>> Serving the insurance needs of residents as businesses for more than 100 years.

More information is online at NJ realtor.com and by the PSEG foundation.

♪ From NJ PBS, this is "NJ Spotlight News."

Joanna: The fire burning in West Milford overnight as embers sparked new fires this morning.

The fire was roughly 975 acres in size and is now 65% contained.

The blaze threatening 10 structures, one home had to be evacuated.

The fire is generally following an area close to traffic.

Fire crews from South Jersey are now joining the effort bringing the total to 50 some of the firefighters, working nearly 24 hours straight.

Aircraft continue to drop water on parts of the fire that can't be reached, but here is something different.

Officials say an invasive bug has been killing off ash trees in New Jersey and it has made the fire unpredictable.

Typically wildfires burn low to the ground, but clusters are helping the fire burn more intensely and higher, and that's been a game changer for firefighters.

Around the state, the risk remains high for other fires, like the 3800 acre fire that raged earlier in the week.

There is rain in the forecast which will hopefully bring some relief.

>> Just want to stress with all of you and help the public understand we have a lot of environmental factors going on.

We have warm conditions, a changing climate, the impact of these invasive plants and insects.

All of that coming together to exacerbate what we would typically expect of normal fire conditions here in big green forests.

As the fire rages on so too does the faculty and staff strike at Rutgers University, which is now in day five.

Those negotiators could take a lesson from the City University.

That is with staff and still remain after NJCU announced it would cut already 7% of its academic programs last year.

University officials called the agreement historic and unprecedented and it could create opportunities for this goal to receive state aid meanwhile Rutgers' Union took a breather to get ready for what could be another week of tense negotiations.

Brenda Flanagan has more on what they are still holding out for.

>> We have been on strike for a whole week and we are going to hold it up as long as we need.

>> Striking faculty took a breather on day five but the unprecedented walkout brought the university to a virtual standstill.

Unions representing some 9000 educators and others want fair wages and job security.

There is more at stake for small universities.

>> A black woman is likely to be paid less than a white man.

>> Faculty at Rutgers routinely get paid more all the teachers at Camden and Newark and apply to the university for parity.

It's not automatic.

>> One demand is a 10% pay increase and a 5% across-the-board at Newark, and that's because the system has not worked.

It's a simpler way to make things more equitable.

As far as I have heard.

>> We made it OK to not care about other people.

We made it OK and it's not OK. >> Global urban studies program reps call equal pay a fundamental right.

>> Human decency is an important principle for me.

I think that, above everything else.

And I think part of human dignity is working and having decent pay and a decent living.

>> Students pay the same tuition no matter what campus they attend and social activists who support the striking workers also demand equity for faculty.

>> Because it is Rutgers University, everybody should be treated the same, it's absolutely insane.

>> You are still someone so why isn't there equal pay?

>> It feels like Camden has to fight for the basics.

>> Travis teaches writing where he says pay discrepancy creates a palpable impact on faculty morale.

>> We look up the turnpike and we say, "Wait a minute.

we are fulfilling missions our, research faculty are world-class.

There is a dampening of morale that comes with that kind of underfunding.

>> He believes the administration sees a drain on resources because unlike New Brunswick, it doesn't generate a lot of tuition dollars from out-of-state and international students.

Almost 93% of students are from New Jersey.

Rutgers will stay at the bargaining table until it has a fair contract for all its employees.

>> Union negotiators say the going is grueling, they remain stuck on several core issues like equity.

Contract talks will continue over the weekend.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, "NJ Spotlight News."

Joanna: To read more about the unions represented, read our reporting at NJSpotlightNews.org.

The city of Trenton will pay $1.9 million to the estate of Stephen DolceAmore, a man who died in police custody.

He was handcuffed face-down, and officers continue to hold their knees on his back even after he was fully restrained and he told them he couldn't breathe.

He was found to have a toxic to lethal amount of drugs in his system and failed to respond to the opioid reversal drug Narcan.

