Thursday August 7 News Updates Lakewood

Weather: 78° Plenty of sunshine. Hazy

- Shabbos Nachamu: Heavy traffic up the Catskills Rt 17 backed up with lane closures and merging traffic 

-Free overnight kugel at Evergreen from 5pm - 11 pm

- Lakewood township committee postpones vote on budget since they didnt yet meet with the local finance board and will vote on it at the next public meeting in September. Officials say the tax hike is 8% ,although the APP report and the actual numbers show a 11.8% increase 

- The US Justice Department and State Department announced a $50 MILLION reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

- Trump says that his ceasefire deadline for Putin tomorrow is "gonna be up to him, very disappointed."

- Congressman Jeff Van Drew: New Jersey families are struggling with crushing energy bills and instead of changing course, Governor Murphy pushes even harder on a climate agenda that drives costs up. Completely out of touch.

- Steve Bannon is reportedly planning a 2028 presidential run, according to the Daily Mail.

- Giyus: Rav Dov Landau visits bochurim in jail "I'm a little old and it's hard for me, but I wanted to visit and strengthen you, to tell you that all of Charedi Judaism stands behind you. I didn't come on my own behalf, I came on behalf of all Yahadus hacharedis" he said this to the brothers Rafael and Baruch Yitzhakov, who are detained in the military prison in Beit Lid.

- Lakewood committee voting today on major property tax increas.

- BOE to rehire board attorney Inzelbuch no information was provided regarding the contract or salary.

- U.S. Attorney for DC Pirro: "We have a problem with antisemitism in this country... FBI, the MPD, we're going to look for these cases, we're going to prosecute these cases... I will go forward with every case with vengeance."

- The Trump administration announced a cut of $584 million from UCLA's budget due to human rights violations, anti-Semitism, and harassment of Jewish students. This is the first time the Trump administration has cut federal funding from a public university rather than a private one.

- So much for tuition relief as some schools have raised tuition by a few thousand dollars ahead of the upcoming year 

- Trump: Now, after the nuclear arsenal created by Iran has been completely destroyed, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern countries join the Abraham Accords.

-Fire in Westgate an early morning fire tore through a home in Westgate om Sanztown rd B"H no injuries there were several sifrei Torah at the home  that were recued by firefighters 

- Republican activists in New Jersey are calling on party members to take back the assembly seat that Avi Schnal flipped from Republican to Democrat. He faces Ned Thompson in November 

-Today Lakewod township committee meeting and voting on budget for major tax increase on lakewood residents the meeting is virtual only watch livestream HERE  see agenda HERE

items on the agenda

 - $3 million for the downtown streetscape and lighting 

-OneWay Streets-Ponderosa Drive in Pine River

-Appointing Members To The Lakewood Municipal Utilities Authority

Meir Lichtenstein 2 year term

Chana Eisen as Alternate 5 year term 

-Vacating Paper Street Known As Rochelle Street (At TheIntersection Of Sally Avenue And Sandak Avenue) 

-Vacating Street Known As Franklin Boulevard Parking Of Vehicles Weighing In Excess Of Four Tons Prohibited- (Kennedy Boulevard)

Bid Award For “1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, Railroad Streets & Monmouth Avenue Roadway Improvements

Residents cN send email during the meeting via comments@lakewoodnj.gov

-Lakewood Resident Criticizes State Monitors at BOE Meeting:

At last night’s Board of Education meeting, resident Aaron Hirsch strongly criticized the state monitors, accusing them of doing "absolutely nothing" over the past 11 years except collecting salaries and overriding the decisions of democratically elected board members. He pointed out that the state has not provided any actual funding to Lakewood’s district only loans, which have ballooned to the point where the repayments now exceed the original loan amounts.

He urged BOE members to walk away, stating they have no real control, and called on the state to finally take responsibility by providing adequate funding for all of Lakewood’s 50,000 students, while Newark gets $1 billion dollars 

- Motor Vehicle Commission’s Mobile Unit returns to Lakewood on Thursday, August 21st. at the parking lot of Assemblyman Avi Schnall’s office, located at 500 River Avenue.

The appointment portal will go live today Thursday, August 7th, between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM. HERE

-The Democratic National Committee says it will spend more than $1.5 million in this year’s race for governor of New Jersey - a rare cash infusion from the national party in the reliably blue state.The investment is one of the largest the party has made to New Jersey Democrats during an off-year election cycle and will be used to hire regional directors, organizers, and other get out to vote efforts.(Onejersey)

- Trump: I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024. People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

- Russian official Yuri Ushakov says they’ve received an offer, reportedly related to the war in Ukraine, from President Trump that they find “acceptable.” “There was an offer from the American side which the Russian side deems acceptable.”

- A Seaside Heights man was killed Tuesday in a motorcycle crash on the Garden State Parkway in Lakewood. The victim, 67-year-old Antonio Vinagre, was riding a Honda CBR motorcycle southbound when he collided with the rear of a Ford SUV near milepost 89.9 around 5 p.m., police said. Vinagre was ejected from the motorcycle upon impact and sustained fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

Rav Dov Landau visiting attested bochurim in jail