Local news takes a wild turn with explosives found and voting issues

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It's a yacht rock Friday on a Jersey thing. I'm Eric Scott and we got a busy schedule for you this hour. Wanted to keep it a little bit light, but there's a couple of stories in the news we got to talk about today, including that massive bomb cash that was found at a local home in Morris County. I'll outline what we know, but more importantly still what we don't know. A nonitizen votes in New Jersey elections again. How widespread is this issue? And because it is Friday, comedian and political gadfly Joey Novik joins us with Capital Chaos as we put the fun in dysfunctional government. Now, yesterday I did posit to you that I thought that I was becoming a little bit stale with the things that I was putting on the grill and the recipes that I was making every day. I asked you to send in your favorite recipes. Thomas, I have to say Jersey Thing listeners delivered big time. They do not disappoint. We had a lot of good recipes on the app chat that we didn't say yesterday, but I'm very excited because we have a whole segment planned now. All right. So, you got them all and we're going to go through those recipes in our second segment today. Right. All right. So, it it I am so looking forward to that because there were a couple of I read a couple of them and all of a sudden like the light bulb went off over my head. I'm like, "How come I didn't think of that?" Yeah. A lot of them are just seem super basic, but you're like, "Oh, that's a great idea." I love it. All right. And keep them coming, please, because I love sharing recipes, particularly on a Friday. I mean, we try to keep it light on Friday. So, Thomas and I are going to share those recipes with you. That's coming up in about 10 minutes here on a Jersey thing for this yacht rock Friday. But when I saw this story and you think about it and you read the little details, it's terrifying. It's one of those stories that makes you stop and think about how differently this day could have started. Authorities say they recovered 109 explosive devices from a home in Dville after an investigation. Now, thankfully, nobody was hurt, but it is raising one very obvious question. What exactly was this man planning? Even investigators haven't publicly answered that question yet. But when somebody accumulates that many homemade explosive devices, we deserve some answers. And what the prosecutor has said so far raised more questions than it answered. So, it's our Rick Rickman that wrote this story at nj1015.com. Check it out. Prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing and that is one of the reasons why they're not commenting on it because it is an ongoing investigation. But 109 explosive devices were recovered as well as material to make many more. Each one of the devices capable of creating a mass destruction event. They're described as vials of homemade explosives. They were chemical explosives. They were in a crate with handwritten labels inside. Using the labels, investigators found, and I don't know really what this means. We tried to get a chemical expert, but not a lot of people were willing to talk about this. 1,07 g of TNT, 547 g of what is known as Picrid acid, 207 g of PETN, and over 1,000 g of RDX, which is the main explosive in plastic explosives like C4. Arrested is 37year-old Joseph Rizzo. He is charged with seconddegree recklessly risking widespread injury or damage. Four counts of thirdderee destructive device possession. He was arrested Wednesday morning according to the Morris County prosecutor Robert Carroll. Now Carol released a I think deliberately vague statement about this. Here's what the statement says. We recognize that matters of national significance are transpiring in northern New Jersey right now and that this arrest may prompt speculation and concern. Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, law enforcement cannot discuss additional details at this time, such as the defendant's intent, meaning motive, or what he may have been planning, if anything. Now, for all we know, this guy could have been a bomb hobbyist. He was making them just because he could with no actual intent to use them. That sounds a little bit far-fetched. But here's some of the questions that that statement raises. We recognize that matters of national significance are transpiring in northern New Jersey right now. What does that mean? Is that a vague reference to the protests at Delaney Hall? Is that vague reference to the immigration debate that is playing out on the streets of Newark around the ICE detention facility? That's certainly the first thing that came to my mind when I read that. But again, that's speculation. That's not fact. And as we always say on this show, facts matter. But we also say in the absence of fact is story. So there is wild speculation going on at this point. 