The Jersey City Independent "

- “The mayor is correct when he says this columnist is biased,” Agustin Torres writes in today’s Journal. “I am.” He points to literature from Healy’s earlier campaigns as proof that the mayor has failed to do what he said he’d do. As we reported yesterday, the mayor has declined a second forum that Torres will be moderating.

- Speaking of the Journal, today could be the paper’s last day. April 13 was the deadline set to close the paper if parent company Advance Publications could not get costs under control. Expect a morning meeting followed by an announcement of what’s next for the Journal.

- Ward C and D candidates tell the Reporter which issues they will address first if elected. In C, Jimmy King says he wants more high schools because of Dickinson’s overcrowding; Craig Bailey says he will focus on crime; Asim Usman says taxes; Norrice Raymaker says she will take on special interests; Nidia Rivera Lopez says she will address quality of life issues; and Adela Rohena says she’ll work for more affordable housing and services for the homeless. In D, Bill Gaughan wants to put more cops on the street; James Carroll says he will work to fix the budget; and Christian Araujo says he will concentrate on fighting crime, in particular gangs.

- The JCPD is renewing a call for volunteers to participate in the anti-violence program Operation CeaseFire after the first push for volunteers garnered only seven applicants.

- This segment from WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate Show — which features Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Nancy Marks and Jersey City corporation counsel Bill Matsikoudis discussing chromium cleanup plans — is worth a listen if you have 23 minutes to spare.

- The L. Harvey Smith campaign is holding a press conference on crime in the Heights tonight. It will be at Riverview Fisk Park, on Palisade Avenue at Bowers Street, at 7 pm.

- No surprise: City council president Mariano Vega says the Journal Square Redevelopment Plan, which was tabled by the council in February, won’t be taken up again until after the election.

- More home and business owners in Jersey City and Hudson County are trying to lure film shoots to their property.

In statewide news:

- Four months after the state pitched in with $22.5 million in emergency funding to the state’s food banks, legal aid groups and energy assistance programs, nearly all the money has been spent. The groups, while grateful that the money got them through the winter, are worrying once again about having to cut services.

- The Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), which for years had been criticized for mishandling cases with tragic results, is facing new questions over whether it failed to protect another child.

- State officials are refusing to release complete public contracts with Ticketmaster — arrangements that give the state millions of dollars from seat sales and the non-refundable “convenience” fees and other charges to fans.

- Both leading candidates for governor are going on the offensive against media outlets they say are being unfair: Republican hopeful Chris Christie is singling out Politicker, while Gov. Corzine is pointing to NJ 101.5 FM.

- Christie has released his recent tax returns to the Star-Ledger, which combs through them to paint his family’s financial picture.

- A poll released today by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Silberman College of Business finds 36 percent of NJ respondents are “not at all worried” about losing their jobs, down from 43 percent who felt that way in a January poll. In addition, 14 percent report that paying their credit card balances is “very difficult,” the highest percentage since the survey began in 2003, and a sharp increase from the 8 percent reported in January.

- Pedestrian deaths in NJ, which have been rising for more than a decade, are up 47 percent this year compared with the same period in 2008.

- NJ received over $6 million in federal stimulus money last week to clean up properties with underground storage tanks and curb diesel emissions from construction equipment. The specific sites have not yet been determined.

- Some realtors around the state are having to turn to other jobs for money as the housing slump continues.

- A needle exchange program is finding success in Newark.

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