♪♪ >> From NJ PBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Brianna Vannozzi.

>> Hello, and thanks for joining us tonight.

I'm Joanna Gaggis.

Brianna Vannozzi is off.

Coming up, from the front lines to the home front, what's being done to assist veterans struggling with homelessness in New Jersey.

And later, how are you feeling about life in New Jersey?

We get the latest polling on what Jersey voters are feeling when it comes to state pride and their bottom line.

But first, another week, another round of extreme weather.

So is this just the new normal in New Jersey?

We'll take a closer look.

That's next.

- Funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

Learn more at rwjbh.org.

- Dangerous heat, flash flooding, tornadoes, and smoke from Canadian wildfires have made this a summer of pretty intense weather here in New Jersey.

So what's driving all this extreme weather, and should we expect more of it as the summer continues?

Joining us now is Nick Pittman, better known as Nor'easter Nick, with the forecast.

Nick, great to have you on the show.

We've had heat waves, tornadoes and flooding.

Oh, so much flooding in New Jersey this summer.

Is this just par for the course for living in this state?

Thanks so much for having me, first of all.

I appreciate you and it's great to be here.

Things have definitely evolved and changed over the course of time.

I've been doing this for 17 years and this is the most active summer by far that we have seen.

The wildfire smoke which actually helped us out kind of limit the convection and the tornadic activity a couple weeks back.

So it's kind of weird that we're thanking something that was inevitably harming our breathing abilities and whatnot.

But yeah, that whole thing was going on.

You have the dichotomy of the ridiculous drought conditions that we've had since late last year.

Well, we entered this summer with a deficit of about a foot of rain.

And then you compare that against, hey, we've had flash flooding every other day it seems for the entire month of July.

We have flash flooding out there this afternoon.

And a lot of folks out there think, oh, my backyard, but we got inundated.

We got a foot of rain over the past month and the drought must be gone.

But no, what's happening is the ground is so hardened because of how extreme the drought is, roughly about 60% of the downpour rain just goes off into the drainage systems.

And it doesn't actually go to the groundwater level.

So some of our areas are getting better.

Central North Jersey leaps and bounds better than where we were just a month ago.

Philly metro area down into Camden, Gloucester County.

We definitely have improvements there, but you still have a ways to go.

Our shore points, Atlanta County, Cape May County still in an extreme drought.

So I'll be very interested to see what the new numbers show us.

From the standpoint of tornadic activity, we are definitely seeing an uptick.

There's like a mini tornado alley now that goes from Lancaster, PA, into Browns Mills, right there in the heart of Burlington County.

And we have certainly seen more, they're called mesocyclonic thunderstorms and more wind shear.

And I think part of that is attributed to climate change, but the extreme... Let me jump in here.

Let me jump in here, Nick, because I do want to ask you why we're seeing these extremes.

And that was my question.

How much of this is, are we seeing warmer temperatures?

Are we seeing more extreme patterns because of warming up the climate?

So yes and no.

I'm going to say no because we've had hot weather in the past.

And this is kind of where the climate change messaging gets muddied a little bit.

And this is where you have people push back and they're like, Oh, well, you know, our record for this day came in 1888 and it was 102 degrees.

That is true.

That is absolutely true.

Yes, it has been hot in the past, but the consistency at which we are seeing the hotness now is greatly outweighing what we saw in the past.

You would have a handful of hundred degree days.

And now we are seeing multiple in a row.

Just in early July, we had five consecutive days that were over 100 degrees.

And then you factor in the humidity and it felt like we were at 110, 115 degrees.

That is not normal.

And that is something that is going to continue to burden our region.

We've had a southwesterly flow that has just pumped in the moisture.

And I think a part of this that is 110% attributed to climate change is the fact that there's so much moisture in the air around us.

So I'm going to give you this little fact.

Over the course of 50 years, so five decades, we have warmed our summer season about four to four and a half degrees.

