Governor Christie is holding a news conference this afternoon to discuss a report an anti-violence task force he commissioned released several weeks ago. The panel recommended tightening up background checks before gun purchases and several other measures that would increase restrictions on gun an ammunition sales.
Governor Christie said Thursday the state’s unemployment rate, which dropped to 9 percent, represented “progress” in New Jersey’s economic recovery and continued his push for a tax cut. He also said the state would administer federal superstorm Sandy aid differently than Louisiana did after Hurricane Katrina and avoid giving homeowners large lump sum payments, which he said didn’t work.
Rutgers University president Robert L. Barchi told a legislative budget committee Thursday that he would have fired men’s basketball coach Mike Rice for cause after footage surfaced showing him abusing players at practice — thus avoiding a large severance payment — but said he was advised not to by legal counsel. Rice is set to receive a settlement of $475,000.
Washington political correspondent Herb Jackson says U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-North Hudson, is staking his reputation with immigrant communities on a bipartisan reform plan he is pushing in Congress.