[music] From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Breonna Vannozzi.

Hello, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Joanna Gagis in for Brianna Vannozzi.

Tonight a few stories were bringing you later in the show, policing the police on investigated acts of domestic abuse by men in uniform.

And if you're swimming in medical debt, how can you get some relief?

Plus, the casinos in Atlanta City hit the jackpot rolling and cash this summer.

But first, a few of today's top headlines in South Jersey transit riders who depend on the southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, known as SEPTA, saw major disruptions to their commutes today as the first cuts went into effect for the authorities transportation services.

In total, 32 bus routes will be eliminated and 16 routes will be shortened.

Trolley's and subways will also offer less rides further apart and it all happened just in time for the first day of school.

With many students starting the year today without the transportation they've relied on to get to school.

And there are more cuts to come.

Next will be a reduction to the regional rail service on September 2nd.

Fairs are also scheduled to increase at the start of next month.

All of this because SEPTA has a $213 million operating budget hole with no stable funding source.

Also tonight President Trump announced on Truth Social yesterday he may open an investigation into Chris Christie and the bridgegate scandal that marred the former governor's second term in New Jersey and his chances of becoming president.

Trump saying on social media, quote, "Chris refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts.

For the sake of justice, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again."

No one is above the law.

End quote.

While that threat came after Christie appeared on ABC News this weekend criticizing President Trump for having no separation between criminal investigations and his political office referring to the recent raid of former Trump aid John Bolton's residents.

As for the bridgegate investigation, former governor Christie was never charged with a crime and connection with the 2013 lane closures of the George Washington Bridge.

But two of his employees were found guilty.

Their convictions were later thrown out by the US Supreme Court.

A move that President Trump said at the time was a, quote, "complete and total exoneration of Christie."

End quote.

All the president seems to now have changed his tune.

Nadine Menendez, the wife of former US Senator Bob Menendez, has asked for a reduced prison sentence of one year and a day that significantly less than the federal court probation office recommendation of an eight-year sentence for her role in facilitating bride payments of gold and cash to her husband in a bribery and corruption scheme.

But her lawyers argued on Friday that the impact of Menendez's crimes didn't surpass $400,000, which they say is half the amount the government alleged.

They also argue that her recent breast cancer diagnosis requires surgery and follow-up treatment.

And then an extended prison term is tantamount to a death sentence for their client.

They wrote in a court filing, quote, "despite all the government's efforts to present her as a vixen, the reality is far from that.

Her entire life has been marked by men who have taken advantage of her and harmed her in myriad ways."

Her husband former Senator Bob Menendez is currently serving an 11-year prison term.

Nadine sentencing will be finalized after prosecutors filed their recommendation at a future date.

And coming up, policing the police when the wives of men in uniform claim domestic abuse, who's answering the call?

Major funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided in part by NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years, horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and by the PSCG Foundation.

Recent developments in the aftermath of the double homicide of Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb at the hands of Semanchik's ex-boyfriend and state trooper, Lieutenant Ricardo Santos.

The families of Semanchik and Webb are filing suit alleging that several police agencies failed to step in when called upon for help before the situation turned fatal.

I'm joined by senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan, who's been covering the case.

Brenda, great to have you in the studio.

Where does the case stand right now?

Well, Joanna, the murder of Lauren Semanchik and her date Tyler Webb shocked the public, not just because the alleged shooter served with Jersey State Police.

Semanchik reported that after she broke up with Lieutenant Ricardo Santos, her ex-boyfriend, her ass, her stalker, keyed her car.

She was frightened and record show she contacted at least three different police agencies asking for help that her family says never came.

They're filing a lawsuit against the system.

They say failed the victims according to attorney Beth Baldinger.

Complete and utter failure.

An failure that took place in the context of police officers being asked to be accountable for the actions of one of their own.

It's something that we call the blue wall of silence or the code of blue in which officers will take care of and protect one of their own.

We believe that that is exactly what would happen in the circumstance.

Now records show that Lauren Semanchik reached out to a New Jersey State Police Trooper who knew tenant Santos described what was going on but that never got reported to internal affairs.

Apparently Dr. Semanchik also called Washington Township Police to report that her car had been keyed, but Baldinger says police again failed to follow policy.

Instead of doing what they were required to do, again, contact Santos's supervisors and New Jersey State Police Internal Affairs, what did they do?

