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

Record property taxes in NJ: See how your town compares

With affordability the number one issue facing New Jersey families, new state data revealing record breaking property taxes won't help assuage the anxiety about trying to make ends meet in the Garden State.

An astounding number of New Jersey residents have told me their monthly property tax bill now meets or even exceeds their mortgage payments.

It's no wonder retirees flee the state in search of lower costs.

On average, property taxes rose 5% in 2025, to $10,570. That's an increase of $500 over 2024 and the second year in a row the average has topped $10,000

It's a staggering number when you consider the median property tax in the United States is approximately $3,500.

New Jersey is the only state in the nation where the average property tax bill exceeds $10,000 per year, and it isn't even close.

Click HERE to see the average property tax bill in your town and County.

🔗 Mourning James Van Der Beek, fans remember bittersweet NJ moment

🎓 Drew University remembers James Van Der Beek, who briefly attended the NJ college.
🎬 NJ native Kevin Smith shared heartfelt memories of working with the "Dawson’s Creek” star.
🕊️ The actor, who battled colorectal cancer, leaves behind his wife and six children.

James Van Der Beek’s death at just 48 has left fans heartbroken — and many New Jersey folks mourning his brief, beloved time at college before his “big break.”

Drew University, in Madison, shared a photo of the actor in a cap and gown to the school's Instagram page on Wednesday.

The actor delivered Drew University’s commencement address in 2024 and was presented an honorary degree from the school — which he briefly attended until leaving in 1998 for television stardom with "Dawson's Creek."

New Jersey native, director Kevin Smith has also paid loving tribute to his fleeting times working with Van Der Beek — starting with his movie “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”

“James was already super famous” from both Dawsons Creek and Varsity Blues, Smith said, but was a delight on set in 2001 and then in 2019 for “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot."

“We live under a fairness fallacy, as if we’re somehow entitled to long lives. That being said, at the risk of sounding stupidly obvious, James was simply too young to die. My heart goes out to his family, friends and fans,” Smith added.

🔗 NJ opens ICE reporting site as Sherrill accuses agents of abuse

🚨Gov. Mikie Sherrill rolls out executive actions aimed at protecting civil rights
🚨Sherrill accuses ICE of abuses in an act of loyalty to President Donald Trump
🚨Republicans warn it could encourage harassment of ICE agents

A promised portal to report ICE activity in New Jersey went live on Wednesday as part of three actions Gov. Mikie Sherrill said were to protect the safety and constitutional rights of New Jerseyans.

The executive order was in response to what Sherrill called an abuse of power by "Donald Trump's ICE agents." In videos shared on social media across the country, she said agents have been seen "smashing cars, teargassing families, gunning down American citizens, and violating our most basic rights."

"Trump has turned law enforcement agencies into militias loyal to him, not our Constitution. So, we see agents hiding behind masks, no insignia, constantly changing license plates, breaking the core principles of what good policing needs to be to keep people safe," Sherrill said during the Statehouse announcement.

Click HERE to access the new portal.

🔗 New Jersey’s latest efforts for more immigration laws explained

🔴 New Jersey Democrats push new immigration bills.
🔴 Proposed laws target arrests at Homeland Security offices and hidden license plates.
🔴 Mask bans and doxing fears fuel heated debate in Trenton.

Federal lawmakers from New Jersey are trying to crack down on more tactics that immigration officers use to make arrests, and Republicans are blasting the proposals as unsafe.

This week, two New Jersey congresswomen have introduced legislation to restrict officers with Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If passed and signed by President Donald Trump, their federal bills would affect all immigration enforcement.

Also this week, a third congresswoman from New Jersey turned heads by calling for the abolition of ICE during a Homeland Security Committee hearing in which she also asked ICE Director Todd Lyons whether he thought he would go to hell.

Click the link above to learn more about the anti-ICE efforts gaining support in Trenton and Washington

🔗 NJ schools can’t go virtual — even when pipes burst or snow falls

🚨Burst pipe shuts down Red Bank Regional High School for three days
🚨Classes could not go virtual for three days per state law
🚨Superintendents would like flexibility to call a virtual day

RED BANK — A burst water pipe that has closed a Monmouth County high school for three days serves as an example of why districts cannot easily go virtual for classes, especially on a snow day.

Red Bank Regional High School was closed for a third day on Wednesday as a result of a burst water pipe that damaged a “significant number of classrooms and other spaces," according to superintendent Louis Moore. Industrial drying equip/ment, air movers, and dehumidifiers used to remediate the damage and make repairs cause too much noise and put student and staff safety at risk.

The district had no choice but to keep students home. Under New Jersey law, schools must be in session 180 days to continue receiving state aid, and remote learning days do not count toward that number. The only exception to the law is a declared state of emergency or public health crisis that requires a district to close for three consecutive days.

The school will switch to remote learning on Today and Friday.

🔗 Colts Neck family slaughter: Top 10 facts pointing to 'guilty'

The Monmouth County jury that’s heard five weeks of testimony is near deliberations in the Caneiro quadruple murder case.

Delivering her closing argument on Wednesday, defense attorney Monika Mastellone told jurors that Paul Caneiro loved his family and would never have killed his brother, sister-in-law and little niece and nephew, leaving their mutilated bodies behind in a house fire, all over money.

The defense has been arguing that police never bothered to investigate the youngest Caneiro brother, Corey. For the first time on Wednesday, Mastellone also floated the possibility of a two-person plot behind the ghastly slaying of Keith Caneiro, his wife, Jennifer, and their children Jess and Sophia.

Prosecution witnesses have rebutted the suggestions about Corey or of a conspiracy by the real killer to set up Paul as the fall guy. On Wednesday, the prosecutor told the jury that anyone trying to set up Paul wouldn't have attempted to destroy the evidence in an arson that torched the mansion.

Click the link above for 10 facts that point toward a guilty verdict.

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.

Join the conversation by calling 1-800-283-1015 or download the NJ101.5 app.

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

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