The Jersey City Independent "

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- Leona Beldini and Joe Cardwell, who were both arrested in last month’s corruption sting, have not yet resigned from their positions on two Jersey City boards. Beldini serves on the board of the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation, for which she receives no pay or benefits; Cardwell is on the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority board, which does not pay him but does provide health benefits estimated to be worth $10,000 per year.

- The Hudson County freeholders have decided to try to float a $11.5 million bond to buy the county annex building at 567 Pavonia Ave. rather than use eminent domain, even though that measure is apparently not off the table. A special meeting and public hearing for the ordinance is slated for Aug. 25 at 6 pm on the third floor of that building.

- Jersey City is barring the use of Cosmo “Gussy” DiSanto Memorial Playground at West Side Avenue and Broadway at night and making other changes to make it safer. A woman whose son was killed there in June has pushed the city to make the changes.

- The FAA has removed from duty an air traffic controller who they say was talking on the phone during last week’s deadly midair collision over the Hudson River, along with a supervisor who was out of the building at the time. Meanwhile, the agency is also considering new safety requirements for low-flying planes around New York City.

- A Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to molesting a teenage boy while at a Jersey City parish more than 25 years ago is at the center of a $600,000 settlement in the molestation of a boy a year later in Missouri.

- A Jersey City man who was reportedly a PCP smoker died this week after trying to dive out a first-floor window that had bars on the exterior.

- A 3-year-old Jersey City girl is in critical condition after a television set fell from a dresser and landed on her in her home on Wednesday.

- Chef Lidia Bastianich will talk about cooking with fresh summer produce at a free lecture tomorrow from 3-4 pm at the Central Railroad of NJ Terminal in Liberty State Park.

- New Jersey City University is adding men’s golf to its roster of sports. The program will begin on the club level during the fall and spring seasons in 2009-10 before being elevated to the varsity level for 2010-11.

- Jersey City native Jessica Baggett seems well on her way to success, having self-published a novel, produced several stage plays, and written two screenplays — all before graduating from college.

In statewide news:

- Foreclosure filings in New Jersey increased 49.25 percent in July from June, part of a national increase in the number of filings, according to the website RealtyTrac.

- As could be expected, the economy continues to take a toll on highway traffic volume in New Jersey, but it also has led to a decline in NJ Transit bus and train ridership, as fewer people are going to and from jobs.

- The deadline for filing 2008 “Senior Freeze” or Homestead Rebate applications has been extended until Nov. 2.