Tonight, the states first offshore wind farm receives key federal dollars.

>> This is a monumental day for surrounds the future of energy in New Jersey.

And prescription shortage, medications to treat cancer, ADHD, and other antibiotics are now becoming scarce in the U.S.. Medical professionals are urging Congress to act.

>> There is nothing worse than telling to have -- having to tell a parent we cannot find the antibiotic for your child.

Also class is in session.

Students recover from learning loss caused by the pandemic.

>> They didn't all have their computers or resources they needed now they have to come back into the school environment.

>> NJ Spotlight News Starts Right now.

>> Funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided by NJM Insurance group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

New Jersey Realtors, the voice for real estate in New Jersey.

More information is online at NJrealtor.com.

And By the PSEG foundation.

♪ from NJPBS, this is NJ Spotlight News.

>> Thank you for joining us.

Governor Murphy has his sights set on what he calls the next New Jersey.

Signing three bills touted to bring future industries and thousands of jobs to the state.

The bill package approves millions of dollars to boost the film industry here as well as incentives to build more residential and commercial developments in low income areas.

The top of the ticket is getting the most attention.

The controversial bill enabling New Jersey's first offshore wind project access to federal tax credits possibly up to $1 billion worth.

Our Senior correspondent reports.

>> This is a monumental day for our state.

We are creating the jobs of the future right now.

>> The governor stood between massive steel supports and pledged support.

It is scheduled to supply 98 of these pylons for Orsted's first windfarm off the South Jersey coast and a new law signed today guarantees that Orsted gets federal tax credits and in return puts up $200 million for South Jersey manufacturing facilities.

>> This bill is now the law of the land.

>> Making this huge investment to capture manufacturing jobs.

Which we would have lost to other states if this had not been done.

>> The former Senate president think tank published report warning that fierce competition for wind industry business threatened to blow New Jersey away.

Orsted claimed rising costs threatened the project.

>> Steel doubled in price, interest rates went up.

At the end of the day, we had to do something.

>> This means minimum 1500 jobs in New Jersey.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in economic production of revenue.

Small businesses that will interact with this location.

Camden County assembly meant noted that with New York and Maryland racing to build similar plants to construct wind turbine pipes, this keeps New Jersey in the lead.

>> This port becomes the national hub for the East Coast provide not just New Jersey but wind energy for multiple states up and down the East Coast.

>> If Orsted gets federal tax credits, why not another developer?

Atlantic Shores says it wants the same deal that Orsted got.

It stated we need an industrywide solution, one that stabilizes all current projects including Atlantic Shores project one.

That project sits right beside Orsted's two tracks.

The governor sounded interested.

>> We are open-minded.

We want to ensure taxpayers get a good deal, that the corporate do what they say they are going to do.

Are we open-minded to figure out common ground with other offshore sequences?

Absolutely.

>> Some call this a bailout and coastal towns protest.

Some say Orsted is optioning payouts that should be going to pet taxpayers.

>> We should see what they are doing with ratepayer Monday -- money.

>> His job is no rate increase but he is only looking at a very narrow spectrum.

>> And environmental advocate says offshore wind energy helps address the warming climate crisis.

Orsted just received final federal approval with construction slated to begin this fall.

>> tonight the state is mourning the loss of two veteran Newark firefighters who were killed battling an overnight Blaze Wednesday aboard a ship at Port Newark 49-year-old Wayne Brooks Jr and 45-year-old Augusto akabu rushed to the scene and became trapped in the Flames officials say the unusual nature of the fire made it extra challenging the 12-story tall Italian cargo ship was carrying about 1200 Vehicles.

The Blaze started on the 10th deck and quickly spread to cars on the floors above something the firefighters hadn't trained for according to Newark mayor Ros Baraka five other firefighters from Newark and Elizabeth were also injured in the response fire departments from four counties New York City and the Coast Guard responded all working to contain a Fire official say could have threatened the entire Port operation.

Governor Murphy today said those firefighters made the ultimate sacrifice the ship is still being doused and the fire remains under investigation.

>> I keep having images of two firefighters being lowered down from a pulley from a ship that had to be at least 150 feet are so high and firefighters lined up on both sides as their fallen brother is taking him to the hospital that image will forever be stamped in my mind.

>> meanwhile a jury this week found Newark police officer Giovanni Crespo guilty of using unjustified deadly force in a 2019 fatal traffic stop crossbow is guilty of aggravated manslaughter aggravated assault and official misconduct for the death of 46-year-old Gregory Griffin.

January 2019 Griffin was pulled over for speeding during a stop an officer reported seeing a gun in his car.

