, so once everyone finds out what they need to do then it&#8217;s good.&#8221;

Ocean City Boardwalk

Jersey Shore Town Enacts Emergency Curfew Amid Summer Of Teen Takeovers

cape may

curfew

jeff van drew

zack mullock

Former Philadelphia Eagles running back and Super Bowl champion Wendell Smallwood could be released from federal prison early to spend what may be the final days of his 8-year-old daughter&#8217;s life after a New Jersey judge allowed him to withdraw his guilty plea in a separate state gun case.  
Smallwood, 32, could be released from Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution as early as August 17 after Gloucester County Superior Court Judge Renard Scott approved the withdrawal of his guilty plea on August 7, removing an obstacle to his release from federal custody. 
Smallwood&#8217;s daughter, Mila, was diagnosed earlier this year with diffuse anaplastic Wilms tumor, a rare form of kidney cancer. She underwent unsuccessful chemotherapy, and doctors say she may have only days or weeks to live, according to the <a href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/crime/2026/08/10/former-eagles-running-back-fights-to-be-with-his-dying-daughter-wendell-smallwood/91221627007/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=true&amp;gca-epti=z115440p118450n00----l000350c00----e1175xxv115440d--45--b--45--&amp;gca-ft=194&amp;gca-ds=sophi">Delaware News Journal</a>. 
Scott pointed directly to Mila&#8217;s condition when discussing his decision to allow Smallwood to withdraw the plea. The judge also noted that Smallwood was approximately three months away from qualifying for full parole on his state sentence.  
“[It’s an] unfortunate situation none of us would want to face,&#8221; Scott said. &#8220;This is an illness that is untreatable. His daughter has days, possibly weeks remaining.” 
“They can’t do anything except make her comfortable now,&#8221; Smallwood’s attorney, Yaron Helmer, said. &#8220;I can’t think of a stronger reason than to be with his dying daughter.” 
Smallwood had been serving two separate sentences concurrently: an 18-month federal sentence stemming from fraud involving COVID-19 economic relief programs and a three-year New Jersey sentence stemming from his possession of an AR-15-style rifle.
A federal appeals court ruling in July finding New Jersey&#8217;s ban on AR-15-style rifles unconstitutional provided Smallwood with justification to challenge his state conviction. Scott&#8217;s decision to allow Smallwood to withdraw his guilty plea removed the state sentence as an obstacle to his release.
Smallwood had legally purchased the weapon in Pennsylvania but carried it into New Jersey. Scott described the incident as a “poor judgment call” and said Smallwood was not a threat to the community.
Smallwood played college football at West Virginia before the Eagles selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent three seasons in Philadelphia and was a member of the Eagles team that defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
He later played for Washington and Pittsburgh.

Baltimore Ravens v Philadelphia Eagles

Former Super Bowl Champ Could Leave Prison Early To Be With Dying Child

gun control

philadelphia eagles

prison

wendell smallwood

A new law that went into effect on August 1 has changed the way you order takeout in New Jersey. 
Under the “Skip the Stuff” law, restaurants can no longer automatically pack single-use plastic utensils, straws, or condiment packets with to-go orders, and customers who want those items must now specifically request them. The law was signed by then-Democratic Governor Phil Murphy in January and took effect last week. Its purpose is to reduce plastic waste and limit the so-called environmental footprint of food businesses. 
Officials touting the new law noted that approximately 95% of food packaging is discarded after a single use.
In practice, this means plastic knives, forks, spoons, chopsticks, and individual packets of ketchup or other condiments will no longer appear in takeout bags by default. Diners can still receive them free of charge, but only if they ask. The same rule applies to online ordering platforms. Services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats must now default to withholding utensils unless a customer actively chooses to include them.
The restrictions also cover restaurants that offer indoor seating for at least 10 people. These establishments may provide only washable utensils for diners eating on site. Condiment packets are no longer allowed; sauces and seasonings must instead come from full size bottles or other reusable containers.
Some places are exempt. Public and private K-12 schools do not have to follow the law, nor do county or state correctional facilities or healthcare facilities. Food court restaurants have until August 1, 2028, before the requirements apply to them.
Enforcement begins with a warning for the first violation. A second offense can bring daily fines of up to $100. Later violations carry higher penalties of as much as $250 per day.
The measure stacks on earlier plastic reduction steps in New Jersey. In 2022, the state banned single-use plastic carryout bags and polystyrene foam food containers. In 2021, it placed restrictions on plastic straws. A similar “Skip the Stuff” law went into effect in New York City in July 2023.
For customers, the most instantaneous change is a small adjustment in how they place an order. Whether ordering in person, by phone, or through an app, diners must now decide if they need utensils or packets and say so clearly. 
Restaurants and delivery platforms are required to wait for that request before including the items. The law does not ban the items when asked for, it simply ends the previous practice of including them automatically with every order.
The rules are now in effect for most restaurants and delivery services across New Jersey, with the noted exemptions for schools, institutional facilities, and food courts until 2028.

