The Associated Press called the race on a ballot question legalizing recreational cannabis for use by anyone ages 21 and over in New Jersey just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday. Lawmakers now have to decide how the market will be regulated and tested, how many permits and licenses will be given out, the types that will be distributed, and who will get them.

All told, 778,000 New Jerseyans are receiving a combined $1.2 billion of federal unemployment under the Federal Emergency Management Agency program, according to the state labor department.

At its height during the virus' onset, the state reported more than 4,000 new daily cases and close to 400 fatalities a day. Recent surges in the state have seen new daily instances come in at over 1,000 for more than two weeks.

State health officials warned that indoor gatherings are driving up many of the COVID-19 outbreaks.

New Jersey logged 1,751 new positive COVID-19 cases on Nov. 1, 1,370 on Oct. 31 and more than 2,000 on Oct. 30. That day's numbers mark the highest daily count the state has seen since early May.

Lawmakers are hoping that a set of bills moving through the Legislature can take some of the pressure off business owners in the absence of new federal COVID-19 relief. But one measure that’s left Trenton insiders perplexed is legislation that would overhaul or simplify provisions of the state’s corporate business taxation code.

Gov. Phil Murphy assured that the state still has the ability to bring New Jersey’s second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks under control, even as the state sees more than 2,000 daily cases for the first time since early May.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority rolled out the online portal on Thursday where businesses can purchase personal protective equipment – like gloves and masks – from New Jersey vendors and manufacturers.

The state labor department is sending out another round of $300 federal unemployment relief checks to roughly 88,000 New Jerseyans who were supposed to receive the aid but hadn’t.

With the second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks slamming into the state, Gov. Phil Murphy said we are nowhere near expanding indoor dining capacity beyond 25%.

The "Lakewood model," as its being called, reflects the administration's recent rhetoric about enforcing local, scalpel-like restrictions to stymie surges of COVID-19 rather than the sweeping conditions that were enacted across the state in the spring.

According to the latest count, there are 5.7 million N95 masks with another 1.6 million on order and expected in the next month, according to the governor who said the virus' second wave is "now starting to crash on our shores."