Author: William Cleary Sr.

Life long Gloucester City resident, born in 1944. Graduated from Gloucester Catholic High School Class of 1963. Attended Camden County College. Army National Guard 1964 to 1970. Activated in 1967 during the Newark Riots. Worked full-time at the Gloucester City Post Office from 1967 to 1978. Worked part-time at the Gloucester City News from 1965 to 1977. In 1978 I was named editor of the Gloucester City News and Camden County Record. Purchased the City News in 1985. In 2005 the paper was sold. In 2006 I established Cleary's Notebook. At the age of 81 I remain editor of Cleary's Notebook News writing commentary and reporting the news for South Jersey and Philadelphia regions.

Federal Court Terminates Multiple Sections of Consent Decree as NJDOC Achieves Key Reform Milestones

– On January 12, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey granted a
joint motion to terminate six critical sections of the federal consent decree overseeing the New Jersey
Department of Corrections (NJDOC). The order recognizes that the State has successfully implemented and
sustained sweeping reforms in areas ranging from high-tech surveillance to prisoner privacy and staff training.
The motion, filed jointly by the United States Department of Justice and the State of New Jersey, marks a turning
point in the oversight process that began in 2021. The Court found “good cause” to end federal monitoring in
these specific areas based on the Department’s documented progress.
“Today’s ruling is a powerful testament to the tireless dedication of our staff and our unwavering commitment
to upholding the safety and constitutional rights of every person in our care,” said Commissioner Victoria L.
Kuhn, Esq. “With 12 of the 17 sections now terminated, we have proven that these reforms are not just checklist
items, but are fundamental to our daily operations. While we celebrate these milestones, we remain focused on
completing our obligations and ensuring these standards serve as the permanent foundation for the NJDOC.”
Since 2021, the NJDOC has undergone a comprehensive transformation to meet the rigorous standards of the
Federal Monitor. Key successes cited in the motion to terminate include:

Modernizing Surveillance & Safety: The Department invested $1.6 million in a state-of-the-art camera
system. Beyond hardware, the NJDOC fully implemented body-worn cameras for staff and established
strict weekly inspection protocols and video retention rules to ensure accountability.
Enhanced Training Standards: A new, federally approved training plan was launched, delivering trauma-
informed and gender-informed instruction to custody staff, civilians, and volunteers. This includes

practical, scenario-based training to ensure safety and dignity standards are applied in real-life
situations.

Protecting Privacy & Dignity: Physical upgrades have been completed across facilities, including the
installation of privacy stalls for changing and confidential booths for legal and personal phone calls.
Policies now mandate trauma-informed strip search practices and expanded “cover-up”
announcements.
Preventing Retaliation: To ensure a culture of safety, the NJDOC established robust monitoring systems
to protect those who report sexual abuse or harassment. Ongoing education—including monthly staff
newsletters and prisoner education programs—reinforces confidentiality and reporting protections.
Expanding Language Access: For Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals, the NJDOC introduced new
forms of identification to help staff instantly recognize language needs. The Department also ensured
that all disciplinary hearings include full interpretation and translated documentation.
Commitment to Transparency: The NJDOC has maintained a high standard of public accountability by
holding semi-annual public meetings, publishing regular compliance reports, and maintaining full
cooperation with the Federal Monitor.
On November 18, 2024, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey granted a joint motion to
terminate six substantive sections of the 2021 Consent Decree overseeing the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility.
The motion ended federal oversight in areas including: Prisoner Supervision, Prisoner Education, Reporting
Allegations of Sexual Assault, Response to Allegations of Sexual Assault, Physical Plant, and Implementation. This
request was granted based on the facility’s ability to achieve and maintain “substantial compliance” for at least
one year, as verified by five separate reports from the Federal Monitor.
For more information on the Settlement Agreement and Monitor Reports can be found here:
https://www.nj.gov/corrections/FederalMonitorReports/index.shtml.

CNBNews OPRA Request for Gloucester City Housing Data Incomplete

William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (CNBNEWS)(JANUARY 13, 2026)—Sixteen years ago, in 2010, we wrote a story about the number of rental properties, which included an interview with Housing Officer Joe Stecklair. Prior to the interview with Stecklair, we submitted an OPRA asking how many rental properties there are in Gloucester City. Who are the biggest landlords? How much money does the city receive from rental properties, and other questions. Ten days later, CNBNews received a 46-page list containing the names of landlords and the addresses of rental properties, along with other information.

