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

⬛ Atlantic City cops uncover psychotic cat abuse

🐈‍⬛ Edwin Sanabia is accused of luring stray cats to his home and torturing them
🐈‍⬛ He's accused of dumping their bodies in a dumpster
🐈‍⬛ On June 17 he allegedly threatened a teen and exposed himself

ATLANTIC CITY — A man was is being accused of luring over a dozen stray cats to his home with food and then torturing and killing them.

Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said Atlantic City police were tipped off and sent an animal welfare officer to Maryland Avenue.

Detectives determined that Edwin Sanabia, 26, would offer the felines food and then torture, beat, and kill the cats. Their bodies would be taken to a dumpster.

Officials said Sanabia also beat several cats who were in a neighbor's makeshift shelter. He punched and kicked several cats and dragged them around by the tail, Reynolds said.

Sanabia is charged with 13 counts of animal cruelty.

⬛ Lakewood rallies for 'family man' accused of teen sex soliciting

🚨 Jewish student Binyamin Kubani offered work to a 15-year-old male
🚨 He has been charged with luring

LAKEWOOD — A Jewish school is rallying behind a 40-year-old student who was charged with luring a 15-year-old boy on Thursday.

Binyamin Kubani of the Beth Medrash Govoha was released by a judge Monday after he was charged with second-degree child luring and solicitation in a July 3 incident with a 15-year-old.

According to investigators, Kubani approached the teen, who was on a bicycle near a car wash on Ocean Avenue, and asked if he had a job. When the teen said he did not, Kubani asked if he would "'like to make some money' while gesturing the motion of masturbation."

The teen took a picture of Kubani and rode off to report the encounter to police.

Beth Medrash Govoha, the world's largest yeshiva outside of Israel, issued a letter strongly defending Kubani before his release, calling the charges a “travesty and miscarriage of justice."

"The circumstances of this case reflect a disturbing failure of the system. Beth Medrash Govoha stands firmly and unequivocally behind our student. We are actively engaged in using every resource and tool at our disposal to clear his name and secure his immediate release," BMG CEO Yoself Heinemann said.

It is not uncommon for a man of Kubani's age to still be learning and considered a religious student.

⬛ Gov. Murphy signs new law to investigate how AI growth is fueling rising electric costs

With electric rates skyrocketing by as much as 20% this summer, Gov. Phil Murphy this week signed a law to study how rapidly growing AI technology is fueling the high cost of energy.

The new law directs the Board of Public Utilities to complete a study within a year on the effect of electricity usage by data centers.

The data centers that power AI technology, including the widely used ChatGPT, require enormous amounts of energy. Regulatory officials acknowledged this year that they were caught off guard by this growth, which resulted in PJM, the regional grid operator that moves the electricity from power plants across several states, raising its rates on the distribution.

Despite being a billion-dollar industry, utility ratepayers are paying a big price for this growth.

Under the mandated study, the BPU will find out how much the average homeowner will be paying for the next 20 years because of the demand imposed by data centers.

The BPU study will examine policies that could reduce the burden on ratepayers, including taxing the data centers for their energy usage.

The study is due in 15 months.

⬛ New Jersey has new tax if you're selling certain houses

Among recent laws signed by Gov. Phil Murphy is a new real estate transfer fee for owners selling the state’s most expensive properties.

Reaction to that increase, which takes effect this month, has been mixed.

Currently, property sales that are $1 million or more are charged a fee of 1% of the total sale price.

The new law imposes a 2% fee on sales over $2 million, with the percentage increasing with each $500,000 in sale price, up to 3.5%, for sales over $3.5 million.

The progressive think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective said the “modest increase” affects just the top 3% of property sales statewide.

“Expanding the fee on high-priced property sales ensures that the state’s wealthiest residents and large corporate landholders, rather than low- and middle-income households, contribute their fair share,” New Jersey Policy Perspective Senior Policy Analyst Peter Chen said in a written statement.

⬛ NJ government employees face huge spike in healthcare premiums

💲 Gov. Murphy announces huge spike in insurance rates
💲 Popular weight loss drugs partly to blame
💲 Republicans blame mismanagement by Trenton Democrats

Gov. Phil Murphy has pandered to state and local government employee unions since he announced his first run for governor eight years ago. Their loyalty is being rewarded with a double digit increase in healthcare premiums for the fourth year in a row.

Murphy announced on Wednesday that public employees will pay as much as 36.5% more for insurance coverage.

County and local workers will see the biggest increase (36.5%) with costs for state workers going up 21% and school employees 29.7%.

Over the last five years, premiums have gone up as much as 115%.

Hundreds of thousands of government employees will be impacted by the higher costs.

Weight loss drugs driving higher prices

The Murphy administration hired health insurance consultant AON to review employee coverage and identify what is driving costs higher.

Among the findings: The increased use and cost of weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound has been driving up the cost of prescription coverage.

AON also says employees and their families are using their health benefits more frequently, which is further driving up the costs.

Murphy and fellow Democratic legislative leaders announced plans to find $100 million in savings to reduce the cost of healthcare for government workers by the end of the year.

That would likely include a reduction in coverage and/or higher copays.

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

Eric Scott hosts the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show 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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