They actually picked up the phone and they called Santos, a lieutenant, and asked him, "Did you key Dr. Semanchik car and damage it?

Have you been harassing and calling her?"

Well, of course, he denied keying her car.

What lieutenant in the New Jersey State Police Department would admit to committing a crime, although he didn't admit to calling her.

And what did they do?

They told him to back off to stop calling her so that he did not escalate the situation.

Again, they failed her.

Now, Baldinger says Franklin Township Police also didn't take a domestic violence report and instead directed Semantic to make a phone call.

But they never called her back.

On August 1st, her neighbors called 911 to report gunshots and screams.

Police drove by, but it was Semanchik's father who discovered her and Webb's bodies the next morning.

Lieutenant Santos was later found dead of an apparently in self-inflicted gunshot.

Experts like Professor Leigh Goodmark, who studies cases of police involved with domestic violence say they're not surprised by how this unfolded.

You hear people talk about the thin blue line as the kind of that camaraderie, that brotherhood among police officers.

And because of that loyalty among police officers, they may be less likely to intervene appropriately when someone makes a complaint against one of their fellows.

Now New Jersey's major discipline report shows that out of almost 540 officers fired, suspended, or retired due to serious infractions last year, just 34 involved domestic violence.

In about half the cases, the officers were the perpetrators, but more than a dozen were cited for failing to properly report a domestic violence incident.

Goodmark believes that number probably doesn't reflect reality.

They have contact with all of the resources that someone who is subjected to abuse might reach out to.

They have contact with all of the shelters.

They know where the shelters are.

They work with the shelters on a regular basis.

They are in courtrooms on a regular basis.

And so if you went to a judge and asked for a protective order or asked for a prosecution, these are judges and prosecutors who are working with these officers every day.

They are parts of the system that we have entrusted with the safety of victims of intimate partner violence.

And because they are parts of that system, it is very, very difficult to protect people whose abusers are police officers.

Now policy dictates that after a domestic violence complaints lodged against a police officer, his service weapon is confiscated.

That could have made the difference here, Joanna.

Yeah, Brenda, what can you tell us right now about the status of the investigation?

Well, the 100 in County Prosecutors Office has taken control of the Franklin Police Department and is leading the investigation into the case.

Both Franklin's Police Chief and a sergeant are on administrative leave.

None of the agencies involved would comment on the case when we asked.

It's really remarkable.

What do you know about the family's request from this lawsuit?

What are they seeking?

Well, they are asking for compensation for their loss, for their emotional pain.

But they're also looking for reform so that this never happens again.

Cementic was a much beloved veterinarian in the area.

Tyler Webb was a volunteer fireman.

There's GoFundMe accounts to help the families involved.

What they would like to be the legacy of these two victims of domestic violence is that no other families have to go through this.

I have to ask.

Is there any indication at this point that the Attorney General's Office is going to get involved?

Have we heard anything from that office yet?

We have not.

I think that the 100th and County Prosecutors Office at this point is leading this investigation.

And do we have any indication as to where they're going with this and whether there will be collaboration between the departments?

They're refusing comment.

Right now I think they are still gathering evidence.

We would very much like to have a conversation with them, but it's understandable that they're going to be going through all of the records to make sure in a double homicide that everything is covered.

Brenda Flann again, Senior Course Respondent, Great Reporting.

Thank you so much.

Thanks, Joanna.

For too many New Jersey residents, the impact of medical debt can be crippling.

What starts as a medical problem can spiral into a world of debt collection efforts that can damage a person's entire financial and even emotional well-being.

Our health care writer, Lilo Stanton, took a look at a medical debt forgiveness program that's run by a nonprofit with some support from the state and they're helping to erase medical debt for hundreds of thousands here in New Jersey.

Lilo, so great to talk with you.

This is a really interesting model that you wrote about.

It's a state-supported nonprofit that's working to erase medical debt.

Can you explain what this program is?

Sure.

So, undue medical debt is the name of the nonprofit and it's a really interesting model.

I believe it was people who were working in the debt collection field and they came to realize that this system that we have in the United States is just such a failed model.

In that, even if you're middle or upper class or definitely working class, you can be just one big medical bill away from total financial insolvency.

Right?

