The Jersey City Independent "

- Jersey City’s Sustainable Cities Conference was yesterday morning, and keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talked about energy independence, namely a national smart grid, which the federal stimulus package just funded to the tune of $11 billion — far short of the $150 billion Kennedy says it will eventually cost. A smart grid is a computerized energy infrastructure that would make managing the flows of energy across the country more efficient. Look for JCI’s report on the conference later today.

- Residents of Droyers Point at Society Hill have filed suit against homebuilder K. Hovnanian and the city’s Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) because their fire sprinklers have been shut off ever since an August incident. K. Hovnanian says the shutoff isn’t their fault, and lays blame with the MUA. A hearing in the case is slated for March 17.

- At a presser near Exchange Place yesterday, U.S. Rep. Bob Menendez called for an end to executive bonuses for banks that receive government bailouts from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

- At last night’s City Council caucus meeting, Liberty State Park CFO Connie Claman and Frank Gallagher from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection asked the council to adopt a resolution supporting their application to the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund for up to $50,000 to fund an engineering study for a bridge connecting LSC and the light rail with Liberty State Park.

- Mayor Healy and his City Council candidates will file their petitions to run in May’s elections today at 4 pm. According to a release, “Team Healy” collected a total of 16,567 verified, eligible signatures.

- Jersey City’s South City Grill will be introducing a lower-priced menu and wine list soon, but probably not before the owners wrap up the launch of two new Fire & Oak restaurants, including the one in the new Westin Jersey City Newport, which is slated to open within a month.

- The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey recently announced that it had awarded grants to the Jersey City Museum ($10,000), Liberty Science Center ($30,000) and St. Peter’s College ($10,000) in 2008.

- A man convicted of a 2006 felony murder was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday.

- The multifamily apartment buildings 317-343 Fairmount Ave. and 62 Kensington Ave. were recently sold for $12.5 million.

- The Alzheimer’s Association is bringing its inaugural Jersey City Memory Walk to Liberty State Park this year. The event, which is part of a nationwide series of walks, is currently scheduled for Oct. 31.

In statewide news:

- NJN will broadcast Gov. Corzine’s budget message live today at noon. The address will also be simulcast on NJN Public Radio and online. NJN will rebroadcast the address tonight at 10 pm. The budget is expected to have “pain on every page,” raising taxes on businesses and the wealthy, requiring wage givebacks from state worker unions and cutting property tax rebates and aid to towns. The New York Times says the address is “unlikely to win many new friends” for the increasingly unpopular governor,

- Two big pharma giants based in NJ are coming together: Merck & Co. is buying Schering-Plough Corp. for $41.1 billion in stock and cash. As part of the plan, the company plans to eliminate 16,000 jobs. The move further separates NJ from its past renown as “the medicine cabinet of the nation.”

- The state comptroller says that his department will get no additional staff to help oversee the roughly $17 billion in federal stimulus money coming our way, despite lawmakers’ concerns over how the state mismanaged other billion-dollar programs in recent years. A website to track the contracts and spending from the stimulus was unveiled yesterday.

- A new bill being heard by a Senate committee would make currently off-limit funds accessible to nonprofits. As it stands, state law prohibits many nonprofits from spending certain pools of money if the funds have decreased from their original value.

- A state appeals court has ruled that the Bergen County prosecutor’s office doesn’t have to release records of staffers’ outside jobs to the press. The court found that the employees’ privacy and safety concerns trump the public interest in this case.

- State officials said yesterday that the results of a recent Department of Environmental Protection report that warns of danger to birds and marine life will have no immediate effect on New Jersey’s massive offshore wind projects.

- The Council on Affordable Housing has filed a 130-page response to two dozen challenges to state housing rules.

- At a contentious hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Jeanne Fox for a second six-year term as president of the Board of Public Utilities, clearing the path for a final Senate vote on March 16.

- The Star-Ledger has revamped its business coverage, choosing to focus more on personal finance and “soft” financial news rather than the incessant coverage of the market and all its baggage that is so readily available 24/7 on cable “news.”

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