The Jersey City Independent "

- Jersey City public schools are set to lose $3.565 million in state funding under an executive order signed by Gov. Christie last week. “Any time you lose money it has an impact,” superintendent Charles Epps tells the Journal. “How devastating that impact is going to be, I don’t know yet.”

- Members of the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association have approved a contract with the city that calls for modest raises and a move to a less expensive health insurance plan. The contract now has to be voted on by the City Council.

- Federal officials say they will work to ensure that immigration detainees being transferred from a Manhattan detention center to the Hudson County jail can return to the city to meet with relatives and their lawyers. Legal advocates had pointed out that the jail ain’t exactly easy to get to from NYC.

- Noting that former deputy mayor Leona Beldini, who was convicted on two of six corruption counts last week, is 74 and a grandmother, the South Jersey daily Courier Post says “she doesn’t deserve to spend the rest of her life behind bars,” before adding: “But we hope, as we do with all corrupt officials, that she is forced to serve at least some jail time.”

- Following two snow days and prior to a three-day weekend, more than 500 Jersey City school district staff members called out sick Friday. The schools superintendent says it wasn’t a big deal, calling the number “a small amount.” But Board of Education member Gerry McCann says it shows a lack of dedication to the job.

- Opponents of a proposed strip mall being carved into the bottom of the Palisades in Hudson County will ask a state judge to halt the project, saying the county Planning Board violated existing steep slope regulations, and that the county freeholders failed to consider an appeal of the Planning Board’s decision brought by opponents, as required under state law.

- The Journal once again makes the call for Mayor Healy to resign, saying “there is no legacy here to save.”

- Automaker Nissan brought its electric car — the LEAF — to Liberty Science Center on Saturday. “I give Nissan a lot of credit for bringing the LEAF to the market for sale,” electric vehicle (EV) blogger Tom Moloughney writes. “After checking out the car in person, I think they are going to make a lot of people that want to own an EV very happy.”

- A 36-year-old Jersey City man who was in Haiti when the devastating earthquake hit shares his story.

- A jury has begun its deliberations in the trial of two men charged in the 2007 murder of a 39-year-old Jersey City man in his Warren Street apartment.

- Some angry homeowners along Route 440 say that snow plows destroyed their fences during last week’s storm.

- Mold, leaky ceilings and heat problems are among the complaints some residents have about the Toy Factory apartments on Bergen Avenue.

- The Jersey City George Washington Commemorative Society will hold a ceremony honoring the nation’s founding father at the Apple Tree House during today.

- Jersey City’s Ron Callari has a new graphic novel out, Crude Behavior. In a review, the Moderate Voice website says the book is “an instant classic in its genre.”

In statewide news:

- Will Gov. Christie’s proposed budget cuts wreck New Jersey’s economy? Many experts believe so, but some contend there are few good options left to pursue. Meanwhile, Christie has been making calls to the CEOs of large companies like Wal-Mart to say they plan on cutting New Jersey’s regulations and taxes in an effort to appear more “business-friendly.” And the Assembly Budget Committee will hear testimony on Wednesday about Christie’s plan to deal with the budget shortfall.

- With Gov. Christie targeting public-worker benefits, many of those workers are wondering if they should retire before legislators remake the pension system.

- A Rutgers scientist says a significant source of particulate pollution in the metropolitan area comes from restaurant emissions — especially the smoke from wood-burning pizza ovens.

- A bill that would allow parents to move their children to schools located across district lines will be heard by the Assembly Education Committee on Thursday.

- A new state audit finds that lax oversight, confusing rules and potential fraud have combined to cost New Jersey millions each year in rebates and tax deductions given to homeowners who may not qualify for them.

- Officials in several New Jersey counties are withholding dues from the state’s Association of Counties because of questions about the association’s financial practices.

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