A 'mass casualty event'

Good morning!

This summer’s extreme heat has driven heat-related fatalities so high that some are demanding action from Trenton, calling on policymakers to expand the state’s network of cooling centers and act on legislation to protect people who work outdoors.

Most years, heat-related deaths don’t climb out of the single digits, but state health officials reported 29 over the past holiday weekend alone. Roughly a dozen were people living in their cars or who were otherwise unhoused, according to one advocate for people struggling with homelessness.

“Really we had a mass casualty event,” she said. Lilo Stainton has more on that story …

Heat deaths: Via Lilo, “Heat-related deaths in New Jersey appear to have shot up roughly five-fold over last summer following a holiday weekend with record-high temperatures, prompting advocates to urge the state to do more to protect vulnerable residents. New Jersey reported 29 heat-related deaths between July 2 — when temperatures peaked at 108 degrees — and July 6, up from six such fatalities last summer..”

Guns: Via me, “Gun-rights advocates again are urging federal judges to strike down New Jersey’s ban on guns in sensitive places, saying two U.S. Supreme Court rulings last month overturning similar restrictions in Hawaii and Texas prove the law here is unconstitutional and cannot stand. In those decisions, the nation’s top court said government cannot ban guns on private property open to the public (places like gas stations and grocery stores), nor disarm pot smokers and other users of illegal drugs. Those rulings are fatal to New Jersey’s contested 2022 law, which also prohibits guns on private property open to the public and similarly presumes all substance-users are dangerous by barring guns at places where alcohol is served, the gun owners argued in briefs filed Wednesday.”

Sexual assault in court, part I: Via Sophie Nieto-Muñoz, “The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Bergen County man charged with sexually assaulting his niece can move ahead with getting a judge to privately look at her mental health records, reversing a lower court that previously shut that request down.”

Sexual assault in court, part II: Via Nikita Biryukov, “A New Jersey man accused of sexually assaulting a minor cannot face a second trial because a partial verdict may have acquitted him the first time he was tried, a New Jersey appeals court unanimously ruled Thursday.”

Republicans: Via Jennifer Shutt, “Republicans are campaigning to keep control of Congress for another two years, but their message about being the ‘grown-ups’ in the room keeps getting overshadowed by public feuds that have sidetracked work on major legislation … The infighting and limited time in session could prevent Republicans from notching any more wins before voters head to the polls in November. “

Housing costs: Via Jacob Fischler, “President Donald Trump is running out of time to decide what to do with a bipartisan bill meant to lower housing costs by making it easier to build … As the package was gaining momentum in Congress last month, White House staff said Trump supported it. After it passed both chambers of Congress with broad bipartisan votes, he was set to sign it at a high-profile ceremony at the Capitol. But the president changed course and canceled the signing ceremony at the last minute in a protest of Congress’ failure to pass an election security measure, the SAVE America Act, he considers a top priority.”