Northeast
The great drone scare will flip New Jersey red in 2025
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Look, up in the sky! It’s a drone! It’s a plane! It’s a red wave!
Elections are often won by little things, and from my vantage point in New Jersey, there are lots of big things over the skies of the Garden State terrorizing families and communities. Caller after caller on my radio show wants to talk about one thing: drones. Well, two things. Drones and the absolute distrust in the Democratic-controlled government on the state and federal level.
This has become a major issue in the 2025 race for New Jersey governor. Democrats in power are gaslighting us, and the Republican candidates are seizing the moment to offer the kind of message that propelled President-elect Trump to victory. Make New Jersey’s skies safe again!
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and President Biden (Getty Images)
As a former New Jersey Republican county chairman and elected official, I have seen firsthand how Jersey tends to vote blue in even years but red in odd years. Along with Virginia, New Jersey is one of two states that will have a gubernatorial race in 2025. President Biden and Gov. Phil Murphy’s lack of action on the mysterious flying objects, combined with Trump’s performance this past November, may propel a Republican into the governor’s office once again.
DRONE DEBACLE PERFECT END TO BIDEN’S ‘YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW’ PRESIDENCY
Several Republicans are vying for the nomination, and they are putting out statements that vary from declaring a state of emergency to banning personal drone use to calling up the New Jersey National Guard to blow them out of the sky. These candidates demonstrate a strong contrast with the feckless, term-limited incumbent.
The Democrats vying for their party’s nomination are in a political catch-22. Criticize their own party’s incompetence or keep their head down. Democrat Congressman Frank Pallone said he attended a classified briefing but can’t tell us anything. Democratic Sen. Andy Kim went out with a news crew to observe them firsthand. What do you know? It turns out we aren’t crazy after all.
Murphy first said these drones pose no threat; then he said he’s powerless to do anything. Let’s face it: he’s more interested in the skies over Iowa than the skies over Jersey, as he plans to run for president in 2028.
AMERICA HAS A DRONE PROBLEM, AND NO ONE IS IN CHARGE
Contrast that with the statement made by New Jersey’s most famous summer resident, Donald Trump, who saw images of them flying over Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, “Let the public know, and now, otherwise shoot them down!!!” That is precisely the definitive leadership Jerseyans crave at this incredibly unsettling moment.
Trump’s statement was as Jersey as it gets, and it’s what I have been hearing on my radio show four hours a day, five days a week. Tell us the truth, or shoot them out of the sky!
Even for this administration, the level of gaslighting is remarkable. We are told they haven’t gone over any sensitive areas. Officials at two highly sensitive areas, Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, say the opposite. We are told they pose no threat… but call in a hazmat team if one crashes in your backyard! We are told not to believe our own eyes just like we were told not to believe our own eyes when we witnessed Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.
We Jerseyans are cynical by nature, but we have reached our breaking point. We know that they know. So give us a break and stop being so condescending.
WE ARE VULNERABLE TO DRONE ATTACK AND IT’S GOING TO GET WORSE
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, with a large constituency of union workers, Latinos and Black voters. The same demographic that helped deliver Pennsylvania for Trump. He won Passaic County, once a Democratic stronghold.
Trump also over-performed with suburban White women. Their frustration is years in the making. They were told they could be domestic violent extremists for speaking up at school board meetings. Now, they are told to relax as their kids ask about those massive flashing objects moving in pattern formation that disappear when approached by State Police helicopters.
Before the 2021 gubernatorial race, I talked with a friend who said he wasn’t voting because Murphy had a 99% chance of winning re-election. I told him it would be close and the polls were wrong. The Republican, Jack Ciattarelli, came within a few points of defeating Murphy because a couple hundred thousand Republicans had the same mindset as my friend and stayed home.
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On election night in 2024, that same friend waited in line to vote for several hours after Jersey was called for Vice President Kamala Harris. I asked him why. “I want to make sure Trump wins the popular vote,” he proudly replied.
Republicans have learned their lesson and won’t be repeating past mistakes. They feel the momentum, even in blue New Jersey. The drones have now become a symbol of Democratic gaslighting, inaction and arrogance. In the words of a great New Jerseyan, come November, we won’t fuggetabaoutit.
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A Maine company growing scallops in Penobscot Bay that wanted to expand its operations nearly tenfold got a slightly reduced version of those plans approved by the state on Tuesday, more than three years after starting the process.
Vertical Bay is one of a handful of small Maine aquaculture companies growing scallops, a multi-year process using long vertical lines underneath the water. Its owner-operators, Belfast couple Andrew and Samantha Peters, applied for a 20-year, state-issued lease to increase their operation in the waters west of Hog Island from about four acres to roughly 41.
Scaling up would provide a model for other people interested in growing scallops in Maine and demonstrate how it can be profitable, Andrew Peters previously told the Bangor Daily News.
Peters didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
While demand for the shellfish is enormous and scallop farming is seen as a promising economic opportunity for Maine, high equipment costs and slow growing times have been obstacles for smaller operations. Peters had said he hoped more people entering the industry would help with that, along with the ability to produce more product on a larger lease.
The Department of Marine Resources approved the application with a roughly 5-acre reduction in size to accommodate traditional scallop dragging around part of the proposed lease area’s border, according to the agency’s records. The application had received minimal public comments and no outright opposition during the process.
Another condition of the approval requires Vertical Bay to sign a memorandum of understanding that it will test its products for biotoxins, which shellfish can sometimes accumulate as they grow, before harvesting.
The cost of biotoxin testing had been another hurdle for growers, but the state established a pilot program this year to oversee and pay for it until 2027. The DMR already manages this testing for other aquaculture products.
“Scallop farming holds real promise for diversifying our fisheries and supporting our working waterfront communities, and I am so pleased to see this idea become reality,” Rep. Holly Eaton, D-Deer Isle, said in a news release announcing the pilot testing program.
Eaton introduced the bill creating the testing program, in part to support PenBay Farmed Scallops, another business growing scallops in the waters off Deer Isle.
Proposed price labeling changes debated in Massachusetts
Proposed changes to unit pricing labels in Massachusetts could make them smaller and allow different colors, sparking debate among consumer advocates and industry representatives.
The Division of Standards is considering revisions to unit pricing regulations that would reduce the size of unit price labels and permit a variety of background colors instead of the traditional orange. These changes aim to provide more flexibility for retailers but have raised concerns among consumer advocates who argue it may hinder consumers’ ability to compare prices effectively.
Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org, testified against the proposed changes at a state house hearing, emphasizing that smaller labels could make it difficult for consumers, especially older ones, to read unit prices.
“They want to make it only six millimeters,” Dworsky said. “That’s less than a quarter of an inch.”
According to Dworsky, the hearing saw participation from five speakers, with four representing consumer groups and one from the industry. The Mass Retailers Association’s general counsel supported the changes, citing increased flexibility for businesses.
Consumer advocates expressed concerns that the changes could be confusing for shoppers, particularly if unit prices are displayed on backgrounds traditionally used for sale prices, such as yellow.
“For over 50 years we’ve been telling people look for the orange unit price on the shelf. That will help you find the best deal and compare prices more easily and save money,” Dworsky said. “What’s the reason that you would want a different color?”
Dworsky highlighted that while the proposed regulations might make unit prices less visible, they do include a positive aspect: unit prices will have to be consistent regardless of any discounts or digital coupons applied, making it easier for consumers to compare prices.
The Division of Standards is accepting feedback from consumers and businesses until the end of the month, after which they will decide on the final rules.
You can view the proposal here.
You can email the Division of Standards at standards.mail@mass.gov
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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