Griffin fled and police followed in a high-speed chase Crespo responded as backup and body camera footage revealed he fired his gun into the moving vehicle at three different locations fatally wounding Griffin and injuring the passenger.

Prosecutors argued Crespo ignored policy and procedure and quote showed Reckless disregard for human life sentencing is scheduled for September 15th an attorney for Crespo says he expects to appeal.

The U.S. is in the midst of a prescription drug shortage.

Critical medications are on short supply.

Largely the result of overseas factories getting shut down.

Democratic representative today put pressure on Congress to step in.

A senior political correspondent reports it is posing threats to patients and making treatment decisions difficult for doctors.

>> It's not just as epic and other popular drugs in short supply.

Critical prescriptions treating everything from anxiety to cancer, even basic into Bout acts are hard to come by across the country.

>> Amoxicillin something you could easily go into a pharmacy to get for strep throat, there's nothing worse than telling a parent we can't find the end about your child.

What's worse is we don't have it and you can't get it.

>> Last month, I called eight different pharmacies before finding one that had Adderall.

They only had the brand name which my insurance won't cover.

>> At Saint Peter's University Hospital, a congressman ranking Democrat on the House energy and commerce committee is one of the Democrats who has been holding local roundtables and panel discussions to sound the alarm to those who may not realize the gravity of the situation brought on by among other issues poorly regulated overseas production.

>> We found that a lot of these places were terrible.

Manufacturing stuff that was toxic, that should not have been used.

As a consequence, a lot of times those places get closed down.

The most immediate one was a facility in India closed by the FDA in the last few months.

That created a supply shortage.

>> He said COVID broke the supply chain creating a black dog -- backlog that shows little signs of easing.

He urged them to find a bipartisan way to fight to keep prices down.

Expanding the authority of the FDA and other government agencies is proving difficult.

>> what's really happening in my opinion is there are Republicans on the right influencing the party in general.

They have lost faith in any federal agency.

There's a reluctance to do something new.

>> we are exposed now to the manufacturers giving us allocations based on what we ordered in the past, they will give us a percentage of what we ordered.

If we are used to using 50 miles per month, they may only give us five.

Are we supposed to treat every patient that comes to the emergency department?

Or some patients?

>> it's a good question one that providers and patients are buying more frequently with no remedy insight.

>> Support for the medical report is provided by Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey.

>> School may be out for most kids across the state, but in Camden, summer is just getting started.

Summer school is open to all students in the city whether they fell behind or just want to fill in the gaps.

With an added incentive, access to free healthy meals that many families struggle to provide once class is out.

We spoke about the challenges.

>> She is starting summer school in Camden this week.

Two classes.

>> I did have one year where I lost motivation so I stopped coming.

I had to make up for that.

>> she is far from alone.

More than 700 students are making up for classes they failed during the year or taking enrichment classes to avoid learning lost.

>> the summer learning slide loss is nothing new.

It was true when we were in school and it continues to be true and it is exacerbated by the pandemic but it is critically important our students have ongoing learning opportunities throughout the summer to avoid gaps in learning.

>> Wednesday marked the first day of summer sessions and a celebration of the food service program which provides three meals and a snack every day for free to anyone in Camden 18 or under.

>> We want to make sure during the summer students have the same access and opportunities as they do from September through June.

>> I am grateful we are able to do this.

We serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and brunch during the school year.

Just because it is summer, that doesn't mean students don't need to eat anymore.

>> A district employee spent the morning giving out free crates of produce.

>> This is a cabbage.

We have blueberries, these were ground locally.

>> it is surreal for me to be able to be a part of a program that was available to me when I was a student.

>> she hopes more people in the city take advantage of the service which is managed by federal and state programs with partners in the private sector.

>> awareness is what we're are trying to do with our kickoff.

I think more community folks may not be aware that's why we are trying to get the word out.

We want to let folks know these options are available.

We have students in the state of New Jersey that are homeless.

>> Not everyone in Camden knows about this program, so the American dairy Association is bringing out books to help raise awareness.

>> We all want to do the best, we want to be the boss, we want the best for ourselves.

Sometimes they are out of our control.

To hear people and know that there people helping with no judgment and want the best for you is always comfortable.

There is nothing shameful about asking for help and there is a place to provide meals.

Parks one in 10 children in New Jersey are facing hunger.

Even as programs like this make it easier for people to feed their families.

>> It has been a tough week for New Jersey transit riders with another day of service disruptions on the busiest rail lines all due to problems with Amtrak's overhead power wires.

Service was suspended in both directions snack in the middle of the morning commute.

Trains started running again after 10:00 a.m..

The New Jersey coastline was operating with delays as a result.

