New Jersey
Phoenix Mercury unveil new multiyear jersey-patch sponsor with Partake
The new Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury business headquarters
Josh Bartelstein (CEO) and owner Mat Ishbia talk about the Phoenix Suns and Mercury new business headquarters, April 4, 2024, at 475 E Lincoln Street, Phoenix, Arizona.
The Phoenix Mercury announced a new multiyear jersey patch deal with venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue on Wednesday.
The unique partnership introduces the first rotating patch in the league’s history as a new partner will be on the jersey each year. Partake Foods, a women-led natural food company headed by CEO Denise Woodard, is the first brand to be featured on the jersey’s left shoulder badge starting this season.
“The rotating badge is to keep promoting women entrepreneurs and do things the right way. Partake is year one of that,” Mercury and Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein said. “If we win a championship, we may have to keep Partake after another year.”
The sponsorship is an extension of the global partnership announced last week with the Mercury, Suns, and Cleveland Avenue. Cleveland Avenue specializes in lifestyle brands and tech companies, listing 70 in its portfolio. It’s a principal owner of sustainable packaging company Footprint, which is the official sustainability partner of the Suns and Mercury. Footprint eco-friendly packaging solutions will also be part of this year’s enhancements.
Survey time: Mat Ishbia viewed most liked NBA team owner according to fan survey
The Mercury was the first WNBA franchise to secure a branded jersey deal in 2009 when the league first allowed teams to sell front-of-jersey advertising. Now the team will be the first to partner with a Black-owned company (Partake Foods) for a patch deal.
Woodard started the company in 2016 after her daughter was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. It offers allergy-friendly snacks, including cookies, graham crackers and vanilla wafers.
“I never in my wildest dreams expected to see a company that I started to solve a problem for my daughter on a jersey of a successful WNBA franchise,” Woodard said. “It’s a dream come true.”
The Mercury patch is the latest in a string of news for owner Mat Ishbia, who has been busy since he bought the Suns and Mercury for a record $4 billion in 2022. The Mercury will host the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game in July while the team continues to build a new training facility.
“There’s many amazing brands, we care about the purpose of it. What Denise is, who she stands for, and her story, once we talked through it, it was a no-brainer,” Bartelstein said. “All credit to her because that’s where this lies is in the relationship.”
New Jersey
Officials warn of NJ Transit train chaos if NBA Finals go to Game 6 with World Cup match same day
NEW JERSEY (WABC) — New Jersey Transit train riders should be prepared for chaos if the NBA Finals reach Game 6 at Madison Square Garden on June 16.
Getting to Penn Station from New Jersey will be nearly impossible after 5 p.m. becasue it’s the same day as the France vs Senegal match at 3 p.m. at MetLife Stadium.
NJ Transit will only run dedicated World Cup trains westbound from Penn Station New York from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ahead of the 3 p.m. match.
Eastbound NJ Transit trains will run into Penn Station New York, until the match ends at about 5:30 p.m.
After 5:30 p.m., the trains will discharge all passengers at either Newark Penn Station or Newark Broad Street Station, where passengers will be directed to either PATH or Newark Light Rail to get to Hoboken, and ultimately to the PATH 33rd Street Station. PATH will transport those passengers at no extra cost.
Knicks fans traveling into Manhattan for the 8:30 p.m. game may have to transfer through Newark and take the PATH into the city.
After discharging the passengers, the NJ Transit trains will then become dedicated World Cup trains for the next three hours to bring up to 40,000 fans back to Penn Station New York.
Regular eastbound service will resume about three hours after completion of the World Cup match, or about 8:30 p.m.
NJ Transit will advise Knicks fans headed in to Game 6 to arrive at MSG before 5 p.m., or be prepared to change trains in Newark.
At the conclusion of the Knicks game, regular rail service out of Penn Station New York back to New Jersey on all rail lines will be available.
Knicks fans will not have to utilize PATH to get back to New Jersey after the Knicks game.
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New Jersey
The House Is Our Firewall. NJ-07 Is How We Build It. – Insider NJ
I do not come to this fight as an abstract matter of principle. I come to it as an immigrant, as a woman, as an LGBTQ+ ally, and as a mother of two daughters. I have spent a decade fighting to advance protections for marginalized communities — in policy committees, in legislative hearings, in the unglamorous work of advocacy that rarely makes headlines. And I can tell you: what is happening right now is different. The rollbacks are no longer incremental. They are structural. And they are personal.
When I think about what is at stake in this moment, I think about my daughters. I want them to live in a country where they are free. Where their identities are not questioned. Where they never have to wonder whether they belong. This past year has shown that that future is not guaranteed. It has to be fought for. And right now, that fight runs directly through the United States House of Representatives.
The current administration is executing a coordinated assault on the institutional frameworks that protect civil rights and foster inclusion. The weaponization of anti-DEI policies is erasing marginalized identities from public and corporate spaces. Voter suppression tactics are systematically targeting Black and brown communities. Federal protections for LGBTQ+ individuals — particularly queer and trans youth — are being dismantled in favor of discriminatory policy. The threatened gutting of the Department of Education puts public schooling, the single greatest engine of upward mobility, at risk — with the heaviest burden falling on low-income students and students of color. And for immigrants, the threat of mass deportations and family separation is not a hypothetical. It is a daily reality.
When the executive branch operates with such open hostility toward equity, a compliant Congress is not a passive failure. It is a dangerous liability.
We need a House of Representatives that will aggressively assert its oversight authority, use the power of the purse to defund harmful initiatives, and hold this administration fiercely accountable. That firewall can only be built by flipping competitive seats. And the path to the House majority runs directly through New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District.
To win NJ-07, we need a candidate who can neutralize the standard partisan attacks used against challengers in swing districts — and Rebecca Bennett is exactly that candidate. As a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and Air National Guard officer, her patriotism and national security credentials are unimpeachable. As a healthcare business leader, she brings private-sector credibility that resonates with this district’s voters. And as a working mother who understands what is actually at stake for families, she brings the moral clarity this moment demands.
Biography alone does not flip a district — infrastructure does. Bennett has built a campaign capable of going the distance in one of the nation’s most expensive media markets, with a top-tier team, formidable fundraising, and the organizational depth to compete against incumbent spending. She is not just a compelling candidate. She is our ONLY shot at defeating Tom Kean Jr.
I got into this work because I believe that the arc of history bends toward justice — but only when people work to bend it. I want my daughters to inherit a country that is still bending. Rebecca Bennett is running to make sure it does. That is why I am with her, without reservation, and without hesitation.
Anjali Mehrotra is a fierce advocate for representation and gender parity in all walks of life but especially at all levels of elected office. She served as a National Board member for National Organization for Women, on the state board for American Association of University Women of New Jersey and on the cabinet of Emerge New Jersey. All three organizations actively work to increase the number of women in Congress.
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