>> tonight on NJ Spotlight News, repealing parental rights.

Howell and home deal become the latest schools dropping LGBTQ+ policies amid ongoing lawsuits.

>> we want kids to feel accepted but not at the expense of parental rights.

>> no end in sight for the detainment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan, as Russia continues extending his detention.

>> my orders are clear, find a way to bring Evan home and get it done.

>> ongoing food desert crisis in a city saturated with casinos, the hunt or a commercial grocery store in ac continues.

>> this is more than a financial undertaking, this is public health if we do not have healthy food.

>> protecting your pets, Pet owners struggle with the rising cost of pet insurance as three companies seek double-digit rate hikes in New Jersey.

>> people want to do more for their pets and so that is driving up the cost of insurance.

>> NJ Spotlight News begins now.

>> funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided by the New Jersey education, making public schools great for every child.

RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

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

♪ [typing sounds] ♪ >> from NJ PBS, this is NJ Spotlight News with brianna.

>> thank you for joining us.

School districts are the battleground for culture wars and last night three boards of education sparred over guidance for change gender students.

It is known as policy 5756 and it addresses how school districts can counsel kids who choose to identify as a different gender.

Several districts amended the policy to require in most cases that parents are notified, that prompted the Attorney General to put policies on hold as they are challenged in court.

Some school districts are going to get rid of the policy, doing away with protections it includes for transgender students and parental notification.

With many other schools expected to follow their lead.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan has the latest.

>> we want rights as parents, we don't want them taken away.

>> the intense debate over parental rights and transgender students is driving efforts on three boards of education to scrap New Jersey's state education policy 5756 that bars schools from outing transgender schools to their families in most cases.

In a home deal speakers argued over the consequences of ditching 5756.

>> is considering outing children to their parents, it will devastate them.

It is going to be harmful to the kids.

We want kids to feel safe and accepted but not at the expense of parental rights.

>> to take a definitive vote may be premature given the injunctions in place, there are lawsuits happening with three districts.

We have to see how things transpire and address it later when we have more information and when we see how the cases play out.

>> more than 500 school boards adopted 5756 believing it was mandatory on the advice of a private consulting firm in 2019, but during court arguments over transgender policies for students a Deputy Attorney General admitted the lessee is voluntary.

Bruce represents three districts seeking to alter or repeal 5756.

>> we have to comply against the law but New Jersey is a home rule state and boards of education are elected by their community.

We've lost sight of that.

>> they rescinded 5756.

In a preliminary vote Howell's board moved to repeal the policy with a final vote next month.

>> I've received text messages from parents who are frightened for their children, there were trans use people there last night and they are afraid of what is coming next because it was made very clear by the opposition that they are not going to stop.

>> it seems as if it is spreading like wildfire and it is disturbing.

Very concerning that we are kind of losing focus of who was at the center of the policies.

>> home Dale is scheduled for a vote but board members discussed the move to repeal in explicit terms.

>> this is not about LGBTQ, this is severing a beautiful relationship from incredible children and loving parents.

The sooner this fraudulent policy is rescinded, the better.

>> I look at each issue, I'm a parent of multiple kids.

I want them to come to me and let me know what is going wrong.

>> I don't think it should be rushed at all because I just -- I just don't feel that anything about this is black or white.

>> advocates concerned about appealing 5756 see a long road ahead.

>> this will be something a lot of school boards will vote for or members will try to pass across the state.

This is not going to be a one time thing.

>> Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News.

>> detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan appeared before the press for the first time in months, standing behind glass walls in a Moscow court as officials declined to consider his latest appeal to be released from jail on espionage charges, charges he and the U.S. government and I and have been designated a wrongful detention.

The decision means the 31-year-old will remain jailed until November 30, but behind the scenes a group of diplomats and negotiators have been working around the clock to secure his release.

Being led by special presidential envoy for hostage affairs Roger who joined me now.

You have been called Washington's hostage dealmaker in chief.

