Here are the top New Jersey news stories for Wednesday:

⬛ NJ gives ultimatum to Jenkinson's over popular beach spot

Movie Night on the beach at Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant Beach
Movie Night on the beach at Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant Beach (Jenkinson's)
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POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Jenkinson's has been warned to open its beaches by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The company that owns the sand strip in Point Pleasant Beach in a deal that goes back to 1926 closed off all access to the beach after Labor Day without explanation.

Mayor Paul Kanitra on his Facebook page said it was apparently because of an earlier off-season drowning and lawsuit.

⬛ NJ Drivers: Don’t fall for this gas pump scam

Getty Images/Townsquare Media illustration (Photo by Tim Boyle/Newsmakers)
Getty Images/Townsquare Media illustration
(Photo by Tim Boyle/Newsmakers)
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New Jersey residents could be particularly vulnerable to a gas pump scam in Pennsylvania.

If you are not careful, it could cost you big bucks.

Here's how the scam works, and how to protect yourself.

⬛ Murphy says that NJ offshore wind project at risk of failing

(AP Photo/Wayne Parry/Canva)
(AP Photo/Wayne Parry/Canva)
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ATLANTIC CITY — Offshore wind projects need more federal funding and planning assistance to ensure they get built, the Democratic governors of six northeastern states told the Biden administration, warning that a cornerstone of the climate change fight could be in jeopardy.

President Joe Biden can take three steps — on tax credits, revenue sharing and permits — to help the nascent wind industry deal with challenges like inflation, supply chain and other issues, according to the letter Wednesday from the governors of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

⬛ Tensions boil over at RWJ strike as nurses and security clash

RWJ nurses on the picket line 9/14/23 (Screengrab)
RWJ nurses on the picket line 9/14/23 (Screengrab)
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NEW BRUNSWICK — Striking Robert Wood Johnson nurses have filed police reports for what they say was an assault on the picket line outside University Hospital.

The incident caught on video took place Thursday evening at the employee parking garage at RWJ University Hospital in New Brunswick, said Renee Bacany, who has been a nurse at the hospital for 17 years.

⬛ NJ announces new teacher of the year for 2023-2024

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Canva
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The annual award went this year to Joseph Nappi, a social studies teacher at Monmouth Regional High School.

The Rowan graduate has been teaching at the high school for 18 years. He teaches Holocaust, Genocide, and Modern Humanity, as well as U.S. History. Since taking over the Holocaust class, he has taken more than 600 students to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Places in New Jersey where you can now carry a legal gun

New Jersey passed its own law in December, trying to ban legal guns from “sensitive places.” 

A federal judge found many of those spots to be legally protected on grounds of armed self-defense, noting in her opinion, “Crowded locations are not sensitive places."

As of June, a federal appeals court granted the state attorney general's request to keep part of the law that bars people from carrying handguns in “sensitive places” in effect. The decision means handguns cannot be carried in places such as zoos, public parks, public libraries and museums, bars, and health care facilities. The law bars handguns from being carried in those places as well as schools and child care facilities. The lower court's May injunction did not specify those locations, and the appeals court also didn't remove the prohibition in those places.

Which NJ college campuses have more women than men?

New Jersey colleges & universities have seen an average of 40-thousand more women than men as undergraduates, in recent years. State data does not include a non-binary gender category. Here's how fall 2022 enrollment stacked up on NJ campuses.

Most popular town names that NJ shares with the rest of the country

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New Jersey's First News with Eric Scott is the longest running news program in New Jersey. Eric Scott began hosting the program in 1991.

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

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