For every degree that the air warms, the holding capacity for water vapor increases by 4%.

So we have about 16% more moisture in the air around us today than we did back in the 1970s.

And any thunderstorm, any system that is rolling through our area is taking advantage of that.

We look at something called the precipitable water values, the PWAT values, and those numbers have been consistently two and a half, two and three quarters inches.

So we know right off the bat that we are going to see major flooding concerns when you have these systems come on in and that that southerly flow just continues to pump that moisture into our backyards.

And unfortunately, I think that is going to be something that we do continue to see as the years go on and our climate continues to warm.

I have to ask, you know, some people will say, well, it's over development and there's just not enough, you know, greenery to absorb the water, but you say there's actually more precipitation, there's actually more.

Are we seeing kind of the confluence of two issues at play here that are leading to the intense, more intense flooding and more extreme flooding across the state, I'd say.

And that is 100% dead on.

That's exactly what's happening.

You know, I live in a suburb of Philadelphia.

It's kind of a concrete jungle around these parts too.

So when the rain is coming down at two, three inches plus an hour, it literally has nowhere to go.

Whereas if it's happening in the middle of a storm, like in Salem County, they have less of a flash flood concern because there's so much greenery.

When you go up into central North Jersey, the Northeast section part of the state, it's just concrete everywhere.

It's shopping malls.

It's parking lots.

So the rain can't just effectively seep down into the ground.

And now we have the issue with data centers that are eating up millions of gallons of water, and that's gonna exacerbate the situation in the future.

So yes, we have the natural climate change that's exacerbated by the acts of 8 billion people on this planet continuously polluting the environment and then we make it worse with the overdevelopment.

So it's kind of like the trifecta of things going on.

Okay, I'm gonna ask you a big question with just a little bit of time left.

One minute.

Your name is Northeastern Nick.

After all, we haven't talked hurricanes.

What can we expect?

What should we expect?

Any predictions there in terms of what before this season ends this hurricane season?

I've got good news and bad news.

Good news on the hurricane front.

Like it is completely shut off.

There's not a whole lot of activity whatsoever in the Atlantic Ocean because of El Nino.

So El Nino creates very strong trade winds across the tropics, all the way through the islands, all the way to the west coast of Africa, and that inhibits convective activity and overall development.

A couple seconds left, Nick.

So that is good.

Go ahead.

But we are going to be looking at an active nor'easter track as we get into the fall, and then that is when we're going to see a lot more rain, and some of those storms can be just as bad as tropical storms and hurricanes, as we're all very well aware.

-Yes, we all are very well aware.

It's not just because we live near the ocean and near so many rivers, but as you said, things are changing in our weather system.

Nick Pittman, Nor'easter Nick, President and CEO of NorCast Media Group.

Thank you so much.

-Thanks for having me.

-For too many veterans, one of the challenges after returning from service is finding and keeping permanent housing.

Well, the Sherrill administration is continuing a program started in 2024 called Bringing Veterans Home, and Governor Mikey Sherrill announced today the state has dedicated an advocate to help support veterans, an effort that'll go hand in hand with other statewide resources.

Here to explain what that network of support will look like is Major Vincent Salomino, and I'm joined by Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs, who joins us as part of our Under the Dorm series.

Commissioner, it's so great to have you on the show.

I spoke to you back in May, and we talked about a number of different initiatives happening within your department, but today we really want to zero in on the Bringing Veterans Home initiative.

Can you describe this program that I know was launched on Veterans Day in 2024?

Absolutely, and thank you for having me back.

I am so proud of what New Jersey has achieved through the State of New Jersey's Bringing Veterans Home program.

Since that launch in November of 2024, together with our partners at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, as well as non-profit, local, and federal partners, the State of New Jersey has permanently housed over 2,500 Garden State veterans and we are on track to ensure that veteran homelessness in New Jersey is brief, rare, and non-recurring.

