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

⬛  More pharmacies closing in New Jersey, adding to layoffs

💊 List of pharmacy closures gets longer in NJ
💊 Rite Aid is closing nearly a thousand locations
💊 Closings lead to layoffs in NJ

New Jersey’s single largest company layoff announcement this year, so far, just got bigger.

Rite Aid announced in May that 1,122 workers at locations statewide would be laid off on a rolling basis, starting June 4.

That same month, the pharmacy store chain announced 16 New Jersey stores would be closed as part of its overall Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.

Now, another four New Jersey stores have been added to the list, for a total of 20 store closures — among 957 Rite Aid closures announced nationwide.

That leaves 40 locations in the state, according to the company’s website.

⬛  Convicted sex offender accused of new lewd act in car outside NJ mall

🚨 Convicted sex offender arrested again
🚨 Qushine Tolbert arrested at a South Jersey Mall
🚨 Police say he is a multiple offender

HAMILTON (Atlantic) — A convicted sex offender has been accused of lurking in a parked car at a local mall and filming a woman while pleasuring himself from the driver’s seat.

On Friday, officers from the Township of Hamilton Police Department responded to a report of the lewd act while seated in his vehicle in a parking lot of Hamilton Mall.

Qushine Tolbert, a 36-year-old man from Bridgeton, has been charged with fourth-degree lewdness observed by a child younger than 13.

Tolbert was previously convicted in 2022 of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact after being arrested in 2021 on similar charges.

He was also arrested for similar alleged incidents in 2016, according to court records and a Facebook post to a local page after the weekend incident.

Tolbert is listed on the state sex offender registry online as a tier two, moderate risk offender.

⬛  New Jersey on high alert after strikes on Iran nuclear facilities

🔴 New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness issues alert
🔴 Local law enforcement issues warnings

The top domestic security officials in New Jersey and the United States are on high alert and on the lookout for possible attacks after strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump ordered B-2 bombers to drop 30,000 bunker-busting bombs on Iran. The bombings were the first action the U.S. had taken to directly enter the conflict between Israel and Iran that began on June 13.

While the strikes happened over 6,000 miles away from New Jersey, they will affect thousands of residents in the Garden State.

According to the Berman Jewish DataBank, around 626,000 New Jersey residents are Jewish. And according to the Migration Policy Institute, around 5,800 New Jersey residents were immigrants born in Iran as of 2023.

On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that retaliation from Iran or violent extremists could target groups that are "Jewish, pro-Israel, or linked to the US government."

⬛ This fish — not a shark — attacked a swimmer's leg

🏊‍♀️ A man swimming off Barnegat Light was bit and injured by a sea creature
🏊‍♀️ Was it a shark or something else?
🏊‍♀️ The swimmer is expected to be okay

BARNEGAT LIGHT — Was it a shark or something else that bit a man while he was swimming in the waters off Ocean County over the weekend?

On Saturday, June 21, at approximately 11:39 a.m., the Long Beach Township Police Department responded to the beachfront in Barnegat Light to assist Barnegat Light Beach Patrol with an injured swimmer, according to the police.

The man, who was swimming near the 9th Street beach, came out with a minor leg injury.

According to the Barnegat Light First Aid Squad, the injury appears to be consistent with that of a sword-like fish, called a needlefish, and not a shark.

The man was taken to Southern Ocean Medical Center for treatment. He is expected to be OK.

Needlefish, which can grow to about two feet long, have a long, narrow body with elongated jaws and sharp teeth, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

⬛ NJ Budget deal - How much more you will pay

💲 Deadline for new state budget is one week from today
💲 Gov. Murphy and Democratic leaders reach deal on tax hikes
💲Property tax relief is included in deal

There was no doubt you were going to pay more under Gov. Phil Murphy's final budget before he leaves office. The only real question was how much more and for what.

It is being reported that Murphy and Democratic legislative leaders have reached an agreement on tax hikes.

Murphy's proposed budget set a new record and continued his trend of spending more money than the state already collects in taxes. To pay for this latest round of excess spending, Murphy proposed $1.2 billion in new taxes and fees.

The tentative agreement being reported on NJ.com includes tax hikes on cigarettes, luxury homes, and online gaming. However, Murphy's fellow Democrats rejected so-called "fun taxes" on things like bowling, batting cages, and laser tag.

Under the deal, New Jersey will tax cigarettes at $3 per pack. Murphy had wanted a 25% tax hike on sports betting and online gaming. Lawmakers agreed to 20%.

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

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