Briana: tonight on NJ Spotlight News, travel nightmares.

Flight delays and cancellations continue as over 4 million take to the skies this holiday week.

>> It was kind of the perfect storm at the airports.

Briana: And safety first, Trenton announces a new safety plan amid a surge of criminal activity and homicides read >> I want the police department to expect to deter crime on their own.

Briana:.

Briana:Also tensions after the approval of the $54 billion state jet.

Criticizing the process of finding it rushed and noting a lack of transparency.

>> It wouldn't be June if there wasn't a little drama.

Briana: Plus, new firearm findings.

A new study shows an increase in people denying possession of firearms and changing demographics.

>> We are trying to seem -- we are saying owning firearms more.

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From NJPBS this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Thank you for joining us this Monday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

Further chaos this weekend making for a rocky start to one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

Topped the list of cancellations with about 190 flights scrapped in and around new according to the trucking company it was a combination of staffing shortages, crew scheduling and severe storms.

A record number of people will travel through the July 4 holiday surpassing pre-pandemic burs the travel mayhem comes after serious trouble was at airports just a week ago and ominous sign for the industry passengers on the roads and in the skies are just being told to practice patience.

Ted Goldberg reports.

>> The experiences of people flying through Newark today have run the gamut to rage inducing.

Here with Delta there is no line so it should be pretty in and out pretty quick.

>> We go to here to hours later.

Nightmare.

Coming from Tampa to Newark we got delayed three times.

And when we arrived here our plan -- our plane left.

>> We were supposed to go to Orlando yesterday and it was delayed and then it was canceled we lost a day of our vacation.

>> Bad weather and high volume of travelers have led to more delays and cancellations than we normally see over the Fourth of July weekend.

According to the company FlightAware over 200 flights had been canceled over the last 24 hours.

Leaving travelers scrimping to make new travel plans.

>> Now we have a two hour at layover in Myrtle Beach.

We are only there for two hours and then weaker on another flight you'd >> It's frustrating because they were excited.

They wanted to be there.

>> I can't put myself in their shoes because it's human, everybody make a mistake and we don't know what's going on.

The only time I was upset was yesterday because I had to run and I realized I need to do more exercise.

I couldn't breathe.

>> She's far from the only frantic traveler.

AAA estimates more than one million New Jerseyans will travel 50 plus miles for the holiday with more than 130 6000 people traveling by air.

A few factors have led to more delays.

>> It was kind of the perfect storm at the airports.

So not only did we have record high trouble numbers for the holiday weekend.

We also had major weather delays and additionally even some scheduling conflicts at Newark Airport specifically.

>> United airlines use Newark as a hub and the CEO blames the FAA for not hiring enough traffic controllers.

Airlines can plan for things like hurricanes, subzero temperatures and snow storms that United has never seen an extended limited operating environment like the one we saw this past week at Newark.

Pete Buttigieg fired back on twitter stating that while most airlines had delays and cancellations in the past week United had way more of them.

Travel industry analyst says United does have a point.

>> The FAA is still shortstaffed.

They are dealing with problems with overtime for their controllers not having enough controllers and still recovering by the way from limitation placed on the FAA during COVID hire to become traffic controllers.

>> And another issue is the airport itself and its system designed in the 1950's.

>> It's outdated.

It's inefficient.

And so what's really needed is for the airlines and the FAA, who ever else needs to be at the table to sit down and say how do we intelligently and efficiently add more runways at Newark Airport.

>> A difficult question as travelers use the airport to get in and out of the tri-state area.

I'm Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Many of those people traveling this Independence Day are getting together for fireworks and reads and backyard barbecues.

He signed that summer is in full swing.

But that's also a time when violent crime historically spikes.

This weekend was no exception in Trenton were a shooting at the total number of homicides to 19.

Six of those homicides were in June of one.

Today Trenton leaders rolled up a new public safety plan for the summer and as Melissa Rose Cooper reports it focuses on targeted hotspot areas.

>> We have to do something.

We either put the work in upfront or we put it on the tail end when we are dealing with body's and blood.

And we made that decision to do it upfront.

>> The prosecutor says he didn't say hesitate to say yes one the mayor and police Director asked him to collaborate on a new vicious -- an initiative tackling violence in the city this summer.

>> Your administration, your city legislation is not taking the violence in the city lately.

Anyone who would say that is wrong.

>> The public safety plan aims to curb crime after an effort with police and the community.

The colas to figure out the best way to target neighborhood hotspots, areas known for repeated criminal activity.

>> We are announcing a community-based response to violent crime some of them start with quality-of-life of life issues such as abundance of ATV's any the street, public Disorderly Conduct including open containers of alcohol and a lot of that are attractive nuisances that knew you'd to greater criminal conduct.

>> Dealing with the surge of violence during the summer months but shooting over the weekend brought the total amount of homicides to 19 in the city for the year six of them happening in June alone.

>> We believe those closer to the problem or closer to the solution.

>> Department director says engaging residents is one of the best ways to really get to the source of violence.

>> As the prosecutor said come forward with information when you're out there in the street people with chrome -- credible messages former gang leaders, former leaders those are the ones we need to pull out in the street, confiscate them or put them out in the street.

