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♪ >> From NJ PBS, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us.

A fast-moving wildfire in Ocean County scorched nearly 4000 acres in less than 24 hours.

Firefighters are still battling the blaze being called the Jimmy's waterhole fire on that note 60% contained.

The Forest Service as it broke out Tuesday evening in the areas of Routes 539 and 70 in Manchester Township tearing through federal and private land.

170 buildings and homes were evacuated on multiple roads in the Manchester and Lakehurst communities.

Those orders have been lifted and residents are back in their homes, but authorities say 20 structures remain under threat.

As they work to keep that up contained, a separate wildfire as shipped on the westbound side of a rock in -- Warm, dry, and windy conditions.

>> We saw a wall of fire, 200 foot flames, raining fire embers.

I do not mean to be dramatic, but this was a severe situation.

>> What is being called the Jimmie's waterhole fire has grown to nearly 4000 acres, torching parts of Ocean County near Lakehurst and Manchester.

People for more than 150 households had to evacuate yesterday, but the Department of Environmental Protection says everyone is safe to return thanks to of a team effort including more than 30 fire departments.

>> These guys and girls managed to keep it in a place and protect lives and property.

>> This definitely had high potential to be extremely catastrophic.

We had a really well coordinated effort, good team cohesion between all of the agencies here last night.

>> Everyone who was evacuated is now back in their homes.

There was no structure damage I am aware of at this time and no injuries.

>> When this fire began to burn, people in North Jersey saw a brush fire jump from Jersey City to a recycling center.

The Garden State suffered through 15 wildfires yesterday thanks to prime conditions for fires to start and spread.

>> That is a typical number.

This year we have seen since the start of the year and increase in the number of fires compared to last year.

Piracies and got started earlier this year.

>> The weather was severe yesterday due to low humidity, strong winds and high temperatures.

Currently we are in the off-season, so warm sun penetrates the open canopy of the trees.

The forest floor and fuels are dry.

>> What sparked a fire in Ocean County?

The forest fire service is still investigating.

>> 99% of wildfires argument caused whether that is accidental or intentional, so we will continue to look into it.

>> There is a ways to go in terms of full containment of this fire.

I helicopter spent much of today scooping up water from the lake to keep the fire under control.

Leaders warned the fire will still grow a bit, but they are not expecting any more devastation.

>> We are confident we have a good handle on this fire, so we are not requiring additional mandatory evacuations.

>> We are not out of the woods yet, we are in a dry stretch.

At they are talking rain this weekend, but not much.

Residents will see continued smoldering and smoke and small flames, sometimes larger flames as we burn out pockets of unburned fuel.

It will be occurring until we get significant rainfall to check the fire and smother it.

>> The forest fire service as the fire is 60% contained.

Folks in Ocean County might smell smoke and see hazy skies.

Briana: Pressure is on to negotiate a deal between Rutgers University and thousands of striking union members now on the picket line for the third day.

As contract talks continue behind closed doors with the help of the Murphy administration, all sides say there is progress but no agreement over higher pay and better job protections.

It is directly impacting 67,000 students across all three campuses.

The movement appears to be gaining momentum.

A fourth workers Union now on the verge of joining the strike.

The action is testing the governor's devotion to the very labor unions that helped him get elected and whether his influence can help broker a deal.

Brenda Flenniken is covering the story and has the latest.

>> Those joint the rally on day three of a historic strike, representing 9000 faculty, medical staff and other workers.

After months of negotiations they walked out for higher wages and job security, not just for full-time educators but part-time adjuncts and grad workers too.

>> The way we will win this strike is by solidarity and numbers on these lines.

It is creating the pressure that we need to put money magically on the table.

>> The pressure is working that there has been progress on economic issues at the table, that we are moving in a good direction, and we are not there, anywhere near there yet on the structural issues around adjuncts and graduate workers.

>> This is not just about raises.

>> Exactly, it is not just about raises but lower term commitment to faculty across the board.

>> The pressure could spike higher as a fourth union considers a strike vote.

There 2500 members work in admissions, financial aid, residences and dining halls.

The president claims her union is crucial to the University.

>> We feed them, and house them, we purchase everything, we pay every bill.

We can stop this place.

>> You can bring some critical pressure.

>> Union negotiators tweeted a moment of liberty -- levity from their war room where all sides are meeting on the third day on the urging of Governor Murphy who was driving these talks.

He spoke up for families on S Governor Murphy.

>> House of the students and families feel about all of this?

>> Governor Murphy says he opposes raising tuition, but he wants a deal that as fairness.

Rutgers tuition has already risen 3.0% this year.

Tuition and fees paid 20% of the University's 5.1 billion dollars budget, and state funding picks up 20% of the total.

Asked if he could increase estate support Murphy answer -- >> as a general answer, yes.

I do not want to get into the details.

>> I think all sides are looking to the state and the governor and are saying what can you do financially to help us resolve this?

Rutgers may feel that they are putting everything on the table.

How can we head off taking this purely out of tuition?