37year-old Joseph Rizzos, that is the guy who apparently was making these explosive devices, these bombs, these vials of homemade explosives. And what his intentions were um unknown. But they also found in his bedroom and in his basement sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate. Sound familiar? That's been used in mass bombing attacks before. Blasting caps, red phosphorus, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, sodium, and lead azide. Several firearms were found in a home. I mean, this sounds like a guy who was armed to the teeth and could could possibly create mass destruction. We want answers. I don't know that we're going to get them anytime soon. Coming up in our next segment, we're going to talk about illegal voting in New Jersey. It has happened again. Why won't Democrats just acknowledge that there is voter fraud occurring? They refuse to do it. I'll tell you this latest story and then some great grilling recipes submitted by you next on a Jersey thing. It's a Jersey thing on this yacht rock Friday. Coming up in just a few minutes, Joey Novak joins us for Capital Chaos. And man, was there some fun dysfunctional government going on in Trenton, including the latest on when a budget is not really a budget. And in just a couple of minutes here, some of your best grilling recipes that you've been sharing with us because I admit my grilling has become stale. Great ideas coming up here in just a couple of seconds. But I did want to mention this story which I wrote for nj1015.com this morning about another case of illegal voting in New Jersey. A non-citizen pleading guilty in federal court to illegally voting in a New Jersey election. Now look, I get it. One illegal vote doesn't change the outcome of an election, but it continues to raise questions about how someone who wasn't eligible managed to cast a ballot in the first place. Now, the critics will argue, and I'm among them, that this demonstrates weakness in maintaining our voter roles. Democrats and other supporters of the current system say this individual was caught. He was prosecuted. But either way, confidence in elections depends on the public believing that only eligible voters are casting ballots. And we know now that this is not the case. In this latest incident, it was a French citizen living in Ocean County who admitted to illegally voting in New Jersey in 2022 despite not being eligible. There were four other cases that were prosecuted or are being prosecuted now by the US attorney. Republicans say that they have uncovered hundreds of non-citizens who are on New Jersey voter roles. Yet, anytime those questions are raised, Democrats come out and say, "Oh, this is voter interference." This isn't voter interference. This is about the integrity of our election system. And I don't understand why we can't simply acknowledge that there are irregularities and the voter roles should be verified. Why is that so hard to understand? What is not so hard to understand is that we are heading into the summer season and we are grilling outside. Thomas, my mouth was literally watering when I was looking at the app chats of some of these recipes that were shared. Oh, yeah. Um, and you and I both said we thought, you know, we were getting a little bit stale. It's the same thing over and over again. Burgers and chicken and steak and repeat and so let's share some of these recipes. What were some of your favorites that you said? We got some good stuff, Eric. I got six here for you. All right, first one here is Mama Jay in Hillsboro said, "Marinated flank steak, charred super thin with Jimmy Cherry." Jimmy Chur. Jimmy Cher. That's like the icing on the top, man. Oh, I love flank steak on the grill. I don't know if I've ever made flank steak, to be honest. Well, it's it Have you ever made um uh What am I thinking of? Not quesadillas. Um the thin grilled steak that is sliced with peppers and onions. Yes, I know. I can't I can't remember now. But I remember what you're talking I'm having the Friday yacht rock brain. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Um but yeah, uh Sandra loves them. I I'll think of it as we go through it. But yes, that's flank that is flank steak. It goes by many different names. Okay. But that is delicious on the grill and you but you you char it real quick on one side, you flip it, you char it on the other side, and then it stays perfectly medium rare in the middle. I might have to try that though. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Heather and Princeton lamb chop lollipops. The New Zealand rack from Costco is amazing. Really? Apparently, we're going to Costco tomorrow. I love lollipop lamb chops. Um or a full rack of lamb. I haven't done it in a while. Sandra doesn't like it. Alex loves it. Um and I think most of my most of my friends like it. I I'm definitely picking that up. I've personally never made lamb chop on the grill. I know my dad makes a mean lamb chop on the grill and it's it's very good. It's I'm not the biggest lamb guy, but I'll eat it and it's good. But I It's never like a I'm craving lamb shop. You know what I mean? The one of the resorts that we like to go to in the Dominican Republic, they it's a staple in most of the restaurants and I probably if we're there for 10 days, six out of the 10 days I will order that and eat. Yeah. Kimberly and King of Prussia, not really a recipe, but just kind of uh commenting on your rosemary uh what we put the rose. Oh, yeah. rosemary skewers with shrimp and chicken and beef. Yeah, she says that rosemary cutting is an absolutely brilliant idea. I might have to try that. Thank you so much for sharing that. I It is