The governor joined with you and you mentioned Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Jacqueline Soares recently, really at the Trenton War Memorial we should point out, but to announce that the state has fully funded housing resources so that no veteran has to go homeless.

Can you just help us understand what that means and what that looks like, that funding piece from the state?

That's right.

There are three key components to bring veterans home.

One, the state has surged the number of housing vouchers dedicated for veterans.

Two, we've deployed street outreach teams in six regions up and down the state to identify homeless veterans as well as veterans who are at risk of homelessness.

We find that right now the number one cause of homelessness in New Jersey in both the veteran and non-veteran population is eviction.

So we've been very broad in doing our best to outreach to folks to provide them with the services that they've earned through their time in uniform.

And lastly, we don't believe as a key component of the program of handing someone the keys to a house or an apartment and saying good luck.

So bringing veterans home also provides wraparound case management support so that veterans can access the benefits that they have earned through their time in the armed forces.

It's like Commissioner, you looked at my notes and you knew where I was going.

You just touched on all the pieces, but I do want to follow up on because certainly a whole lot to drill down on here.

First, when we talk about housing vouchers for those who are not, you know, intimately involved in the lingo and the language, what does that actually mean?

So New Jersey set aside funds in the state budget under Governor Sherrill's leadership, as well as deployed vouchers, which provide a veteran in this case, with the ability to go to a private landlord and rent their home using the voucher, which is typically somewhere around the market value, depending on where they are in the state.

I do want to emphasize that these vouchers are both state, largely state, but also some federal and that's a result of our partnership with the U.S.

Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Okay, you talked about street teams and I want to better understand how you actually reach those in need because in the conversations we've had with folks who work in the homelessness space, they tell us consistently it's hard sometimes to find the people who need the services the most.

How do street teams deploy to actually find those individuals in need?

As I mentioned, we have six regions that we have set the state into, and those loosely correspond to other regions that are used by our partners in homelessness prevention throughout New Jersey.

The street outreach teams are managed, executed by nonprofit organizations with specific local subject matter expertise in their area.

For example, the needs of the community in Sussex County, New Jersey are very different than the needs of the community in Middlesex County or Cape May County.

And so by dividing the state into six regions, we deploy these teams into the community to identify one, folks think often of street homeless veterans, which is the most tragic and frankly the most dangerous during extreme heat or extreme cold, but also the teams work with veteran service organizations.

We have formerly partnered with the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, so that local posts and chapters when they encounter a veteran in crisis, they know how to get in touch with bringing veterans home.

And our expectation is that within hours, and I mean that to underscore, within hours the veteran is connected to someone who can help them achieve rapid housing as we navigate a permanent housing outcome.

You touched on wraparound services and as you're talking to I can't help but think of the folks who we heard and I don't know the number specifically that was confirmed but folks who were found to be dead after that extreme heat wave who some say were unhoused or struggling with homelessness at the time.

How do you ensure that they not only get a roof over their head, but access, you called it wraparound services, all the services they need that kind of holistic care to help make sure that they can stay on their feet.

>> For me, bringing veterans home and our work to effectively end veteran homelessness is one of the signal achievements of New Jersey State Government within the last decade.

This is an example of government agencies organizing ourselves around a problem as we deploy a solution as opposed to asking an individual in crisis to navigate sometimes complex bureaucracies.

So our partners at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, they are the subject matter experts in homelessness prevention.

You spoke about the tragedies relating to extreme heat.

I'm so privileged to work beside colleagues who know exactly how to navigate the housing systems in New Jersey.

And then here at the New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs, we have a veteran service office in each of our 21 counties, staffed by trained and accredited officers who can help a veteran navigate access to healthcare, education, job training, a host of services.

And so I'm really proud of what New Jersey offers veterans, and we're certainly going to continue to improve, but this is a great start as we seek to effectively end veteran homelessness.

Are the challenges for female veterans different when it comes to helping them access housing or other wraparound services?

