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New Jersey American Water seeks $10 a month rate increase

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New Jersey American Water seeks  a month rate increase


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New Jersey American Water wants to increase its customers’ water bills to help fund more than $1 billion in water and wastewater projects.

The investor-owned utility said the average customer could expect to pay an additional $10 per month if the request is approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. That could make the average monthly residential water bill rise to $93.89.

Customers served by sanitary wastewater systems would see an average increase of $8 per month. Households that receive both services could see a combined impact of about $18 per month, depending on their service area, meter size, and usage.

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New Jersey American Water said the rate increase is essential to improve aging infrastructure, replace dangerous lead service lines and address toxic chemicals such as PFAS. President Mark McDonough said the revenue would ensure the company can deal with problems before they become acute.

“This rate case is really aimed at the investments we’re already making to stay ahead of problems,” he said. “If we do good planning and we’re proactive in prudent investment, we can really keep our customers receiving safe, reliable water and we maintain the affordability that we have.”

The request comes roughly 16 months after the company increased rates by more than $5 per month.

Water infrastructure across the U.S. is aging, and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the nation needs at least $630 billion over the next 20 years for stormwater and wastewater projects alone. When combined with drinking water upgrades, water providers need a total of more than $1 trillion.

“Rate increases are definitely something that we see all around the country because of upward pressure on rates that’s driven by the need to invest in aging water systems,” said Larry Levine, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s environmental health program.

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Water providers are faced with new federal regulations requiring them to remove toxic chemicals such as PFAS from drinking water, replace lead pipes and to reduce wastewater discharges into waterways. Though the federal government under the Biden administration set aside billions of dollars to upgrade water and sewer infrastructure, providers say more funding is needed.

Pennsylvania American Water similarly filed a request with the Pennsylvania Utility Commission in November to fund $1.2 billion in water and wastewater system upgrades. If approved, the average water customer would pay an additional $14 per month on their bills.

While some rate increase is expected, it is unlikely that New Jersey American Water will be awarded the full request, said Brian Lipman, director of the New Jersey Division of the Rate Counsel, a state agency that advocates to keep costs affordable for ratepayers. He said the agency does its best to ensure rate increases are necessary to support infrastructure investments without unduly impacting consumers.

In an effort to alleviate the burden on rate payers, New Jersey American Water is seeking approval from the BPU to expand access to monthly bill discounts through its H2O Help to Others program. The company is asking to automatically enroll customers who partake in energy assistance programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. If approved, New Jersey American Water would be the only utility in the state to offer automatic enrollment in water bill assistance.

“Water is so fundamental to sustaining life,” McDonough said. “We think it’s very important to have this kind of forward thinking program to be able to help those folks who may need some assistance.”

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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill issued an executive order last week that aims to pause further rate increases for energy. However, no similar action has been taken for water bills and there’s currently no state-run program to help residents pay their water bills.



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Command and Control | FEATURE | New Jersey Devils

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Command and Control | FEATURE | New Jersey Devils


Command (6-1, 187 pounds) plays for Orebro’s junior club in the Swedish Hockey League. With the U20 Nationell team in 2025-26, he posted 17 goals and 44 points in 30 games while adding 13 points (5g-8a) in 14 playoff games. Command finished with three goals and seven points in seven games for Sweden as the top-line center in the World Under-18 Junior Championship to help his country win gold.

Command made his professional debut with six games played in the SHL while his draft stock soared late in the year.

Though Command had a good conversation with the Devils at the Combine, he was still surprised to hear his name called.

“I was just surprised and happy. Emotions all over the place,” he said. “So grateful for the people who helped me there.”

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And of course, he shared his selection with his family, those who helped him get to this point.

“It means for me, pretty much the world,” he said of sharing the experience with his family. “It’s not me who’s getting drafted, it’s them also. So, I’m just happy for them also.”

Command’s family even got a chance to join him through a portion of the car wash. You know, where was asked to smile. But don’t let Command’s serious demeanor fool you. Smile or not, he’s ecstatic about how everything played out.

“As you can imagine, pretty much the best feeling for me I’ve ever had,” he said. “So, very, very happy. Very, very happy.”