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A New Law Is Changing The Way You Order Takeout

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After New Jersey officials registered roughly 6,600 non-citizens to vote, the state&#8217;s Democratic governor is refusing to hand over the records to the feds.
On Tuesday, Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said she would not cooperate with the Trump administration, which she accused of &#8220;weaponizing&#8221; such records. Sherrill revealed last week that the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission registered thousands of non-citizens to vote in an apparent error.
&#8220;As I have said, I&#8217;m not in the habit of turning over private identifying information of the citizens of New Jersey,&#8221; Sherrill said. &#8220;This federal government is weaponizing the government against individuals that disagree with them.&#8221;
&#8220;They weaponized my private data against me and my election and so I am working to protect people and their private data here in New Jersey,&#8221; she added.
The Trump administration <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-five-additional-states-failure-produce-voter-rolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> New Jersey in February for its “failure to produce their full voter registration lists upon request.”
In light of the latest revelation, the Justice Department sent a letter to Sherrill requesting the names, dates of birth, nationalities, addresses, and registration dates and locations for the 6,600 non-citizens.
Citing a &#8220;preliminary analysis,&#8221; Sherrill said that fewer than 400 of the non-citizens who were placed on the state&#8217;s voter rolls actually cast ballots. The Justice Department asked the governor to share when and where those non-citizens voted.
Sherrill responded that New Jersey would not comply with the request, which she said had &#8220;no legal basis.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, I informed <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AAGDhillon</a> that New Jersey will not provide the personal information of thousands of New Jersey residents.
The request had no legal basis, and I will always protect New Jerseyans&#8217; personally identifiable information. <a href="https://t.co/MP2EPjUyso">https://t.co/MP2EPjUyso</a> <a href="https://t.co/ONdIteHS8E">pic.twitter.com/ONdIteHS8E</a>
— Governor Mikie Sherrill (@GovSherrillNJ) <a href="https://x.com/GovSherrillNJ/status/2082184704590074042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Between June 2023 and June 2024, the non-citizens indicated their immigration status in their applications for IDs and driver’s licenses.
Ultimately, Sherrill blamed her predecessor for the purported mistake. She has also opened an investigation into the registration debacle and has instructed state officials to remove any non-citizens from the voter rolls.
The state is also working to replace the vendor responsible for implementing the system under which the error occurred.
“I want to underscore how seriously I take this matter. As a military veteran who swore an oath to defend our Constitution, and as a former federal prosecutor, I believe the integrity of our elections is fundamental to our democracy,” Sherrill said in an earlier press conference.
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” the governor said. “This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now.”

New Jerseyans Vote On Election Day For State’s Next Governor

New Jersey Refuses To Cooperate With Feds After Registering Thousands Of Noncitizens To Vote

