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Due to a technical error, the content of this morning’s roundup post was deleted. Here is your Wednesday Afternoon News Roundup, with our apologies:

- About 300 people rallied on the steps of City Hall last night to protest alleged corruption in City Hall and demand Council President Mariano Vega*’s resignation. This was the second such rally in two weeks. Last night’s event was organized by Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop as part of the citywide commemoration of National Night Out against crime. Look for JCI’s full report of the events around the city later today.

- In response to rumors that 31st District Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith would resign in the wake of his indictment on corruption charges, Smith’s lawyer announced that he will make a decision by the end of this week.

- The new Ethical Community Charter School on Broadway in the Marion section has received all of its final approvals and will open its doors for the first time next month.

- Liberty Events Management, who produced last weekend’s All Points West music festival in Liberty State Park, says it’s committed to restoring the grounds to their pre-festival condition.

- A study conducted by New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene suggests that as of 2006-2007, members of the World Trade Center Health Registry — made up of those who had “intense exposure” to the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks — still had an elevated risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder.

- Steel workers striking from their jobs at a Quebec company that is partially owned by Jersey City-based Goldman Sachs protested outside Goldman’s office tower yesterday.

In statewide news:

- The state’s public schools added more than 1,200 new positions to the payroll in 2008, resulting in a total payroll increase of nearly $10 billion.

- New Jersey’s murder rate for the first half of the year dropped 24% from the same period last year, according to the state Attorney General’s office.