And as far as his message to the organization and Devils fans, he had this to say with full-throated confidence.

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“You made a good choice,” he said. “I’m happy to be here. I don’t think there’s more to it.

“I’m just getting started.”



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New Jersey Supreme Court requires transparency for facial recognition evidence

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New Jersey Supreme Court requires transparency for facial recognition evidence


Just like humans may err in recognizing faces, facial recognition technology (FRT) is not without its flaws. Multiple defendants have blamed the technology for wrongful arrests as more and more law enforcement agencies rely on the technology to identify suspects. Meanwhile, limits on its use vary from state to state and city to city. 

A ruling this week regarding a murder case in New Jersey, however, forces law enforcement to disclose how this technology is used in criminal investigations in the state. 

In State v. Tybear Miles, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors must disclose how FRT was used to identify defendant Tybear Miles, who had been charged with “first-degree murder and weapons offenses.”

The case stems from a 2021 fatal shooting in Jersey City. A day after the shooting, officers showed a confidential informant, who did not witness the incident, CCTV footage from a nearby location. The informant identified two males by their street names and Instagram usernames, according to the ruling. After the informant identified one of the males as “Fat Daddy,” police ran a photo from “Fat Daddy’s” Instagram page through a facial recognition module, which identified Miles as a potential match. 

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The ruling notes that the state provided the defendant with two different FRT searches as part of discovery. One search, according to the ruling, “returned a list of ten possible ‘matches’ to the probe image of [the] defendant, with [the] defendant ranked as the eighth ‘match’ on the list of ten.” Another search “returned a list of ten possible ‘matches,’ with five different images of [the] defendant ranked in the first five positions.” 

Miles’ sister and ex-girlfriend both identified Miles from videos and still images from other nearby surveillance footage, according to the ruling. The ruling states that “no witness identified defendant as the shooter; there were several people near the victim while he was shot twice; and all of the police interviewees were shown video footage and still photographs from approximately ninety minutes before the murder and seven minutes before the murder.”

Miles’ defense demanded details about how FRT was used in the case, and the trial judge ordered prosecutors to hand over 13 items, citing precedent from an earlier case requiring prosecutors to hand over FRT discovery items, reported the New Jersey Monitor

In Wednesday’s ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court partially upheld the lower court order, reported Reuters. Justice Douglas Fasciale wrote that the state is required to produce “discovery identifying the FRT tools and materials the State used in its investigation,” including the name and manufacturer of the software and publicly available information about its error rates. The state must also turn over items such as the original photograph used in the probe as part of discovery. The ruling does not, however, require the state to produce the “source code of the FRT algorithm and any similar proprietary information applicable to the FRT utilized by the State,” but, if warranted, a defendant could pursue a discovery request for the proprietary information. 

“The right to a fair trial is guaranteed under the Federal and State Constitutions, and due process compels the State to disclose evidence favorable to an accused,” asserts the ruling. 

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The New Jersey Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed an amicus brief in the case, praised the ruling, and one of its attorneys called it a “major victory for civil liberties,” adding it is “one of the first state high court rulings of its kind.” Some states, including Maryland, Montana, and Washington, require law enforcement agencies to disclose the use of FRT to defendants before trial, but few laws and court rulings provide guidance about how the technology is used in the criminal justice system. Regardless of Miles’ guilt or innocence, the ruling is an encouraging sign that more states may recognize the need for transparency regarding FRT as law enforcement increasingly relies on the technology to track and identify suspects.



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1 injured after vehicle hits tree in West Deptford, NJ

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1 injured after vehicle hits tree in West Deptford, NJ


Friday, June 26, 2026 3:44AM

1 injured after vehicle hits tree in South Jersey

WEST DEPTFORD, N.J. (WPVI) — A serious crash is under investigation in West Deptford, New Jersey.

Chopper 6 was over the scene near Ogden Station Road and Foxton Court around 8:20 p.m. Thursday.

Authorities said a vehicle crashed into a tree.

At least one person was injured, though the extent of those injuries has not been released.

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Officials have not said what led to the crash.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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