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Another stabbing. Another headline. Another round of thoughts and prayers followed by absolutely nothing changing.
The day before this attack, a friend of mine had his front door kicked in. His wife was home with their baby when the attacker got inside and tackled her to the ground — both of them on the floor. My friend was able to get to her in time, fight the attacker off, and get his wife and baby out safely. It could have ended very differently. It didn&#8217;t, because he was there and he was ready.
These stories aren&#8217;t rare anymore. They&#8217;re routine. And every time one happens, the same question follows: what if someone there had been armed? The answer is simple. It would have changed everything.
I grew up in California, and firearms were part of my life from an early age. My family ran a nonprofit helping families with food, clothing, and furniture — the kind of work that puts you face to face with people at their most vulnerable. It also put a target on us. Before I turned 18, my family endured 14 attempted break-ins and two attempted murders. That reshaped how I saw the world. I got serious about firearms training, earned my National Rifle Association instructor certifications, and kept building from there. Then came the Chabad of Poway shooting. Watching an attack unfold in a synagogue — a place that&#8217;s supposed to be safe — prompted me to take action. I started teaching publicly, and it grew into a full training operation. Today I run &#8220;The Tactical Rabbi,&#8221; a firearms and security training brand with a YouTube channel that&#8217;s crossed 35 million views and a growing presence on Instagram, where I break down concealed carry, active-shooter response, and security preparedness for anyone wanting to learn.
I&#8217;ve spent years watching regular people — parents, business owners, synagogue members — try to navigate the maze of legal protections. In New York, that maze is a nightmare and for many, hard to work through.
New York is technically a &#8220;shall issue&#8221; state now, post-Bruen (the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle &amp; Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen recognizing a constitutional right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense). On paper, the Supreme Court forced the state&#8217;s hand. In practice, New York found a new way to make the right to self-defense functionally unreachable for most people. To get a carry license, an applicant has to complete 16 hours of classroom instruction, plus two hours of live-fire training, submit four character references, sit for an in-person interview, and pass a background process that, in my experience, takes an average of six months — and commonly can stretch past a year.
An attorney once put it to me this way, and I haven&#8217;t heard it said better: if New York actually cared about safety, the ratio would be flipped — sixteen hours of live-fire and safe-handling training, two hours of legal seminar. Instead, it&#8217;s the opposite. The overwhelming majority of mandated time isn&#8217;t spent teaching people to operate a firearm safely. It&#8217;s spent walking them through everything they&#8217;re not allowed to do. That&#8217;s not a safety program. That&#8217;s a liability shield with a permit slip attached. And that&#8217;s before you factor in the cost — training, fingerprinting, application fees, lost work hours — which adds up to something far beyond a minor inconvenience. For someone working full-time or living on a tight income, six months to a year of cost and paperwork isn&#8217;t a deterrent. It&#8217;s often a hard stop.
Even after someone clears every hurdle and gets approved, New York&#8217;s list of &#8220;sensitive locations&#8221; strips the license of most of its value. Subways. Times Square. Public transit. The exact places where violent crime is most concentrated and where the value of self-defense is most needed are off limits. The state hands you a license in one hand and takes back the protection with the other. To be clear, I don&#8217;t think every requirement is worthless. A seminar on the legal use of force has real value. Live-fire training has real value. The problem isn&#8217;t that New York asks people to be trained and responsible. The problem is how it&#8217;s built — layered, slow, and expensive in a way that has far more to do with discouraging applicants than preparing them.
New Jersey&#8217;s process, by comparison, is a two-hour seminar plus a 50-round live-fire qualification across three to 15 yards. That&#8217;s it. It&#8217;s faster, cheaper, and — frankly — makes more sense as an actual proficiency test than New York&#8217;s process. Approval times run dramatically shorter than New York&#8217;s. I still don&#8217;t think New Jersey&#8217;s system is where it should be, constitutionally. But if I had to choose between the two states as they stand today, it isn&#8217;t close. Meanwhile, most of the country has moved toward constitutional carry — which is closer to how the Second Amendment was actually written and intended to function. More states should be moving in that direction, not away from it.
People will say these hurdles exist because lawmakers want gun ownership to stay rare. That misses the bigger picture. The Second Amendment wasn&#8217;t written to manage a hobby. It was written as a check against tyranny and, just as importantly, as a guarantee that every individual has the right to defend themselves and the people they love. That right doesn&#8217;t mean much if the state can regulate it into practical non-existence while still calling it &#8220;shall issue.&#8221;
And there&#8217;s a second half to this problem that doesn&#8217;t get talked about enough: the revolving-door approach to repeat offenders in cities like New York. When people with long, documented histories of arrests face little to no real consequence, you remove any incentive for a would-be attacker to hesitate. Deterrence works both ways — an armed, trained citizen is one form of deterrence; real consequences for violent behavior are another. Weaken both at the same time, and you shouldn&#8217;t be surprised when incidents like stabbings and other violent crimes keep happening.
I’m constantly asked where to start, and I always come back to the same comparison: learning to drive. The first time you get behind the wheel, it&#8217;s intimidating — you don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re doing, and that uncertainty is real. But with the right instructor, proper training, and time behind the wheel, that discomfort turns into competence. A firearm is no different. It&#8217;s a tool. Treated seriously, trained on properly, and understood clearly, it becomes something you can rely on rather than fear. That&#8217;s the piece so many of these processes get backward. They spend their energy trying to make people afraid of the tool instead of competent with it. Fix that, and you fix most of what&#8217;s actually wrong with the system.
There are many fantastic resources and firearms instructors across the country — people who know the laws and people who follow everything Second Amendment-related. For example, if you are worried about owning or bringing a firearm into your home, Yehuda Remer, also known as The Pew Pew Jew, has a series of children’s books that talk about gun safety and living with firearms in your home. He also has a history of the Second Amendment so you and your child can learn about its importance and why we have it. He is a Second Amendment activist living in Texas who educates children and parents about those rights. His work and advocacy span the better part of 15 years, during which he has called for everyone to arm themselves, especially Jews. Since October 7, his voice has been an important wake-up call for Jews around the country to pick up a firearm, train, and survive.
If any of this resonates — if you&#8217;ve been sitting on the fence about getting trained, getting licensed, or just learning how to think about your own safety — don&#8217;t wait for the next headline to decide for you. Reach out. Find me on YouTube and Instagram as The Tactical Rabbi, or drop me a line at <a href="mailto:info@thetacticalrabbi.com">info@thetacticalrabbi.com</a>. I’m happy to help point you in the right direction.
Or you can reach out to The Pew Pew Jew at <a href="http://www.thepewpewjew.com/">www.thepewpewjew.com</a> or email him at thepewpewjew@gmail.com.
***
Rabbi Raziel Cohen is a firearms instructor and security consultant known as &#8220;The Tactical Rabbi.&#8221; His YouTube channel has surpassed 35 million views, and he shares ongoing training content on Instagram.
Yehuda Remer is an award-winning Second Amendment advocate who has published 10 books and has appeared on media outlets including Fox News, ABC News, and other publications.

