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- Jury selection was completed and the federal corruption trial of suspended deputy mayor and former Healy campaign treasurer Leona Beldini got underway yesterday. Both sides say the video and audio tapes the prosecution is expected to trot out will help prove their case. Meanwhile, FBI informant Solomon Dwek could testify as early as today in the trial. Look for our writeup of the first day later this morning.

- In a move that could spell trouble for many Hudson County and Jersey City pols, Gov. Christie has pledged to crack down on dual office-holders and has called for a ban on full-time government workers holding any salaried elected office.

- More than 300 people showed up at last night’s City Council meeting to protest their rising tax bills; we’ll have more on that and the rest of the council business in our comprehensive Council Report tomorrow.

- The administration’s “crime is down and no one has reported it” press conference was yesterday; David Cruz was there and he’s got some audio. The Journal also has a report on the crime stats.

- Assemblyman Charles Mainor is holding a rally today to protest the closure of the Bank of America branch located inside the Extra Supermarket at the HUB shopping center on Martin Luther King Drive, which is set to close tomorrow. Mainor and others say the bank branch is the only one in the area.

- A water main break on 18th Street is causing some problems in the Newport area this morning.

- Angela Bellizzi, a former supervisor of permits and connection fees for the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison yesterday for extorting corrupt cash payments from contractors.

Today’s Best Bets:

- There’s an opening event for the Bottled V.2. exhibition at the windows of the Mack-Cali Building on Columbus Drive this morning at 10 am; but don’t worry, you can swing by the windows to check out the innovative installation any time over the next few months to check it out. We’ll have more on the project later on JCI later today. Later this evening, an opening of Kayt Hester’s masking tape drawings is at Fish With Braids at 7 pm, while Illinois artist John Selburg will sit down for an artists talk at the Jersey City Art School, in advance of his exhibition opening at Hoboken’s Paul Vincent Gallery.

In statewide news:

- Several environmental groups are urging Gov. Christie to expand New Jersey’s use of renewable energy like windmills and solar panels; they say his transition team’s report on energy “troubling.”

- Construction of a second commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River, one of the biggest public works projects under way in the country, could be delayed by issues about the use of eminent domain to take property on the West Side of Manhattan, according to one of Gov. Christie’s transition team reports.

- On his Ask the Governor show, Gov. Christie voiced support for initiative and referendum, which would allow citizens to use petitions to put issues on the ballot to be decided directly by voters. He said it’s a way to “rein in a government that has gone out of control.”

- Assistant Republican Whip Assemblyman Gary Chiusano has introduced a bill to abolish the Public Advocate’s office entirely by Executive Order of the Governor.

- The New Jersey Supreme Court is planning a road trip to Newark next week in what will be just the second time in decades that high court cases have been heard outside the state capital.

- Gov. Christie has tapped Dr. Poonam Alaigh to be New Jersey’s state health commissioner.