The Jersey City Independent "

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- The Belmont Avenue Homeowners Association is asking the city to shut down the Belmont Guest House, a transitional housing facility that was recently tapped to receive $550,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds. The building owner says he will take some steps to make the house a better neighbor, but the homeowners — who complain of loud residents and trespassing — aren’t buying it. City spokesperson Jennifer Morrill rightly notes the facility is sorely needed. She says it is one of only three single room occupancy facilities in the city, and as such fills a crucial role for those who need transitional housing.

- Jersey City is receiving $2.68 million in federal stimulus money to keep low-income renters from becoming homeless. The three-year program, which is set to begin in the next few months, allows low-income renters who’ve been evicted or not paying rent (or are close to being evicted for the same reason) to have their rent paid for up to 18 months.

- The Journal editorializes that council president Mariano Vega should instruct new Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez to abstain from casting any votes until her residency status — recently challenged in court by losing Ward C candidate Jimmy King — is established.

- A 27-year-old Jersey City man drowned Friday in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area when he tried to rescue a friend who was having trouble swimming.

- The Loew’s Jersey Theatre has received a $5,000 grant from the Provident Bank Foundation to go towards restoring the historic movie palace’s balcony.

- Jersey City’s Ed Lucas is set to be inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame. Lucas, who has covered the New York Yankees for more than 40 years for various publications and radio stations, is also the director of development for St. Joseph’s School for the Blind.

- New Jersey City University student Doreen Awiti has launched the website IdiotBlvd.com, which allows users to post something they’re indecisive about and let others vote on it.

- The corner of Summit Avenue and Sherman Place in the Heights has been dedicated “Willie Wolfe Place,” in honor of the former county freeholder who died three years ago.

In statewide news:

- The Times continues to put together pieces of the life story of the New York taxi driver who died in a New Jersey immigration jail in 2005.

- Legislation to combat harassing consumer debt collection practices has passed the Assembly and will soon be considered by the Senate Commerce Committee.

- As they have every year since 1989, Environmental Protection Agency workers, along with local partners, are monitoring New Jersey’s beaches and oceans for signs of pollution this summer.

- A new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll finds more New Jerseyans saving money.

- The Trenton-based government consulting firm Porzio Governmental Affairs has launched an online database that aggregates information about state, county and municipal pay-to-play laws.