Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Monday:

⬛ NJ creates task force as chronic absenteeism plagues schools

📜 Legislation signed that creates task force to combat chronic absenteeism
📉 Absenteeism remains near 15% statewide and close to 40% in urban districts
🔍Task force will study barriers to boost attendance.

TRENTON — A bill to tackle chronic absenteeism in New Jersey schools has been signed into law by Acting Governor Tahesha Way.

New Jersey law creates chronic absenteeism task force
The legislation sponsored by Sens. Shirley K. Turner and Angela V. McKnight to create the Chronic Absenteeism Task Force will examine the causes of persistent student absences and develop strategies to improve attendance across New Jersey’s public schools.

Under the new law, comprised of an 18-member task force to include education professionals, school leaders, and parent advocates appointed by the governor, legislative leadership, and the Commissioner of Education, the task force will compare current absenteeism rates with pre-COVID-19 pandemic data to see if there is a link.

⬛ NJ wipes out another $86M in medical debt to end 2025

💸 NJ wipes out another $86M in medical debt for 53,000 residents
📬 Relief letters sent as state continues work with nonprofit Undue
🏛️ Murphy administration touts 6 rounds of medical debt forgiveness

TRENTON – New Jersey and a nonprofit wrapped 2025 with a sixth round of medical debt relief — wiping out a combined $86 million in medical bills for more than 53,000 New Jerseyans.

Through the partnership with Undue Medical Debt, a collective $1.4 billion in medical debt has been eliminated for over 828,000 New Jersey residents, starting with the first wave in August 2024.

Before this round, the fifth wave of debt forgiveness was announced by the state in October.

This time, the past-due medical debt was purchased from health care provider partners, using $600,000 in American Rescue Plan federal funds.

"At a time when the medical debt crisis is on track to get even worse, New Jersey stands as a national leader — not only providing direct relief, but also enacting critical protections like prohibiting medical debt from appearing on credit reports,” Undue Medical Debt CEO and President Allison Sesso said in a written release.

“No one chooses to get sick, be in an accident, or have a chronic illness, and I'm grateful for the provider partners who continue working with us to ensure medical debt doesn't prevent people from seeking the care they need. We're proud that tens of thousands more families will soon receive this welcome news in the mail," Sesso added.

⬛ FBI most wanted: NJ suspects wanted in murder, rape and terror

🚨 The FBI is seeking half a dozen violent fugitives in New Jersey
🚨 If you see them, do not approach — Call police
🚨 All are considered armed and extremely dangerous

The Newark office of the FBI currently lists more than two dozen fugitives with ties to New Jersey on its "most wanted list."

Their crimes range from kidnapping, cybercrime, espionage and terrorism.

The latest addition to the list is Nazeer Hameed, a former New Jersey resident now living in India, who was charged in November with two counts of first-degree murder in the savage stabbing deaths of 38-year-old Sasikala Narra and her 6-year-old son, Anish, in 2017.

The homicide scene at the Fox Meadows Apartments residence was so violent that when husband and father Hanumantha Narra walked in, he found both victims nearly decapitated.

If you see any of them, the FBI says you should call 911 and do not approach them.

⬛ Trump insists ‘we’re in charge’ in Venezuela

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Sunday that the United States would not govern Venezuela day-to-day other than enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on the country, even as President Donald Trump again insisted that the U.S. would be in control following its ouster of leader Nicolás Maduro.

Rubio’s statements seemed designed to temper concerns that the assertive action to achieve regime change in Venezuela might lead the U.S. into another prolonged foreign intervention or failed attempt at nation-building.

They stood in contrast to Trump’s broad but vague claims that the U.S. would at least temporarily “run” the oil-rich nation, comments that suggested some sort of governing structure under which Caracas would be controlled by Washington.

Still, Trump reiterated Sunday night that “we’re in charge,” while interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez invited the Republican president “to collaborate” in a newly conciliatory stance.

⬛ Elderly driver hits landscaper, thought it was a garbage can

A 91-year-old Brick resident has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash in Wall that injured a landscaper operating a riding mower. Police say the Dec. 8 incident happened on Ocean Road when the man’s vehicle struck the mower, throwing the 34-year-old operator to the ground. The landscaper was treated at a local hospital for a concussion and minor injuries.

According to police, the driver left the scene and later told officers he believed he had hit a “tan garbage can.” Investigators noted the mower was equipped with a tan leaf collection box, which may have contributed to the confusion.

Wall police issued multiple public alerts and reviewed home security footage showing the car hitting the mower, slowing briefly, and then driving away.

Start your day with up-to-the-minute news, traffic and weather for the Garden State.

The New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show airs from 6 - 10 a.m. on New Jersey 101.5.

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You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

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