One bad thing could go wrong and you could be spiraling and your credit could be ruined and all these things.

So, they started a nonprofit which essentially buys the debt, as some of us know, is or less is sold on a sort of secondary market and an undue medical debt goes in and buys the debt and then just retires it.

And they can do this because it is the way it is bargained down.

They can do it essentially.

I think it's $10 for $100 worth of debt.

Let me just pause you right there.

Help us understand how they're actually buying the debt.

What is the process of them taking on that debt?

And then as you said, being able to consolidate it in a way.

Right.

Well, they work with people in the debt sales market, which is one part.

They also work directly with hospitals.

And this is where in the spring, the state signed or announced an agreement that Robert with Johnson Barnabas had reached with Undue to sort of share their debt information.

So Undue, it works either with people in the community.

It raises money through community foundations or charities.

Or corporations provide money.

But then it will go forward and partner with you the hospitals, or doctors or other health providers.

Or it will buy debt on the secondary market.

So there's sort of two ways it can acquire it.

And what's interesting is that in New Jersey, Undue has been working here for some time.

And the fellow I introduced in the story, Willie from Maplewood.

His debt was retired under donations that were given to the company.

Yeah, but stop you right there just to point out.

First that our WJ Barnabas health is an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News.

And Willie's story is interesting, as you were just about to tee up, because he had a really small percentage of debt that you say really was crippling for him emotionally, mentally, only $550 worth.

What is kind of the range that you see of what they will take on and what kind of debt they can relieve?

Yeah, well that's one of the things that's really interesting is a lot of the stories that they talk about are what you might consider low numbers, but it's hanging over someone and if it's reported to your credit and it's something that's pending for years and years, it can really do damage on your credit score and your sort of your economic portfolio, if you will.

So in New Jersey, the governor identified this as a problem several years ago and committed some funds to state funding that is being used to do this.

How much state funding, Lilo?

How much state funding has gone through this?

At least 16 million over two years.

And there may be a little more in there.

It's a mix of taxpayer funds and federal COVID relief.

But the money is essentially gone to it's already, you know, apparently clear the debt of more than 700,000 people.

And there at least half million more that are expected to have gotten letters in recent years.

And people, the interesting thing is you may you don't you don't apply for this program.

You don't know your your your eligible if you earn less than 400% of the poverty limit limit or have debt that equals 5% of your annual income or more.

And if your debt is in a package that they buy, you will just get a notice like Willie did and be told you're good.

And so do I do I have this right?

You said 60 million invested from the state, but it's been a total of 1.1 billion dollars of debt erased for those 776,000?

I think it's closer to 1616, but it is, yeah, it's a huge port.

They can do a huge amount with that.

But I would also note that the state has also taken steps to sort of prevent this from happening to people, changing, erasing, eliminating the connection between medical debt and credit reporting for almost all credit cards, limiting how much you can be assessed and interest on medical debt and the number of other things.

And some of the nonprofits I talked to have put together a website that really goes through a lot of this in detail and also helps people understand medical bills and what they can do when they receive them.

And I think that is going to be really useful information for people.

Yeah, and like you said, no application process, but this is something that if you are a certain percentage under the poverty line could be life changing for you.

Lilo Stanton.

Thank you so much terrific reporting.

If you'd like to see more of Lilo's reporting on this story, head to our website and J spotlight news.

Org Lilo.

Thank you.

Thanks, Joanna.

In our spotlight on business report tonight, some solid numbers coming into the state from online gaming this summer.

The total revenue for casinos and their online partners was nearly $250 million in July, which is almost 27% more than the same time last year.

Now those increases coincide with a tax increase on gaming revenues that just went into effect on July first.

Here to give us a little more information is our budget and finance writer John Wright Meyer, John Goode, Happy in the studio as always.

Break down these numbers a little bit and what this 27% increase actually means for the casinos and their partners.

Yeah, sure.

It's great to be with you.

So it looks like it's been a good summer because even the June revenue figures were up month over for the month year over year in just in June.

And what this means is the state taxes these activities.

And so the casinos and in the case of online gambling because of the way the law was written over a decade ago when this activity became legal in New Jersey.

The websites when when someone is playing a game, say on their phone or their laptop, that website is partnered must partner with a brick and mortar casino.

And so the money that they're generating as a partnership after they pay out the whatever somebody wins when they play is what they call the casino win is then what gets taxed by the state and that money comes into Trenton.

