Marijuana takes center stage with New Jersey lawmakers, Toms River gets a mutation named after it

Good morning, Feeders, and happy Friday! Yesterday’s long haul to work out Philadelphia’s soda tax isn’t quite over. While you were stocking up on two liters just in case, City Council was also discussing the paid sick leave bill and DROP.  Tom MacDonald will catch us up.

Gary Keller will graduate from high school tonight. Lizz Fiedler will catch up with the Upper Perkiomen High School senior, who is looking forward to a summer of sleeping in. We first met Keller, who is battling cancer, as he attended his prom last month.

Comicon is coming. Peter Crimmins will have a story for us today on the convention that’s coming to Philly, and you can hear more later on NewsWorks Tonight.

Phil Gregory will give us a peek at a bill coming to New Jersey next week for marijuana decriminalization. In the meantime, Carolyn Beeler will look at Gov. Chris Christie’s request for assurance from the federal government about the regulation of medical marijuana.

Carolyn is also checking in with a Toms River family and the hemoglobin mutation named for the town. We’ll hear about the Toms River Mutation, named after the town because a young girl was the first to show the mutation.

There are two things you should really be aware of on our Northwest Philly pages: graduation and the Jazz Fest. Visit all three pages for coverage of local high school graduations and every nitty gritty detail you should know ahead of this weekend’s West Oak Lane Jazz Festival.