Tempo and the Times Bob Gatty

A former top advisor to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says the State of New Jersey is expected to intervene in a lawsuit that the U.S. Supreme Court intends to consider that asserts the constitutional right to carry a weapon outside the home.

In in this episode, co-hosted by former Gov. Jim Florio, and hosts Bob Gatty and Scott Ramminger, attorney William J. Castner says he also expects other states to join in opposition to the lawsuit against the long-standing New York law that prohibits unrestricted open carry of firearms.

The court announced April 26 that it will hear the challenge to the century-old law in its next term beginning in October. The restriction requires those who seek a permit to carry a concealed weapon to show a special need for self-defense and is similar to laws in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and elsewhere that the court previously has declined to review.

Castner, a partner in the Connell Foley law firm based in Cherry Hill, NJ, joined the firm after serving as senior advisor to the governor on firearms in the Murphy administration. In this regard, he advised on legal, regulatory and policy alternatives to help reduce gun violence in New Jersey.

Castner says he worries that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court could, in effect, “wipe out a very strong law” that guards against unregulated open carry of firearms in New Jersey. “I don’t want my kids going to Six Flags and have the person next to them carrying a firearm,” he adds.

“If the U.S. Supreme Court were to invalidate the New York law, which is very similar (to New Jersey’s) and has been on the books since 1913, our law would be at risk,” Castner explains. “I talked to the governor today and our attorney general is going to try to intervene in that case because we have serious concerns that our strong gun safety laws would be at risk.”

On the podcast, Florio credits Murphy with helping New Jersey strengthen its gun laws and fight against the “epidemic of gun violence” that is prevalent in our society. Florio is known for successfully resisting the Republican legislature’s efforts to override his veto of legislation that would have repealed the state’s ban on assault weapons during his term as governor.

“In our state we have congested highways, we have crowded mass transit, and it’s not a great recipe to have instant access to firearms in a state like ours,” Castner says. “It’s not terribly complicated. New Jersey has among the strongest gun violence prevention laws in the country, and we have among the lowest per capita gun violence deaths in the country, so it is a situation where access and the proliferation of firearms leads to more gun violence deaths.”

While the state “is doing what we can,” Castner says, “Washington is failing us. Until there is a federal solution, we will be limited in reducing (gun related crime).”

R&B and Blues piano player Daryl Davis, in an incredible interview with the Tempo and the Times podcast, tells the story of his career, which has included gigs with Chuck Berry and other famed jazz and blues musicians, while confronting blatant racism and even "infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan.

During his long career as a musician since graduating from Howard University with a degree in jazz, Davis went from tires being slashed outside a venue in Maryland because of his race to influencing a top leader in the KKK to leave the organization -- and give him his robe.

That's the part of the story that we present in today's episode of Tempo and the Times. It's a fascinating tale of courage and determination to do what's right.

Blues piano man Daryl Davis begins the story of how music led him to a friendship with the Imperial Grand Wizard of the KKK. This eventually led the fellow to quit the KKK and give Daryl his robe.

Daryl, obviously, can be a pretty persuasive guy.

Daryl also explains how, while still in high school, he wound up convincing Muddy Waters’ piano man, Pinetop Perkins, to come over to his family’s home for lunch.

It's the first of two episodes with Daryl, a fascinating fellow who has a lot to say about music, race relations, and the times in which we live.

What are the trends in journalism today? What is motivating the next crop of reporters and editors who will be covering the news in the years ahead? What factors influence what is reported today? Take a listen to this episode with our guest, Guy Reel, who's day job today is teaching these young journalists. Guy is department chair and professor of mass communications at Winthrop University in North Carolina and shares his views with hosts Bob Gatty and Scott Ramminger.

What's "fake news?" Where did that come from? Listen to Guy tell us how it's not really a new phenomenon -- it was just called something else in years gone by.

The Biden administration’s new plan to develop wind energy resources off the Atlantic coast can result in hundreds of new wind turbines producing massive amounts of clean energy within the next few years, says Kris Ohleth, a top wind energy expert says in this episode, co-hosted by New Jersey attorney and former Gov. Jim Florio.

Ohleth, Executive Director of the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind (SIOW) and a 15-year veteran in offshore wind energy, says that with strong support from the Biden Administration, which has just launched a major initiative to develop wind energy off the Atlantic coast, new wind farms that can produce massive amounts of electric power can be in place within the next four or five years and perhaps sooner.

They will dramatically reduce reliance on fossil fuel while providing thousands of new, good paying jobs, and boosting the economies of communities along the mid-Atlantic coast, she predicts.

According to the White House, the administration’s plan would generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by the end of the decade, enough to power more than 10 million homes and cut 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for port communities to have a new start,” Ohleth says.

“Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come," says Florio, who co-hosts the episode with Bob Gatty and Scott Ramminger. "The concept of offshore wind, clean energy, and climate change sensitivity is an idea whose time has come.”

Before 2011, Rick Pullen's career was all journalism: investigative reporter for different newspapers and later inventive magazine editor. The two roles in the same business exposed his two sides: he thrives on the thrill of an investigation, and he has a creative curiosity for design and writing he has never tamed.

In 2011 he merged the two and started writing fiction. In 2016 he published his bestselling political thriller, NAKED AMBITION.

THE APPRENTICE, a serial with novice reporter Tish Woodward, was published in December 2017.

NAKED TRUTH, a sequel to NAKED AMBITION, followed in September 2018. NAKED TRUTH is another thriller with newspaper reporter Beck Rikki again on the trail.

In this fascinating conversation, Rick shares insight into what it took to produce and successfully publish these novels and many of the challenges that he confronted and successfully managed along the way.

Take a listen.