Good Monday morning!

It’s clear that Democrats in the Legislature and executive branch agencies don’t have the same priorities this time of year.

After the Board of Education last week adopted its latest amendments to “Managing for Equality and Equity in Education,” the biggest change of which “equality” in its policy in favor of “equity, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Senate President Nicholas Scutari both issued statements criticizing the move.

“We believe that families should have a voice in what is taught to their children, and as long as we have a say over the matter, they will continue,” the statement, which followed Republican criticism, said.

Read this article in The Record for a good summary of the controversy.

By a narrow vote, the Board of Education made what appear largely to be technical changes to the language, much of it changing language to gender-neutral. That includes sports, in which the board removed references to “both sexes” and “two sexes” in favor of “based on sex” and “all sexes.” This led to a lot of talk about how the Board just approved allowing transgender boys into girls’ sports teams.

It’s a complicated issue, but political campaigns generally don’t take well to nuance. And it looks like Democrats don’t want to get bogged down in this culture war a few months before an election in which their state legislative majorities are on the line.

If you read the Department of Education’s responses to comments, their position is that these amendments do no such thing — because it’s already allowed. Assigning students to teams “based upon sex assigned at birth or biological sex without regard to their expressed gender identity would not be consistent with State law,” the response reads.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Let’s open the fair: Cock-a-doodle-doo!” — Aldo Sayre, 102, who since 2011 has carried out the tradition of opening the New Jersey State Fair /Sussex County Farm and Horse Show with a rooster crow. He had to do it remotely this year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Elizabeth Meyers, Steve Stern

WHERE’S MURPHY? — Back in Italy. Returning to New Jersey on Wednesday

SHEILA OLIVER — Murphy remembers Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, but won’t say cause of her death, by POLITICO’s Dustin Racioppi: Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday he was “shocked” by the timing of the death of his lieutenant governor, Sheila Oliver, earlier this week while he was on vacation overseas, but he declined to say the cause. In his first public comments since Oliver’s death, Murphy paid tribute to his two-time running mate in a half-hour news conference outside his statehouse office … “Her health and her status was a private matter. And I want to respect that, obviously,” Murphy said. “I defer to her family in terms of anything that they feel comfortable saying, but Sheila was on top of her game — with many, many different data points — right up toward the end.” Although Oliver had health problems, Murphy said he was caught off guard early this week. He said he “engaged with her meaningfully” on her birthday in mid-July, and his chief of staff, George Helmy, had spoken with her late last week.

A $140 FINE FOR SPEEDING OVER 100 MPH, JUST LIKE YOU’D GET — “N.J. parole officer fled cops at 100 mph. He got a $140 fine, rare peek into IA files shows,” by NJ Advance Media’s S.P. Sullivan: “The black Volkswagen sedan was seen speeding around Galloway Township and blowing stop signs when it crossed paths with a local police officer’s marked SUV. As the police cruiser turned to give chase, dashboard video shows, the Volkswagen took off into the night. A cop clocked it at over 100 miles per hour. It could have meant legal trouble for the driver, a senior officer with the New Jersey State Parole Board named Richard Mursheno. Typically when someone flees from police, they get the book thrown at them, facing charges of speeding, reckless driving, public endangerment, eluding or worse. But the local cops never turned on their lights and sirens, and quickly gave up their pursuit, police records show. Instead, they called Mursheno on his cell phone, telling him to come down to the station … Ultimately, he took a plea deal for careless driving and paid a $140 fine. Details of Mursheno’s late-night 100 mph escapade have not been previously made public. Police misconduct cases in New Jersey seldom are.”

HOSTILE CLIMATE — “On climate, dishonest sabotage from Jersey Republicans,” by The Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran: “Sen. Tony Bucco, the Republican leader in the Senate, recently wrote an op-ed in the Star-Ledger claiming that this plan ‘mandates total electrification’ and that families and businesses would ‘bear the brunt of the exorbitant upfront costs to replace their furnaces, stoves, and other major home appliances.’ … I called the Ratepayer Advocate, Brian Lipman, whose job is to protect consumers. He’s not wild about this plan, because the incentives will cost $350 million over three years, a sum that will be added to electric bills. (That works out to $38 per person.) … Here’s how the program will work, Lipman says. ‘The idea is you wouldn’t do this unless you’re replacing your furnace anyway. If your furnace breaks down, you’re going to buy a new one. The state is trying to make it cheaper to buy electric over gas. There’s nothing in the program that would force you to switch over.’ Wow. Behold the tyranny of Gov. Phil Murphy: When your furnace dies, he wants to give you money to help buy an electric replacement.”

