Tuesday Morning News Roundup
By Jon Whiten • Apr 28th, 2009 • Category: Blog
- The Boeing 747 and F-16 jets that buzzed over Jersey City yesterday morning were no cause for alarm. Unfortunately, no one knew that in advance, since the federal government forced local agencies to keep the information a secret. “This was not well-thought out, and it was compounded by not advising the area, considering 9/11 and the plane landing in the Hudson River three months ago,” Mayor Healy says. “There should have been more consideration for this type of activity to the region they planned it for. They should have picked a better time, like a Sunday morning.” The Associated Press has video.
- The state Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the legal battle over the city’s ordinance that limits handgun purchases to one gun per person per month. Bill Matsikoudis, the city’s top attorney, told the court that Jersey City’s only gun shop — Caso’s Gun-O-Rama Inc. — sold weapons used in 87 gun crimes from 1989-1997 and made 166 multiple gun sales from 1995 to 2000. The New Jersey Law Journal (article online for subscribers only) says the justices “seem sympathetic to Jersey City’s effort to limit handgun purchases to one per month per person but dubious about whether state law allows it.”
- Ward C City Council candidate Nidia Rivera Lopez says a hacker broke into her Facebook page over the weekend and sent porno links to her supporters.
- Clergymen held a vigil yesterday at Greenville park where a 17-year-old boy was murdered last week. They prayed and called on Mayor Healy to fight crime in the “neglected inner city.”
- Cops say a suspect in a 2005 Heights murder was arrested in Maryland on Friday.
In statewide news:
- The state Supreme Court will hear arguments today on the legality of Gov. Corzine’s new school funding formula.
- The state will receive more than $27 million in federal stimulus funds to be used for anti-poverty programs.
- Get ready for the panic: state health officials say they have identified five probable cases of swine flu in people who recently traveled to Mexico and California.
- The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today on changing the way bail is set for immigrants who are charged with crimes while facing deportation.
- Gov. Corzine’s re-election campaign is asking contributors to donate to a Democratic Party account he previously said should not be used for gubernatorial elections because the practice was considered a way to skirt the state’s pay-to-play law.
- The state Libertarian Party has nominated Kenneth Kaplan as its candidate for Governor.
- A federal court monitor says the state’s maligned Department of Children and Families is now structurally strong enough to protect children at risk of abuse and neglect.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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