>> Unions who I thought back to Murphy are looking for solidarity it now after supporting his candidacy for governor.

>> This is the time that tests those close relationships at governor has with the unions.

At they are looking for support back in return.

>> Picketing continues campuses across New Jersey.

67,000 students attended the state University, and many report cancel cancel's -- canceled classes.

I stand with the faculty unions, Do Better Rutgers.

There is a disconnect felt by faculty in Camden, perceived lack of equity with the administration in New Brunswick.

>> There is this austerity for Camden because it is not bringing in the same kind of tuition dollars has other places.

That is one of the reasons you are seeing folks out on the line.

This fight is part of this really long struggle for equity for Camden.

>> The University says it is bargaining in good faith, contract talks are ongoing.

Briana: It is unclear how long it will take for the contract to be resolved, but if other recent strikes of college campuses are any indication, this might not come to an end quickly.

National labor statistics over the decade prior to 2020 more than half of all stripes nationwide involving at least 1000 workers lasted about seven days.

For more on how long this can take I am joined by William Herbert, an expert on collective bargaining at the University of New York.

Given growing labor action and campuses across the country, and how long might we expect this strike to last?

>> Strikes -- long strikes or short strikes, it wonders what is transpiring in negotiations and on campus.

We have seen strikes at the new school last year, which lasted multiple days.

We have also seen strikes that have lasted only a few days.

There will be a question of what is transpiring now at Rutgers involving mediation.

The governor is involved, the governor's staff is involved.

That could lead to a positive result for everyone sooner, but mediation is not a guarantee, so the strikes could take a longer period of time to resolve.

Briana: Does having the pressure of the governor being in lead to perhaps a faster agreement?

>> The governor's office can play a very significant role in providing the ability of the parties to reach an agreement through resolving issues, and historically when governors step in it is more likely there will be a resolution, and some of these issues are systemic issues involving austerity.

They need to be resolved, and they deal with questions of job security for the nontenure track faculty.

Briana: Does the fact that you have tenure track professors, nontenure track, graduate assistants, this much larger pool in this strike play into just how long this could go on?

>> I think the fact that they have three different bargaining ends together shows us the scope of the issues involved.

It also shows the level of support among the various categories of employees recognizing their interests are united, so that shows there is support.

Another element will be the level of support you see on campuses by students, members of the community, political figures that weigh in, and that could lead to a quicker resolution without recognition by the University and by the union that it is better to resolve these issues once the demands are met.

Briana: I am thinking about the strike that happened with University of California.

Is this the type of work action that we are going to seep moving forward.

We know it hit the education industry pretty hard in terms of these bargaining agreements, which are we expect to see more of this?

>> We have seen since the end of the pandemic we have seen a strike wave taking place in higher education connected to what has been transpiring over time, and now these strikes are evidence of the degree to which frustration as lead to the necessity for people on campus to engage in strike activity.

Briana: Finals are right around the corner.

William Herbert, bargaining expert at Hunter College at the city University of New York.

Thank you so much.

For more on the strike check out Bobby Briar's reporting.

With more than 2.5 years to go, the state officially has its first candidate vying to be the next governor Jersey City Mayor Philip launched his campaign this week and what is expected to be a crowded field of Democratic challengers.

His announcement was no surprise , but the timing caught some off guard leading political insiders to wonder if other candidates will start tossing their hats into the ring.

Our senior political correspondent reports.

Reporter: Jersey City Mayor's Steve Phillips did not set the brush fires in his city or state, the first Democrat to jump into the governor's race will gladly embrace the symbolism, because if you want to win the horserace you might as well come out on fire.

>> Absolutely, someone like Philip jumping out early, he can now make a clear and aggressive case for his candidacy and do it openly.

He has an open plane right now, whereas the others are facing a more complicated picture.

>> Charlie style notes the other potential candidates from both parties are facing their own elections before 2025.

Senators Mike Testa and John Brennan Nick and two representatives all facing voters before 2025.

Non-publicly looking too hard at the governor's race sticking to something along the lines of -- >> If the people of New Jersey want me to put my name in the had, I will strongly consider it.

>> I am going for the Senate, which is a four year term, you call me the day after and I will be happy to discuss that.

>> Then you have another Mayor and former Senate President.

The field is likely to represent that wide of a geographic scope.

At the battle could then come down to who can get the party line from the most important county party organizations, and getting out early may not have much of an impact on that for Philip.

>> You will see a lot of regional candidates in this field, and that is why I say it might not matter.

If the field is crowded enough, then you can take a strong Hudson County base, and that could better.

>> That is just the way it has always been in Jersey.

Drive for the line, throw some money around to County organizations, and transact support.

Nowadays anyone can raise $1 million.

This Philip acknowledges, saying he will take the matching funds, which limits his campaign budget to around $7.5 million.

>> The honest answer is I am sure you will have outside interest in evolved, and people like that and some may not like that, because you will have issue advocacy is regarding things people care about, and then you will have people that disagree with it.

