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Dec. 9 to 15
Drones
Not since Orson Welles’ 1938 radio drama “War of the Worlds” has New Jersey been the focal point for mania over UFO-style objects in the night sky. Drones have been showing up at night in New Jersey and other states. Law enforcement is at a loss to explain them. Federal agencies don’t appear to have any better insight. Residents are calling in on emergency lines, and lawmakers are demanding answers.
Cape May County Commission Director Len Desiderio has publicly said no drones have been reported over this county, but their prevalence elsewhere has led to rumors that they have just been undetected. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) said at one point that the drones are emanating from an Iranian mother ship just offshore. Van Drew has sent two letters to President Biden asking him to take swift action to neutralize the drones.
The reports of these drones cannot be easily dismissed. Almost every morning since mid-November has brought new photographic or video evidence and more eyewitness testimony. They fly solo, and sometimes in groups. They move across the night sky, but have been seen hovering. They fly very low, at times displaying a rhythmic, blinking light. Even newly elected Democratic Sen. Andy Kim has added video evidence to the pile. Social media is playing its role, with a Facebook page at New Jersey Mystery Drones – Let’s Solve It.
Just days ago Brian Bergen, a Republican state assemblyman from the 26th District, called a Homeland Security briefing on the drones “amateur hour,” while the state’s top Democrat, Gov. Phil Murphy, wrote to Biden about his growing concern that “unmanned aircraft systems” are in and around New Jersey.
Homeland Security and the FBI released a statement specifically saying that there is no evidence that the “reported drone sightings” pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. That statement is evidence of the doublespeak on the issue. If there is no evidence the drones are a security threat, there is likely no evidence that proves they are not. The real interpretation that many are taking from government statements is that the agencies have no idea about the source of the drones.
What we know is that the drones, as we have come to call them, are flying through what is supposed to be a part of the most secure sky in the country, the Northeast Corridor. Homeland Security assures the public that there have been no reported sightings over restricted airspace, but they know too little for their assurances to carry sufficient weight in offsetting cries for information. The state Senate Republican caucus is demanding more action from the federal government on drone sightings in the Garden State.
Despite eyewitness testimony from prominent Democrats like Kim and calls for an explanation from the New Jersey Governor, John Kirby, a spokesperson for Biden’s National Security Council, said that a “thorough analysis” of photos and videos by federal authorities has not confirmed that any of the objects are unauthorized drones.
These were the type of remarks that increased public frustration and had New Jersey officials saying that they contradict what those same officials were told in a Homeland Security briefing.
Ballot Redesign
Maneuvering continues to get primary ballots as close to the now stigmatized county line formulation as possible. When Trenton lawmakers are under pressure from powerful interests, it is amazing how inventive they can become. We saw that with changes to the Open Public Records Act earlier this year. Strong public opposition to many of the changes had little impact on the votes to amend the law in ways that make it riskier for the average citizen to fight a denial of documents by municipal clerks and state officials.
The ballot bill under consideration would bar candidates from using the name of their political party in their slogans without the consent of their county political organization. Those opposed to the county line see this as just an attempt to revive the controversial system by returning power to the county political organizations.
A special committee of the Legislature is tasked with rules for updated ballot designs following a federal judge’s decision earlier this year that the New Jersey system of county lines, which group candidates supported by the county party organizations, is unconstitutional. The ruling resulted in the use in 2024 of office-block ballots, which group candidates by the office they are seeking.
This is not a fight county party machines are going to give up easily. A primary ballot design that aims at neutrality is not in the interest of party committees that have heretofore had enormous influence over candidates based on their control of the primary line format of the ballot.
In 2025 the governor’s office and all 80 Assembly seats will be up for election. All 40 seats in the state Senate were up for election in 2023.
Home Insurance Rates
The relentless rise in home insurance premiums is showing no signs of leveling off. The Wall Street Journal goes so far as to report that “For tens of millions of Americans, home insurance will never be the same.”
