Led by the NJ chapter of the Sierra Club, environmental activist groups rallied in Newark on Monday to urge U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez to oppose President-elect Trump’s choices to head key departments that control environmental policy. They included 350NJ, Greenpeace, CREDO, Interfaith Power and Light, Beyond Extreme Energy and The Green Party of Essex County.

Last November New Jersey residents faced, overnight, a 23 cent increase in the cost of a gallon of gas, thanks to a tax, heartily endorsed by Sussex County’s state Sen. Steve Oroho, that brought the state from having one of the lowest gas prices to one of the highest. The tax is flexible and could rise under certain conditions.

People convicted of domestic violence will now be required to surrender any guns they currently own, and are prohibited from obtaining a permit to obtain a firearm, thanks to Bill S2483 signed by Chris Christie on Monday.

Sussex Borough residents can feel more secure about the water they drink thanks to yet another grant to help the municipality improve its water-delivery system.

Sometime before April 28, Sparta will withdraw from the county’s health system in favor of reverting back to independently funding and operating its own health department, which it did prior to joining the county in 2009.

On his first day as freshman representative from New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District, Josh Gottheimer, the first Democrat sent to Congress from Sussex County in decades, broke with the party and became one of four Democrats to approve a measure allowing Congress to dismantle recent Obama administration regulations.