No charges were brought against the officers even though his death was ruled a homicide.

It's one of several instances where New Jersey police have come under fire for their policing practices.

Patterson is another example recently coming under the control of New Jersey's Attorney General although the AG's office today announced a successful de-escalation of an hours' long standoff with a man wielding a knife.

Senior political correspondent David Cruz sat down with Matt Plotkin for "Chat Box."

>> You've heard some pushback from activists and advocates who said they don't want any police involved and that police can sometimes add more stress, at least uniformed police.

>> So it's been a successful program.

We launched it in Cumberland County as well as mental health providers there.

The original model was a plainclothes officer, again, not in uniform, with a mental health professional arriving on the scene together.

That's where the name came from.

We expanded that program to Union County and we expanded it in a different model with a telehealth approach in Atlantic County and as of a few weeks from now, we will be in 10 counties across the state and the governor has proposed to have funding to make the program statewide and we are bringing it to the county.

Before we launch the program in any community, we sat down and met with stakeholders.

We identified the needs, we identified the resources.

We identified what the community saw as issues.

We have already been doing this.

It looks different in different communities.

Some parts of the state where we are expanding it is as a social worker-led model.

We are doing telehealth.

There will still be some instances and when you look across the country at other models whether it be star, could have, which any people say there are still calls that require a law enforcement response.

But we want to do is make sure that when that is necessary, it is done with folks who have the best training.

The best experience working with mental health professionals and it's at the direction of clinicians.

That's what we have been doing in other counties and the results speak for themselves.

We have helped hundreds of people, these are the calls that we know are most likely to result in bad outcomes, whether that's a bad use of force or an arrest.

We are not seeing that.

We have had no injuries and peer-reviewed instances where force was used.

It was at the direction of the clinician to help get an individual to treatment.

That's what we want to see in Patterson and that's the type of program we want to build statewide with community input.

Joanna: You can catch the full interview on "Chat Box," Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on NJ PBS and be sure to check out "Reporters Roundtable" this weekend with David he talks to Republican State Senator John Brannick about the early race for governor and what the GOP needs to do to take back the legislature.

That is Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission dealt a blow yesterday to the state's largest cannabis dispensary.

CRC denied the license because they have to engage in collective reckoning with union employees, a condition of maintaining their license.

It will cost 500 employees their jobs, and others are concerned the move could upend the marketplace which will hit its one-year anniversary next Friday.

Melissa Rose Cooper attended the CRC meeting to bring us the latest on who else was approved and denied in this slow-moving marijuana marketplace.

>> A dream come true at the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

Approved his application from conditional to annual license.

>> It was a hard journey to get realistic, to get investors, and finally getting this license and hopefully being able to open my doors.

>> Johnson's business was one of three awarded an annual license during the meeting.

The commission also took surprising action against the state's largest cannabis supplier.

Almost one year after recreational sales began the CRC declined to renew the license.

The commission citing a number of concerns including an apparent... announcement that was made before the information was provided to the CRC.

>> I think it's important for the board and the staff at large to have proper insight and timely notice of major changes to a facility operation.

>> The decision coming just minutes after a chief compliance officer spoke about the commitment to serve the community since expanding into the adult use market.

>> We created more than 500 new jobs for New Jersey residents.

Moreover we are proud that 42% of the jobs filled in 2022 and 38% of the jobs filled so far this year have gone to those who represent diverse, ethnic groups.

>> Calling the decision arbitrary as it lacks merit and legal basis.

The company saying it will impact our employees, nearly 500 New Jersey residents and team members, as much as it will harm the broader New Jersey cannabis market.

>> Members say they know the cannabis industry has its challenges but they are proud of the progress that's been made so far.

We worked with the public to develop rules for every class of licensure or cannabis businesses.

We have tripled the number of medical dispensaries and approved more than 50 new adult use businesses.

