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- The City Council met last night, and a number of people spoke on behalf of Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop’s ordinances that would create an Animal Control Commission and an Animal Control Ombudsman. Both of those ordinances were introduced at the meeting, though several council members said they had “concerns” with both pieces of legislation. For a full rundown of the City Council meeting, check back tomorrow.

- Prior to last night’s City Council meeting, about a dozen people gathered outside City Hall to protest the city’s proposed settlement with PPG Industries to clean up a toxic chromium site on Garfield Avenue. The settlement was also brought up during the public comment portion of the council meeting. Today, Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Nancy Marks will be on WNYC’s “Leonard Lopate Show” to talk about why the group is going forward with its suit.

- A 14-year-old boy died yesterday after being struck in the chest while boxing with another youth at a park in the Heights. HudCo prosecutor Edward DeFazio says preliminary information points to the death as being an accident. An autopsy scheduled to be performed today will confirm the cause and manner of death and could also reveal if the boy had a pre-existing condition that led to the tragedy.

- The Journal has more on the controversy over renaming PS 8 for Charles Trefurt.

- The Dante Alighieri Society of Jersey City is one of many groups raising money to help survivors of Monday’s earthquake in Italy.

- The state Department of Community Affairs is putting on a two-day seminar on ways to help downtown businesses in New Jersey’s cities survive and thrive during the recession. The dates are April 29 and 30 at Thomas Edison College in Trenton — to find out more contact Jef Buehler at (609) 633-9769 or jbuehler (at) dca.state.nj.us.

In statewide news:

- Environmentalists are calling on Gov. Corzine to veto a bill that would hand off the cleanup of contaminated sites from the state to private contractors.

- The state is set to receive $86 million in new federal homeland security funding, which will be used to protect chemical plants, ports, rails and other infrastructure.

- As the same-sex marriage wave crests across the country, a national group is trying to keep NJ from becoming the next state to legalize it, by targeting the state in a $1.5 million ad campaign. The Times has more on both sides’ push on same-sex marriage here and in NY.

- South Jersey’s Oyster Creek nuclear power plant — the oldest in the nation — was granted a new license yesterday that will allow it to operate for 20 more years.

- NJ Transit will pay a Newark-based firm $34 million to oversee construction of a new commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and northern New Jersey.

- The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is accepting applications for the Transportation Enhancement Program, which is being funded via the federal stimulus package. NJDOT is providing $19.5 million in funding for non-traditional transportation projects that enhance the cultural, aesthetic, historic, and environmental aspects of the state’s transportation system.

- NJ Transit has scheduled a lunchtime web chat with vice president of rail operations William B. Duggan for April 15, from noon-1 pm.