We updated those numbers in 2022.

To write an current story on housing situation, we submitted an OPRA on December 9, 2025, to Vanessa Little, the City’s Custodian of Records, asking for the same information we requested in 2010 and 2022 . On January 5, 2026, nearly a month after submitting our request, we received an answer. Instead of the 46 pages of information we received in 2010, we received two pages with numbers scribbled on both pages. We also received 83 pages containing addresses of homes located in the City. There was no explanation why the Custodian of Records emailed those addresses to us.

Gloucester City occupancy rates

According to data released by https://www.point2homes.com/in September 2025, there are 4,117 occupied housing units. However, the recent pencil information from the Custodian of Records states there are 3,639 or 478 fewer.

The same website, point2homes.com reveal that there are 4,117 occupied housing units in Gloucester City, 56.9% are owner-occupied, while 43.1% are occupied by tenants. Meanwhile, 9.3% of all homes or 443 properties on the local market sit vacant. Gloucester City is home to 11,465 residents, according to the most recent Census data. Gender-wise, 50.6% of Gloucester City locals are male, and 49.4% are female.

Continue reading “CNBNews OPRA Request for Gloucester City Housing Data Incomplete” →

Catherine E. Riley, age 103 formerly of Gloucester City, Saint Mary’s Grammar School Alumni

On February 18, 2010. Age 103. (nee McQuaid) Of Manahawkin. Formerly of Gloucester City. Loving wife of the late Vic Riley. Dear sister of the late Francis (Elizabeth) McQuaid. Loving aunt of Margaret (Stephen) Cook.

Catherine attended St. Mary’s Grammar School in Gloucester City and was a graduate of Camden Catholic High School. She was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America Court Giese #439 in Gloucester City.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend her Mass of Christian Burial on Monday at 11 am at St. Mary’s R.C. Church: 426 Monmouth St. Gloucester City, NJ. Catholic Daughters prayer service will begin at 10:45 am in the church. Interment New Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Bellmawr. There will be no viewing or visitation. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations in Catherine’s memory to Southern Ocean Home Health and Hospice: 1140 Route 72 West, Manahawkin, NJ 08050 or American Cancer Society: 1035 Hooper Ave, Toms River, NJ 08753.

Continue reading →

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY:

What the Hell is Happening NOW?

Dorothy Philbin | Cleary’s Notebook News

Sunday, May 15, 2022

In 2015 The Obama administration passed a law pertaining to illegal immigrant minors. They have to be read their rights (a minor immigrant understands his rights?) The law goes on to detail their rights as food, clothing, and shelter and a ton of other rights the average citizen doesn’t have. Last year, 2021, The Biden Administration updated the law. Read the next sentence very carefully! The update specified that the government had to supply illegal immigrant children with “baby formula and milk.” The Washington Post wrote the article with a “see, there’s no problem – we’re just following the law.”

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RECEIVE GOLD STAR BENEFITS-Families in the United States are struggling to find formula for their babies. And, when they do find it the prices are astronomical.

________________________________

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (May 15, 2022)–Just about everyone knows that there is a baby formula shortage. Many of you are experiencing it. What is happening? This is America and every day we look more like a third-world country rather than the richest and most powerful nation in the world.

So, what is the story behind the story with the formula shortage? Let’s start with a few facts. The United States makes 98% of the formula we use. This is a good thing; it keeps jobs in America and we have much more control over the quality and distribution of the product. The majority of formula is used by WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) recipients. The federal government has a contract with Abbott Company to supply the formula for WIC and SNAP (formerly food stamps) administrated through the states. The states give a “discount” to Abbott et al. up to 85% This is very profitable for Abbott and the federal and state governments don’t really care because it is “We, the People” who pay for it.

Each year between and four babies are reported with infections from a bacteria called cronobacter sakazakii. Never before has a plant been closed. The closest I was able to find for the number of babies who became ill this year was four. Two babies recovered and two died. So, at some point the government closed the plant for inspection. This was the right thing to do. However, I could only come to an inspection date between January 31, 2022 and March 18, 2022. What was the time span between the disclosure of the problem, the decision to close the Michigan plant, the inspection and conclusion? We don’t know.

At the point it was determined to close the plant there should have also been a plan for an alternate source of formula. There are other U.S. based companies; but there is no evidence that this was done. We have to be more careful than usual because these are our babies, not IPhones or clothes, etc. In the past it was found that the Chinese were putting melamine into their formula. We grey hairs remember unbreakable dinnerware called Melmac which was taken off the market because it caused…yes, cancer. Where we get the replacement formula is essential but did anyone look right here in America?

