Here’s the stories you’ll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Wednesday:
🚗 NJ drivers say minor toll mistakes can turn into $50+ penalties, sparking widespread frustration.
🏛️ Assemblyman Paul Kanitra is leading a bipartisan effort with a NY lawmaker to reduce or eliminate the fees.
📞 Drivers complain about poor E-ZPass customer service, saying it’s hard to fix violations or reach a live person.
NJ lawmakers want to stop massive E-ZPass fees for small toll mistakes
New Jersey drivers say they are being slammed with massive fees for minor toll mistakes — and lawmakers are now pushing back.
State Assemblyman Paul Kanitra is leading a bipartisan effort to eliminate or sharply reduce administrative fees tied to E-ZPass violations.
The complaints from drivers are widespread, as New Jersey 101.5 has been reporting for years.
Callers to New Jersey 101.5 have been expressing outrage and frustration about these ‘administrative fees’ for years. Even a small toll error — sometimes just a few dollars — can quickly turn into a bill for more than $50 once administrative penalties are added.
“How can a $2 mistake turn into a $52 bill?” one frustrated caller recently asked.
Kanitra says that kind of penalty makes no sense.
“Drivers shouldn’t be hit with a massive fee for an honest mistake,” Kanitra said. “If someone misses a $2 toll, they should pay the toll — not a penalty that’s 25 times higher.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Travel disruptions deepened Tuesday as senators raced to salvage a proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including airport workers going without pay, but excluding immigration operations that have been core to the dispute.
The sudden sense of urgency comes as U.S. airports are snarled by long security lines, with travelers being told to arrive hours before their flights in Houston, Atlanta and Baltimore/Washington International. Routine Department of Homeland Security funding was halted in mid-February ahead of the busy spring travel season. Nearly 11% of Transportation Security Administration workers who were scheduled to report for duty Monday — more than 3,200 — missed work, and at least 458 have have quit altogether since the shutdown began, according to DHS.
🚂 Sherrill orders NJ Transit to deliver cleaner, safer, more reliable service fast.
🚂 Agency has 45 days to plan upgrades impacting rider experience.
🚂 Riders could see improvements in real-time tracking by June.
SECAUCUS — NJ Transit has to act fast and make small upgrades that riders will notice every day, under an executive order signed today by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
On Tuesday, the governor signed her 16th executive order at Secaucus Junction Train Station. It’s one of the many stations and stops that Sherrill promises will see improvements before the end of 2026.
“Every New Jerseyan deserves a transit system that is safe, clean, accessible, and reliable. This Executive Order is about delivering cleaner stations, clearer communication, and more dependable service across NJ TRANSIT,” said Sherrill.
The order demands that NJ Transit leadership take the next 45 days to make a comprehensive plan for specific upgrades. When the planning period is over, the state transportation agency will have to get started.
According to the governor’s office, the plan will focus on:
🔴 Cleanliness of NJ TRANSIT stations, stops, buses, and rail cars;
🔴 Accessibility of NJ TRANSIT-owned properties, including escalators and boarding areas;
🔴 Public safety, including lighting, cameras, and law enforcement presence at stations and stops; and
🔴 The digital experience for riders, with focus on the usability and reliability of real-time tracking features on the NJT website and mobile app.
🔗 Honduran fugitive tied to Trenton homicide kills again, cops say
🚨 Trenton homicide suspect wanted for a 2025 killing is charged with another shooting.
🚨 Prosecutors said he was armed and dangerous.
TRENTON — One year after a homicide in Trenton, authorities say the man from Honduras responsible has been linked to another killing.
On March 17, 2025, a city resident called 911 to report bullet holes in their home caused by a shooting from an attached residence.
Police found the body of a 55-year-old man inside the attached house on Dayton Street, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
This news comes as New Jersey lawmakers passed three measures aimed at curbing immigration enforcement activities in the state.
Prosecutors identified the victim as Esteban Vicente Sacalxot, a city resident. He had been shot in the torso.
Weeks passed with no arrests and updates from investigators. Then, on May 28, 2025, authorities announced that Alfonso Inestroza, also known as Franquin Inestroza-Martinez, was charged in the shooting. But they didn’t know where he was.
🔗 NJ cop slain by own gun that was then used in crime spree
☑️Det. Sgt. Monica Mosley was shot during a violent home invasion in Bridgeton
☑️5 suspects were indicted but the gun in the 2024 shooting was never found
☑️Shell casings found in 3 unrelated shootings in Salem City were connected
BRIDGETON — An intruder killed a detective with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, using her own service weapon against her. That gun then went on to be used in a series of further crimes, prosecutors recently revealed.
Det. Sgt Monica Mosley was shot during a home invasion at her home in Bridgeton on Oct. 15, 2024. Mosley heard them kick down her door and grabbed her weapon to go see what was going on, investigators said.
During the confrontation, one of the intruders shot Mosley in the knee, causing her to fall. When she raised her hand to defend herself, she was shot in the wrist. Another suspect then shot her in the back of the head.
Byron Thomas, 35, of Paulsboro; Nyshawn Mutcherson, 29, of Vineland; Jarred Brown, 31, of Bridgeton; and Richard B. Hawkins Willis, 32, of Gloucester City, were indicted on first-degree murder, second-degree burglary, third-degree hindering, fourth-degree obstruction and weapons offenses.
Also indicted was a former Camden County police officer. Cyndia Pimentel, 38, of Paulsboro, is charged with third-degree hindering an investigation, fourth-degree obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. She helped hide evidence and drove the getaway SUV to a Philadelphia garage, investigators said. She was an officer between 2013 and 2015.
Prosecutors say the slain detective did not know any of the defendants.
A former employee has filed a lawsuit against the law firm co-founded by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, alleging violations of the New Jersey Family Leave Act.
The suit claims a paralegal at the firm was fired after requesting time off to care for a loved one, leave that she says should have been protected under state law. The complaint accuses the firm of firing her when she sought time off and other accommodations to care for her sick mother-in-law.
The allegations carry a striking political irony. As speaker, Coughlin has been a leading advocate for expanding family leave protections in the state. He has backed legislation broadening job-protected leave and argued workers should not have to choose between caring for family members and keeping their jobs. Legislation he supported prohibits employer from retaliating against employees seeking time to care for sick relatives.
Now the law firm bearing his name — Rainone Coughlin Minchello — is accused in court of violating the very protections Coughlin helped champion in Trenton.
Neither Coughlin nor the attorney who filed the suit have been available for comment.
Start your day with up-to-the-minute news, traffic and weather for the Garden State.
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You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com
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