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Today's Spotlight

January 4, 2021

Good morning, and welcome back to a new year that could chart its own course for New Jersey. The year will be a daunting one as we come out of the pandemic, with many of our institutions strained, if not broken, and deep challenges ahead to mend and hopefully improve upon them. We start you off with a look at New Jersey politics and the coming election for governor and the Legislature. And we visit our public education system and all that faces its schools, students and educators. But this is just the start for what is sure to be a pivotal year, and NJ Spotlight News is ready to help explain it all.
— John Mooney, founding editor, jmooney@njspotlight.com

 

A busy election year, 2021 that is

The coming year is going to be a busy one in Garden State politics: The governor is up for election, and all the Senate and Assembly seats are on the ballot. Colleen O’Dea walks our readers through the competitive districts, red and blue registered voters and other key issues. Read more.  

 

What's ahead for education in 2021?

The pandemic remains the most pressing problem facing educators, along with related issues like remote learning and the digital divide. But policymakers and politicians are looking ahead to rethinking basic assumptions, finding funding, reinstituting testing and finally achieving an equitable  school system. John Mooney takes an educated look into the future. Read more.

 

Johnson’s mark on NJ health services

As commissioner at New Jersey’s Department of Human Services, Carole Johnson oversaw the largest state agency. She is credited with making big changes to some of its key programs in just two years. Now she’s been recruited to take on a daunting project with national consequences — joining the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response team, where she will oversee the nationwide testing program for the disease. Lilo H. Stainton reviews her time at DHS. Read more.   

 

The self-made businesswomen of Newark  

During the past decade, there has been rapid growth in small businesses owned by Black women throughout the U.S. That also has been the case in Newark. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, writer Carrie Stetler and photographer Tinnetta Bell set out to document the entrepreneurship of nine women from the city’s South and West wards. Though, like so many others, their businesses have been hit hard since then, most are trying to survive by adapting. Read more.   

 

Spotlight on data: COVID-19 hospitalizations

Follow the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey with maps and graphics created by Colleen O’Dea. Updated daily, the data includes case and fatality trends, demographic breakdowns, etc. This chart follows the trends in hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. Find all our data and more here.

 

Op-Ed: Rethinking redistricting

The 2021 elections give New Jersey a good reason and a good opportunity to redraw its congressional districts. The best approach, according to Brad Van Arnum, who follows redistricting closely, is to create districts based on what communities have in common. That will help ensure the state's needs are met in Congress. Read more.

 

Number of the Day

Major film studios operating in Fort Lee by 1918 

 
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