Todd Settergren of Setterarms gun shop, handles pistols inside his display case on Friday Jan. 13, 2017, in Walnut Creek, Ca. Settergren says California gun laws have gone too far and he welcomes the chance that the federal government under the Trump admi

New York Doesn’t Want You Armed, The Bureaucracy Proves It

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Thousands of non-citizens were registered to vote in New Jersey in what officials are classifying as a &#8220;software error.&#8221;
Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill revealed Tuesday that she was made aware of the apparent mistake last week. She claimed that the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) registered roughly 6,600 non-citizens who indicated their status while applying for IDs and driver&#8217;s licenses between June 2023 and June 2024.
&#8220;These individuals answered &#8216;no&#8217; when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers&#8217; licenses and identification cards, but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,&#8221; Sherrill <a href="https://x.com/GovSherrillNJ/status/2079602942722662725">wrote</a> in an X post.
Sherrill blamed her predecessor for the purported mistake.
The Garden State&#8217;s election office is investigating the voter rolls to remove any non-citizens, Sherrill said during a Tuesday press conference. Officials are also working to replace the vendor responsible for implementing the system that led to the error.
&#8220;This happened under the previous administration and, upon learning this information, I immediately ordered my chief counsel to launch an investigation to get to the bottom of what occurred,&#8221; Sherrill said.
&#8220;I also ordered the removal of any residents from our voter rolls who were erroneously added between June 2023 and June 2024,&#8221; she said.
Fewer than 400 of the non-citizens who were placed on the state&#8217;s voter rolls actually voted, Sherrill said, citing a &#8220;preliminary analysis.&#8221;
&#8220;I want to underscore how seriously I take this matter. As a military veteran who swore an oath to defend our Constitution, and as a former federal prosecutor, I believe the integrity of our elections is fundamental to our democracy,&#8221; Sherrill said.
&#8220;I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,&#8221; the governor said. &#8220;This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now.&#8221;
Sherrill also took aim at the Trump administration for attempting &#8220;to weaponize elections for political gain.&#8221;
&#8220;Let me be clear: Donald Trump has zero credibility on the issue of election integrity. For more than ten years, he has worked to undermine Americans&#8217; faith in our elections by spreading lies about legitimate election results, attempting to overturn a free and fair election, encouraging an attack on our Capitol when he couldn&#8217;t accept the will of the voters, and defunding election security at the federal level,&#8221; the governor said.
&#8220;The difference is simple: when we find a problem, we don&#8217;t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies. We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public. That&#8217;s what accountability and good governance look like, and that&#8217;s exactly what my administration is doing,&#8221; she said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I note that New Jersey is one of the states refusing to allow <a href="https://x.com/TheJusticeDept?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheJusticeDept</a> <a href="https://x.com/CivilRights?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CivilRights</a> to help them avoid exactly such “errors.”
Stay tuned. <a href="https://t.co/bObsAUA2zB">https://t.co/bObsAUA2zB</a>
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon/status/2079619785273298972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Trump administration has sought to audit New Jersey&#8217;s voter rolls to ensure non-citizens aren&#8217;t registered to vote. The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-five-additional-states-failure-produce-voter-rolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> New Jersey in February for its &#8220;failure to produce their full voter registration lists upon request.&#8221;
In response to Sherrill&#8217;s latest announcement, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon called out the apparent hypocrisy, adding, &#8220;Stay tuned.&#8221;

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New Jersey Registered Thousands Of Non-Citizens To Vote Due To ‘Software Error’

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