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

🔗 NJ residents monitored after possible hantavirus exposure

️✅Two NJ residents are being monitored after possible exposure to hantavirus
️✅The disease is linked to a deadly cruise ship outbreak
️✅Health officials worldwide are tracing passengers

Two New Jersey residents are being monitored for potential exposure to hantavirus after they encountered someone who was infected while on board the cruise ship MV Hondius.

Health authorities across four continents were tracking down and monitoring passengers who disembarked the ship before the deadly outbreak was detected. They are also trying to trace others who may have come into contact with them since then.
The state Department of Health said the New Jersey residents were not on board the cruise. The potential exposure occurred during air travel abroad. Neither individual has shown any symptoms of hantavirus. The risk to the general public is very low.

Hantaviruses in the U.S. are carried by rodents and are not known to spread between people. The strain on the MV Hondius, Andes virus, is found in South America and is the only known variation that could be transmitted between humans.

Health agencies in several other U.S. states are also monitoring returning passengers.

🔗 ICYMI: Fury over NJ data center explodes into shoving match with police

🚨 A heated Andover town meeting over a possible data center turned physical Thursday
📹 Viral videos show a resident shoved to the ground while being removed by police officers
⚡ Residents across New Jersey fear data centers could strain water and power resources

ANDOVER — Passion against a potential data center in town turned physical Thursday night, when a citizen being escorted from a public meeting got into a shoving match with two police officers.

Local residents have been opposing developing an AI data center at the former Newton airport property.

It's a story playing out across the state as homeowners and environmental groups push back with concerns about the high energy demands and potential water use by the data centers. In East Windsor, residents were fighting a plan for a second data center in their municipality.

In multiple videos shared online from the packed meeting in Sussex County, the citizen is seen on video tussling with two officers as he nears an open exit door before he is pushed to the ground by one officer.

The other officer, who is the son of Andover Mayor Thomas Walsh Jr., was also involved.

He is seen taking off his name tag and waving it at one of the cell phone cameras recording the chaos.

🔗 Trump rejects Iran’s response to latest US proposal to end the war

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran sent its response to the latest U.S. proposal to end the Iran war via Pakistani mediators on Sunday, but U.S. President Donald Trump quickly rejected it in a social media post as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” — the latest setback to efforts to resolve the standoff in the Persian Gulf that has throttled shipping and sent energy prices soaring.

Iranian state television reported that Tehran rejected the U.S. proposal as amounting to surrender, insisting instead on “war reparations by the U.S., full Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, an end to sanctions, and the release of seized Iranian assets.”

Washington’s latest proposal addressed a deal to end the war, reopen the strait and roll back Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump’s rejection of the Iranian response included no details. In an earlier post, he accused Tehran of “playing games” with the United States for nearly 50 years, adding: “They will be laughing no longer!”

🔗 ‘Blind Sheikh’ terrorist ties drag NJ congressional frontrunner

🔴 Former Army doctor and congressional candidate Adam Hamawy faces renewed scrutiny over ties to the “Blind Sheikh.”
🔴 He testified as a witness called by the defense for Omar Abdel-Rahman.
🔴 Hamawy campaign points to his military service, Iraq combat tour and Ground Zero response after 9/11.

A former acquaintance of a convicted terrorist is now the leading candidate in the race for an open U.S. House seat.

Dr. Adam Hamawy grew up in Old Bridge. The son of Egyptian immigrants, he graduated from Rutgers Medical School. Hamawy joined the New Jersey Army National Guard and treated Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack victims at Ground Zero. He served as a trauma surgeon in Iraq and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Now, he has a family and his own practice in New Jersey as a reconstructive surgeon.

He's one of 13 Democrats vying for the 12th Congressional District seat, which includes parts of Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties. U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman will soon vacate the seat, which the 80-year-old has held for six terms.

But casting a shadow over Hamawy before the June 2 primaries is his questionable past relationship with Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman — known infamously as the Blind Sheikh to many in the United States.

In 1993, Abdel-Rahman was charged and later convicted as the leader of a group that conspired to bomb the United Nations and other New York landmarks, including the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.

"These bad-faith, guilt-by-association attacks on Muslim and Arab candidates are nothing new in our politics. Dr. Hamawy is running for office because too many New Jerseyans are struggling while the wealthiest get richer, and that’s exactly what he’ll stay focused on in this race," said a spokesperson for Hamawy's campaign.

Amid his congressional run, Hamawy's association with the Blind Sheikh has resurfaced including an op-ed from the judge in Abdel-Rahman's trial. He claimed Hamawy was more than just a companion toAbdel-Rahman; he attended several of the Blind Sheikh's sermons, visited him in his home before trial, and helped with translations.

🔗 Thousands of NJ jobs vanish as layoffs explode across the state

🔻 More than 600 layoffs were announced across NJ in just six days to start May
🏭 Factory closures in Ocean and Cumberland counties, hotel in Somerset wipe out longtime local jobs
🔻 A bank and cargo company are also cutting staff as NJ layoffs outpace 2025 totals

May got off to a very rocky start, with more than 600 layoffs announced in the first six days of the month around New Jersey.

The bleak notices included planned closures of facilities in Ocean County and Cumberland County.

In Lakewood, Accupac makes personal care, pharmaceutical and beauty products. Its facility on Oak Street would be closed in a consolidation effort with its two Pennsylvania sites.

Yogurt and soy milk maker, Danone North America, is closing a Bridgeton plant that’s been open for more than 20 years, laying off 114 workers.

In Somerset County not far off Route 287, struggling chain DoubleTree by Hilton has announced it will close for good, laying off 90 workers at its Somerset hotel and conference center by August.

"This was a difficult decision, made after careful consideration of current market conditions and the long-term viability of the property," according to hotel operator, Rebel Hotel Company Chief Operating Officer Gary Thomas in a response to New Jersey 101.5 on Friday.

He added that until August, "the hotel will continue to welcome guests and provide the same first-class service it has always delivered."

Overall, from January through the first week of May, New Jersey has seen 6,637 layoffs announced in WARN notices.

That’s pacing ahead of 2025, when New Jersey saw 6,848 layoffs announced by the end of May — which included more than a 1,000 workers cut with the closing of all Rite Aid stores.

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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