Norcross on the hunt for JUSTICE

Good morning!

Nothing like a major legal battle between a Democratic power broker and a daily newspaper to pep up a slow week.

George Norcross, the insurance executive whose 2024 racketeering indictment by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office was later tossed by judges, has filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against the Philly Inquirer, as part of what the lawsuit itself says is Norcross’ attempt to “pursue uncovering the corrupt mechanisms used to smear his name and threaten his freedom.”

Norcross alleges that a key player in the scheme to hit him with criminal charges was Inquirer editor Nancy Phillips. He alleges Phillips personally handed over notes that included fabrications about Norcross to the Attorney General’s Office, notes that Norcross says formed the basis of the now-tossed indictment. Phillips did this, the lawsuit says, because she has long hated him.

“Defendant Phillips harbored a well-known and widely acknowledged deep-seated personal animosity toward Mr. Norcross, tied directly to a bitter, public corporate battle with her late long-term romantic partner, Lewis Katz,” the lawsuit reads.

Norcross briefly co-owned the Inquirer before Katz acquired it after a legal battle.

Messy, messy, messy.

Agriculture: Shellfish farmers say overregulation by New Jersey’s environmental protection officials is driving them out of the state. Oyster farmer Matt Gregg, co-founder and operator of the Barnegat Oyster Collective and president of the New Jersey Aquaculture Association, likened the department to a villain from a Scooby-Doo cartoon that forces farmers to band together like Scooby’s gang of teen detectives. “If we don’t do something, we will die a death of a thousand cuts. We will regulate everyone into extinction,” Gregg told Assembly lawmakers Thursday.

Immigration: Ted Sherman at NJ Advance Media reports that new data obtained by the Associated Press shows more than 200,000 migrants who crossed the southern border between 2018 and 2025 told authorities their destination was New Jersey, with only four other states being cited more. Almost all of New Jersey’s 564 towns were the stated destinations, with most headed to big cities like Newark and Paterson.

Budget: Via John Reitmeyer at NJ Spotlight News, New Jersey has seen a series of credit-rating upgrades that coincide with the state’s moves to fully fund its obligations to state worker pension funds. Most recently, New York-based ratings firm KBRA moved New Jersey’s debt grade up a grade, to AA-.

Business: More bad news on New Jersey’s jobs front, via Kimberly Redmond at NJBiz. Wonder, the food hall chain that I don’t fully understand, plans to lay off 500+ workers in the Garden State. The company said it is moving away from two production and distribution facilities in Cranford and Fairfield in favor of a newer facility down in Swedesboro.