Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show with Eric Scott on Wednesday:

⬛ Trump administration says congestion tolling must end in April

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it's not backing off its latest deadline for New York to end its $9 congestion toll on drivers entering the most traffic-snarled parts of Manhattan, despite a recent court filing that indicated the charge would remain at least through the summer.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who called the toll a “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners," originally told the state to end the tolling program by March 21. When state officials refused, federal authorities set a new deadline of April 20. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had said the state intended to ignore that deadline, too.

The dispute headed to federal court in Manhattan, where the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the regional transit agency — sued Duffy over his February decision to rescind the toll’s federal approval. Congestion pricing advocates say it’s meant to deter drivers and relieve traffic backups while providing billions of dollars for the city’s transit system.

Lawyers for the two sides recently reached an agreement that appeared to slow things down. They proposed a briefing schedule that allows for court filings through the end of July and possibly into October, while government lawyers indicated they wouldn't seek an injunction to stop the tolls while the lawsuit proceeds, according to a joint letter dated Friday and signed by an MTA lawyer to the judge in the case.

But the U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that it wasn't backing off from its immediate demands to end the tolling. In a post on the social platform X, the agency said the April 20 deadline stands.

⬛ One way to avoid tariffs on booze in NJ

🍺 Is the economy driving you to drink?
🍺 Trump tariffs making booze more expensive
🍺 One possible way to avoid paying the tariff

As President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to take hold and our retirement accounts take a hit, it might drive you to drink.

Unfortunately, that is also going to cost you more.

The full impact of the tariffs is not yet clear, but whether you are buying Budweiser or a fine French wine to drown your sorrows, the price is going up.

I was at my local liquor store recently and spoke with a number of people who said they were stocking up on their favorite adult beverages to try and avoid the rise in cost due to tariffs.

The store I was at was dealing with shortages of some products due to a spike in demand.

Click the headline to reveal one way to avoid the tariffs.

⬛ Iconic — and priceless — NJ diner is now closed and for sale

🍔 The Bendix Diner first opened in 1947
🍔 Many commercials, movies and TV shows have been filmed at the Bendix
🍔 Expensive repairs have forced owner John Diakakis to put it up for sale

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS — The owner of the iconic Bendix Diner has thrown in the kitchen towel and put the eatery on the market because of major equipment issues.

The diner built in 1947 between the north and southbound lanes of Route 17, was nearly closed by the Board of Health because of problems with the fire suppression system. It has needed replacing since 2019 but has proven to be cost-prohibitive. The health department first limited his menu offerings to cold items but has since revoked the license completely.

Nick Rogers of the New York-based brokers IPRG told New Jersey 101.5 the diner and about a third of an acre of property went on the market in March for a sale or lease. The diner could conceivably be reopened if the fire suppression system were replaced.

Calling the site "unmatched," Rogers said there are many options for the property ranging from restaurants, billboards and cell phone towers to offices, retail and hotels.

⬛ Lumberton mayor's husband to media: Leave us alone, let her heal!

🔴 Lumberton Mayor Gina LaPlaca is in a 30-day inpatient rehab facility
🔴 Her husband asked for the media to leave the family alone
🔴 The Township Committee has passed two resolutions about LaPlaca

LUMBERTON — The husband of embattled Mayor Gina LaPlaca has made another plea to the media to leave her alone after her high-profile DWI arrest with a water bottle of vodka and her child in the car.

LaPlaca was charged with driving under the influence and endangering a child after being stopped in the driveway of her Lumberton home on St. Patrick's Day.

Lumberton police released body cam footage of her sobriety test, arrest and her time in a holding cell.

According to her husband, Jason Carty, she is in a 30-day in-patient treatment program and has missed two township committee meetings.

Carty spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer and asked everyone to “leave her alone” so she could “get better.” He also said that LaPlaca missed their son’s third birthday and expressed frustration at the number of media outlets trying to talk to him.
“It���s not like she’s the mayor of some big city. Lumberton has only 13,000 people. All I want is for my wife to get better and for everyone to leave her alone,” Carty told the Inquirer.

⬛ Man loses legal bid to cash in chips from now-defunct NJ casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A man cannot redeem nearly $60,000 in chips from a now-defunct casino that he bought at an online auction because they were "pilfered" by an employee of a company who was supposed to destroy them, a New Jersey appellate panel has ruled.

The man tried to cash in the 389 chips in January 2023 with the state Treasury Department's Unclaimed Property Administration, which was responsible for covering the redemption value of outstanding chips the Playboy Hotel and Casino had issued to patrons while in operation from 1981 to 1984. As part of its closing, the casino had transferred funds to the UPA to cover such redemptions.

The man told the UPA he had bought the chips — which were worth $59,500 — at an online auction and did not know their source. New Jersey State Police eventually determined that the casino had hired a company that was supposed to destroy the chips after it closed, but a former employee of that company “had pilfered several boxes of unused chips” sometime around 1990 and put them in a bank deposit box, the appellate panel noted.

The ex-employee told authorities that he later declared bankruptcy and forgot about the bank deposit box. The bank where the chips were stored opened the box in 2010 and confiscated the chips, eventually sending them to the auction house from which Hawkins purchased them.

The UPA rejected the man's claim in June 2023, noting the chips had not been issued to patrons in the normal course of casino operations.

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

Eric Scott hosts the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show from 6 - 10 a.m. on New Jersey 101.5.

Join the conversation by calling 1-800-283-1015 or download the NJ101.5 app.

Eric Scott is the senior political director and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.