Climate change gets a big part of the blame, with more major storms producing record levels of damage. But the changing weather may not be the ultimate culprit. Increasingly, people are showing a willingness, even a desire, to build homes in disaster-prone areas. A growing number of homes sit in the path of that wildfire, that flood and that ocean surge.
Data from reinsurers suggest that U. S. storms have produced insurance losses that are growing at a rate of 8% per year. Even hail has become a significant contributor to insured property losses. Coverage cancellations and thin air premium hikes are expanding beyond the states of Florida, Louisiana and California.
S&P Global Market says that the average rate increase over six years nationwide since 2019 has been 45%. The prediction is that rates will continue to grow in 2025, by double digits in some parts of the country. The advertising efforts to get customers to bundle home and auto coverage may also give way to required bundling.
As a result of rising premiums, there has been an increase in the percentage of homes going uninsured. This increases risk for the uninsured property owner while also adding to the burden for federal disaster recovery programs, which are not designed to replace property insurance.
Insurers are also seeing rates rise on themselves as they come to increasingly depend on the reinsurance market. All this boils down to higher rates for policyholders. It also means changes in the nature of insurance coverage. In some hail-prone areas, for example, homeowners are seeing insurance policies redefined based on current value of a roof rather than replacement value.
All the predictions are that things will get worse before they get better. A transition in the nature of the property insurance market is underway. The only segment of the market that is suddenly powerless is the policyholder.
Happenings
*The Cape May County Zoological Society has kicked off a fundraising campaign to support the Cape May County Park & Zoo in its efforts to build a new, world-class habitat for Humboldt penguins and Chilean flamingos.
*Thirty days after the General Election, Republican Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw sat down with a Herald reporter to reflect on his campaign – and and talk about his future.
*Wildwood Crest Police Chief Robert Lloyd has been elected to the executive board of the New Jersey chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates.
*Stone Harbor Administrator Mann Parada’s statements at the Dec. 3 Borough Council meeting gave renewed visibility to the borough’s need to meet the state’s new water system requirements.
*County residents called for a more transparent government at a busy Dec. 10 meeting of the county commissioners: They took the mic and asked for videotaping of meetings, fast access to meeting audio recordings, the ability to read resolutions online without specifically requesting them, and for meetings to take place after work hours.
*A skunk in the Erma section of Lower Township tested positive for rabies on Monday, Dec. 9, making it the third confirmed rabies case in Cape May County this year.
*The Stone Harbor Borough Council has approved the cancellation of a number of past ordinances, effectively doing away with $15 million in debt associated with authorized but not-yet-funded measures.
*For those experiencing homelessness or are at risk, Cape Hope hosts a sewing workshop, called Hope Sewn In, every Tuesday to help attendees develop skills, create tangible items, and “experience a beauty they may not have experienced in a long time.”
*Capt. Ashlee Marriner of the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office has graduated from the FBI’s National Academy. Marriner was among a select group of law enforcement professionals chosen for the program, designed to enhance leadership and investigative skills.
*Recreational cannabis is coming to Middle Township: The INSA dispensary at Route 9 and Avalon Boulevard cleared its final hurdle to opening when the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission approved the shop’s first annual license at its Dec. 12 meeting.
*For days now, news outlets have reported that drones 6 feet in diameter have been flying low above northern and central New Jersey. But aside from a claim by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2), no government officials have said they know what they are or where they came from.
*Cape May Honey Farm, owned and run by Andriana and Douglas Marandino, produces two to four tons of honey a year from roughly 120 hives. It also works with organic beekeepers across America to stock honey sourced from different varieties of pollen. But its flagship product, Cape May Wildflower Honey, is all made on the Cape.
Spout Off of the Week
Regarding transparency in CMC; they need to look to Atlantic County a few miles up the road. Their meetings start at 4pm and citizens can remote in from the County website and listen or even raise an online hand for open comments. The minutes and videos are archived and easily available. This technology has been technology for eons.
Wildwood Crest
