How the School Cell Phone Ban Will (or Won’t) Work, Bullets at the Movies and a New Town Called Beltley

It's the first day of school, and we're digging into Montclair's new cell phone and Chromebook rules with Screen Aware Montclair co-founder Jordan Goldberg, breaking down the massive Meta settlement, and introducing you to Beltley — the brand-new "town" that popped up overnight in a field between Nutley and Belleville, whose founder has some choice words for Montclair. Plus: a loaded magazine (no gun) found at a West Orange movie theater, a new Italian steakhouse coming to town, a rough night for Mounties football, a Tupac tribute event, and a very special tease for next week's show.

In this episode:

• First day of school for Montclair public schools; private schools are staggered, with MKA starting September 9 and Lacordaire on September 11
• WTH: police cleared a West Orange AMC theater mid-screening after finding a loaded gun magazine, plus a breakdown of how NJ's concealed carry "sensitive places" law (still tied up in the full Third Circuit) applies to movie theaters
• Jordan Goldberg of Screen Aware Montclair on the district's "off-and-away" cell phone policy, a wild story about predictive text getting quietly turned on in a fourth-grade classroom, and how Montclair's rules stack up against South Orange-Maplewood's stricter, AI-blocking ban
• Meta's $17.1 billion multistate settlement over addictive app design for kids — New Jersey's roughly $50–75 million-a-year cut, and why some say it barely dents Meta's ~$201 billion in 2025 revenue
• Introducing Beltley: the micronation John "Cozz" Cozzarelli of Cozz Coffee declared in a field between Nutley and Belleville, plus his collab with comedian Chris Gethard, "Lord Let Me Die in Essex County"
• Three candidates — Mariana Horta, Kyle Porro, and Antoinette "Toni" Martin — have filed for Montclair's open at-large town council seat, up for a November vote
• De Novo owner Demetri Malki is opening an Italian steakhouse, Cassaforte, in the old Chase Bank building on Bloomfield Avenue, targeting spring 2027
• Mounties football fell 42-7 to Ridgewood in the season opener, but showed real fight against a team playing its entire season on the road due to stadium issues
• A preview of "2Pac Revisited," a full day of programming September 12 — including a Michael Eric Dyson panel — marking 30 years since Tupac Shakur's death
• A tease for next week: Farnoosh and Mike say they landed an interview with President Trump — stay tuned, because it's not quite what it seems

Resources & Links

• Screen Aware Montclair
• NJ's "bell-to-bell" cell phone law (S-3695/A-4882) signed by Gov. Murphy — NJSBA
• NJDOE updated bell-to-bell guidance (PDF)
• South Orange-Maplewood's tech policy goals — Village Green NJ
• Meta's $17.1B child-safety settlement — NPR
• NY AG announcement on the Meta settlement coalition (incl. NJ)
• North Jersey man declares the town of Beltley — NJ 101.5
• Cozz declares new town in the Nutley-Belleville gap — News 12 NJ
• Cozz Coffee
• "Lord Let Me Die in Essex County" — Cozz & Chris Gethard (YouTube)
• NJ's sensitive-places gun law heads back to the full Third Circuit — NJ Monitor
• Who's running for Montclair's open town council seat — Patch
• De Novo owner plans new Italian steakhouse Cassaforte — Montclair Girl
• Montclair Mounties football schedule — MaxPreps
• 2Pac Revisited
• Questions or tips? [email protected]

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