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- The Jersey Journal uncovers an interesting connection: Officials connected to Crystal Point donated $7,500 to Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s council slate the same day the condo developer appealed to the council for a better tax abatement deal (which was ultimately granted). The developers say the donations weren’t made “with the intent of influencing the vote,” while Healy (via spokesperson Jennifer Morrill) hits back at the paper, saying the insinuation that cash buys votes “is not only completely erroneous, it is irresponsible journalism.”

- As nearly 30,000 students prepare to return to class, Jersey City school officials are digesting unexpectedly low test results in the Grades 3 and 4. Meanwhile, the city welcomes a new school this year: The Ethical Community Charter School at 95 Broadway.

- InterContinental Hotels Group, which franchises Crowne Plaza hotels, is distancing itself from the indictment handed down against the Secaucus Crowne Plaza hotel last week for dumping waste in the Hackensack River. The parent company says its licensing agreement with the hotel’s owners require it to follow all government laws and regulations.

- The Jersey City Medical Center says its emergency medical services unit has shaved its average response time to 5 minutes, 20 seconds. The average two years ago was eight minutes, 24 seconds.

- A 14-year-old Jersey City girl has won Provident Bank’s 170th Anniversary Essay Contest.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Two new art exhibits open tonight at City Hall (6-8 pm), while Melissa Surach’s Babyhole has another great lineup ready to go at the Iron Monkey (9 pm).

In statewide news:

- Across New Jersey, 192 school districts will begin teacher contract negotiations this year. School officials say the poor economy has left more contracts than usual unresolved as school begins and many of those that are settled include dollar-stretching measures such as less-expensive health plans, longer school years or days, or lower salary increases.

- The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey finds that only about 9 percent of employers in the New York metropolitan area, which includes North Jersey, expect to hire more workers during the fourth quarter of this year. About 12 percent are expected to reduce payrolls, and most of the rest expect to maintain their current employment levels.

- The Record remembers the Sept. 8, 1934 fire on the SS Morro Castle off the Asbury Park beach. The fire claimed more than 130 lives, and attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators as the charred ship drifted in.