Of course we saw the first ever legal recreational sales take place.

>> I've got applicants in my district who have been waiting for months.

All the approvals are done.

They can't get on our list to get here.

>> He plans to introduce legislation that will take instruction from the CRC.

>> Legislature would have more oversight and come before the budget committee, come before legislature.

We can engage with them and I think that it would kind of later, bureaucracy right now.

There's a big winner of bureaucracy.

This has nothing to do with politics.

This has to do with making sure there is transparency around how these applications are being done.

>> It's not clear how the CRC's denial of the license will impact sales but the company says it will continue to work with the commission to get approval by any means necessary.

I'm Melissa Rose Cooper.

Joanna: In our Spotlight on Business report, Governor Murphy announced a new coalition called the Makers for Liquor License Reform, a group of 90 bipartisan mayors from all across the state-- urban, suburban, and rural communities will work together to update the liquor license laws.

The Murphy administration has called them antiquated.

The coalition of mayors say the goal includes strengthening downtown areas and spurring economic development.

Especially for those left out of licensing in the past.

Some of the goals phasing out the population cap that limits how many liquor licenses can be given in a municipality and creating progressive prices for those licenses.

If you drove through last week, you may have seen film crews shooting the final scenes of the "Joker" movie sequel.

An exciting project and something the Murphy administration would like to see more of in towns across the state.

That's why the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission launched an initiative called Film Ready New Jersey.

The goal, help other cities and towns meet the basic standards needed to be a film destination and learn how to market themselves as such.

Tammy Murphy and Secretary of State Tahesha Way are educating local leaders on what to do to bring the limelight to their communities.

>> We want our communities to be film ready.

There's already been about 650 million, yell with me, y'all-- 650 million spent and the creation of thousands of jobs.

We also realize that film was birthed here and while things may have changed filmmaking in New Jersey, it shouldn't be our past.

Joanna: Here's a look at how the markets closed for the week.

>> Support for the business report provided by working by uniting community leaders.

For 150 years, membership and event information online at chamberSNJ.com.

Joanna: Be sure to check out "Business Beat" this weekend, When people turn their hobbies and passions into moneymaking ventures.

You can catch it Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. on NJ PBS.

♪ >> The growing impacts of climate change can be stopped with new technology and are an energized movement but we are running out of time.

That was the message from some of the brightest environmental scientists in New Jersey who gathered at an annual symposium last night.

The panel urged better communication between the science community and the public as a battle misinformation and special interests lobbying our lawmakers.

Ted Goldberg was at the symposium as he records part of the ongoing series that examines the human impact of climate change.

>> It's not optional to know about the ocean.

All of the things we have to convey is that it's not optional.

>> That was the main message from the 16th annual Future of the Ocean symposium.

Five ocean experts explaining the importance of protecting our oceans and spreading the word.

>> We need to ask the people on the ground, what challenges are you having?

Opening up conversations and then working dialogue to say you have questions that can answer that.

>> Climate change has damaged the ocean and hurt the animals and plants that live there.

Switching to greener forms of energy has led to pushback, including people who are critical of offshore wind power.

Speakers say it's important that scientists and leaders get better at communicating with everyday people.

>> Finding ways to communicate the local effect and also the co-benefits of taking action on climate and what's happening in the ocean, so maybe thinking about different job prospects that can lead to more sustainability long-term.

>> The panel explains that knowing how oceans change plays a huge role in responding to climate change.

For example sea level rise and changing weather patterns have combined to create more dangerous hurricanes and storms along the coast.

>> We could go out there and put jetties and move sand, and I think most of you know that's the temporary solution.

>> They argue if we don't protect our oceans, sea levels will continue to rise and threaten shore communities.

>> The director of oceanography in California explained how that works.

>> Sea level rise is a big impact because when you warm water, it takes up more space.

Half of the sea level rise is just coming from the warming of the ocean.