According to the Washington Examiner, May 13, 2022 the inspection is complete, the results are in but the Food and Drug Administration won’t specify the exact criteria for full approval to re-open Abbott’s Michigan plant. The inspection found some of the bacteria but none in the processing area. Samples of the formula were completely free of the bacteria. Everything sounds good.

Bacteria, like humans and all other living things, has its own DNA. Scientists were able to determine that the bacterial DNA in the babies did not come from the closed plant. So why hasn’t the FDA provided a date or even criteria for a full opening?

This is where you have to take off your scientist’s hat and put on your lawyer’s hat. On May 12, 2022 the Washington Post issued a headline about the “faux outrage” over this supposed problem. The term “faux outrage” is outrageous in itself but the article went on to say there is no real formula shortage. “They” were just following the law. Fortunately, The Post printed excerpts from the law. In my opinion, for what that’s worth, it all has to do with politics and money. Here’s what happened:

President Biden can solve the problem with the stroke of a pen. I am usually against Executive Orders. I feel Presidents use them to make law that would normally not get through Congress. In this case I am exasperated that President hasn’t already signed an executive order to alter the “formula or milk for illegal babies” to “Give the illegals formula or milk after all the citizen and legal resident babies have been fed.”

cronobacter sakazakii

Families Can’t Feed Their Babies Because of Formula Shortage, But Illegals Have No Problem Getting It

Author Dorothy Philbin

The Story Behind The Story

CNBNewsnet Tips and Snippets

CNBNewsnet Point of View

Peyton and Me

Filthy Fuhrer, and Four Others of the White Supremacist Gang 1488s Sentenced

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA (CNBNews) February,2023– Filthy Fuhrer, formerly Timothy Lobdell, 46; Roy Naughton, aka Thumper, 44; Glen Baldwin, aka Glen Dog, 41; Colter O’Dell, 30; and Craig King, aka Oakie, 57, were sentenced this week in Alaska to life in prison without the possibility of parole. All five defendants were convicted of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping resulting in death, and kidnapping conspiracy. Fuhrer and Naughton were also each convicted of an additional two counts of kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping, and assault in aid of racketeering.

Evidence presented at trial showed that the defendants were leaders, members, and associates of the 1488s. This violent, prison-based Neo-Nazi gang operated inside and outside of state prisons throughout Alaska. The 1488s used Nazi-derived symbols to identify themselves and their affiliation with the gang, including a 1488 “patch” tattoo that depicts an Iron Cross superimposed over a swastika. The tattoo was awarded to members who gained full membership by committing acts of violence on behalf of the gang. The gang enforced discipline through written rules and a code of conduct, including the boast that “the only currency we recognize is violence and unquestionable loyalty.”

The trial testimony established that Fuhrer founded and led the 1488 gang from inside a maximum-security prison, where he was serving a 19-year sentence for the attempted murder of an Alaska State Trooper. In addition to directing acts of violence to establish the gang’s dominance in the prison hierarchy, Fuhrer ordered gang members to commit violent kidnappings and assaults in the “free world” outside of prison. As part of a plan to impose greater organization and structure among non-incarcerated members, Fuhrer insisted on punishing members that he perceived to be defying the 1488 code of conduct thereby diminishing the power, influence, and reputation of the gang. Fuhrer sent out a trusted lieutenant with a list of directives, culminating in the kidnapping and assault of two lower-level gang members on April 2, 2017, and July 20, 2017, and the kidnapping, assault, and murder of Michael Staton on Aug. 3, 2017.

According to the trial evidence, on April 2, 2017, defendant Roy Naughton and other 1488 members, acting at the direction of Fuhrer, lured a victim to a gang meeting at Naughton’s residence. Once there, the victim was taken into a basement, held at gun point, tied up, and assaulted. As part of the assault, the gang members shattered a lightbulb in his mouth and tattooed him with a racial epithet. The victim was threatened with more violence if the incident was reported to police.

In addition, the evidence at trial demonstrated that on July 17, 2017, Fuhrer called Naughton from prison. During the call Naughton boasted about the April 2 assault and reported to Fuhrer that another member would be assaulted in the next few days. On July 20, 2017, a second victim was similarly assaulted and had his 1488 membership patch burned off.