My job is to make sure the $7.5 million I control is done responsibly and to make sure hopefully with the new laws anyone involved in any other way discloses properly what they are doing.

>> It is still over two years away, but if you think that machinations are not underway and issue advocates have not already started to flood the state with money, you know better.

You may not see it on your TV, cell phone, or in your mailbox yet but Steve Philip was just the first official sign that the race is on.

Briana: Two law enforcement officials who build careers unlocking up criminals are now facing their own criminal charges.

The state Attorney General's office is charging the suspended chief of a police department with sexual assault, official misconduct and related charges, alleging the 30 year veteran of the department engaged in a years long pattern of sexual predatory behavior targeting multiple women.

According to the investigation, Herbst used his authority -- The state is also leveling charges today about a retired police chief Andrew Kudrick who faces criminal charges after allegedly buying during an investigation and threatening high-ranking member of the department to cover up an affair with a subordinate.

>> [INDISCERNIBLE] Unfortunately we see with the abuse of power looks like.

[INDISCERNIBLE] Briana: Make sure you check out Chat Box with David Cruz tomorrow night.

David will talk more with the Attorney General about this story and all of the top issues facing his department from reproductive rights to the state takeover of the Madison Police Department Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on the YouTube channel or wherever you stream.

There is uncertainty for two other colleges in the state this week.

The merger between Montclair State University and Bloomfield College is waiting for six separate approvals before the deal can move forward, and the clock is ticking.

The schools are slated to combine by June 30 in order to save Linfield College from shutting down as it faces significant financial problems.

Both the Murphy administration and Democratic led legislature support the plan but have not formally approved it yet.

The U.S. Department of Education a commission on higher ed... New Jersey's are higher and NCAA need to submit approvals within the next two months.

Inflation weakened last month according to the latest data.

The consumer price index, which measures the cost of goods and services, is up .1% from March, still a 5% increase from this time of last year, but it does show the Fed's interest rate hikes are taking hold.

Prices continue rising on other ends, especially as in cost.

Car insurance, new cars, and airfares also increases.

Energy costs are down significantly from a year ago when the war in Ukraine upended global energy markets.

Food prices remain flat but are still too high to be comfortable for most families across the country.

Markets reacted to the latest inflation news.

Here is how stocks closed for the day.

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Local 102, lighting the path, leading the way.

♪ Briana: In Newark there is a concerted effort to up residents live a happier, healthier, longer, fuller life by planting trees.

The lack of greenery in certain areas can be traced back to racist practices like redlining and contributes to higher temperatures and more significant health problems.

It now with the help of federal funding, the state's largest city get a boost to its urban forest.

>> Today is a symbol and a sign and substance of us creating that kind of transformation, of us being able together to plot our own course, to make our own way, to tell the world that you may try to drive communities like Newark to its knees, but we will rise.

>> Senator Cory Booker celebrating a push to create more new spaces in Newark.

At the Biden administration is offering $1 million in grants as part of its investing in America plan.

The goal is to expand access to nature with environmental friendly projects like planting trees.

>> It has been well documented that low income neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color have fewer trees and therefore higher temperatures a lot more than white upper income areas.

Some low income blocks in the East have 30% less to recover and are hotter by seven degrees Fahrenheit according to a study by the nature Conservancy.

At seven degrees might not sound that much, but it can mean the difference between life and death if you are an elderly grandmother and do not have air conditioning.

>> The U.S. Forest Service is allocating $250 million to support tree planting in urban areas, $11 million of which will be dedicated to New Jersey.

The environmental commissioner says the funding will be a great help in the fight against climate change.

>> We have a risk of sea level rise it two times greater than most other places on the planet.

We have seen extreme precipitation increases in the last 23 years by 10%, and when we look forward it can go up to 50%.

>> Environmental advocates say tree planting in Newark will bring the city one step closer to building healthy communities.

>> There are many places that do not have any trees or to recover and children play outside and to prevent toxic air, and they do not have natural defenses that can help.

We are looking forward to ameliorating that.

>> While experts agree planting more trees is a start to advancing environmental justice, they say it is important to make sure communities have the resources they need to keep trees flourishing.

>> The stuff we want out of a tree takes time to grow.

If we just throw trees at a community to make ourselves feel good about redressing past wrong , that is doing something to the community, not doing something with the community.

>> A Newark business administrator confirms the city has a plan to make sure this happens.

>> We have been training local residents hungry projects.

Newark will have local residents position to plant the trees, contained green infrastructure projects and lead the companies to get the government contracts.

>> Environmental advocates say it will not only create greener spaces but allow residents to really enjoy the beauty of where they live.

Briana: That is going to do it for us tonight.

A reminder, you can now listen to NJ Spotlight News any time podcast.

Make sure you download it and check us out.

Thank you for being with us.

Have a great evening.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

>> The members of the New Jersey Education Association, making public schools great for every child.

RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

And Osted, committed to the creation of a new long-term, sustainable, clean energy future for New Jersey.

♪