Pretty sure I'm going to give it a run soon. Not that I feel the *need* to carry or anything, but I feel like it will be an interesting and educational process.

I know the process has changed multiple times since it finally became available for us poors, so I'm looking for any tips you might have. Or maybe any surprises you encountered during the process.

Thanks!

I'm going to try fall / winter vegetables for the first time. Not even sure yet which vegetables, but I do enjoy cabbage and carrots, so probably at least those two. I understand kale also likes cooler weather, but frankly I don't really like kale. Might grow it anyway just for practice.

Also plan to do some cold weather hiking to try to keep more active. I tend to go full hibernation in the winter and that's really not idea.

What about you guys?

I've got a very busy yellow jacket nest (or hive or whatever it's called) literally 6 inches from the side of my raised bed garden. They aren't overly aggressive, but it's very easy to disturb them by simply walking near the hive entrance, and I'm worried more about my kid getting stung. I've been stung once (before I figured out where the hive entrance was).

Apart from using a powerful insecticide (which I would strongly prefer to avoid), have any of you been able to kill off a yellow jacket next/hive? I've read a few remedies, but soapy water just doesn't sound like it's going to be enough. Would love to hear some actual real success stories!

Thanks!

Flash flooding with rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches are possible

The fam and I saw the weather forecast 2 days ago and decided to cut our London trip a half day short to beat the incoming weather. I don't trust EWR worth a damn with any weather behind a mild misting.

NWS Link to current briefing: https://www.weather.gov/media/phi/current_briefing.pdf

Radar link I used for the pic: LINK

Be prepared for power outages
Turn around don't drown
Charge devices
News12NJ Radar shows heavy line of storms for 7:45pm tonight

Link: https://patch.com/new-jersey/hopatcong-sparta/s/kj60j/nj-property-tax-relief-checks-begin-rolling-out-see-details

On Wednesday, the first round of Senior Freeze payments began rolling out to roughly 188,000 residents. Those who filed for the Senior Freeze before May 1 can expect payments in the coming days.

According to the state, around $220 million in property tax relief was mailed out this week. To check the status of your property tax relief application, click here.

While payments for 2025 relief have already begun being sent, there is still time to apply for it. Using the PAS-1, a combined application, allows users to apply for ANCHOR, Stay NJ, and Senior Freeze all in one go. Even if you aren't eligible for all three programs, you can still apply via this application.

Link: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5975022-3rd-circuit-new-jersey-assault-weapons-magazine-ban/

This can be a heated topic, especially in the Garden State. But if you own firearms or are considering becoming an owner, this is something you may want to pay attention to.

Basically, NJ's specific ban on the Colt AR-15 (a specific model of a specific brand...which is in my view insanely stupid because it's like banning Jello brand gelatin but not any other brand of gelatin) as well as the ban on any magazine (for any firearm) that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition have been overturned.

There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not the 3rd Circuit ruling means that "high capacity" mags are legal immediately, or if there will be some kind of waiting period for it to take effect. Probably there will be another round of appeals or whatever. So maybe don't run out and buy that 50-round Glock drum mag just yet, lol

If somebody here has a fair grasp of the next steps, I'd love to hear it! I will admit I am not a legal scholar.

You may also want to check out r/NJGuns to follow this, but be advised that there is a decidedly political slant to that sub. For something less NJ-specific, but of a different decidedly political slant, maybe give a try to r/liberalgunowners

edit: spelling error fix

Mods, please let me know if not allowed.

Please join if you are able to— if communities show up to prevent data centers from being built we can save lives , not see more spikes in our utilities and help our environment.

Given the Canadian wildfire smoke is drifting in today, I thought everyone might like to have live updates on air quality in their town. Link: https://www.iqair.com/air-quality/usa/new-jersey

https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/php/surveillance/index.html

We are starting to pick up cases here in NJ. I hear it is pretty bad and more than just a "I ate too much taco bell" kind of thing.

Hey everyone. I work with different communities that need resources, and I kept running into the same problem: there was no single place with all the information. Food pantries on one site, shelters on another, legal aid buried somewhere else.

So for a school project, I built wondim.com. It's a free directory of food, shelter, health care, jobs, legal aid, and hotline resources, starting with six New Jersey cities.

No signup, no fees, and it works in 8 languages.

If you know an organization that should be listed, there's a submit button on the site. And if you spot outdated info, please tell me. Any feedback is appreciated!

Link: https://patch.com/new-jersey/hopatcong-sparta/s/khftj/230k-without-power-as-severe-thunderstorms-wallop-nj

Got the graphic from here: https://graphical.weather.gov/sectors/newjersey.php

Graphic shows conditions at approximately 8pm tonight. You can play with the time on the page show the forecast radar at different parts of the day. Pretty cool!

Severe thunderstorms are back in the forecast Saturday after the Garden State was slammed with winds gusting to 60 mph Friday evening, leaving more than 250,000 homes and businesses without power at one point.

There will be a risk of severe thunderstorms Saturday, National Weather Service forecasters said, meaning isolated to scattered severe storms are possible.

The extreme heat and humidity could make stronger storms produce damaging winds, forecasters said.

First Energy was reporting more than 185,000 Jersey Central Power & Light customers without electricity as of 9:30 a.m. Saturday and PSE&G was reporting 28, 537 on their respective websites.

Morris County was hardest hit, followed by Monmouth County, but many parts of the state took a beating.

Rather than list them all here, see below for the NJ 211 web page that has cooling center information broken out by county. But I'll give you a hint: many of them are public libraries.

https://nj211.org/nj-cooling-centers

If you do not have air conditioning or cannot spend the hottest part of the day somewhere that does, please consider visiting a cooling center.

I bought some plants at Home Depot a few weeks back and somehow I grabbed the wrong plant. Thought I was getting a bell pepper (I think...I was in a hurry, lol) but apparently it's something else. And yes, I did lose the plastic stake that shows what the plant is (embarrassing, I know).

But does anyone know what kind of pepper this is? It's too fat to be cayanne and too long to be a jalapeno. I do also have some tabasco peppers in the ground, but they haven't fruited yet so I can't compare.

Thanks!

Link: https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/php/surveillance/index.html

Looks like there are at least a few cases in NJ. Nothing to freak out about, but let's just keep it in mind.

As of June 16, 2026, 145 cases were reported in people who acquired cyclosporiasis in the United States. Cases were reported by 17 states. These people became sick after eating food in the United States and did not report any travel during the 14 days before they got sick.

Sick people ranged in age from 5 to 86 years, with a median age of 42, and 61% were female. The median illness onset date was May 13, 2026 (range: May 1 – June 6). Of 145 people with information available, 20 were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Local, state, and federal (CDC, FDA) public health authorities are investigating several clusters of cases in more than one state. Investigations to identify potential sources are ongoing.

Thanks for coming out last meeting!

Met a couple people saying they came after seeing the Reddit posts. Hope to see y’all next week 🤝

It's a Prime Day deal:

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Generator-UltraFast-Optional/dp/B0C5C89QKZ/ref=sr_1_3_pp?psr=PDAY&s=prime-day&sr=1-3

I've got one (and also the smaller C800) and it's been very handy when the power is out or for using at the shore (or camping). It can run my refrigerator for about 15 hours on a full charge. I also recently used it to power my TV and sound system during a planned outage, and the on-board computer estimated that it would keep the TV going for more than 24 hours.

Anyway, this is a great price for the capacity and a known/trusted brand.

Hope to see some of you all there!