And so the activity this year, if we look at the last two months, the summer has been good but really going back the whole year, the revenues have been really strong.

And it just so happens that Governor Murphy and lawmakers at the end of June decided to hike the tax on both online gambling in New Jersey and mobile sports betting in New Jersey.

And so now both of those taxes have been increased as we sort of see this increase in the gross revenues that are being won by the operators.

So break this down a little bit.

We know that there was the tax increase that you just said on these two things, the casino gambling and the mobile sports betting.

What was the tax rate?

What did it increase?

Two, where did some lawmakers want it to be?

Yeah, the original proposal from the governor was all the way up at 25% and some lawmakers had discussed an even higher rate.

And so right now when it comes to the online gambling, that was a 15% tax rate.

Mobile sports betting was a 13% tax rate.

If you're in person gambling, it's 8%.

And so where they landed for the online gambling and the mobile sports betting for both now is 19.7% and 5%.

And so that's generating, the projections are that that increase will generate about 200 million, a little more than 200 million more for the state on an annual basis.

So if we go back to that original proposal from Murphy, he had been seeking to get about 400 million more from these activities.

So that got sliced nearly in half in the final product.

That was all part of a bigger proposal for taxes that the governor had come up with.

And that was in corporate into the state budget that was passed in late June.

So that's the budget that's now in effect across the state.

I mean, 200 million as I see it is nothing to sneeze at.

These are significant revenues coming into the state on a really a platform that was untouched, that was really done behind the scenes in the streets on the black market, so to speak.

Where is this money actually going in terms of state revenue in terms of how it's being used in the budget?

Yeah, and so we do we should put it in context.

New Jersey has a nearly 60 billion dollar annual budget and when we talk about the money that comes in from these taxes, it's it's less than a billion.

So it's it's a lot of money, but it's a it's a relatively small amount with the overall state budget.

But as we've learned every dollar counts when it comes to state funding and state programs.

And so this specifically a lot of the casino revenue pays for what's called the casino revenue fund that funds a lot of things like senior services.

And so there was this idea when the when gambling was legalized in New Jersey that these revenues be dedicated to maybe more virtuous purposes than some of the general spending.

And so a lot of this uptick would be funding the casino revenue fund.

Are we seeing any correlation between an increase in the online gaming and a decrease in in-person betting and gambling?

Well, that's a really interesting question and something that's closely watched by the analysts and what we've seen at least headed into this year so far amid this uptick that we're seeing kind of like people online, it doesn't seem to be eroding the brick and mortar casino win.

So when we talk about the year to date as a whole, we're looking at about 1.6 billion for online gambling and more than that closer to 1.7 billion for brick and mortar.

So it's helping but it's not it doesn't appear to be eroding at least year to date.

Yeah, a whole lot more we could dive into but you did that for us.

You can see more of John's reporting on our website and J Spotlight News dot org.

John great to talk to you as always.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Support for the Business Report is provided by Riverview Jazz, presenting the Jersey City Latin Jazz Festival September 5th through 6th.

Event details including performance schedules and location are online at Jersey City Latin Jazz Festival dot com.

A celebrity sighting at the Jersey Shore this weekend, several people ran into the boss, the man himself through Springsteen who was visiting his usual digs and man was one.

He stopped to take pictures with several fans who described the following behind him like something out of forest gump.

Maybe that's because he was born to run or maybe more likely because today marks the 50th anniversary of the born to run album being released August 25th 1975.

Mark the date that catapulted Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band to start him and to celebrate the anniversary the Jersey native is officially releasing an outtake from the album a song called "A Lonely Night in the Park."

And today Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone introduced a house resolution to honor the 50th anniversary of born to run and the impact that Springsteen's had over the course of his career earning 20 Grammys an Oscar, the presidential medal of freedom and having his birthday September 23rd officially declared Bruce Springsteen Day in New Jersey.

Before we leave you tonight, if you want to help support the program in public media brings you and keep stations like this one thriving head to njspotlightnews.org/donate And a reminder you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us anytime by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

Plus you can follow us on Instagram and Blue Sky to stay up to date on all the state's big headlines.

I'm Joanna Gagis for the entire team here at NJ Spotlight News.

Thanks for being with us, have a great night and we'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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