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

⬛ These are the NJ towns that actually lowered property taxes

💲 New Jersey pays the highest property taxes in the nation
💲 Average property tax bills now top $10,000
💲 Here are the NJ municipalities that lowered property taxes

New Jersey is infamous for high taxes.

When it comes to property taxes, we are a solid number one in the United States. No one else is even close.

For the first time, the average property tax bill in New Jersey has topped $10,000.

While the average increase in property taxes for 2024 (3.2%) is actually down from the year before (3.0% in 2023), state data shows an average bill of $10,095.

Despite the many fiscal challenges local towns face, a handful do mange to lower taxes each year.

Click the headline to see which towns actually did lower the tax burden on their residents.

⬛ Dow drops 1,600 in response to Trump's tariffs

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street shuddered, and a level of shock unseen since COVID’s outbreak tore through financial markets worldwide Thursday on worries about the damage President Donald Trump’s newest set of tariffs could do to economies across continents, including his own.

The S&P 500 sank 4.8%, more than in major markets across Asia and Europe, for its worst day since the pandemic crashed the economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,679 points, or 4%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 6%.

Little was spared in financial markets as fear flared about the potentially toxic mix of weakening economic growth and higher inflation that tariffs can create.

Everything from crude oil to Big Tech stocks to the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies fell. Even gold, which hit records recently as investors sought something safer to own, pulled lower. Some of the worst hits walloped smaller U.S. companies, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks dropped 6.6% to pull more than 20% below its record.

Investors worldwide knew Trump was going to announce a sweeping set of tariffs late Wednesday, and fears surrounding it had already pulled Wall Street’s main measure of health, the S&P 500 index, 10% below its all-time high. But Trump still managed to surprise them with “the worst case scenario for tariffs,” according to Mary Ann Bartels, chief investment officer at Sanctuary Wealth.

⬛ Anti-MAGA rallies coming to NJ as part of nationwide effort

New Jersey will play host to over two dozen anti-MAGA demonstrations on Saturday, April 5, in what is set to be the largest single day of protest against the second Trump administration yet.

That date is the National Day of Action for Hands Off!, which is described a movement "in defiance of the Trump-Musk billionaire takeover and the Republican assault on our freedoms and our communities," according to a bulletin from the group's wing in Boston.

"This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history," in the words of the organizers.

"Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way."

Over 1,100 non-violent visibility events and meetings were scheduled in all 50 states as of April 2, and 26 of them are in New Jersey.

⬛ Masked burglars dressed in black spotted in 2 nice neighborhoods

🔷 Trio seen breaking into homes
🔷 Tried to steal car key, cops say
🔷 Residents warned to stay alert

Police in at least two Central New Jersey towns are warning residents to secure their vehicles and homes and stay vigilant after a trio of burglars was spotted on security cameras.

East Windsor Police responded to a residential burglary call on Copland Court, early Wednesday around 3:15 a.m.

Three suspects, one with a crowbar, had pulled up in a vehicle and parked along the curb.

They tried and failed to get inside a home through two front windows and forced entry through the front door.

Police said inside, the trio did find a car key, but did not steal it, leaving before police arrived.

Just days earlier, South River Police responded to calls about an attempted home burglary on March 28, at 3:51 a.m.

⬛ NJ can't charge cop-killing teen as adult, so feds say they will

🚨 The 14-year-old charged with killing a Newark cop cannot be tried as an adult by NJ
🚨 U.S. Attorney Alina Habba has filed to charge him as an adult
🚨 'The message is very clear: If you’re a child, I don’t care,' Habba said

Interim New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba says she has filed to have the 14-year-old accused of the murder of Newark police Detective Joseph Azcona charged as an adult.

Under state law, a 14-year-old cannot be charged as an adult no matter the seriousness of the crime. The suspect's identity is protected and the proceedings are not public. According to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office the teen has been charged with murder.

Habba, who assumed her temporary post on Wednesday, accompanied U.S. Marshals with the arrest of an 18-year-old who belonged to the Bloods gang, according to the New York Post. The 14-year-old belonged to the same gang.

"The message is very clear: If you’re a child, I don’t care. If you shoot a cop, you’re getting tried as an adult. I have no tolerance for violence and we’re gonna clean up New Jersey,” Habba told the Post, adding that she met Azcona’s parents at a Mass this week. “He’s 14 years old, he’s part of a gang — he shot a cop who came out to get him and the officer is now dead. He was 26 years old."

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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