Tuesday Morning News Roundup
By Jon Whiten • Dec 15th, 2009 • Category: Blog
- Is short-term budget help on the way? Jersey City state Sen. Sandra Cunningham has introduced a bill that would give local governments the opportunity to defer half of their pension payments that will be due next spring, essentially repeating the stopgap maneuver enacted last winter. Last year’s bill saved the city $14.8 million; this year’s budget shortfall is expected to be larger than last year’s. The legislation was endorsed by the State League of Municipalities yesterday.
- Ward E councilman Steven Fulop is among those not impressed by the city’s new development audit. “I am not sure what will change from this report,” he tells the Journal, “but I think any Jersey City resident could have written the same report for free in about 10 minutes with about 20 words.” The audit calls for, among other things, a ban on one-on-one meetings between elected officials and developers to discuss prospective projects.
- A 41-year-old homeless man has been arrested and charged with last week’s stabbing that killed a 27-year-old Jersey City woman and severely injured her 9-month-old son.
- The state Board of Medical Examiners has suspended a Jersey City doctor’s license for his involvement in an illegal prescription drug ring.
- Electrical service to several large buildings in the Newport area was knocked out for several hours yesterday morning by an underground electrical fire
- The JCPD’s latest departmental newsletter has an interesting read for history buffs: Part 2 of a 7-part series on the “history of Jersey City & its police.”
Today’s Best Bets:
- There’s a free CD release show for Kagero at Lucky 7′s at 9 pm, and Melissa Surach’s BabyHole (9 pm at the Lamp Post) features standup comedy and music from Crazy and the Brains and Jack Parson’s Moonchild, who will be performing original Christmas music. Or if you’re in a more mellow mood, head over to LITM and sketch it up with the Jersey City Drawing Club (and check out our profile of the club’s founder while you’re at it).
In statewide news:
- Gov.-elect Christie, who campaigned to increase state funding for higher education and called past levels of support “deplorable,” says he will not rule out further aid cuts to public colleges and universities in his first budget. In related news, new federal numbers show the number of New Jersey college students who left school in 2007 and defaulted on federal loans nearly doubled over the past fiscal year.
- Paul Fishman, already in office for two months, was formally sworn in yesterday as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in a star studded ceremony.
- Christie will reportedly begin introducing his cabinet today by announcing Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow as the state’s next attorney general.
- Pending state legislation would allow real estate brokers to pay home-buyers a portion of their commissions at the close of a deal.
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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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