Here’s the stories you’ll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Wednesday:
Police make arrests after April 30, 2026 shooting at Freehold Borough Library (Courtesy Joseph Hewes, Canva, Townsquare Illustration)
Police make arrests after April 30, 2026 shooting at Freehold Borough Library (Courtesy Joseph Hewes, Canva, Townsquare Illustration)
🚨 Two young suspects charged after shooting at Freehold library
🚨 19-year-old faces attempted murder; victim now in stable condition
🚨 Both suspects jailed as investigation continues in Monmouth County
FREEHOLD BOROUGH — Two young Monmouth County residents face criminal charges less than a week after a shooting in downtown Freehold at the public library.
Kanye P. Faucette, a 19-year-old from Keansburg, is charged with first-degree attempted murder for the Thursday shooting that sent another man to the hospital.
Faucette and a Keyport woman, 20-year-old Heaven D. Holmes, are charged with second-degree counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
On April 30, around 4:21 p.m., borough police responded to shots fired at the Freehold Borough Public Library along East Main Street.
After being critically wounded, the victim has improved to stable condition, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said on Tuesday.
Detectives with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau and the Freehold Borough Police Department identified Faucette as a suspect.
They have not discussed a possible motive for the shooting or the relationship between the victim and the alleged gunman.
NJ officer admits smuggling jail contraband for bribes – NJ officer admits smuggling jail contraband for bribes
NJ officer admits smuggling jail contraband for bribes (Google Maps, Canva, Townsquare Media Illustration)
⚖️ Mercer County corrections officer admitted taking bribes since 2017
💵 Paid up to $2,500 to smuggle drugs and tobacco to inmates
⚖️ Plea deal includes jail time, probation, and lifetime public job ban
TRENTON — A Mercer County correctional officer is permanently out of a job after admitting to a years-long scam of taking bribes for smuggling contraband for inmates.
Tyree L. Hobbs pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy to commit bribery during a May first hearing in Mercer County Superior Court.
Investigators said the 42-year-old Hamilton Township resident began accepting the bribes in late 2017, roughly 10 months after he joined the Mercer County Department of Corrections.
Hobbs functioned as a courier, taking sealed packages from outside the jail, often containing drugs and tobacco.
He would hide the contraband in spots where Mercer County Correction Center inmates could receive their “deliveries.”
Hobbs would be paid anywhere from $300 to $2,500 each time, either in cash or via mobile money-transfer apps.
A running car with two kids inside was stolen outside a Wawa in Bridgeton (Google Street View/Bridgeton PD via Facebook)
A running car with two kids inside was stolen outside a Wawa in Bridgeton (Google Street View/Bridgeton PD via Facebook)
🚨 A car with two young children inside was stolen outside a Bridgeton Wawa while their mother was in the store.
👶 The kids, ages 1 and 7, were found unharmed about 30 minutes later after a tense search.
🚓 Police are now searching for the suspect who fled before officers arrived on scene.
BRIDGETON — A car with two young children inside was stolen outside a Wawa in Cumberland County early this morning while their mother was inside the store, police announced in a released statement.
Car stolen with children inside at Bridgeton Wawa sparks urgent police response
It was around 1:20 a.m. on Tuesday, May 5, when police responded to the Wawa at 101 East Broad Street in Bridgeton for a report of a motor vehicle theft.
The mother of the children, reported to be 1 and 7 years old, according to NJ.com, told police she went into the convenience store, and left the kids in the car with the engine running. When she returned, the car and her children were gone.
Police search for stolen vehicle ends with children found safe
Police found the vehicle with the children still inside about a half hour later on the 100 block of Colfax Street, NJ.com reported.
The kids were unharmed.
Suspect remains at large after fleeing scene of Bridgeton vehicle theft
New Jersey has finalized its new ABC Test rules for independent contractors, or 1099 workers. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant/Office of Governor/Tim Larsen)
New Jersey has finalized its new ABC Test rules for independent contractors, or 1099 workers. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant/Office of Governor/Tim Larsen)
⚖️ New Jersey adopts strict ABC test, putting 1.7M gig workers’ status at risk.