At this point to the extent that you can tell us, do you see a clear pathway for Evans release?

>> is good to be with you and your audience.

As far as my title when we work on bringing someone home it is a huge team effort, involves people from all over the U.S., Department of Justice, FBI, CIA, Department of Defense, border protection, it's amazing how many people throw themselves into this.

In terms of the path forward to my mind I see a path forward but these paths are tough.

Most of the times they are not linear and you have to get alignment from not only within the U.S. government but partners and allies.

I see a path but it is going to be a challenging one.

If you have seen based on what we did with Iran in the last few days the president of the United States and Secretary of State have a strong purpose and want to get work done, so my marching orders are clear, bring Evan home and get it done.

>> those five Iranian, U.S. and Iranian citizens you mention just touchdown this week in Virginia of course.

You were there for that.

Where do discussions stand?

These are very complicated matters.

What does Russia want in exchange?

>> those are the things I would love to talk about but I have to be mindful that when you start to negotiate in public and start talking about what it is that is going to get a deal done, you are negotiating in public.

The Russians would listen to that information which would be passed on and it would not benefit Evan.

What I can tell you is we have an open channel with the Russians.

We were able to bring Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner back, so there is a pass to discuss this issue.

That I can tell you straight up.

>> can you say whether it seems as though this will result in some type of prisoner exchange or perhaps policy exchange?

In the case of Iran, it was a dual situation there where money was unfrozen and there were prisoners released.

>> you are asking the right questions.

It might be something I can't discuss but I want to share this, at times you do not know.

I could dredge up a few examples of negotiations in the last years to where you go in with a strong feeling that the other side is going to want x and by the time you're done talking you realize they want b.

Were going to go in with I would say, I want to say strong -- that might not be the right verbiage, we will be prepared to discuss.

The Russians are tough negotiators and may take it in another direction and that is fine.

Were going to find a way to close the gap and find a way to bring him home.

>> how concerned are you about hostage diplomacy?

>> anecdotally you would think that is true but the Foley foundation released a report last week that showed there has been a 22% decrease in wrongful detention by other nationstates, so as we bring people back in the Biden administration has brought 35 people home to date, the numbers are not really going back up, they're going and the other direction.

>> Roger Carson's is the U.S. presidential envoy for hostage affairs read thank you and we wish you good luck in your work.

>> thank you so much into your viewers, thank you.

>> family and friends of Andrew Jerome Washington joined a rally outside City Hall, demanding justice for the 52-year-old man shot and killed inside his home by Jersey City police in August while he was in the midst of a mental health emergency.

Washington's family called for a crisis intervention team but the group deemed to the situation unsafe and called police.

Now they are urging the state to take up mental health crisis response training for officers and make mental health resources widely available to the public.

The family and advocates want state investigators to release body camera footage from the shooting Mayor Steve has called for the release while joining the police department in defending the officers actions that day.

One of the most controversial pieces of Governor Murphy's clean energy plan was up for public debate today.

The clean cars program which aims to phase out the sale of gas powered cars in New Jersey by 2035.

It is an ambitious goal and many say it is not feasible.

Melissa Rose Cooper reports.

>> you cannot afford a car in New Jersey.

What environmental protection is telling you is take a bus, carpool or by a bike and we don't think those are realistic for New Jersey.

>> deputy chief affairs office for the business and industry association criticizing the states advance clean cars program.

The plan aims to eliminate the sales of gas powered cars by 2035.

>> cars are not affordable, we do not have the infrastructure to deal with it and a lot of people just don't want them for a lot of reasons and we don't think the state should be mandating that.

>> they were one of many speakers who testified at the hearing hosted by the Department of environmental protection.

Doug O'Malley expressed support for the program.

>> cars and trucks of the largest source of ground-level ozone so majority of counties fail ozone standards according to the American lung Association.

We expect because of climate change ozone will double over the next three decades, so we really need to tackle our pollution from cars and trucks for climate change in our lungs.

