Wildfire in Medford, NJ that had grown to 180 acres, threatening homes, is contained

It was the second wildfire in South Jersey in as many days.

By Harold Brubaker and Diane Mastrull, Philadelphia Inquirer

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service reported Saturday afternoon that a brush fire in Medford, Burlington County that had grown to 180 acres and threatened homes was 100% contained but that smoke conditions in the area were expected to linger into the overnight hours.

The so-called Flatiron Wildfire, near the intersection of Elderberry Drive and Jackson Road, was reported as encompassing 120 acres around 8 a.m. but just after noon, the Forest Fire Service announced that the affected area had increased to 180 acres.

With the winds blowing from the east, the Fire Service said the worst smoke conditions would affect areas just to the west of the fire site, and they could affect visibility. Jackson Road remained closed to through traffic.

The Fire Service said staff would remain at the scene.

The fire, the second in South Jersey in as many days, had threatened four homes, officials said.

While fighting a larger forest fire Friday in Bass River State Forest, officials closed the Garden State Parkway for several hours, but that fire did not threaten houses. The Forest Fire Service’s latest update said that 5,000-acre fire was contained.

Read the full story here

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Beneath towering turbines, US energy secretary says Block Island Wind Farm is nation’s model

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the Rhode Island Fast Ferry, touring the Block Island Wind Farm tour

By Antonia Noori Farzan, Province Journal, June 3, 2023

THREE MILES OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF BLOCK ISLAND – The Block Island Wind Farm should serve as a model for the rest of the country, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters during a tour of the first-in-the-nation offshore wind facility on Friday.

“We want to replicate this, even bigger, all up and down the Atlantic seaboard, but also in the Pacific and in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Great Lakes,” Granholm said, standing aboard a ferry that rolled gently in the ocean swells. “We want to be able to generate clean energy all across America.”

Granholm was joined Friday by elected officials including Gov. Dan McKee, Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and Rep. Seth Magaziner, as well as representatives from Ørsted, which owns the wind farm. Only three of the five turbines were spinning: Routine maintenance will be taking place throughout the summer, while there are lighter winds and calmer conditions, Ørsted representatives said.

Ørsted is also behind the South Fork Wind Farm, which is under construction. Spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said the project is approaching “steel in the water” – the wind-farm equivalent of “cranes in the sky” or “shovels in the ground.” In fact, as the Rhode Island Fast Ferry sped toward Block Island, the Living Stone, a cable-laying ship deployed on the South Fork project, could be seen on the horizon.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm – with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, third from right, and other federal and state officials and representatives from wind-power company Ørsted – gets a closer look beneath one of the five turbines of the Block Island Wind Farm, first offshore wind farm in the nation.

Ørsted is also behind the South Fork Wind Farm, which is under construction. Spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said the project is approaching “steel in the water” – the wind-farm equivalent of “cranes in the sky” or “shovels in the ground.” In fact, as the Rhode Island Fast Ferry sped toward Block Island, the Living Stone, a cable-laying ship deployed on the South Fork project, could be seen on the horizon.

Read the full story here

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The Providence Journal

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Solano rejoins Gibbons to help launch new White Collar & Investigations Group

From left: Peter Torcicollo, Gibbons PC managing director, and Ricardo Solano Jr. and Lawrence Lustberg, co-chairs of the firm’s White Collar & Investigations Group – GIBBONS PC

By Kimberly Redmond/June 2, 2023

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney and First Assistant Attorney General of New Jersey Ricardo Solano Jr. is rejoining Gibbons PC to help launch, lead and build the Newark-based firm’s standalone White Collar & Investigations Group.

In a June 1 press release, Solano, who began his legal career as an associate in Gibbons’ criminal defense practice and later returned as a director for the unit, described his return as “a real homecoming.”

“At various points over the past two decades, I have worked at Gibbons as a summer associate, associate, and director, and I have worked with Gibbons attorneys as colleagues, adversaries, and co-counsel,” said Solano.

