The Jersey City Independent "

- A new study by the Garden State Alliance for a New Economy (GANE) finds that most working people in Jersey City are either very poor or very well-off, with most of the wealth concentrated in a relatively small percentage of folks at the top. We’ll bring you more on the report’s findings later this week.

- Democratic activist and local realtor Phil Rivo has organized a meeting of “reform-minded Democrats” with independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett, set to take place this week in Downtown Jersey City. Rivo tells Politicker that he and others are upset with the way Gov. Corzine has handled the corruption probe in Jersey City, pointing out that he was quick to sign an executive order reviewing development projects in Ridgefield but has remained mostly silent on Jersey City’s corruption.

- LaVern Webb-Washington has stepped down as president of her nonprofit community organization and no longer has a hand redeveloping an affordable housing project being overseen by the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA). Webb-Washington, who was arrested for allegedly taking bribes in July’s federal corruption probe, says her son has taken over as president of Webb-Washington Community Corp. But the JCRA wants the nonprofit off Fred W. Martin Houses project on MLK Drive altogether and is asking the developer to find a new nonprofit partner for the 39-unit project.

- The Journal continues to editorialize that the administration needs to clean house to deal with the federal corruption probe, saying it “will continue to beat the drum,” despite the silence of Mayor Healy and “the support of his apologists.”

- A task force set up by Gov. Corzine heard testimony from about 40 people last week about the state’s new one-handgun-a-month law. The law, which stemmed from a similar law in Jersey City that was struck down by the courts, will go into effect on Jan. 1.

- A 20-year-old Jersey City man has been charged with the recent shooting death of 21-year-old Aaron Ballon. The man was taken into custody on Saturday.

- Yet another Jersey City condo building is going to auction — but in a new twist, units in this building are being auctioned before sales even commence. The Saffron, which is what they’re calling the new building on Newark Avenue between 1st Street and Jersey Avenue, has turned to Sheldon Good & Company to auction off nine units on Nov. 8 at a discount. For info on the auction, click here.

- About 1,900 PSE&G customers were left without power yesterday due to an underground cable failure Downtown. As of last night, the Journal reports, 600 customers were still without power and PSE&G officials were estimating that repairs would be completed by 7 am this morning.

- Big news for NJCU’s women’s soccer team: they ended a 111-game conference winless streak on Saturday, tasting New Jersey Athletic Conference victory for the first time since Oct. 6, 1994.

- The mixed-income Harriet Tubman Homes development, located at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Myrtle Avenue, has won the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency’s Choice Award for its quality and affordability.

- Jersey City company Marketing Technology Solutions Inc. has filed a lawsuit against MediZine LLC, alleging infringement of its intellectual property rights and misappropriation of trade secrets.

- The Dislocations blog digs deeper into the facade that fell off 139 Newark Ave. earlier this month.

In statewide news:

- As it kicks off a massive piece of enterprise reporting on the state’s property tax problem, Gannett New Jersey finds that the property tax system disproportionately hurts the poor and minority residents of the state.

- While Gov. Corzine is preparing to sign legislation designed to protect taxpayers from the kind of mismanagement and insider dealing that led to the EnCap debacle and $50 million in losses for the state, leading lawmakers who pushed for the reforms aren’t exactly celebrating.

- A new report from Legal Services of New Jersey finds that one in five low-income residents who need a lawyer cannot afford one. The group says it is a standing problem that has been exacerbated by the recession.

- The federal Drug Enforcement Administration says some of the purest street heroin in the country can be found here in New Jersey, largely because the state is home to large ports and a major airport, making it a direct entry point for drugs smuggled from South America. In a related article, the Times looks at younger surburban addicts falling into heroin’s grips.

- Six Republican legislators and their conservative allies will hold a presser today calling for a constitutional referendum on allowing same-sex marriage in New Jersey.

- South Jersey farmers say the the summer rains ruined much of their crops this year.

- This year’s inaugural lieutenant governor candidates are still figuring out their roles in the campaigns of their ballot-mates.

- Al Gore swung by the Democrats’ annual conference in Atlantic City Friday night to urge the party faithful to fight for Gov. Corzine’s re-election.

- U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez has introduced legislation that would require the federal Department of Energy to conduct a study of video game console energy usage to determine whether or not energy efficiency standards should be set. Menendez hopes to include the the Green Gaming Act, as the bill is known, as part of broad energy legislation the Senate should take up later this year.

- Meanwhile, our other U.S. Senator says he helped secure $500,000 in funding for research to protect the state’s bat population from a “mysterious and deadly illness” known as White Nose Syndrome. Frank Lautenberg says the funding “will help scientists research and work to prevent the disease responsible for a dangerously steep decline of New Jersey’s bat population.”

- After a six-year, $13 million overhaul, Thomas Edison’s workplace will be all new and improved when it reopens on Oct. 10.

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