The Jersey City Independent "

Share/Save

- The City Council got one new face last night as David Donnelly was appointed Ward B councilman. He will replace Phil Kenny, who stepped down last week after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges. David Cruz has an interview with the new councilman. In other council moves, At-Large councilman Peter Brennan was appointed council president after Mariano Vega* relinquished that leadership role last week. Vega*, who was arrested on corruption charges in July, remains on the council as an At-Large member. Brennan, who was previously serving in the relatively new position of Council President Pro Tem, will be replaced in that spot by Ward D’s Bill Gaughan.

- The council also backed Mayor Healy’s wishes last night and refused to alter the city’s tax abatement agreement with K. Hovnanian for its 77 Hudson property. Hovnanian had sought the same deal the council gave to the developers of the Crystal Point condo earlier this year — an approval that notably came before the corruption arrests began raining down on City Hall.

- Former state assemblyman and five-time mayoral candidate Lou Manzo is scheduled to be arraigned on federal corruption charges in court today with his brother and political advisor, Ron.

- The state released its 2009 Hospital Performance Report this week, and Christ Hospital ranked in the bottom half of hospitals across the state in the four categories investigated. Chilltown’s other hospital, the Jersey City Medical Center, scored in the top half in two categories: surgical care and heart failure treatment.

- Political signs keep popping up along Route 440, despite complaints from residents and the city’s attempt to remove them.

- An Aberdeen man wanted in an Elizabeth murder was arrested in Jersey City yesterday by Union County homicide investigators with help from Jersey City police.

- New Jersey City University has been awarded a grant of $1,499,453 by the National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program to support the Northern New Jersey Mathematics and Science Teacher Fellowship Program.

- NJ Transit launched its redesigned website yesterday. The best feature, in our opinion, is the front-page trip planner which then launches into a Google-Map based route finder. It’s a huge improvement over the agency’s previous trip planner.

- Horizon NJ Health is partnering with the Hudson County Lead Poisoning Prevention Coalition for a free health fair at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City this Saturday.

- Who knew? Ground was broken on the Morris Canal, which has its terminus in Jersey City, on this day in 1825.

In statewide news:

- Gov race news: In what the Record deems an “increasingly nasty race,” the three gubernatorial candidates and their surrogates were fighting a number of allegations and pointing fingers yesterday. A national Republican group is running ads targeting independent Chris Daggett, calling him “Corzine in sheep’s clothing.” And President Obama will headline a rally for Gov. Corzine in Hackensack next week, while Democrats also expect Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton to stump for the governor in the coming weeks.

- Preliminary estimates released Wednesday show the state’s unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest its been since 1977.

- A new report from the Immigration Policy Center finds that immigrants, Latinos and Asians account for large and growing shares of the economy and electorate in New Jersey.

- Former federal prosecutor Paul Fishman was sworn in yesterday as U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

- Conservation and hunting groups have sued the state Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Game Council claiming New Jersey has failed to adopt a formal bear management policy as mandated by the state Supreme Court five years ago to address the growing black bear population.