He went on to say that co-chairing the new practice with longtime Gibbons attorney Lawrence Lustberg “feels like a natural next step, and I look forward to helping direct the White Collar & Investigations Group and ensure its continued growth.”

Until recently, Gibbons’ white collar criminal and investigations practice operated under the administrative umbrella of the Commercial & Criminal Litigation Group. However, the firm decided to establish a separate group to better support and grow what is currently one of its most vibrant practices.

“By spinning off the practice into a full-fledged legal department, Gibbons is providing its white collar defense attorneys the administrative infrastructure and management resources they need to support a practice that is expanding in size and significance to the firm and its clients,” said Gibbons, noting that many of these cases are “often high-profile and precedent setting matters…not only in New Jersey, but throughout the region and nationally.”

Read the full story here

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Guess who was one of just four Democratic Senators voting no on on the debt ceiling bill?

Pa. senator John Fetterman said his vote came down to new work requirements on older Americans receiving food aid.

By Julia Terruso, Philadelphia Inquirer

Pennsylvania’s two Democratic senators split their support for a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, which passed the Senate late Thursday. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it, ending a months-long congressional slog to avoid national default with days to spare.

Sen. Bob Casey voted for the bill to suspend the debt ceiling, which passed 63-36. Freshman Sen. John Fetterman joined four fellow Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in opposing the bill.

The compromise package negotiated between Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy left both Democrats and Republicans displeased on certain points but able to move on from a volatile issue that risked upending the U.S. and global economy until 2025 after the next presidential election.

Fetterman said his vote came down to new work requirements on older Americans receiving food aid, a part of the bill added to sweeten the deal for Republicans pushing for more government spending cuts. Currently, the law requires most able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49 without dependents to work or attend training programs in order to receive assistance. The bill phases in a higher work age cutoff of 54.

Read the full story here

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Air quality not too good today in several NJ counties

By Ali Reid and Lanette Espy, TV 12

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has issued an air quality alert set to be in effect until 11 p.m. Friday. NJDEP says certain parts of the region – across Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Union and eastern Passaic counties – may approach unhealthy standards. A number of factors could contribute to this.

Officials say air pollution concentrations could become unhealthy for sensitive groups such as children, people suffering from asthma heart disease or other lung diseases, and older senior citizens.

A wildfire continues to burn at Bass River State Forest in southern New Jersey. People have reported seeing and smelling smoke as it’s reached at least 5,000 acres. This may also cause some air quality issues.

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Minnesota BPU’s rejection of Xcel rate increase could jeopardize the uility’s investment in electric-vehicle charging stations

Xcel Energy said it will reconsider significant investments in Minnesota after state regulators on Thursday approved a three-year rate increase that was much less than what the the state’s largest utility wanted. The utility filed a petition late Thursday asking the PUC to withdraw its $330 million Clean Transportation Portfolio proposal. The centerpiece of that plan would have Xcel building and owning 730 electric vehicle fast chargers in Minnesota, which would make the state home to the largest utility-owned charging system in the country.

By Mike Hughlett Minnesota Star Tribune, JUNE 1, 2023 — 6:12PM

The Minnesota Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved the $306 million — or 9% — increase, which also was less than the state Department of Commerce and an administrative law judge recommended. Xcel was most recently asking for $440 million over three years.

Xcel “is still getting an increase in rates, and they need that to provide reliable and efficient service,” PUC Chair Katie Sieben said in an interview after the vote. “I wasn’t convinced they needed as big an increase as they were proposing. The commission struck a good balance.”

In a statement, Xcel said it was “extremely disappointed with the commission’s decision, which will limit our ability to continue to lead the clean energy transition for our customers.”

Xcel said it will ask the PUC to reconsider its rate decision. The PUC usually rejects such reconsideration petitions, and petitioners then often take their beef to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Read the full story here

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