We've heard from multiple doctors at the hearing and how they are seeing patients get worse as temperatures increase.

>> taking into consideration communities that have been negatively affected by air pollution and public health issues such as at all, heart disease and other factors that contribute to communities that are disadvantage, we see this as an opportunity to combat those.

>> according to the latest climate action plan, New Jersey will need four point 5 million plug-in electric cars by 2035 in order to meet its goal of phasing out gas powered cars, but critics do not believe that is possible.

>> the mandate for 2022 is supposed to be 22% of the vehicles offered for sale in New Jersey must be zero emission or battery electric vehicles.

We are at less than 10% and the administration has proposed doubling, tripling, quadrupling down on the mandate when they fail to meet and consumers have failed to demonstrate the kind of demand that would be required to comply with this proposal.

>> Commissioner Sean maintains the plan is on track to a clean energy future.

>> there is no ban on Castilian powered cars proposed by the Murphy administration.

There is a ramp up to get us to a zero emission vehicle future and that plan does not mean that no one in New Jersey could buy a gas powered vehicle after 2035.

It means automakers should contribute more electric vehicles to our marketplace.

It does not constrain choice, it opens up choice.

>> there is open, and for the public to weigh in on the program.

If the measure does go through critics want to implement a review in the next few years to determine if the plan is working and whether the program should continue.

I Melissa Rose Cooper.

>> in our spotlight on business, Atlantic City will be a food desert or the people who live there after four more proposals to build a full-service supermarket were unanimously rejected this week by the casino reinvestment development Authority.

With no next steps or other plans discussed.

Senior correspondent Joanna reports the seaside resort plan -- town has been without a grocery store for two decades and it looks like residents will have a while before the weight is over.

>> I have a sign on my door at City Hall that says Atlantic City must not be a food desert.

>> in spite of the mantra of the third Ward in Atlantic City remains a food desert, losing its only grocery store in 2004 and this week the latest attempts failed once again.

>> the casino reinvestment development Authority has rejected proposals submitted to have a supermarket in the city of Atlantic City.

>> proposals were rejected after CR D.A.

said each one required a financial subsidy from the authority which was not in the best interest of the authority.

This is not the first go at it.

November 2021 a groundbreaking was held at the site where the store would go for ShopRite owned by Village Super Market to come in and run a grocery store.

>> the supermarket proposal, they were building them, and leasing it for one dollar.

>> after two years of an agreement to develop ShopRite holdout.

The reason, crime and theft.

>> ShopRite said I cannot go into a venture where I will lose money even if you are giving me the store and a dollar with the kind of theft we are seeing in Atlantic City, I anticipate saying I simply cannot do it, it's not profitable.

>> they wanted a half-million dollars subsidy so the CR D.A.

went out for proposals offering the same lease and building deal to hear the same subsidy request from the new applicants.

The answer, no.

>> given subsidies you are giving them money without getting anything necessarily for it.

How do you resolve this?

It's a difficult situation.

>> you might call it a chicken in a dilemma.

Residents cannot afford healthy food because they have to travel too far in stores cannot offer healthy food because as in other areas, the rates of crime and make the venture unprofitable and any store that comes and wants the subsidy, so what now?

>> I don't think they are in a position to give them money.

>> Senator Vince thinks there could be public money invested but with limits.

He would like to see state and local officials sit down with save a lot which runs a grocery store across town and was one of the applicants rejected for the new site.

>> he is on the ground, got the most information of anyone as to the finances of operating a supermarket, so let's bring him in, sit him down and talk to him and figure out what we can do.

We can expand operations and improve the situation, that's the direction we should be going, not just go back to another RFp.

>> Governor Murphy push for the supermarket and said in a statement he is frustrated by the delay and believes the people of Atlantic City deserve a grocery store in their community.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty smalls says we are willing to wait until this is done right.

Weight is not the answer they want to hear.

>> this is more than a financial undertaking, this is a public health situation if we do not have healthy food.