>> I remember being a young trooper and we would center article control unit.

That doesn't work.

Not with the intelligence that we have and that we are stopping somebody with a broken tail light on their way to their second job who has a warrant for his people ticket when two blocks away somebody who's been involved in three shootings and shut once themselves, that's the difference to those creating the most havoc on our street and not to come in and punish the public that are just trying to make it from paycheck-to-paycheck.

>> Our clearance rate for violent crime is something that our police department along with the county in the state should be commended for.

It is also something that those who are engaged in nefarious activities should know.

We made it clear, you won't get away with that in the capital city.

Make no mistake our focus is on deterrents.

The police department is using community center approach and by this we will be concentrating on a lot of the quality of life issues that the public demands.

>> The safety plan has been in operation for the past week.

It also includes investing more in the city including creating job opportunities and recreational activities for youth.

I Melissa Rose Cooper.

Briana: Gun violence shattered a holiday weekend block party in Baltimore.

If multiple people opened fire killing two and wounding at least 28 others in a mass shooting.

Authorities say the victims range in age from 13 to 32 years old.

Half of the victims were teenagers.

Police are searching for the suspects.

The circumstances leading up to the incident remain under investigation.

Law-enforcement officials say they spent hours combing the crime scene which spans several blocks in South Baltimore is Brooklyn neighborhood.

The incident comes just after prosecutors touted efforts to reduce crime in the city.

New Jersey's Attorney General offered support and prayers adding and enough is enough, we need to do better.

We must and in violence in this country.

According to the gun violence archive the U.S. has had 340 mass shootings so for this year.

Millions of Americans who never owned a firearm purchased one through the Covid like Don.

A new report from the gun violence research Center finds that number may be underestimated.

Data shows more people are falsely denying owning firearms.

I asked the lead author of the study about what the findings mean.

Welcome to the show.

You looked at a lot of data collected a lot of data about gun owners.

I'm curious what you found, specifically, about folks to have just gun in these last few years.

>> Absolutely, yes.

We are seeing a change in firearm ownership since the purchasing surge started in 2020.

Specifically, in our study we looked at folks who might own firearms but not want to tell researchers that they own firearms.

Briana: Why is it?

What are they hesitant about owning a firearm to share either with the government or with you all?

>> Great question.

That's the thing we are interested in as well.

We don't have it data tickets at that but we have a few hypotheses.

It might be that some folks on firearms illicitly.

It may also be there's a distrust between the researchers that are conducting research in the firearm owning community speaking to the need for, you know, cross discipline efforts.

Briana: Are a lot of these folks who own a firearm new?

Are they first-time gun owners?

Are they seasoned, licensed holders?

Does the data bear any of that out?

>> Yeah, so I think it is a little bit of both.

Before the March 2020 timeframe, and we see folks purchasing for the first time since March 2020.

What we see about those individuals as they look to my graphically different.

Then what we typically think of.

Often people think of white, middle-aged or older men living in rural environments and we are starting to see women on firearms more and racial ethnic minorities owning firearms more.

Briana: Break this down for us.

When you're unable to collect real data on exactly who those groups are how many are out there, what does that do to the research we do have?

How does it skew it when folks are reluctant to come forward with that information?

>> Absolutely.

We are not accurately capturing all types of firearm owners in the U.S..

They are not a homogeneous.

It's not a one-size-fits-all model so we might be missing different subgroups that are out there making it hard to reach those folks with things like secure firearm storage or raise the firearm safety.

Briana: We've had so much focus on going ownership a lot of it because of the spike in gun violence.

Is there any correlation in your data between the up pick of folks who are looking to enough firearm or have one now and raises in that violence and Mark did you look at the at all?

>> We didn't look at that in this study.

It's difficult to determine how many firearms are purchased each year in the U.S. but the data indicates there was a big increase and we are staying death rates increase as well.

It's something to keep an ion for -- I on for future research.

Briana: Thank you so much.

An update on the school districts targeted by the state attorney general's office for parental notification policies involving LGBTQ students.

Middletown and Marlborough sent letters to parents last week that largely mirrored one another.

Both districts via me they disagreed with the state's the policies are discriminatory or improper because they require parents to be notified if a child is changing the gender identity or expression.

But the districts agreed after request of the judge to hold off on fully implementing the new policies until the case is argued in court August 15.

Meanwhile officials have requested to negotiate with Attorney General's office and agree on a framework.

The first school district to be legally pursued by the state, that remains paused.

The Attorney General filed civil-rights complaints arguing the policies out.

The frenzied state budget deadline is officially over but this week lawmakers and advocates are criticizing how that spending plan came to be.

Citing last-minute changes, miscalculations, and no time for lawmakers to prove the budget before voting on it.

Democrats argue the ends justify the means but as it senior political correspondent David Cruise reports it's become a pattern that's eroding public trust.

>> Sorry to be a few minutes late.

Giving all the free money to be allocated, slow but still robust text collection not to mention control of the legislature and the governor's offense.