📉 Critics warn freelancers could lose flexibility, income, and opportunities.
⏳ Lawmakers have 120 days to make changes before rules take effect
New Jersey has finalized new rules for independent contractors after massive outrage among gig workers and businesses alike.
On Tuesday, the state Department of Labor said it had adopted “clear rules” to prevent worker misclassification. Officially, those rules have codified what’s known as the ABC test to determine whether an individual is an independent contractor or an employee.
Right now, around 1.7 million New Jerseyans are independent contractors. They’re also known as gig workers, freelance workers, or 1099 workers. Critics say that these new rules will make hundreds of thousands of these workers lose their independent status.
When implemented, the rules will level the playing field for responsible employers and protect them against businesses that misclassify their workers to get ahead, according to Acting Labor Commissioner Kevin Jarvis.
“At its core, this action has always been about protecting workers through fairness and clarity,” said Jarvis.
He said the rules have been published with input from New Jersey business leaders and workers. More than 9,500 public comments were submitted to then-Gov. Phil Murphy’s labor department last year — 99% of them were against codifying the ABC test.
However, business leaders say the new worker misclassification rules announced on Tuesday are still unclear.
One of the groups leading the charge against the ABC test has been the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka said the new rules would harm job creators and freelance workers alike.
“That proposal significantly reduced flexibility and opportunities for freelance workers who choose to be so, as well as the added costs facing businesses. It is significant to note that the rules would have a negative disproportionate impact on women, working mothers and minorities, not to mention the further hit to New Jersey’s affordability agenda,” said Siekerka.
Gov. Murphy commutes the sentences of 48 people in Princeton on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025 (New Jersey Office of the Governor via YouTube)
Gov. Murphy commutes the sentences of 48 people in Princeton on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025 (New Jersey Office of the Governor via YouTube)
🔥 A shocking clemency case involving a mother convicted in the deaths of her children is driving a push to curb New Jersey’s pardon power.
⚖️ New legislation would place tougher guardrails on broad clemency grants issued by future governors.
🏛️ Lawmakers say the goal is simple: more transparency, more accountability, and fewer political mercy rulings that outrage victims’ families.
New Jersey governors hold sweeping power to grant pardons and clemency — often with little public scrutiny and virtually no political consequence.
Now, a state senator from Monmouth County is seeking to change that.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, seeks to tighten restrictions on executive clemency by imposing new standards, including greater transparency, and more oversight on one of the broadest powers held by the governor’s office.
The effort comes in direct response to one of former Gov. Phil Murphy’s most controversial acts in office: granting clemency to Maria Montalvo, a woman convicted in a horrific case involving the deaths of her children after she locked them in a car and set it on fire.
The decision to pardon Montalvo ignited fierce backlash from the children’s father, victims’ advocates and lawmakers alike.
Under the proposed reforms, governors would face stricter procedural requirements before issuing certain pardons or clemency grants, particularly in violent criminal cases.
Gopal said the goal is to restore confidence in a system that many believe has operated too quietly and with too little accountability. He argues New Jersey needs a clemency process that is transparent, deliberate, and respectful of victims and surviving family members.
Murphy never spoke to the family members of the dead children in the Montalvo case.
These 31 convicted killers were pardoned by Gov. Murphy
In a one year span, Gov. Phil Murphy granted clemency to over 283 individuals convicted of various crimes. Of those, at least 31 have been pardoned and released early from state prison after they were convicted of murder and aggravated manslaughter. After release, each person is subject to five years of parole supervision.
Gallery Credit: Rick Rickman
Biggest layoffs in New Jersey this year
New Jersey started 2026 with more than 4,700 notable layoffs announced, revealed by employers in the first three months. By April, another 1,100 layoffs were added to the list.
Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
LOOK: States with the highest average cost of living
These are the top 20 states across the country, including the nation’s capital, where the average cost of living is the highest, according to data compiled by the Missouri Economic Research & Information Center. The average cost of living index is 100, which indicates the national average of all 50 states. The index includes cost factors such as groceries, housing, utilities, healthcare, transportation, and more. All states listed below are above that baseline.
Gallery Credit: Mike Brant
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