A dead whale was seen floating in the Delaware Bay near New Jersey on Thursday, prompting inquiries from volunteers on how they could salvage the animal with potentially limited resources.

What is believed to be a large humpback whale was reported to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, a volunteer-based organization often called to remove dead sea animals from New Jersey’s coastline.

Sheila Dean, the center’s leader, told NJ Advance Media the lifeless animal was reported to the organization on Thursday. The center notified the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration of the whale, but the federal agency did not return inquiries about how to recover the animal.

NEW JERSEY — Dozens of parents of public charter school students from New Jersey cities, including Newark, recently paid a visit to Trenton to push for more funding in the state budget.

A group of 35 public charter school parents and advocates from Camden, Paterson, Newark, Trenton, Plainfield and Jersey City joined advocates from the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association (NJPCSA) at the Statehouse earlier this month, where they met with lawmakers as part of their “SameKidsSameNeeds” campaign.

Advocates are asking lawmakers to “restore aid for repairs and maintenance in public charter school buildings” that was cut in Gov. Phil Murphy’s draft state budget.

Parents attended committee hearings, pushing lawmakers to fully fund the Charter and Renaissance School Emergent Project and Capital Maintenance Fund.

In the governor’s proposed budget, funding was decreased from $20 million to $5 million, representing a 75 percent cut in critical facilities funding, the NJPCSA stated.

According to the nonprofit:

“Public charter schools, which educate 1 in 5 students in New Jersey’s most under-resourced communities, have historically been excluded from school construction funding. On average, public charters spend $2,000 per student from their operating budgets on building needs, diverting resources that could be used to increase teacher salaries, purchase classroom supplies, and technology.”

“We have students in buildings that are well over 100-years-old where pipes burst, boilers break, windows won’t open and roofs leak,” said T.J. Best, a senior advisor at NJPCSA.

“This is about fairness and equity for all of New Jersey’s students,” Best added. “We must recognize that these are all our children, regardless of the type of school they attend.”

Athena Davis-Shaw, whose child attends Philip’s Academy Charter School in Newark, has seen firsthand how with resources the school has received in the past has been put to use repairing a leaky roof and making spaces “more accessible” for students and staff.

“However, the repairs from Hurricane Ida are still ongoing and we need funding to continue fixing damage from the storm,” Davis-Shaw added.

It’s not just Newark charter schools that need urgent repairs, said Maria Cruz, parent liaison at LEAP University Academy Charter School in Camden.

“The state is not doing its part to ensure we’re getting the necessary resources for our facilities,” Cruz said. “I’m asking Gov. Murphy and the Legislature to restore this funding and make sure every school is a place where our kids can learn and grow.”

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The New Jersey Devils have acquired the goalie 99% of people expected: Calgary Flames’ Jacob Markstrom. They sent a 2025 first-round pick (top 10 protected) and Kevin Bahl. This trade has the majority of Devils fans excited, and this team needed a goalie badly. However, it’s not exactly a slam dunk.

Save percentages the last two seasons
Jacob Markstrom .905 / .892
Vitek Vanecek .890 / .911

What about this is elite? Fans just ran Vitek Vanecek out of town for his play, and while he was very bad and needed to go in the last two seasons. If all things stayed like this, it’s barely an upgrade. Disagree all you want, but the numbers speak for themselves for the last two seasons.

Calgary’s defense was better than the Devils’ this season. If the teams swapped defenders and systems, the Devils’ goaltender numbers would rise, and Calgary’s would fall.

34 is 60 in goaltender years. Cory Schnieder broke down before this. Jonathan Bernier broke down before this. Corey Crawford couldn’t even play. There is a long list of very recent reasons on just our little team that tell us how risky signing old goalies is, and we are banking the entire season on two older guys. Most goalies age like milk not wine and he is not Marty playing at 40 so the comparison to the best goaltender of all time is ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Kevin Bahl was a serviceable defender. He was the biggest, meanest guy, and this team was already the softest in the NHL. He needed to hit more and sure up the defensive side just a bit more, but he at least had an X-factor and probably would have done better outside of Ruff’s no-defense system. He was second on the team in hits and blocked shots, which is far more than can be said about the other guys who are at the bottom-pairing options. The team needs to get that grit back on the defense core since they have lost all of it from the one season we made the playoffs, and they need to get Zadorov to fill the role now, or they will get bullied yet again.

This is a stop-gap move for two seasons, likely, so they are still betting on Akira or Daws, and if this doesn’t work, they don’t have a lot of assets to move anymore, plus the other holes in the roster. They have moved out last seasons first rounder, the 2025 first rounder and former first rounders Smith and Mukhamadhullin to try and improve this lineup. On top of this, other players with value, like Fabian Zetterlund and Yegor Sharangovich, are thriving. While you can’t keep everyone and some of the trades were far better than others, the Devils, like all teams, have to draft, or they will have no one coming up. The only real assets they have left are Seamus Casey, this year’s 10th overall pick, and Alexander Holtz, all of which could be dangerous to move.

Markstrom does however look like he really wants to be in Jersey which is great to see and a fresh start might be good for him if the team can actually defend this season and he sounds like a guy fans will want to cheer for and we are itching to cheer for a goalie, just look at the massive love Jake Allen got.

For now, though, the Devils have a lot of work to do before they are a real threat to do more than a quick playoff appearance, and we just have to hope the team and general manager Fitzgerald make the big moves needed without blowing every future resource this team has.