one of my favorite things. Um so the easiest if you got a big rosemary plant, you know, you get the bark, the the really thick sticks, use those as your skewers. So peel the leaves off, chop the leaves up, and then put that on the outside of your shrimp. Throw it on the grill. Delicious. Kathleen in Seville. She says, "Clams, seasoned pork ribs, marinated veggies, including eggplant, porttoelloo, porttoella mushroom, roast your own peppers. Just before they're done, top them with some fresh mutz cheese. Just amazing." I love that. I love grilled clams. Clams on the grill. I may do that on Sunday. I have something controversial to say. I do not like clams in any form. No. Really? No. That's okay. I mean, that's Sandra doesn't like them either. She likes the broth. Okay. if I make like a a marinated clam. And last one here, we have Marie saying, "I do chicken schwarma on the grill served with Greek salad, grilled red onion, thin sliced, naan bread, and green Peruian sauce. I make and hummus." So good. I need the recipe for the rest of that. I There's more here. I didn't want to read all of it, but but make sure that I have that cuz I want to I that's one that I love Indian food and but I I struggle sometimes to make it. So if you have one of the there there's my other question for you. If you are good at cooking Indian food, share with me some of your recipes because I absolutely love it. It's so good for you. It's healthy. Uh thank you everybody. Hey, keep the recipes coming. You know, it's at some point we're going to have to make our own cookbook. There's no question about it. I have to put out a cookbook. All right, coming up next, we'll get an update of news, weather, and traffic. And then it's Capital Chaos with Joey Novik next on a Jersey thing. It's a Jersey thing on a yacht rock Friday and we are less than 30 minutes away. Sending you off into the weekend with some smooth sailing thoughts. Everybody find your zen because the legislature was once again in session. And as we put the fun in dysfunctional government, it's capital chaos and our good friend Joey Novik joins us. I am feeling particularly yacht rocky today. Do you like my shirt, Joey? I love your shirt. It hurts my eyes and the more it hurts my eyes, the better it is. You know, I think that that's a good spot. But there was so much pain coming out of Trenton and just our politicians this week. I didn't even know where to begin. I guess we got to start with the budget deal. That's not really a deal. Even though they announced a budget deal, the only thing that's missing is the budget. It's like announcing you finished Thanksgiving dinner before you've even thawed the turkey. I I there's so much to say about this. I mean, they do this at midnight on June 29th. That's like the way I did my homework when I was a kid. You know, like Sunday night 11 o'clock. And and the other thing is, you know, they want to pay people to stay in New Jersey, which is like your mom bribing kids with ice cream and cookies to play with you at a play date. You know, that's like so sad. It's just so sad. And and here's the thing. If you want people to stay in New Jersey, you know what? Just make it hard for them to leave. Like don't fix the roads. Have really high to Oh, they're doing that anyway. Okay. It's still not working. Apparently, it's not working. Oh, and the last thing is a lot of people don't know this, but when Robert Dairo and Jack Nicholson were preparing for their roles as crazy people in the movies, you know, they spent months just watching the New Jersey state budget process. That is basically what they did. It will drive you crazy. And you know, the irrelevant Republicans in the legislature are crying about transparency. Nothing says transparent government, Joey, quite like lawmakers voting on a bill they've never seen. At this point, it's like clicking I agree without reading the terms and conditions. Yes. And it's like, you know, the Republicans are saying the new New Jersey state budget was negotiated behind closed doors in Trenton. That's not breaking news. That's Tuesday. Okay. That's just the way they do things normally. I'm just saying. Uh I'm just saying that. So there you go. Well, speaking of Republicans, some great news because I know this is a story you've been following very closely. There is a Tom Kaine Jr. citing and it wasn't on a milk carton. At this point, even Bigfoot gives more comprehensive interviews. No, he goes, "Apparently, this is conjecture. Apparently, somebody saw him through his living room window and he was wearing a suit. So, at least we know if he comes back, he's dressed for it. You know, if he's already he's all his mom's got him all ready to dress and he's been, you know, he's been away four months with a I guess a mystery illness. Yeah. And you know, if if Rosie, my girlfriend Rosie sends me to Shop, right for milk and I'm gone more than 20 minutes, she puts out a police report. You know, I mean, basically, she just puts out a press conference, wants to know how long I'm going to be away. In the midst of the affordability crisis in New Jersey, I was shocked to see this one that school superintendent salaries now top $200,000 a year. The average superintendent now makes over 200 grand a year. So you can say about now the only thing in our