News and politics reporting
Unexpected defeat of referendums shows growing power of Ireland’s traditional Catholics
DUBLIN (RNS) — At a Mass said in Latin on Sunday (March 10), Ireland’s traditional Catholics declared political victory, days after a pair of referendums aimed at secularizing the Irish Constitution were unexpectedly and resoundingly defeated.
On Friday, the Irish government put two measures to a vote that would have extended the rights of unmarried couples in the country’s constitution and removed language defining women’s roles “within the home.” Both had been widely expected to pass...
Democrats push to lower voting age to 16 for school board races
Top New Jersey Democrats promised to push legislation lowering the voting age to 16 for school board elections statewide at a teen activist conference at Rutgers’ Newark campus on Saturday.
As book bans and the risks of school shootings have politicized high schools nationwide, dozens of young activists, many of them high school students, gathered at Saturday’s Vote 16 Youth Summit hosted by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
As Astoria’s Traffic Deaths Rose, this Redditor Formed a Movement
Biking through Astoria, Queens on a late summer night, Alex Duncan burned through roughly 20 sticks of sidewalk chalk. Stopping every few blocks, he crouched by the iconic green pavement of the bike lanes and scrawled a message for his neighbors to see the next morning.
“Astoria — Demand daylighting and pedestrian safety — Tonight 7 PM.”
Lawmakers advance bill to redo Liberty State Park after intense debate in Assembly committee
TRENTON N.J .— Budget committees in both houses of the Legislature advanced a bill Monday to redevelop Liberty State Park in Jersey City, despite protests from environmentalists and some lawmakers in the Assembly.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Angela McKnight (D-Hudson) would redo the park, which overlooks the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline — a proposal complicated by the involvement of billionaire Reebok CEO Paul Fireman, who supports expanding his privately-owned golf course onto the park’s grounds.
Muslim mayor blocked from White House event calls for end to terror watch list
Islamic civil rights groups from across New Jersey called on the Biden administration to discontinue the use of terror watch lists after the state’s longest-serving Muslim official accused the White House of racially profiling him on Monday.
The Secret Service confirmed Monday that it abruptly disinvited Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah from attending the White House’s celebration of Islamic holiday Eid-al-Fitr. While the agency declined to comment on its specific methods for determining eligibility to visit the White House, Khairullah and other advocates believe his unexplained presence on the secret government watch list is to blame.
Seton Hall accused of contributing to flooding in local neighborhoods
Libre Jones and her husband moved to the Ivy Hill neighborhood in Newark — just steps from Seton Hall’s campus — in early 2021. While they couldn’t afford a home in South Orange, Ivy Hill offered proximity to the suburbs, a good school system, and a quiet, neighborly community.
“It really just looked like the perfect place,” Jones said.
Months later, that perfect place was overrun with floodwater from Hurricane Ida. Water began to spill into Jones’s basement through her toilet, soaking through furniture and contaminating personal items with unsanitary water. With her insurance failing to cover the $25,000 of structural damage, not to mention the irreplaceable sentimental value of lost family photos, Jones’s life was turned upside down.
Mourners honor Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who ‘loved New Jersey like a mother’
Hundreds of New Jerseyans gathered to celebrate the life of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver Saturday in Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Gov. Phil Murphy, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and Dionne Warwick were among the speakers memorializing Oliver, who died last week at 71. The ceremony concluded three days of memorials in Trenton and Newark.
Hundreds gathered in Newark to mourn Oliver. Photo Andrew Mills/ NJ.com
Murphy to Trump voters: 'I hope you're happy' with SCOTUS rulings on guns, abortion
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday called out voters who cast their ballots for Donald Trump in 2016, declaring that elections have consequences, and we are “living with the carnage of those consequences.”
At the end of a press conference in Trenton to address the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings that eased gun laws and overturned Roe v. Wade, Murphy took direct aim at supporters of the former president.
“I do want to speak to the folks who, in 2016, voted for president because they wanted to shake things up, and I want to ask you: Are you happy? Because you’re shaking things up,” said Murphy, a progressive Democrat who is considered a possible 2024 candidate.
Business reporting
I worked as a consumer-focused business reporter at The U.S. Sun, and then began freelancing as a finance and investments-focused business reporter for GlobalPETS/Pets International, a major pet industry publication.
You can see my latest for GlobalPETS here.
Analysis: US pet food industry braces for tariffs as Trump returns to Washington
With President-elect Donald Trump on his way back to the White House, industry groups are working hard to influence his controversial trade policies. Trump has said he may begin levying tariffs via executive order on the first day of his new administration, 20 January.
How avian flu cases in domestic cats can impact food manufacturing
At least 40 domestic cats in the US have been infected with avian flu since 2025 began, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). But with limited testing available, the true scope and causes of the outbreak remain unclear.
This has posed challenges for certain industry stakeholders, with at least some blame falling on raw cat food producers.
Coronavirus Coverage
I began my college writing career in Fall 2019. I became an editor in Spring 2020.
For interactive graphics relating to the pandemic's impact on campus, see my data page
Health Services clarifies testing protocols, while virologist calls outbreak risk ‘unacceptably high’
A Seton Hall virologist called the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak on campus “unacceptably high” after a Health Services interview with The Setonian clarified the University's testing and tracing protocols.
Health Services’ most detailed explanation of its protocols yet comes in the wake of three residents testing positive for COVID-19 this fall semester. The newly clarified testing and tracing procedures explain who can be tested by Health Services and for what reasons.
