Tuesday Morning News Roundup

By • Jun 9th, 2009 • Category: Blog

- There are runoff elections for Wards A and F today — polls opened at 6 am and will stay open until 8 pm. Check back here tonight for results.

- The Assembly Judiciary Committee has unanimously approved legislation that would allow cities and towns to implement their own residency restrictions for convicted sex offenders. The bill is essentially trying to undo a recent state Supreme Court ruling that struck down more than 100 local ordinances — including one in Jersey City — that dictated where sex offenders could not live. The bill, in its current form, does not have the support of local officials or the state public defender’s office.

- A 28-year-old Jersey City man was shot and killed in a park off West Side Avenue yesterday afternoon. Detectives said they had identified a person of interest and were trying to track him down last night.

- Is that a cashier from the A&P supermarket on Marin Boulevard in the promos for NBC’s America’s Got Talent? Several Hoboken411 readers seem to think so.

In statewide news:

- The Assembly Judiciary Committee also passed a bill that would require ignition interlock devices to be installed in the vehicles of those convicted of drunk driving.

- Political sparks are flying over a revised state worker contract as Gov. Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie trade blows over whether Corzine’s agreement with New Jersey’s largest state worker union amounted to “timid” leadership.

- Meanwhile, it looks like Christie is going to fight Corzine on the environment.

- An email has surfaced showing that big pharma lobbyists specifically targeted Sen. Bob Menendez to help them pass an amendment that would effectively kill any attempt to allow cheaper drugs to be imported from other countries.

- A host of elected officials and union members participated in a ceremonial groundbreaking of the ARC Tunnel — a second tunnel to transport NJ Transit and Amtrak trains between NYC and NJ.

- The Assembly Human Services Committee has passed a bill that would allow state officials to force people with a serious mental illness to attend outpatient treatment if a judge finds they are a danger to themselves or others, despite warnings that the state doesn’t have the money to enforce it.

- Franklin resident John Paff is an open-records advocate who sues towns throughout New Jersey, accusing them of violating the Open Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act.

- A Newark community center is set to become the first site in the state to offer the GED exam exclusively in Spanish.

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is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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