The Jersey City Independent "

- NJ Transit’s walkway connecting the Newport area with Hoboken terminal is now open, and Hoboken 411 has a photo tour. Apparently, the walkway will be closed each night from 9 pm until 6 am the following day, which some residents are criticizing.

- Roughly 50 Jersey City residents rallied yesterday in front of School 11 on Bergen Avenue, demanding improvements in the city’s high schools. JC Register has video and more details on the group’s wishes.

- The annual New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Report was released yesterday. It shows the number of crimes reported in Hudson County remaining virtually flat last year compared to 2007, with violent crimes down slightly and nonviolent crimes inching up. In Jersey City, the number of violent crime incidents dropped from 2,456 in 2007 to 2,315 last year. But murders rose by six and the number of reported rapes and robberies also rose by single digits.

- A dozen alleged members or associates of the 52 Hoover Street Gangsta Crips gang have been indicted on various charges including four murders and are being prosecuted under a state anti-gang statute that provides a definition of what constitutes a criminal street gang and provides for tougher sentences upon conviction.

- New Jersey City University has been awarded a three-year grant totaling $287,707 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for “Environmental Science in Urban Education,” a project that will focus on re-shaping NJCU’s environmental science curriculum. The USDA grant is the first of its kind awarded to any college or university in New Jersey.

- The Jersey City Medical Center’s Department of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services has received a state grant of more than $400,000 to help create a therapeutic nursery program for children ages three to five years who may not be able to attend a typical daycare or nursery school program due to emotional, behavioral and psychiatric problems.

- Early Learning Academy has signed a lease to open its first location this fall at Gull’s Cove. The new preschool and nursery will serve both residents of the luxury condo building and the community at large. The school will join Sawa Steakhouse and Sushi Bar as a Gull’s Cove tenant; the restaurant recently finalized its lease.

- More than 400 law enforcement and emergency management officials are gathering today at the Hyatt Regency to examine critical homeland security issues facing New Jersey’s urban areas.

- As the eighth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, survivors, families and nonprofits like the Liberty Science Center are all working on curricula about the terrorist attacks for voluntary use by New Jersey’s schools. For a list of 9/11 memorial services in and around Jersey City, click here.

- The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded Hudson County a Fiscal Year 2009 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant of $621,462. The county plans to use it to purchase new technology and equipment to improve its law enforcement programs — and to fund overtime and provide training for officers.

- Foodie news: The Life Vicarious reports that American Masala on Greene Street is now open for dinner. Meanwhile, LITM kicks off its Fall Vegetable Vegetarian week today. You can check out what they’ll be offering here (scroll down).

Today’s Best Bets:

- If you’re free during the day, why not check out a free screening of Slumdog Millionaire at the Five Corners Branch Library (1 pm)? This evening, the BYOB music/poetry/spoken word shindig known as the Hominid Party is at the Stockinette Knitting Cafe (7 pm).

In statewide news:

- The Rutgers University faculty union has approved an agreement with school management that avoids layoffs and other major cuts by delaying two previously negotiated raises.

- The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is exploring whether programs to find underground leaks need to be improved in the wake of recurring leaks of radioactive water at South Jersey’s Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station.

- The three companies planning to construct wind farms off the coast have agreed to not pursue any restrictions on fishing near the operations, which means commercial fisherman would be allowed to harvest their bounty between the turbines while anglers, pot fishermen and even scuba divers could fish right next to the structures.

- Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie is downplaying the significance of his driving record as Democrats continued to criticize his conduct and new information surfaced about an accident in Elizabeth in 2002.

- The Department of Environmental Protection says the influx of environmental investigation and cleanup notices running in the newspapers is the result of a new notification rule enacted last year.

- Starting Jan. 1, 2011, everyone in the state will be required to recycle electronic items — just as they do now with glass bottles and aluminum cans — and it will be illegal for residents or companies to throw them away.

Like what you've read here? Please consider making a donation or becoming a sustaining member. As a grassroots news organization, we rely on community support -- as well as paid advertising -- to survive.