Women veterans are the fastest growing demographic within the veterans community in New Jersey and you correctly identify that yes, women veterans who are experiencing housing insecurity face different challenges.

Oftentimes those those veterans may have dependents children and so the solution for them when we think about rapid housing may not necessarily be a shelter, but it may be a more tailored solution and that's why I'm so pleased to partner with the nonprofit organizations up and down the state.

who know organizations like soldier on organizations like Catholic charities who know exactly how to support the veteran in need.

You just said you want to effectively and veteran homelessness and I know the last time we spoke you use the term functional 0.

But as I understand that the terminology is changing.

What is the goal how do you describe it now.

>> We understand that when we say functional 0 and this is a a term that's used within the homelessness prevention space that folks may say OK the state has said that they've achieved functional 0 but I'm driving down the street in my town and I encounter a homeless veteran will the state said they ended veteran homelessness.

What we have done here is build a system.

We want folks to know that we now have the capacity to ensure that as veterans experience crises because let's face it we're never going to permanently solve the problem for good people have emergencies they lose jobs they have issues with family and substance use but as veterans become vulnerable and become at risk of homelessness we have built a system under Governor Sherrill's leadership with support from the legislature to ensure that we have the capacity to take veterans entering homelessness and bring more out on the other side into permanent housing outcomes as we have with the over 2,500 Garden State heroes who've been housed under this program.

So you capture them as the need arises.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate you explaining this this important work that you're doing.

Major Vincent Salamino, Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

Under the Dome is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

How do you feel about being from Jersey?

Are you generally satisfied with the economy and its impact on your life?

A recent poll from the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University asked questions like this to gauge how the average New Jersey resident feels about life in our state.

I'm joined right now by Ashley Koning, who's the director of the poll.

Ashley, it's so great to have you on the show.

I know you've been talking a lot to New Jersey residents this summer.

What did you hear when you asked them if they had Jersey pride?

Oh, so you know we we may love to make fun of our state and tell jokes about New Jersey and complain and be frustrated with taxes but I am happy to say that New Jerseyans have a lot of pride when it comes to the state of New Jersey.

35% say they have a lot of pride, 35% say they have some pride.

So we're looking at 7 in 10 New Jerseyans who say they have some level of pride in the state and while there may be differences in degree, this really cuts across a whole host of key demographics where we usually see a lot of division.

So you know this Jersey pride thing, it is real among New Jerseyans and clearly you know we're the best state in the country.

So it's always good to reaffirm our love for the Garden State.

No argument here.

I know you got into a little bit more and we're going to get into it ourselves in terms of how people feel about the life that they're living here in the state.

But did you drill down with anyone in terms of why they feel Jersey Pride, especially those who feel it the strongest?

You know, we weren't able to do that this time, but in our 55 years, we've been able to do that time and time again a little bit.

And it's really the quality of life that we get in New Jersey.

And we see this from quality of life ratings that we've taken throughout the decades as well, that it's it's the culture, it's the environment, it's the arts that we're able to have, the level of education that New Jersey offers.

There's a real love for New Jersey, what it has geographically, what it has culturally, diversity.

These are all things that New Jerseyans have pointed to in the past for why they truly love their state.

I'm curious among the detractors, those who don't have as much Jersey pride versus those who absolutely love living here.

Did you find a split anywhere along party lines?

You know, there was a little bit of a partisan difference, but again, it was really in the degree to which people said that they were had pride in living here, not necessarily where we saw something that was incredibly lopsided.

Of course, Democrats are a little more positive than Republicans, but you know, we see this with every public opinion measure nowadays.

When your party is in power, you're more hopeful, you're more positive.

When your party is out of power, on all of these kinds of measures, you're typically more negative.

Sometimes your state pride can be tied to how well you feel you can succeed in a state, right?

What did you ask when it comes to the economy and people's finances really?

Yeah, we did a check-in when it came to how New Jerseyans felt about the national economy and how they felt about what's going on in their own wallets and pocketbooks.