schools getting an A+ is executive compensation. Yes. And you know the word average is the thing that that pops out for me because my mom would say why is he getting $200,000 if he's only average? That doesn't make any sense at all. The best one should get 200,000. The average ones, you know, and it's it's it it just shows you that it's not AP calculus that was tough in high school. It was contract negotiations basically. That's the tough thing. So we know the nightmare with New Jersey Transit and World Cup. Now the New Jersey Transit CEO Chris Kari says FIFA promised 40,000 soccer fans delivering only about half of that. Uh somewhere every Jets fan is thinking see it's not just us who overestimate the attendance. And the thing is, the thing the thing about Chris Kari being surprised that someone told him one number and it turned out to be another number. Again, that's Tuesday in Trenton. Okay. That's normally what they do on a regular basis, so he should not be surprised. I'm just saying. Yeah. Well, it's that's that's pretty much what they wind up doing with the fair hikes. Um, and then I saw this story. I got dragged as a lifelong tennis player onto the pickle ball court. And pickle ball now, much to my chagrin, has officially become the Jersey Shores hottest sport because nothing says summer at the beach quite like retirees trashalking each other wearing orthopedic sneakers. Yeah. And you know, it's easy when you go down to the Jersey Shore now, it's actually easier to find a pickle ball court than a parking spot. So that's, you know, that's pretty much and I'm just thinking, you know, did when they were making pickle ball courts, did they start, you know, did they start building a tennis court and they just said, you know what, that's enough. I think we've we've got enough. That's perfectly okay. Uh, aside from the budget, legislators were legislating under the gold dome. Again, couple of bills that caught my ears this week. the alcohol license reform. Lawmakers are finally making it easier to get a drink in New Jersey. Joey, apparently, this is the one by bipartisan issue everybody can raise a glass to. You know, it's New Jersey is making it easier to get alcohol in shopping malls now, which honestly, I mean, I'm just thinking that should have been done from day one. I mean, they just should have had day one. They should have had that just uh, you know, kicking off. And, you know, years ago, in order for you to get alcohol, there was a lot of paperwork. Now you can just get it much more easily, which I think is good for New Jersey. Yeah. I mean, it certainly helps the retail merchants if you're going in making poor decisions. Um, regulating. Is it MASA or Mesa? I It sounds like Trenton is officially regulating tortillas. There's got to be a pothole out there somewhere wondering, how do I get this much attention? This and Okay, so New Jersey wants to add folic acid to tortillas. I guess for health reasons because I gotta tell you when I'm thinking of eating healthy, I definitely go to Taco Bell and I order a beef burrito combo. That's pretty much for me. And I'm thinking, is this just step one? In step two, adding B12 to mozzarella sticks, vitamin D to onion rings. This could be a whole new industry. Yeah, I I And then I I saw this one. Equal pay for teleaalth. Insurance companies may have to pay doctors the same amount whether they see you in person or if they see you through the webcam on your phone. So your co-pay is going to basically be the same whether you wear pants or not. And I can see see now when the doctor says drop your pants, there's no problem doing that. You already have your pants off. And also I'm thinking the next step is they're going to be running commercials in the middle of your medical appointment. You'll see a commercial saying, you know, don't take this medication. If you do, call your doctor before you do. And you're one with your doctor. Uh, all right. Listen, if you like capital chaos, and frankly, who doesn't? Um, you can get a double dose. If you go to Joey's website, njwhatexit.com. NJExit.com. It's like The Onion, but only New Jersey issues. So if you live in New Jersey, you've you've you've tried to make it in New Jersey, that's a website for you to check out. Joey Novik, always a pleasure. Thanks for being a part of a Jersey thing because let's face it, everybody, if we don't laugh, we would cry. Coming up next, some final thoughts. It's yacht rock Friday. We'll send you off into the weekend. Next on a Jersey thing. Wrapping up a Jersey thing on this yacht rock Friday as we send you into the weekend with some sweet summer sailing sounds coming up here in just a couple of seconds. Hey, listen. Keep these recipes coming. I I never cease to be amazed at how you contribute to this show and and provide um really some unique perspectives. Whether we're sitting a Jersey jury, whether we are exchanging comments, whether we are exchanging recipes, some of your grilling recipes have just been absolutely spectacular. So, please keep them coming and drop them on the app chat. Now, a lot of you have also asked, "How come you don't have your own app chat? How come I have to do a general message?" Do the general message. I was told by our corporate overlords yesterday that we are soon going to have not