Friday Morning News Roundup
By Jon Whiten • Aug 21st, 2009 • Category: Blog- Deputy mayor Leona Beldini and former Housing Authority commissioner Edward Cheatam became the first public officials to be indicted in the federal corruption probe yesterday. They are charged with “with conspiring to extort corrupt cash payments, illicit political contributions and other benefits under color of official right, in return for Beldini’s and an elected Jersey City official’s influence in Jersey City government matters.” If convicted, Beldini and Cheatam could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Read the full indictment here. You may remember that the complaint against Beldini was where Mayor Healy made his appearance as Official 4; sure enough, he is also in the indictment, as Official 1. The Journal has some reaction from around City Hall, and wonders why this administration’s deputy mayors run into so much trouble.
- An arbitrator has ruled that Lou Manzo owes a former campaign fundraiser about $23,000.
- The group that was planning to stage a demonstration outside of Liberty National Golf Club when the Barclay’s comes to town is now debating how far to take their demonstration, and to a lesser extent, whether to stage it at all.
- United Water says the hot weather caused discolored tap water that some Jersey City residents have been seeing recently, and adds that the problem should be cleared up today.
- The Hudson Film Group is “in talks” to create a $25 million entertainment complex that will start in Hoboken and expand into Jersey City, with a legitimate theater, a film screening room and a film studio.
- Jersey City’s 9th annual LGBT Pride Week kicks off tomorrow. Check out JCLGO’s website for the full rundown.
In statewide news:
- Federal investigators have probed more than twice as many incidents that raised safety concerns at Teterboro Airport as they have at New York City’s two major airports since 2004, according to National Transportation Safety Board records. True to form, a plane trying to land there has crashed this morning.
- Independent gubernatorial Chris Daggett is floating the idea of a so-called luxury tax on campaign financing — a nod to Gov. Corzine’s personal wealth, which he uses in his campaigns. Daggett proposes requiring a candidate spending more than twice the public financing limit — capped at $5 million in the primary and $10.9 in the general election — to pay a 33 percent tax on every dollar over that amount. The proceeds would be distributed to the other candidates, proportional to the amount of money they raise.
- The Corzine campaign has filed legal challenges under the Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to obtain what it describes as basic public records regarding Republican Chris Christie’s seven-year tenure as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.
- In other campaign news, Environment New Jersey has decided to withhold an endorsement in this year’s governor’s race because its leaders have yet to hear substantive environmental plans from the candidates. The NJ Sierra Club has endorsed Daggett. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Coast District of the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO has endorsed Corzine.
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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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