So 58 percent of New Jerseyans rated the U.S.

economy as bad or very bad.

Just 18 percent said good or very good.

Another 53 percent said that the U.S.

job market is bad.

But then when it came to how New Jerseyans rated themselves, actually almost half, 48 percent, were positive about their own financial situation.

And 52 percent were positive about their own employment.

And these are actually numbers that exceed what Americans think nationally when the same questions were fielded at the national level.

So, New Jerseyans, much more positive about their circumstances than Americans nationwide when it comes to what's happening economically within the state, but pretty sour on the nation as a whole when it comes to how the nation is doing with the job market and the economy.

Utility bills, energy costs have been a big topic of conversation here in the state.

I see you did ask some questions about utility bills as well as groceries.

Can you delve into that a bit for us?

This is no surprise.

73 percent said that they're reducing their utilities.

61 percent said they're changing the groceries that they're buying.

60 percent said they're cutting back on certain extras like entertainment.

One of the good, one of the positives come out of this, even though there are a lot of personal cutbacks, we do see that New Jersians are slightly less likely than Americans as a whole to say that they're cutting back, cancelling, postponing health care appointments.

So only 27% said they are cancelling or postponing those kinds of important appointments.

But overall, definitely a cutting back among New Jerseyans.

And really, unfortunately, very kind of stark representation of these two New Jerseys that we often have, where we see that overall, these numbers may not look terrible.

But when we look under the hood, it's really those subgroups who are suffering most or the most disadvantaged that are cutting back the most and have the worst view on their own economics and on their job prospects.

So when we look at this, usually those... Oh, go ahead.

Did you see that breakdown by demographic?

Yeah, very much so.

So we saw that younger New Jerseyans, Black New Jerseyans and lower income New Jerseyans are the most likely to say that they are having difficulty with their own finances and that they're cutting back on a lot of these items.

I thought this was interesting.

You asked about the spread of misinformation and whether people saw that as a problem.

Before we get to the results, I'm curious why you asked that question.

So you know, it's a crazy time when we're talking about the news and the media environment.

We obviously have unprecedented levels of technology and we know that all politics is local and that politics starts at the local level.

And unfortunately, it's not just New Jerseyans.

It's really any citizen in the country is not necessarily as well informed about what's going on at the local level as the national level.

And so when we did this collaboration with the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, we wanted to ask about the level of misinformation and how problematic New Jerseyans thought it was.

What did you hear there?

Are people concerned?

Do people see this as a big problem in New Jersey?

Very much so.

Almost everybody does.

Sixty percent say it's a big problem.

Twenty-two percent say it's a moderate problem.

So this is clearly seen by eight in ten New Jerseyans as some sort of problem in the state that there is misinformation looming about.

I'm curious, does that get more granular and do you see a divide there again by party?

Because I wonder if there are multiple sides pointing the finger at each other as being the cause or reason for misinformation.

Yeah, and again, this is something we always see.

It's very rare these days to not see a partisan split here.

But by the same token, we do see more agreement than disagreement when it comes to something like misinformation.

And you know, it may be parties are not agreeing on the solution, but they definitely all see it as a problem to some extent.

All right.

Good stuff.

You always give us a good sampling of how New Jerseyans are feeling.

Appreciate you coming on the show.

Ashley Koning, Director of the Eagleton Center for Public Address Polling at Rutgers University.

Thanks, Ashley.

Thank you.

That's going to do it for us.

But before we leave you tonight, I want to give a special shout out to our producer, Katie Crist, who's been a part of our team for the last five years.

Katie's been a true force behind the scenes of this show, always taking on tough challenges with a positive attitude and a smile.

We wish you the best of luck, Katie, on your next adventure.

And thank you for all the memories.

On behalf of everyone here at NJ Spotlight News, I'm Joanna Gaggis.

Thank you for being with us.

We'll see you next time.

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