R.I.P. — “Longtime Cape politician James Cafiero dies,” by The Press of Atlantic City’s Bill Barlow: “James Cafiero, who spent decades representing the 1st District in Trenton and remained a beloved figure in local politics after he retired two decades ago, has died. He was 94. “Jimmy Cafiero’s a legend. There’s no bigger political figure in my lifetime,” said Michael Donohue, chairman of the Cape May County Republican organization and a former Superior Court judge. ‘He was a real mentor to me. I’m going to miss him terribly.’ … Cafiero’s father, Anthony J. Cafiero, served in the state Senate from 1949 to 1953, the year James Cafiero attended Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. James Cafiero served in the state Assembly from 1968 to 1972, when he was first elected to the Senate. He served until 1982, and then returned for another stint, representing the district from 1990 to 2004.”

R.I.P. — “Edward Lloyd, longtime Pinelands commissioner, dies at 74,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “Edward Lloyd, a fierce advocate of environmental causes and a member of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission for the last 20 years, died on August 5. He was 74. Lloyd had led litigation against Ciba-Geigy, a New Jersey-based chemical manufacturer, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in the 1970s and 1980s for permitting the discharge of pollutants into the ocean near Toms River. He sued Gov. Chris Christie’s administration for withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.”

AN ASTROTURFING STORY THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE PAUL FIREMAN — “Turf wars raging as N.J. residents face off over replacing grass with artificial fields,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jackie Roman: “On a hot summer morning, a dozen residents of Scotch Plains gathered under tall shade trees near a pavilion and picnic area in the largest preserved green space in their town — Brookside Park … to speak out about a plan that could soon replace some of the natural field with plastic grass blades and rubber infill under a $3.8 million bond ordinance that would convert the baseball field to artificial turf … The Friends of Brookside Park group collected more than 2,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the artificial turf project after it was approved by local officials. Scotch Plains voters will decide whether to move ahead with the bond ordinance that would pay for the project in a ballot question in November. The showdown in Scotch Plains is one of several fights over artificial turf being waged across New Jersey as some residents raise concerns about the environmental, health and safety costs of ripping out natural grass and replacing it with artificial fields.

‘EDUCATION MATTERS’ SLATE HOLDS EDGE OVER ‘NAA, ACTUALLY EDUCATION DOESN’T REALLY MATTER’ SLATE — “Wiping the slate clean: Jersey City teachers’ union says it’s tired of board dysfunction, grandstanding,” by The Jersey Journal’s Joshua Rosario: “A growing rift created by clashing personalities among the current board of education has turned a once-cozy relationship with the Jersey City Education Association icy, pushing the teachers’ union to look toward fresh faces to lead. On Monday, deadline day for school board candidates across the state, incumbent candidates Lorenzo Richardson and Gina Verdibello experienced that cold shoulder. JCEA dropped its support of the incumbents and went with George Blount, DeJon Morris and Renes Cruz (whose petition was rejected) on its Education Matters ticket to vie for the three 3-year seats currently held by the two incumbents and Lekendrick Shaw, who decided not to run, in November. Union President Ron Greco paints a dysfunctional image of the current board, which he says has filled meetings with grandstanding and petty squabbles that have dragged out the monthly board meetings into six-hour events.”

—“ELEC releases list of dismissed campaign finance complaints”

—Baraka “‘We expect University Hospital to receive fair and equitable treatment’ in Rutgers merger”

—“NJ attorney general drops the hammer on unregistered headhunters, staffing firms”

ZELENSKYY ASKS CHRISTIE ADVICE ON BRIDGEGATING THE CRIMEA BRIDGE — Christie visits Zelenskyy, takes shot at Trump during surprise Ukraine trip, by POLITICO’s Kierra Frazier: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday to visit President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reaffirm his support of the United States’ funding efforts for the country … the trip Friday, Christie met with Zelenskyy and visited towns affected by the war, including the once-Russian-occupied city of Bucha, a Christie spokesperson confirmed to POLITICO. Zelenskyy posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Christie on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday. “And it is very important that Mr. Christie began his visit to Ukraine with a visit to Bucha to see with his own eyes the threat to freedom and to everyone in the world posed by Russian aggression,” Zelenskyy said in the tweet. “I thanked all Americans, each and every one, for their vital support.”

