Bob Hennelly

As New Jersey Governor Chris Christie campaigns for re-election, he leads a united Republican party. And on the campaign trail he is doing his best to fracture the state's Democrats.

A blue ribbon panel appointed by Governor Chris Christie after the Newtown school shooting massacre wants the state to tighten its gun regulations  and the access minors have to violent video games. The task force also wants to see increased access to mental health counseling.

April 8, 2013 —

Gov. Chris Christie is standing by Rutgers University President Robert Barchi as he faces a growing chorus calling for his dismissal

Monday is the deadline for candidates for New Jersey's state and local offices to submit petitions to get on the June 4 party primary ballot.

A controversial non-profit that runs the City of Newark's vast water supply system is being disbanded after several investigations raised questions about mismanagement of the agency. The utility will now revert back to the City's control.

A lot of attention has been focused on the damage Sandy caused to beaches. But as spring blooms, officials are just now getting a sense of what a blow the storm was to millions of acres of public forest lands and hiking trails.

Atlantic City's casinos were mostly spared during Sandy, but the workers are struggling to find affordable housing there. A rental housing shortage extends far beyond the Jersey shore.

PATERSON —

The African American pastor who hosted Governor Chris Christie's town hall this week has asked the Governor to apologize for his comments about Democratic Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver.

PATERSON —

Never one to shy away from a fight, Gov. Chris Christie told the mostly African-American crowd at a town hall in Paterson that one of their own was failing them by not supporting public funding of vouchers for private schools. He called out Speaker of the Assembly Sheila Oliver, and now she says it was inappropriate to discuss her race.

For years, Trenton has been diverting millions of dollars in local property payments due to municipalities from gas and electric utilities to close state budget gaps.

WNYC’s Bob Hennelly discusses the Senate ethics probe into the relationship between New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez's and a major campaign donor. We’ll also look at Sen. Menendez’s campaign finance operation and his broader sphere of influence.

A Senate ethics probe into the relationship between Senator Robert Menendez's and a Miami doctor and major campaign donor is bringing additional scrutiny to Senator Menendez's formidable campaign finance operation and his sphere of influence.

WNYC's Bob Hennelly discusses how the automatic spending sequester cuts will affect local services, including some of the money slated for Sandy relief.

As @bobhwnyc points out, sequester isn't a shutdown - services would gradually degrade, not stop immediately, as agencies rework budgeting.

— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 26, 2013

The cuts in federal spending called for by the debt ceiling deal between the Republican-controlled Congress and President Obama in 2011 are set to take effect Friday and without some last minute reprieve, the cuts will have an impact on Sandy reconstruction efforts. 

It has been a tough week for U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. The senator faces an ethics probe into flights he took to the Dominican Republic on a jet belonging to Doctor Salomon Melgen, a big campaign donor Menendez has gone to bat for with the federal government.

Bob Hennelly, WNYC's contributing editor for politics and investigations, looks at the question of where the line between politics-as-usual and something else is in the case of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez.

New Jersey officials, led by Governor Chris Christie, have repeatedly cited the state's "Blue Acres" program  as a viable option for dealing with neighborhoods that were badly flooded in storms Sandy and Irene. The program buys property from homeowners and converts the area to a park. But for the thousands of New Jersey residents looking for a buyout, Blue Acres might as well be a unicorn.

Questions continue to dog New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez about his relationship with his friend and campaign donor, Doctor Salomon Melgen.

New York City officials say this weekend's snowstorm prompted 19 families, who had been toughing it out in their Sandy-damaged housing, to take the government up on its offer to provide hotel rooms. But non-profits groups say thousands more continue to make do in substandard housing.

More than 100 days after Sandy struck the region, the impending blizzard has officials and social service non-profits worried about the thousands who maybe living in substandard housing damaged by the October storm.