Another failed attempt to lower electric rates—NJ Top News
Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show.
🔗 NJ electric bills keep rising — Sherrill’s latest fix could cost you $1,500
⚡ Sherrill promised lower electric rates. Now she wants you to buy solar panels
Gov. Mikie Sherrill was elected in large part on one word: affordability.
Few issues better illustrated that campaign promise than New Jersey's skyrocketing electric bills.
Sherrill promised action. She promised to stabilize rates. She signed executive orders on her first day in office declaring an energy affordability emergency and directing state regulators to freeze certain rate increases.
Yet, more than seven months into her administration, New Jersey families are still waiting for the affordability part.
The administration says its broader energy policies will ultimately save New Jersey ratepayers $1 billion annually.
Maybe they will.
But "ultimately" doesn't pay this month's electric bill.
Which brings us to Tuesday's rather curious event in Trenton.
Sherrill signed the Garden State Balcony Solar Act, allowing residents to install small plug-in solar systems without the usual utility approvals or municipal permits.
Click the link above to learn why this will not do anything to lower your electric rates.
🔗 Skull found in NJ woods identified as missing NJ dad
🔎 Human remains found in Middle Township in March have been identified as Benjamin J. Beason, 42.
📅 Beason was reported missing from Lower Township in May 2024.
❓ Prosecutors say his cause of death remains under investigation.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — Human remains found in a New Jersey wooded area earlier this year have been identified as a man who had been missing for nearly two years.
On Wednesday, Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland announced that the remains had been identified as Benjamin J. Beason, 42, of Lower Township.
Beason was reported missing to local police in May 2024 and was last seen at Cooper University Hospital Cape Regional. One shoe and a hat had been found near the Home Depot in Middle Township, but no other signs were found for 22 months, according to Beason's then-girlfriend.
A person walking through the woods in Middle Township on March 3, 2026 found the skull by chance, according to authorities. Official searches found more skeletal remains in the area.
Beason's cause of death is still under investigation, prosecutors said.
Beason was a father; he had one son with Jamie Difalco before they separated. On Instagram, Difalco thanked everyone who shared information about Beason while he was missing. She said she felt safer knowing that he was watching over them.
🔗 NJ musician, 23, accused of driving high and killing new grandma
⚠️ A 23-year-old Monmouth County woman faces homicide charges in a fatal three-car crash.
➡️ Prosecutors say she ran a red light while under the influence of intoxicating substances.
🔴 Eileen Ziesmer, 58, died after her Toyota Camry was struck on Route 70.
FREEHOLD – A young aspiring musician is facing criminal charges for a crash in Monmouth County that killed a new grandmother six months ago.
Tamra G. Lawlor, of Manasquan, was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and fourth-degree assault by auto in the death of 58-year-old Eileen Ziesmer, of Brick.
The 23-year-old Lawlor was previously charged with the traffic offenses of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, failure to observe traffic control devices, and possession of open unsealed marijuana in a vehicle.
On March 5 around 5:20 p.m., Wall Township Police responded to a three-vehicle crash at the intersection of Route 70 and Morningstar Road.
Lawlor is accused of running a red light in her Subaru Crosstrek, crashing into Ziesmer’s Toyota Camry and a Nissan Armada driven by a 51-year-old woman, also from Brick.
Ziesmer was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
Lawlor and the third driver were also treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators found Lawlor was under the influence of “intoxicating substances” when she ran a red light and caused the crash, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said.
🔗 NJ driver admits killing road worker, family pushes for new law
⚠️ Douglas Smith pleads guilty after police found alcohol, cocaine, fentanyl and methadone in his system.
➡️ Allen Adams was working in a marked Rt 9 construction zone when he was killed.
🔴 Adams’ family backs a bill seeking tougher penalties for impaired drivers in work zones.
TOMS RIVER — A drunk and drugged driver has admitted to hitting and killing a road construction worker in an overnight work zone in the township just over one year ago.
On Monday, 52-year-old Douglas Smith, of Lakehurst, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the July 31, 2025 death of Allen Adams in Toms River.
The 50-year-old Adams, of Lumberton, died around 1 a.m. in a zone marked by flashing amber warning lights on a stretch of Route 9 that is locally known as Lakewood Road.
Smith not only had a blood alcohol concentration nearly twice the legal limit, but he was also found with cocaine, fentanyl and methadone in his system, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
The convicted driver’s lengthy arrest record stretches back more than 20 years, involving repeated drug charges, and driving on a suspended license in 2017.
Smith now faces a term of 10 years in prison, when sentenced by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer on Oct. 23.
“There is some relief in knowing we won’t have to go through a trial, but it’s hard to call any outcome justice. Allen was killed by an impaired driver while simply doing his job, and New Jersey’s current vehicular homicide laws do not reflect the magnitude of that loss,” Melissa Adams, Allen’s widow, said in a written response to New Jersey 101.5 on Wednesday.
The victim’s own brother-in-law was foreman of the crew working that awful shift, in an active construction zone along Lakewood Road near Raymond Avenue, according to the group’s Facebook page.
🔗 5 dead dogs found inside Woodbridge home as resident goes missing
🚨Police found five decomposing dogs inside a Middlesex County home
🚨The woman who lived there has not been heard from since Aug. 24
🚨She faces five animal-cruelty charges and has a Sept. 24 court date
WOODBRIDGE — The woman who lives at a Middlesex County home where five dogs were found dead faces animal cruelty charges after going missing.
Neighbors of a home on Douglas Avenue in the Fords section of Woodbridge called police after resident Kasey L. DiGirolamo, 34, had not been seen on the property “for an extended period” and “had been out of contact” with family and friends since Aug. 24.
The property owner went into the house with police and found the decomposing bodies of five dogs in separate crates and a dead reptile in a fish tank. Police did not disclose the breed of the dogs or the specific type of reptile.
The relationship between DiGirolamo and the property owner was not disclosed.
Five counts of animal cruelty have been filed against DiGirolamo, with a court date of Sept. 24.
2026 9/11 Commemorations in New Jersey (listed alphabetically)
Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander
Accused NJ sex predator teachers, school staff arrested in the past two years
Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
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