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- Local, state and federal cops say they disrupted a violent drug network with a six-month operation dubbed “Operation Wetlands.” The investigation came to a head with early morning raids yesterday that reportedly netted 46 people, including the 18-year-old Jersey City man who was shot in the face by an undercover cop earlier this year.

- Bloomberg breaks down the potential NJ Transit fare increase for Jersey City bus commuters who head to the Port Authority: an additional $32.70 each month on top of the current $109 fare. Meanwhile, NJ Transit’s executive director says that the agency will also cut management positions — on top of increasing fares and reducing service — to help make up for Gov. Christie’s funding cut.

- Former At-Large City Council candidate Lori Serrano has been indicted on new charges for not reporting $10,000 in alleged bribes as campaign contributions during the 2009 campaign. Serrano has already been charged with accepting $10,000 in bribes from a federal informant.

- In a letter, Rev. Frederick Fowler takes the Journal to task for reprinting inane and often racist comments from its website in the print edition. “Where are your morals and your professionalism that you yourselves would allow such nonsense to be published?” he asks.

In statewide news:

- A day after Gov. Christie told school districts to brace for a potential 15 percent cut in state school aid, acting Education Commissioner (and former Jersey City mayor) Bret Schundler said yesterday that is only one of several budget scenarios being considered. Politicker has more from Schundler’s Trenton appearance.

- A new state audit finds that employees of New Jersey’s numerous state authorities enjoy better compensation than most state government workers, with eight authority executives making more than the governor’s $175,000 salary and nearly 750 authority employees making more than $100,000 a year.

- A state Senate committee has approved four bills that legislators say will reform the state’s financially struggling public employee pension and benefits system.

- A new Rutgers University study says it could take at least four years for the nation to recover more than 8.5 million private-sector jobs that were lost since 2007.

- Ronald Salahuddin, a former aide to Newark Mayor Cory Booker, has been indicted for allegedly steering city demolition contracts to a company in which he had a financial interest, conduct that federal prosecutors allege began within weeks of his appointment in 2006. Politicker has Booker’s response, which David Cruz says “is something Booker’s buddy, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, might’ve been wise to study.”

- While Gov. Christie’s transition team has recommended that the state Department of Environmental Protection “review and revise” the indoor air testing policy that led to the discovery of toxic vapors in homes in Pompton Lakes, environmentalists are warning that such changes could put residents at risk.

- A Senate committee has confirmed Andrew Eristoff as the state’s treasurer after a four-hour hearing that included questioning about Gov. Christie’s recent budget cuts.

- Newark Liberty International Airport finished last among large airports in a North American passenger satisfaction study released by J.D. Power and Associates.

- Nets to Newark: The basketball team has reportedly made a deal to break its lease at the Meadowlands’ Izod Center and move to the Prudential Center in Newark for two years. The team still expects to move to Brooklyn in 2012, despite the many roadblocks the arena there has run into.

- State legislation that would ban smoking at beaches, amusement parks and racetracks in New Jersey is now on hold.