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

🔗 Gas prices in NJ rising rapidly: See how much and where

⛽Gas prices in NJ will keep rising as global oil markets swing wildly
⛽Threats to the Strait of Hormuz are pushing crude back above $100 a barrel
⛽ Rising diesel and summer gasoline blends could drive prices higher for NJ drivers

Gas prices in New Jersey are not expected to drop anytime soon as oil prices remain on a volatile roller coaster ride.

The price of oil jumped to $115 per barrel early in the week but then fell to $80 on comments from President Donald Trump that the conflict with Iran was nearly over. The price per barrel jumped back up over $100 as of Thursday on news that Iran planted naval mines designed to damage oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

DeHaan said that the average price per gallon of regular gas is at about $3.51 in New Jersey and poised to go up with the introduction of summer blends, adding 15-25 cents a gallon. That's up 60 cents from a month ago and still less than the national average of $3.59. Gas was last this high in 2024.

🔗 US hits Iran with intense strikes as Iranian air campaign drives oil prices higher

https://apnews.com/live/iran-war-israel-trump-03-13-2026

Trump made the post Friday on his Truth Social website, saying that “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.”

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” Trump wrote. “What a great honor it is to do so!” Intense strikes hit Tehran and areas surrounding Iran’s capital, as Iran continued striking at neighboring Arab Gulf States, helping to drive oil prices back above $100 a barrel.

🔗 AI boom hits NJ: Residents blast constant noise

⚡ A 2.6 million-sq.-ft. AI data center in Vineland has launched, will reach 300 megawatts of power capacity.
🔊 Residents say the facility produces a constant loud humming, sparking noise complaints.
💧 Critics warn the project requires immense power and sits above the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, raising concerns about potential pollution and resource use.

VINELAND — A massive AI data center now roaring to life in South Jersey is setting off alarms among nearby residents.

Neighbors in Vineland say the sprawling facility runs 24 hours a day with a constant industrial hum, triggering a wave of noise complaints and fresh questions about how the project was approved in the first place.

The 2.6-million-square-foot data center built to feed the exploding demand for artificial intelligence could eventually draw as much as 300 megawatts of power, an enormous energy load at a time when New Jersey residents are already paying shocking electric bills.

Critics say the project exposes a growing tension playing out across the country as tech giants race to build power-hungry data centers while communities worry about noise, pollution and a drain on local resources.

In Vineland, the controversy started long before the humming began. Because the property sits in an Urban Enterprise Zone at the corner of Lincoln and Sheridan avenues, residents living nearby were not required to be notified before the massive redevelopment project got the green light — meaning many locals say they only discovered the huge facility after construction was already underway, Pinelands Alliance has pointed out.

Now the center — backed by a multibillion-dollar AI deal tied to Microsoft — is up and running in phases, powered largely by on-site natural gas engines running around the clock.

🔗 Domestic violence warning signs emerge after family slaughter

🚨A man kills his estranged wife and her parents at their Berkeley home
🚨Ring camera shows the mother running for her life as the gunman chases and fires
🚨The couple fought in a QuickChek parking lot in February, according to NJ.com

BERKELEY — Tragic details are coming out about the morning when Vaughn Stewart shot and killed the mother of his children and his in-laws before taking his own life.

Police records reveal that Stewart, 37, of Maplewood, also had a history of domestic violence, including a public and brutal attack on a woman at a convenience store just weeks earlier.

Stewart went to his in-laws' home on Fairwood Drive in Berkeley around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, when he shot Allan Russell, 61, and Michelle Russell, 60, the parents of his wife, Deonna Stewart. She had been living in her parents' home with the children since their separation.

Stewart then shot his wife, Deonna Stewart, 38, after chasing her about 50 yards down the street. While police were in the home after neighbors called about hearing gunshots, Vaughn Stewart shot himself in the head, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer.

On Feb. 11, Cranford police were called to a Quick Chek store. Vaughn Stewart and a woman were fighting in the parking lot, according to NJ.com. The woman had been struck in the neck with a phone and a braid was pulled from her head. The woman, who was not identified because it was a domestic violence case, told police he threatened to murder her and her family. Vaughn Stewart was charged with making terroristic threats, harassment and simple assault.

🔗 Critics slam rigged formula as some districts cash in big

🍎 Gov. Sherrill proposes record $12.4B in school aid — but many districts still lose funding
💰 Aid increases capped at 6% and cuts at 3%, drawing criticism from both sides
🏫 Funding battles already hitting towns with school closures, lawsuits

TRENTON — Gov. Mikie Sherrill is proposing a record $12.4 billion in state aid for K-12 schools but the plan will do little to allay critics of the opaque funding formula — or the districts that would lose out.

The proposed funding — part of Sherrill’s fiscal year 2027 budget — would increase school aid by $372 million statewide, while capping reductions so no district loses more than 3% of its aid. This cap saves districts from having to lose another $188.4 million in aid.

On the other end, the governor's plan also caps increases to no more than 6%, which critics say shortchanges districts that were long overdue for their fair share.

Under Sherrill's first proposal, 167 school districts would get less than last year. Three dozen will see increases in the multi-millions, including a staggering $60.6 million to Newark, the state's largest district. Newark's state aid haul would amount to more than $1.38 billion.

The largest aid increases again go mostly to major urban districts. Officials say the increases reflect factors such as poverty levels, enrollment and updated special-education counts. But the numbers also reinforce a long-running debate over how state aid is distributed.

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

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