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

🔗 New documents deepen Caldwell mystery as pressure builds on Sherrill for answers

Lt. Governor Dr. Dale Caldwell

🔎 The Sherrill administration hired outside counsel to investigate Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell on May 21 — more than three months before the probe became public.
⚖️ Caldwell has hired his own attorney and is being advised by a former attorney general. He has denied wrongdoing.
⏳ The investigation remains unfinished — and Gov. Mikie Sherrill has not publicly committed to a date for releasing its findings.

The investigation into New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell has been going on even longer than previously known — and the wait for answers continues.

New documents obtained by the New Jersey Globe show Gov. Mikie Sherrill's administration hired former New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino and his firm, Lowenstein Sandler, on May 21 to conduct an internal investigation. That's more than three months before the Globe first revealed the investigation publicly on Sept. 4.

The engagement letter was obtained by the Globe through an Open Public Records Act request. It says the firm was retained as counsel to the Governor's Office chief ethics officer to conduct an investigation, although the subject is redacted. In responding to the records request, however, the Governor's Office acknowledged the agreement was responsive to a request specifically seeking legal services related to Caldwell.

Meanwhile, the Globe reports Caldwell has retained former federal and state prosecutor Thomas Calcagni as his personal attorney, while former New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey is also advising him. Caldwell was not represented by counsel when he initially responded to the ethics officer and sat for interviews with Lowenstein.

Caldwell has had no official public schedule or media availability since the investigation became public, although he attended events surrounding the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington. Thomas Edison State University has also put plans to award Caldwell an honorary degree on hold until the investigation is completed.

🔗 Fair Lawn teacher hit by paintball while driving away from school

Fair Lawn police and a teacher's vehicle that was hit by a paintball shot

🚨A Lyncrest Elementary School teacher was hit by a paintball while driving
🚨Fair Lawn police have not determined whether the shot was intentional
🚨No arrests have been made as investigators search for answers

FAIR LAWN — A teacher’s car was hit by a paintball shot as she left her school Tuesday afternoon.

The splatter from the paintball got onto the Lyncrest Elementary School teacher as she drove on River Road away from the school around 3:30 p.m. with the window open, Fair Lawn police public information officer Eric Eleshewich told New Jersey 101.5. Her SUV was hit near Morlot Avenue.

Police search for answers after paintball hits teacher's car
The teacher was not hurt. Following a search of the area no arrests have been made. Investigators have not determined if the shot was intentional, Eleshewich said.

A direct hit from a paintball gun can be painful. In 2020 a teen was hit just below one of his eyes leaving him with a serious injury when a paintball gun was fired him as he walked at the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne.

🔗 Another round of 265 layoffs hits this deep-rooted NJ company

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced more NJ layoffs (Photo bms.com)

⚠️ Bristol Myers Squibb confirmed 265 additional layoffs starting in December.
➡️ The cuts bring the company’s 2026 layoffs to 718 workers, based in NJ.
🔴 The latest cuts are part of a plan to trim $2 billion by 2027.

A pharmaceutical giant with more than a century of deepened New Jersey roots is making a third round of layoffs this year.

Bristol Myers Squibb has confirmed 265 additional cuts, on a rolling basis starting in December.

These layoffs include New Jersey workers out of the company’s global headquarters, as well as some “field” employees that technically report to sites in the state.

Along with announcements made in February and April, Bristol-Myers Squibb has laid off 718 workers so far in 2026.

A company spokesperson shared a statement that it’s about efficient operations.

"Bristol Myers Squibb is executing its strategy to build for sustainable, long-term growth, and that work is reflected in our performance. We continue to align our resources and organizational structure to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving landscape,” the spokesperson said in response to a request from New Jersey 101.5.

🔗 NJ-raised 'Looksmaxxing' influencer is charged with rape

Clavicular walks the runway as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 23, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)

⚠️ A social media influencer raised in New Jersey faces rape charges in Massachusetts.
📱 The accuser told police she became heavily intoxicated after he gave her alcohol.
⚖️ A clerk-magistrate found probable cause, and Peters is due in court next month.

BOSTON — The social media influencer "Clavicular," who gained a following promoting the online "looksmaxxing" trend, has been charged in Massachusetts with raping a 17-year-old girl who told police she became heavily intoxicated after he gave her alcohol at his family's Cape Cod home.

Braden Peters, 20, was raised in Hoboken and attended Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, according to his LinkedIn. Now, he is charged with rape, administering a substance for sexual intercourse and procuring alcohol for a person under 21 in the alleged May 23, 2025, assault in Chatham, according to court records. A clerk-magistrate found probable cause for the charges on Sept. 4, and a criminal complaint was issued Sept. 8.

An email and text message were sent to Peters' publicist seeking comment Tuesday. Peters, who lives in Florida and is not in custody, is scheduled to be arraigned in Massachusetts on Oct. 14.

"We are not commenting at this time since the proper authorities are handling this," said Andrew Moss, one of the teen's attorneys.

Teen told police she became heavily intoxicated
The accuser told Chatham police that she and Peters began messaging on Instagram and that he later paid her to appear in "looksmaxxing" videos he streamed online. She said Peters knew she was 17 but that he told her to tell his viewers that she was 18 and that vodka he gave her was water, according to a police report.

🔗 DEP report finds no link between Keyport cancer cases, landfill

Aerial view of Keyport

☑️Keyport residents packed a meeting about a state investigation into a former landfill
☑️The DEP report found no indication that contamination from the site is affecting surrounding neighborhoods
☑️Additional sampling is needed in Union Beach

KEYPORT – Residents voiced their anger during a meeting about a state environmental report that found no indication that contamination from the former Aeromarine landfill is affecting surrounding neighborhoods.

More than 500 cancer cases have been reported in the Monmouth County borough, with Keyport Unity commemorating the cases by placing the same number of purple ribbons outside Keyport High School, according to NJ.com.

The 55-page DEP report, completed in conjunction with investigations by Excel Environmental Resources for the Borough of Keyport and SESI Environmental Consultants on behalf of a prospective buyer of the property, "has not found any indication that contamination from the Aeromarine site, which includes the landfill, is impacting surrounding neighborhoods."

The report examined contamination at the former Aeromarine site, which has been a source of concern for residents who fear the landfill may be connected to the area's cancer cases.
DEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak said contamination was found, but not at levels high enough to make its way through vapor intrusion or groundwater, according to CBS New York's coverage of the meeting.

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