A cynic might have expected that the budget season would end up as the clumsy, bumbling, and utterly frustrating race to the initialing that it ultimately became.

>> Because it wouldn't be, you know, it wouldn't June in Trenton if there wasn't a little trauma.

>> She can joke about it now but the final two weeks of June can serve as a sobering reminder of just how much of budget committee chair doesn't control.

Especially when it comes to the clock, especially when it comes to a magic number that lawmakers can settle on.

>> It moves very quickly.

By the time you're done with committees, then obviously the speaker had a plant that he really was pushing for, right?

That took a lot of renegotiation.

Wrapping up to figure out what policy you wanted to see reflected in the budget and also if you take a look at what legislators would've liked to see further on districts, right?

And some things that are important to them.

It does get complicated.

>> The fact that we offloaded in committee on a budget that didn't just at the time.

Notwithstanding some of the pronouncements from the other side.

We were given $1 billion off, I know for a fact that line items changed or added between the night we voted in committee and when we voted on Friday.

>> The minority party blasting the spending and the OP city of the process.

Progressives lamenting what they see as tax giveaways for the wealthy and not enough for the environment were transit or the working class and poor.

Senate majority leader expressed some displeasure with critics on the left who used their inside voices to praise lawmakers and then shout their criticism in press releases and media appearances.

>> What we did today even though there may have been hick ups and stumbling, it's easy when you are not responsible to sit back and poke in the spaces where you see vacancy.

But it's much harder to stand up and support things.

>> For the rest of New Jersey, a budget process as messy as this one can leave a lasting impression.

>> It's impossible not to see that the legislature really doesn't want the public involved in this process.

>> Still, out of all this comes some agreement -- >> The leadership should have corralled their members, the Democrat members, a month before, you know by June 1.

>> What would you like to see different?

Anything?

>> Yes, I would like to see the magical number agreed on earlier.

I would say I always like to shoot for June 22nd or so.

>> Even that would be an improvement over a process that leaves most everyone asking what just happened.

Long after it already happened.

I'm David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: And amid the chaos, lawmakers passed hundreds of other new bills Governor Murphy putting his signature on more than a dozen of them.

Including a bill to extend Internet gambling in the state for another five years.

That's despite repeated calls from Atlantic City's casino industry for a full 10 year extension.

The governor also approved eliminating these, liens, and warrant issues for public defender services along with the package of housing affordability bills and changes to include more seniors in New Jersey's prescription jug affordability program.

Teachers, they will get a break on certain certification and credentialing fees for one year.

And the Bloomfield College University merger, that's officially approved.

Dozens of other bills passed both houses but haven't made it to the governor's desk.

Including a measure to crack down on auto theft and the creation of a statewide mental health diversion program to keep people out of the criminal justice system.

Lawmakers also passed a controversial fast tracked piece of legislation giving offshore wind company Orsted a multimillion dollar tax break for its project here.

Up Orsted is a funder of NJ Spotlight News.

One item that didn't get through the legislature to the surprise of many was another so-called tough on crime bill.

It would've addressed unruly pop-up parties by teens at the Jersey shore.

Social justice advocates feared it would be used to punish black and Latino kids in other parts of the state.

You can read about other bills passed just under the wire on NJ Spotlight News.org.

Elsewhere at the state house Friday the Senate unanimously confirmed Michael Noriega to be the next associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court giving the high court a full bench for the first time since 2021.

The state Supreme Court has been operating with agencies after three justices reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

For several months there were just for permanent members of the court.

The other three seats were filled temporarily by superior judges.

All of it the result of liberal nominee being held up over what's known as Senatorial courtesy it allows one lawmaker to hold up a nomination over concerns that the partisan balance of the bench would be an even.

But Noriega has also set to join the liberal side of the court was praised by members on both sides of the aisle.

He's a former public defender and works as a criminal justice and immigration attorney at a law firm run by Senate Minority Leader John brought in.

Noriega is the fourth pick for the court.

He will have another opportunity to name a justice in 2024 when another judge is set to retire.

Just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down president Aidan's student unforgiveness plan the White House vowed to find a new path for the debt relief.

The ambitious proposal would have wiped out up to $10,000 for borrowers needing -- meeting a certain income back costing the federal government about $400 billion over the next decade.

The conservative majority argued the president didn't have the authority to do so.

Dealing upload to one of the Biden administration's key campaign promises.

But the president isn't giving up.

The federal education Department is already rewriting the rules to enable more loan forgiveness to low and medical come -- middle income borrowers.

Any them in time the department unveils a program that will save the average borrower about $1000 every year along an on-ramp to begin a 12 month repayment process now that payments are due in October.

For one year it won't be reported to credit bureaus.

A shortened week for Wall Street , here's how stocks closed today.

>> Support for the business report provided by the chamber of commerce southern New Jersey working for economic prosperity for 150 years.

Membership and event information online at chamber SN J.com.

Briana: And that's going to do it for us tonight better reminder to download the NJ Spotlight News podcast so you can listen anytime.

I'm Briana Vannozzi for the entire NJ Spotlight News team things for being with us, have a great evening.

We will see you here tomorrow.

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