Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Friday:

🔗 NJ official caught on video threatening to call ICE on tree crew

✅ Video shows an Old Bridge official threatening to call ICE
✅ Patricia Testaverde claims a tree crew was blocking her driveway
✅ An online petition demands Testaverde’s removal from Zoning Board

OLD BRIDGE — A member of the Zoning Board was caught on body cam footage threatening to call ICE on a tree crew she said was blocking her driveway in September.

The video posted to Reddit and Instagram shows Patricia Testaverde speaking with two police officers on Nov. 5 as she suggested that she call ICE on a tree crew that she assumed were in the country illegally because they spoke "broken English."

Testaverde told NJ.com that a tree crew working at her neighbor's home was blocking her driveway as she awaited the arrival of a crew she hired to renovate her bathroom. The crew spoke "broken English" and wouldn't move the truck, she said.

Testaverde told NJ.com that she did not intend to follow through on the threat and was just upset.

An online petition posted by Kyler Dineen, the 20-year-old founder and executive director for the group Land for the Homeless, calls for the Republican's removal from the Zoning Board, which handles land use and development issues. The petition also says she stole flags during an LGBT parade in 2024.

🔗 Ocean Gate Elementary School to close after state aid cuts

🔴 Ocean Gate Elementary will permanently close in June after a staggering loss of state aid.
🔴 Voters were faced with a massive 27% property tax hike to save the school.
🔴 Starting next September, the Ocean Gate Gators will be absorbed by another district.

OCEAN GATE — This small school will not open its doors next September after losing more than half of its state aid, according to officials.

Established in 1914, Ocean Gate Elementary is the only school in its district. It serves fewer than 150 students in Pre-K through sixth grade, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. And it will permanently stop serving those students at the end of June.

In the 2024-25 school year, the Ocean Gate school had a budget of $3.8 million. That same school year, the district received $346,000 in state aid.

That's a massive drop from the $951,000 in funding that Ocean Gate Elementary School received in 2019-20. The reduction was a result of changes to the state funding formula that gave $1.25 billion to Newark public schools.

While 10 figures in state aid flowed to Newark, a $700,000 budget hole grew for the Ocean Gate Gators. Superintendent Douglas Corbett said that cuts in state aid were the primary driver of the deficit.

🔗 Cyberattack hits NJ county — officials warn others may be next

☑️Passaic County officials say a malware attack disrupted county IT systems
☑️The county says that other New Jersey governments may also be affected
☑️Previous cyberattacks have caused weeks of outages and disruptions

PATERSON — Passaic County says its IT systems have been attacked by a malware attack.

On its Facebook page on Wednesday, the county said the attack has also impacted its phone lines but did not disclose what specific systems, such as county records and personal data, were affected. The county said it is not alone in dealing with the current attack.

"We understand that several other local governments in New Jersey have experienced similar incidents. Our team is actively working with federal and state officials to investigate and contain the issue," the county said in its statement.

The state Department of Homeland Security bureau chief Christoher Thorensen told New Jersey 101.5 in an email the office is "actively supporting recovery efforts and working with them to make sure there is no recurrence."

Thorensen would not disclose if any other municipalities or agencies had been affected to "maintain confidentiality."

🔗 Mystery surrounds possible human skull found in Jersey woods

🔴 What appears to be a human skull has been found in South Jersey.
🔴 Officials say they're working to figure out who the deceased person was.
🔴 Other human skulls found in New Jersey remain unidentified.

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — A person walking through the woods in South Jersey on Tuesday found a skull that may have once been a living person.

A Cape May County resident found the remains somewhere in the Whitesboro woods, according to county prosecutors. The resident called Middle Township police, and the site was soon swarmed by authorities, including the state Department of Corrections Land Search and Rescue Team.

The skull, which appeared human, was found first. Investigators then found other remains of an adult skeleton. Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland said no identification has been made, but there is no danger to the public. More information is expected to come as it's unearthed.

Unfortunately, these grisly finds are not unusual in New Jersey
Similar human remains are found in New Jersey every few years.
Click the link above for more on past discoveries.

🔗 Supreme Court ruling ignites new parental rights fight in NJ

⚖️ A new U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta is fueling renewed debate over parental rights and transgender student policies in New Jersey schools.
🏫 Several districts previously fought state directives requiring secrecy about student gender identity, triggering lawsuits from the Murphy administration.
🗣️ Lawmakers now urge Gov. Mikie Sherrill and the new attorney general to pause litigation and reopen talks with parents and school boards.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Mirabelli v. Bonta is prompting renewed scrutiny of New Jersey’s controversial policies on transgender student privacy and parental notification.

The decision came in a California case that claimed government policies requiring educators to withhold certain information from parents could violate constitutional protections, including free speech and parental rights. While the decision arose from litigation outside New Jersey, legal observers say the Court’s reasoning could ripple into ongoing disputes between the state and several local school districts.

This issue became one of the most heated flashpoints during the administration of former Gov. Phil Murphy. State guidance prohibited schools from informing parents if their child changed gender identity in school — a policy critics said undermined parental rights.

That debate erupted at school board meetings across the state, where parents packed public hearings and protests spread through suburban districts.

Start your day with up-to-the-minute news, traffic and weather for the Garden State.

The New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show airs from 6 - 10 a.m. on New Jersey 101.5.

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You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

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