Evidence also showed that in 2016 Naughton asked for and received permission from Fuhrer to impose exceptionally severe discipline on 1488 member Michael Staton, who held himself out as a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, for stealing from both the 1488’s and defendant Craig King.

Naughton, King, and defendants Glen Baldwin and Colter O’Dell worked with other 1488 members to locate, kidnap, and murder Staton. On August 3, 2017, 1488 members, including Baldwin and O’Dell, lured Staton to Wasilla where they beat him and took him to King’s duplex. After arriving, Staton was taken to an empty room which had been lined with plastic sheeting. Inside the room King and the 1488s beat and tortured the victim, including cutting off his 1488 tattoo with a knife that had been heated with a propane torch. The defendants wrapped Staton in the plastic and carpeting, and Baldwin and O’Dell drove him to a remote section of Wasilla, where they shot him and set fire to his body. O’Dell was awarded full membership in the 1488s for his role in the murder.

Delaware Looking to Legalize “Pot”

February 27, 2023

By Christian Wade | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) — Delaware lawmakers are making another push to legalize recreational cannabis, but the effort faces an uncertain path amid opposition from Gov. John Carney.

A pair of bills filed in the state Assembly would, if approved, legalize recreational pot for adults over 21, and set up a system of regulation and taxation for the drug that would allow retail sales. It’s similar to proposals filed in previous legislative sessions, all of which have failed to win

The bill’s main sponsor, Rep. Ed Osienski, D-Dover, said Delaware is missing out on tax revenue and jobs from the legal weed market as other states around them approve retail sales.

“Delaware has been missing an opportunity to participate in the adult recreational marijuana market,” Osienski said. “We’ve missed out on hurting the illegal market, creating a new industry with good-paying jobs, and bringing tax revenue into our state that is currently going to nearby states like New Jersey.”

HB 1 would remove all penalties for possession of a personal use quantity of marijuana, allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of cannabis flower or 12 grams of concentrated cannabis products.

HB 2 would create a state-regulated system of licensed retail outlets, cultivation facilities and testing and set an excise tax on marijuana sales. The retail pot market would be regulated by a new Office of Marijuana Control Commission under the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement.

The bill would authorize up to 30 retail pot licenses to be issued initially, but cities and towns would be allowed to ban pot shops within their borders by passing local ordinances.

Neither bill would change existing state laws on driving under the influence of drugs, lawmakers said. Home growing and public consumption would still not be allowed.

Last year, a similar proposal was approved by the state Assembly, but Gov. Carney vetoed the bill, citing the long-term health and economic impacts of recreational use of the drug and law enforcement concerns.

At the time, the Democrat said he supports the state’s medical marijuana program, but doesn’t believe legalizing recreational cannabis is “in the best interests” of the state.

But supporters say they’ve spent the past year working to resolve issues that were raised during debate on the previous bill, and say they are “optimistic” it will pass.

“Every year we don’t pass these bills, Delaware misses out on millions in revenue,” said state Sen. Trey Paradee, D-Dover, lead Senate sponsor of both bills. “From both an economic and a criminal justice perspective, legalizing and regulating the sale of marijuana is the right thing to do.”

A report by State Auditor Kathy McGuiness, released during last year’s debate on legalization, estimated Delaware could generate $43 million annually in revenue from authorizing recreational sales and imposing a 20% excise tax. The legal weed market could also create an estimated 1,000 new jobs over five years, according to the report.

To date, at least 18 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territory of Guam have legalized recreational marijuana, to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-six states have medical marijuana programs.

Delaware decriminalized cannabis use in 2015, making it a civil penalty subject to $100 fine. Medical use of cannabis is permitted for adult patients with certain serious illnesses.

The fight over retail sales in Delaware has pitted legalization advocates against the state’s budding medical marijuana operators, who came out publicly against last year’s proposal.

After medical marijuana operators testified against the proposal, a group of Delaware pot activists led a boycott against the state’s six existing medical pot shops.

Recent polls have shown a majority of the state’s voters support legalizing recreational cannabis sales.

PHONE SCAMMERS ARE WAITING TO PREY ON YOU! WHEN IN DOUBT HANG UP

William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (Cleary’s Notebook News)January 9,2026)–Today I had the unpleasant experience of being scammed — or at least, almost being scammed.

A man who called himself Bryant, phoned my cell to warn me that my TD Bank credit card had supposedly been used. He asked whether I had been in Chicago recently and if I had charged $630 at a Best Buy there.

That should have been the first warning sign.

Continue reading →