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

⬛ NJ’s REAL ID gridlock meets TSA’s $45 workaround

✈️ TSA will charge a $45 for travelers without REAL ID or other acceptable ID
✈️ Getting a REAL ID in New Jersey remains difficult but is not impossible
✈️ The MVC says strict federal document rules are slowing REAL ID processing

If you've been holding off on getting a REAL ID, the TSA has given you an incentive to get one. While it remains difficult to get one quickly in New Jersey, it is not impossible.

Beginning Feb. 1, 2026, travelers who do not present an acceptable form of ID at security checkpoints and still want to fly can pay a $45 fee and go through the TSA Confirm.ID process, a modernized alternative identity verification system, for a 10-day travel period, the Transportation Security Administration announced.

Getting a REAL ID license at a New Jersey MVC branch by the deadline is nearly impossible. When New Jersey 101.5 tried to make an appointment online for a REAL ID on Dec.9, appointments were not available at any branch until February.

MVC spokesman William Connolly pointed out that 80% of New Jersey residents have passports, which would allow them to fly without paying the new fee after Feb. 1.

"New Jersey leads the nation in passport holders per capita. About 80% of New Jerseyans have a passport, on top of the 2 million-plus that already have a Real ID license. We want people to be aware that this fee is not going to be applicable for them. They will be able to clear checkpoints," Connolly said.

⬛ Rising Health Insurance Costs Leave Many New Jerseyans Uneasy

For many New Jersey residents, health insurance feels like that one household chore you understand well enough to get done — but you still dread dealing with. A new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll confirms what plenty of people across the state are already saying at the kitchen table: we know how this system works, but we don’t exactly love it.

Most insured New Jersey voters feel pretty sure they understand their coverage. Eighty-four percent say they’re confident navigating their plan, and a solid majority feel comfortable comparing options. Talk to folks in Edison, Cherry Hill, or Clifton, and you’ll hear the same thing: “I know what I bought — I just don’t always like what it costs.”

Costs remain the loudest complaint. Roughly half of voters say they give “a great deal” of thought to price when making healthcare decisions. Women, nonwhite voters, and households earning under $100,000 report paying the closest attention — a sign that even routine care can feel like a budgeting exercise.

⬛ Cranford families blast secrecy over teen’s violent past

✅ Family outraged over newly revealed police calls about suspect's violent behavior
✅ Records show parents sought police help four times as teen grew 'violent'
✅ Victims’ family questions why calls were not known until now

CRANFORD — The parents of a 17-year-old who is accused of fatally mowing down two girls at 70 mph had called police four times in August about their son becoming violent, according to NJ.com.

Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas were sitting on an eBike on Burnside Avenue in Cranford on Sept. 29 when the teen hit them from behind with a Jeep Compass, according to officials. The teen is charged with two counts of first-degree murder as a juvenile.

Attorney Brent Bramnick, who represents the victims families, said the calls have raised serious concerns about the suspect's behavior in the weeks before the deaths of the girls. The Niotis family is upset that the information was not made public until now.

"Now we have more incidents prior to the swatting, prior to to the incident itself, and we want to know what's going on. What did they do?" Bramnick told New Jersey 101.5

Bramnick said the 60-day deadline has passed for Union County Prosecutor William Reynolds to apply for the charges to be waived up to an adult level. Because it's still a juvenile case, the public will not know until possibly February if the waiver was approved.

⬛ Botulism outbreak sickens more than 50 babies and expands to all ByHeart products

Federal health officials on Wednesday expanded an outbreak of infant botulism tied to recalled ByHeart baby formula to include all illnesses reported since the company began production in March 2022.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said investigators “cannot rule out the possibility that contamination might have affected all ByHeart formula products” ever made.

The outbreak now includes at least 51 infants in 19 states, including New Jersey. The new case definition includes “any infant with botulism who was exposed to ByHeart formula at any time since the product’s release,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent illness was reported on Dec. 1.

No deaths have been reported in the outbreak, which was announced Nov. 8.

⬛ Arrests made in Newark mass shooting, report says

A mass shooting that left three dead, including a 10-year-old boy rocked has rocked the city of Newark and left residents stunned and outraged.

Leads toward the shooter or shooters have been difficult to come by, but there is a report this morning that multiple suspects are in custody.

CBS New York is reporting four individuals are in police custody.

Police and city officials are refusing to confirm that report. The Essex County Prosecutor is expected to hold a news conference later this morning to update the case.

Jordan Garcia, 10, and Kiyah Mae Scott, 21, were fatally shot as they stood outside a liquor store Nov. 15. Masi Rogers, 19, was also caught in the gunfire, and succumbed to his injuries a week later.

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

The New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show airs from 6 - 10 a.m. on New Jersey 101.5.

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

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