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- It was only a year ago that then-Ward C councilman Steve Lipski became the butt of late-night comics’ jokes for his arrest at a D.C. nightclub for allegedly urinating off the balcony during an alcoholic relapse. But the year has been pretty good to Lipski, who tells the Reporter that he is “in a very good place.” Lipski, who says he hasn’t touched a drink since, doesn’t talk about the potential of running for office again, but I’d imagine that might come up in the second part of the two-part series.

- A federal judge has sentenced a 50-year-old Belleville man to 61 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to a series of bank robberies, including two in Jersey City.

- The Journal runs down its most-read stories online in ’09. Look for our Year in Review and Top Stories lists later this week.

In statewide news:

- With 65 percent of New Jersey’s inmates back in jail within five years of their release, state officials are emphasizing job training because employment is a crucial indicator of whether former prisoners will return to a life of crime. The Department of Corrections is spending $26 million on prison education this year, and some legislators are pushing for more funding.

- Assemblyman Paul Moriarty says he’s introducing legislation to ban newly-hired employees of government lobbying organizations from enrolling in taxpayer-funded pension systems.

- The Federal Reserve Board has named New Jersey Citizen Action executive director Phyllis Salowe-Kaye as one of ten new members appointed to its Consumer Advisory Council for a three-year term. The council, which meets three times a year, advises the Board on the exercise of its responsibilities under the Consumer Credit Protection Act and on other matters in the area of consumer financial services.

- New Jersey’s Medicaid inspector general says seven of the state’s 34 methadone clinics improperly billed Medicaid a combined $3.5 million from 2007 to 2009.