The power problems have been reoccurring this week beginning Monday afternoon affecting the same two rail lines.

The most recent issue began yesterday and also hit other branch rail service.

New Jersey transit rail tickets at Hassett -- passives were cross honored.

It comes as the agency predicts a $1 billion budget shortfall in the next three years with fare hikes and service cuts on the table to make up the lost.

There is far-off relief for commuters.

The long-delayed project to build a new train tunnel under the Hudson River is getting a major cash infusion.

Government awarded nearly $7 billion to the Gateway program.

It means construction could finally be on the horizon.

The project sponsor says the new funding combined with other money means early work can begin this year.

Major construction is slated for 2024.

More money needs to be secured to fund the entire project.

It has a $16 billion price tag.

Construction is set to be completed in 2035.

Summer school also started in Newark this week where the district did to fight more than 10,000 students in need of extra academic help.

Most of it stemming from pandemic era learning lost.

A report out today found a drop in math and English test scores for Newark students.

There are also bright spots including arise in graduation rates.

Our guest is here to discuss these findings.

The biggest take away for me, let's start about education is the achievement gaps were there prior to the pandemic.

They just widened.

>> Correct and thank you for having me.

I think it is understandable given the learning loss that we saw across the state also in urban areas as kids handed transition from Incan school to virtual and they didn't all have the computers they needed or the resources they needed.

Now they have to come back into the school environment and that has brought additional stresses, anxiety and the teachers are stressed.

There's not enough aid so we need more resources in schools.

>> We hear a lot of talk about not putting so much emphasis on the state mandated tests, but it gives you a snapshot.

19% of third-graders met or exceeded expectations in English language arts, but that's compared to 42% of third-graders statewide.

What is Newark missing?

>> We do need additional resources.

I think you may need more tutoring programs.

Programs to kids -- support kids socially.

You will see the stress of the shutdown.

Teacher shortages, there are not aids in every classroom.

We also have to address issues that kids have outside the school.

>> What else did the report tell us about the makeup of the city?

>> It was interesting because we knew that Newark was diverse, but it shows how diverse.

Over 51% of children and families are speaking a language other than English at the home.

That is a self-report.

I didn't anticipate that to be that high.

about 14 percent of the child population in Newark were born outside the country so we have a huge immigrant population and while that brings great diversity and really brings cultures here and other foods and we can learn a lot it does mean we need some resources so you need doctors and nurses who speak other languages you need teachers who speak other languages just providers in general we're talking about doing a kids count and translating into Spanish for the first time and we've done the Newark kids count for 25 years but it does make you realize even in terms of engaging the community you need to have more just people who look like people in the community.

>> Let me ask you about Mary some of the positive Trends specifically looking at the graduation rates that was a bright note here in this report were you anticipating that.

>> I mean we'd seen it going up gradually but it's at 85 percent for the Newark Public Schools some of the charter schools are the same as the state which is at 91 percent so I think that's you know great news for the city and it's great news for the students and I think it's showing that the kids can learn and they can go on to higher education which is where we're hoping they're going to go I think what we did see in COVID is not as many kids enrolled in college hopefully that's going to change and we'll see more of these students yeah really rebounding.

>> Pink slips are coming.

The children's Place is closing its corporate headquarters that has been based here for years.

As he prepares for major layoffs.

The company is terminating its lease early.

It was set to expire in 2029.

According to filings with the SEC, the retailer is cutting more than 180 corporate jobs.

The majority will be from the C caucus location effective July 14.

The ordeal will cost the company up to $15 million.

In the filing, leaders cited restructuring to a digital first business model as reason for the workforce cuts.

It's 2013, the children's Place permanently closed nearly 600 stores and expects to close roughly 100 locations this year.

UPS is one step closer to what could be a debilitating strike by its unionized drivers after labor negotiations between the delivery company and the Teamsters union broke down early Wednesday.

Both sides accusing each other of walking away from the bargaining table to avert what would be the largest strike in the U.S. since the 1950's.

Teamsters represents 340,000 full-time and part-time drivers as well as warehouse workers.

The current contract expires July 31.

Workers already authorized a work stoppage if they failed to strike a deal.

The union is looking for higher pay arguing it doesn't reflect the profits the business has pulled in recent years.

Experts say a strike would cripple the supply chain because competitors couldn't absorb the volume of extra deliveries.

The markets responded to strong jobs data out today showing the private sector added 500,000 jobs last month.

It is prompting fears of another interest rate hike.

Here's how the stocks closed following the news.

>> That's going to do it for us tonight.

You can still download the podcast where you can listen anytime.

Thank you for being with us, have a great evening we will see you back here tomorrow.

Association, making public schools great 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.

♪