SHEDDING THE ‘SLEAZESIDE’ MONIKER” — See ya night clubs and motels. Seaside Heights asks residents to create its new identity,” by NJ Advance Media’s Allison Pries: “The night clubs that gave Seaside Heights its reputation as a party town are long closed, and now the Jersey Shore borough is pushing further to remove the stigma through redevelopment. Several projects are already underway and even more are in the works, including for the former Karma, Bamboo and Merge night club sites. Most will bring housing and businesses to outdated, shuttered and underused properties. Now the borough is asking residents and business owners to help shape Seaside Heights’ new identity. It will hold a Community Visioning Workshop Monday night at 6 p.m. at the George E. Tompkins Municipal Complex. Officials want to engage the community in a consensus on what it should look like in 20 years, where it’s headed and what has been done to achieve the vision.”

WHERE TO FIND BOBBY FISHER — “18-year-old Robert Fisher is unopposed for a school board seat,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “Eighteen-year-old political boy wonder Robert Fisher will likely become the youngest elected official in New Jersey in January when he takes office as a member of the Park Ridge Board of Education. Fisher, who graduated high school in June, is unopposed in his bid for one of three seats on his local school board … Despite his age, Fisher is already a veteran of Bergen County politics. He served as field director for State Sen. Holly Schepisi’s re-election campaign in the 39th district, and is the youngest Republican county committeeman in Bergen.”

PLEASE DON’T PEEHAWKEN IN THE WEEHAWKEN POOL — “Weehawken continues to break state DEP rules to limit crowds at waterfront pool,” by The Jersey Journal’s Teri West: “Weehawken officials are continuing to flout state regulations and play by their own rulebook for how to operate its state-funded municipal pool, and they are unashamedly ecstatic with the results. The town eliminated day passes — which state officials say is illegal — for the state-of-the-art pool complex after an overflow crowd on Memorial Day. Since then, 4,439 people signed up for season passes and Mayor Richard Turner says a rhythm has developed so that there is rarely a line of people forced to wait when the pool reaches capacity. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has said that refusing to offer single-day access to the pool violates Green Acres regulations that must follow since the township used Green Acres funds to build the $10.5 million waterfront recreation complex in 2021. But Turner unabashedly says he still has no plans to adjust the payment and access system to comply”

—“Jackson sued over approval of Orthodox school campus”

—“Sea Isle City Man Charged in Assault of TV personality Bob Kelly”

—“Wayne settles tax appeals for a portion of Willowbrook Mall. Here’s what it will cost”

—“Palisades Park reinstates police chief, captain days after judge voided their promotions”

—“One incumbent running for Hackensack school board in a field of nine candidates”

WIND POWER — “4 new offshore wind projects sought along Jersey Shore,” by The AP: “Wind power developers proposed four new projects off the New Jersey Shore on Friday, a surge that would more than double the number of wind farms built off its coast if they are approved by regulators. At least two of them are more than twice as far out to sea than others that have drawn the ire of residents who don’t want to see windmills on the horizon. These two would not be visible from the beach, the companies proposing them say. They would join three wind farms already approved by New Jersey regulators as the state races to become the East Coast capital of the fast-growing offshore wind industry.”

—Opinion: “Offshore wind isn’t a partisan issue. This is how real NJ people will be impacted”

NURSES AND STEELWORKERS: PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THING — “Nurses at New Jersey’s Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital go on strike,” by The AP: “Nearly 2,000 nurses at one of New Jersey’s biggest hospitals have gone on a labor strike. Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital picketed the New Brunswick hospital on Friday. The hospital said in a statement it has contracted with a firm to provide nursing staff during the strike. A main sticking point is staffing levels at the hospital, according to the union, United Steelworkers Local 4-200. The hospital counters that it’s among the highest-staffed medical centers in the state.”