Honorable Lisa Thornton is a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey. She was just appointed as the "first black woman to serve as an assignment judge in the history of New Jersey's modern court system." 

This past weekend, Philadelphia took a hard hit and lost 4 young children due to a quick spreading fire. Other residents of the home were able to escape. This very sad story should not continue to happen. A lot of family put smoke detectors in their home and think that is enough.  The problem is, the smoke detector will only tell you there is a fire. It will not tell you the best route to take to get out of the house safely. Many homes only have exits on the first floor. What happens if the stairs are blocked and you cannot get to the first floor? Every family should take this opportunity to review how they will exit the house safely when there is a fire. Practice different scenarios. There are many fire exit items on the market, such as window ladders, that can help you in an emergency. Make sure children know what to do in these situations.

There has been a lot of news coverage recently about children being left in hot cars. Some of the cases were on purpose. Some were on accident. This article in USA Today suggests that you take your left shoe off and put it in the back seat.  You don't need the left shoe while driving, but you will need it when you stop the car to get out and walk. This way, you will go into the back seat to retrieve the shoe and remember if you have forgotten to make a very important stop at your child's daycare or babysitter for the day. Let's all work together to make sure these very sad events stop happening. 

Starting today, NJ is increasing its fines if you are caught texting while driving.  Fines start at $200.  A 2nd offense carrier a minimum fine of $400.  A 3rd offense at least $600.  Additionally, a judge can also suspend your driver's license for 90 days if it is your 3rd+ offense and impose 3 motor vehicle points.