only our own landing page on the nj1015.com website, but also our own app chat, so you can directly message me. Um, but you've all figured it out. I love the fact that you are interacting with us on that and we are always looking for additional Jersey jurors. Uh we didn't have a chance to actually see the jury this week, Thomas. It was such a busy week, but we are going to do it next week, right? We have a lot of news stories going on, but yes, next week we plan on doing that. Uh and obviously if you're not signed up for the Jersey jury, just send uh your information through the app chat like you said before, email, name, phone number. Um we'll get back to you with an application. Just filled it out. send it back to my my email and we'll see if you're going to be a part of Jersey Jury. And I think as an added incentive, um because I was talking again with our corporate overlords, um we're looking to put together some Jersey thing swag. So whether we get some t-shirts, whether you get some hats, stickers, buttons, something like that. So, you know, we might start that with our jersey. Am I going to have to pay for this? No, no, no. I'll make sure that you get swagged out. That's all I care about. Yeah, you can get you can get all your own swag. Um all right. So, are we ready to send ourselves into the weekend? Hold on. Let me get my Let me get my captain's hat here. There we go. My captain's hat is firmly in place. They use their fingers cuz that's what their choice is. Now, let's go to the app with Eric and Thomas. Favorite time of the week as our thoughts turn towards a weekend. And coming up, Thomas, do you realize that next Monday's show will be my last Monday? Oh my goodness. until September. That's still so smart that you do that. No work. Mondays begin a week from Monday. I love that. Um, and I don't I think it's with Dennis being reunited with Judy who's doing the show. We have Aaron vote every Monday. That is outstanding. She is one of our favorite contributors. Um, so give Aaron a lot of love because she's going to be sitting in on Mondays for me in the summertime. All right. So, what caught your ears and eyeballs on the app chat today? Before we get to all the app chats today, I do want to mention one more recipe, Eric. Oh, yes, please. Frank and Farmingale. And this actually might be my favorite recipe so far. All right. Uh, you were talking about grilling. We make short rib short rib burgers. Really? Have short ribs ground up. Add jalapeno pepper chopped and cheddar cheese to chopped meat. Grill on top with guacamole. Very delicious. That sounds outstanding. Amazing. Yep. I love anything short rib. Short rib is absolutely one of my favorite things to make ever. Um, and I actually have my own meat grinder. Do you really? So, I could go So, we're going to Costco on Saturday. I already know I got to get the rack of lamb. The New Zealand rack will The New Zealand rack of Well, New Zealand lamb is the best. Um, but I'll get the New Zealand rack of lamb and I'm going to get one of their packs of short ribs. I might make that recipe this weekend as well. I'll have to post I'll post it on my Instagram if if I do. So, let's go and get into the appjets now. I wish I can get give lighter appjets to you, but we did have some heavy stuff to talk about today. So, we'll go through this pretty quickly. Uh you're talking about uh the bombs that were going on. What was this? Morristown. Morris Morrisville or Morris County. Steve in Fork River saying if there were 109 bombs, there has to be more to this story. Where' they come from? Where were they going? Who made them? Well, and that is the issue. And the prosecutor is not saying, and I wouldn't expect that we're going to know anytime soon. We have the charging documents, the court documents. There's really not much in there that would answer any of the questions that you have at this point. We have Karen and Paripity saying, "I actually live nearby. It makes you wonder how long it make it took to build all these bombs and how he went under the radar for so long." I am with you. I thought of the same thing. I'm like 109. That's crazy. Now going on to the other topic you were talking about before about illegal voting. David Brick saying something everyone was thinking one illegal vote is way too many. It's too many because it calls into question the integrity of the elections. Facts matter and that's a fact. Last one I have here is Bill and Barnagget saying Republican or Democrat no matter what you are election confidence no matter what the election is and where it is matters. Amen brother. I mean it it is worth certainly an extra look and you know the deniers have to accept the fact that there is illegal voting going on in New Jersey. That's a fact. Look, it's yacht rock Friday. Somehow Christopher Cross makes everything seem calmer. Even after a week where lawmakers announced a budget they haven't finished writing, police found a neighborhood bomb factory. Trenton reminded us once again that reality is always stranger than satire. Whatever your weekend plans, fire up the grill, spend some time with a family, enjoy some great music, take a break from these crazy headlines, and we'll be back to do it all again on Monday. Until then, enjoy the weekend, stay safe, and that's a Jersey thing.