>> for now waiting is the only option.

For NJ Spotlight News, I am Joanna.

>> on Wall Street it's been a week of losses.

Here is how stocks closed.

♪ >> make sure you tune into NJ business feed with Raven Santana.

What is more Jersey than a diner?

Learn about a Jerseys staple and hear from a couple trying to visit every diner in the garden state.

Watch it on the NJ Spotlight News YouTube Channel Saturday at 10:00 a.m.. As any pet owner knows furry friends are part of the family and keeping them healthy and safe through pet insurance has become an increasingly popular option but as the demand for insurance policy rises so how's the cost.

Owners and federal officials are calling out the insurance companies for seeking dramatically higher prices for premiums.

Murphy administration is reviewing each request to raise rates and making sure they are in line with state law that as Ted Goldberg reports, policyholders feel like they were duped.

>> nobody wanted her, she was not perfect but she was perfect for us, so she became a wonderful family pet and we want to protect her.

>> just felt pressured to buy pet insurance for his Boston Terrier.

He signed up with Trupanion and says he was promised in writing that premiums would never jump more than 20% in a given year.

>> as someone who works in Financial Services I thought this is a good cap on our rate, it will never go up more than 20%, so that led us to purchase the policy.

We found out that pet insurance can change the terms and conditions of a policy pretty much at any time with a filing, they do not have to tell you.

>> what they did tell him was they requested a 33 percent hike from New Jersey's Department of banking and insurance and passed it on to him.

They are not the only pet insurance company asking for higher rates.

Healthy pause pets at Metropolitan insurance company want to raise rates by 34 and 56% leading Josh God Heimer to write a letter asking them to deny the request.

That done the math and while it's nice to have security for pet insurance it was not worth it.

>> we paid $5,400 over the life of the policy and through claims we got about 2750 back in claim payments.

>> if he wants to keep Lucy insured, he is stuck with Trupanion.

The issue is familiar with anyone who has tried to get health insurance.

>> we cannot switch.

It's a pre-existing condition.

As competitive as it has become we cannot leave because of existing conditions.

She is nine and a half years old.

>> insurance companies are realizing they made a mistake in the initial evaluation.

It is not going to work.

>> Jennifer is president of the New Jersey medical Association and works at a pet hospital in Pennsylvania.

She is enrolled in Trupanion for her pets.

>> the lowest deductible they have which is $75 per dog over 13 years old, the insurance rate is $827 a month.

>> veterinary services have gotten about 10% more expensive from August of 2021 through August of 2022.

While that does not explain why insurance would become more expensive Kim says there are other factors like the rising cost of medical supplies and fewer people as vets.

>> people want to do more for their pets so that is driving up the cost of insurance because things that we would have treated before people are treating now.

>> the American pet health insurance Association estimates insurance for dogs is $640 a month last year.

Numbers are smaller for cats with an average cost of $387 a month.

Toby has the power to reject request for higher rates and they hope that happens.

>> I cannot both leave that United States companies are allowed to do this to consumers.

>> Trupanion sent this statement, our goal is to price every pets coverage fairly and what we charge is transparent and equitable.

We remain committed to operating within the New Jersey regulations, ensuring no pet owner will experience more than a 25% rate increase.

They say the policy includes a 33% raise because it includes a renewal of more than one year, still not sitting well with Jeff.

For NJ Spotlight News I'm Ted Goldberg.

>> before we leave you make sure you cut reporters roundtable with David Cruz tomorrow.

He talks to Governor Murphy's outgoing chief of staff about the biggest successes, challenges and what awaits his successor read a panel of local reporters break down political headlines.

Watch roundtable at its new time, Fridays at noon on the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

That does it for us tonight.

Download the NJ Spotlight News podcast so you can listen any time.

For the entire NJ Spotlight News team, thank you for being with us, had a great evening, we will see you tomorrow.

♪ >> NJM Insurance Group, serving insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the PSEG foundation.

♪