If we stopped putting CO2 into the atmosphere, the excess that is in the atmosphere would exchange with the ocean and would all end up there.

>> According to the U.N., there are a billion people living on the planet.

That makes all the oceans more important as people need a place to find food.

>> A billion people on the planet depends on seafood from the ocean as the primary protein.

>> Part of the answer is undoubtedly aquaculture, our ability to grow protein, but to do it, we have to make sure we are doing it sustainably.

>> One of the final questions, how are we doing?

Do humans have a chance to undo decades of damage?

>> I would probably answer this differently 20 years ago, that there has been a lot of technological innovation so I'm cautiously optimistic for the future.

>> People in that age group, call it the 15 to early 20s age group, are so well-informed, so passionate, incredibly organized.

The only thing they lack is experience.

>> While experts are optimistic the damage can be repaired, they also warn about the dangers that can happen if people do nothing.

I'm Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Joanna: It's an idea that saved lives: if you can't afford your life-saving medication, you can come to the pharmacy in Red Bank and get it for free.

The concept created by its owner who wanted to serve his struggling neighbors as a way to honor the life of his sister who passed away two years ago in India.

We spoke to him just a few months after he launched the pharmacy, and he's joining me now to give an update on the impact he's had on his community a year after opening.

You are doing some incredible work at your pharmacy.

Tell us how many people have you served, how many medications have you given out for free in the last year?

>> We have more than 250 customers right now.

A few live locally and we dispense about 230 medications out there.

Insulin, blood pressure medicine and for diabetes.

Currently we filled close to 2400 prescriptions that have saved almost $170,000 for those patients who cannot afford to pay for their medications.

Joanna: So how do people qualify?

This is only people in Red Bank.

Who can use the services?

>> Anybody who lives in New Jersey.

They can use our pharmacy.

Anyone who lives under poverty guidelines.

If you have to choose whether you want to put food on the table or the money towards your medication, our doors are open for them.

It's a community health care center.

We are doing it for those who cannot afford to buy medication.

Joanna: You've been getting calls to expand the operation.

Is this a model that can be sustained financially even just in Red Bank and cannot be scaled to other places?

>> A lot of people have been reaching out to us.

It can be scaled if the right sources are put into the system.

It can be sustainable.

We are here when you're out and we are going in our second year.

We think we will be there forever.

Joanna: Just quickly, you mentioned that you had a board that was helping financially.

Will this require donations, the support of philanthropic entities?

>> Yes, as I said earlier, we own buildings, and we put it for this purpose so we don't have to worry about it.

My wife is a pharmacist and we have staff pharmacists.

We did a fundraiser last year.

We have a second fundraiser on June 30.

People really open up their wallets to support this cause.

Every dollar we receive, $.90 goes to education purposes.

We don't have that much overhead.

Joanna: I know this is very personal, how has doing this work changed you, what has this meant for you and for the memory of your sister?

>> Medication access, you know, which is a basic necessity it's there for people who don't have medical insurance or coverage.

I'm doing something that would have been lost in my family.

I don't know how to explain that.

If you can save one more life, that's it for me.

Joanna: Thank you so much.

>> Thank you.

Joanna: That's going to do it for us tonight.

A reminder: you can listen to "NJ Spotlight News" anytime via podcast.

Make sure to download it and check us out.

I'm Joanna Gagis.

Thanks for being with us, enjoy your weekend.

And we will see you back on Monday.

♪ >> The members of the New Jersey Education, linking public schools for every child.

RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

And Orsted, committed to the creation of a new long-term, sustainable, clean energy future for New Jersey.

Funding provided by... "NJ Spotlight News" is made possible by Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III.

Candace King Weir.

Our future relies on more than clean energy.

It relies on empowered communities.

The health and safety of our families and neighbors.

The PSEG foundation is committed to sustainability, equity, and economic empowerment.

Investing in part helping towns go green.

Supporting civic centers, scholarships, and workforce development that strengthen our community.

♪