Things got a little tense as Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, also commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, was questioned by Sen. Michael Testa, R-1st District, regarding details for certain grants. After explaining the department often just administers such endowments, Testa pressed further, moving to affordable housing and asking why the spending proposal is light on information.

The appointment, announced Thursday during Gov. Phil Murphy's Keynote Address at the Business Network for Offshore Wind’s International Partnering Forum in Atlantic City, establishes the project from the sector leader and partner PSEG as the first tenant of the New Jersey Wind Port.

Together with funding from local governments, 25 projects will see a cumulative investment of $105.3 million.

The state Treasury's Division of Investment announced the Emerging Managers initiative, along with proposing its first investment of up to $250 million.

Judge Glenn Grant, acting administrative director of the New Jersey Courts, outlined several of the top issues facing the governmental branch in his testimony on April 26, including a May 1 milestone that will set a historic high in the state for the number of judicial openings.

As he continues his four-day trip through Ireland, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the signing of three Memorandums of Understanding between New Jersey academic and real estate entities with top Irish tech universities and a startup accelerator.

The announcement came from across the Atlantic Ocean, as the governor and a delegation from the Garden State kicked off an economic trade mission to Ireland April 24.

“We need to turn dialogue into action, but we need to do it in a forceful way,” the organization's president, Tom Bracken, said. “We need to do it with respect. And we need to do it with persistence, both on an individual and a collective basis. What do I mean by that? Everybody in this room needs to engage. You have to engage. And then, collectively, we can engage. That kind of engagement and that kind of unified effort is what’s going to get something done.”

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced an additional $6 million to offset the cost of the vehicles in vulnerable communities.

Guided by the theme of “Investment in Our Planet,” the new blue and green carbon initiative will provide $15 million to projects across the Garden State with the goal of creating, restoring and enhancing salt marshes, sea grass beds, forests and urban parks to help in the fight against climate change.

This part of the process comes at a critical juncture as the state emerges from the pandemic flush with money from surpluses and federal relief funds. During the meeting, the body heard from a diverse group on a wide array of issues, ranging from arts to autism to local journalism and cancer.

With near or below freezing temperatures expected throughout the state, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection approved a request to temporarily allow controlled open burning to protect flowering plants from damage.