The Jersey City Independent "

- Police & Fire Contracts Voted Down: The City Council voted against ratifying contracts for both police and fire unions last night in a testy meeting. In other council action, a resolution asking the state to draft a law establishing fees on college students for use of city services was also voted down. Look for more on these and other council issues in our usual Council Report tomorrow.

- UEZ ‘Working Very Well’: Lori Grifa, acting commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, said at a hearing yesterday that Jersey City’s UEZ program has been “working very well.” This comes as Gov. Christie has proposed withholding over $91 million in funds from the 37 towns with Urban Enterprise Zones. Grifa’s stance is no different than that of the governor himself, who — through a spokesman — told us last month that the UEZ was one of the many “good programs” that the state just has to cut to balance its budget. More on the hearing from the Record.

- Evidence in Murders Found: A credit card and cell phone allegedly stolen during the murders of a Jersey City couple on Easter morning was found during a search of a Greenville sewer yesterday, along with credit cards believed to belong to other robbery victims. Meanwhile, there is a benefit event for the victims’ families tonight at The Mogul Lounge on Martin Luther King Drive.

- Budget Takes Aim at Save Ellis Island’s Funds: Gov. Christie’s proposed budget eliminates a line-item grant of $405,000 for Save Ellis Island, the nonprofit group that works to restore decrepit buildings on the island, as well as four other line-item grants to historic preservation groups. Instead, Christie is proposing that these five groups compete for a piece of the $2.7 million grants budget of the New Jersey Historical Commission.

- School Board Sample Ballot Error: Due to an error on the school election ballots, new vote-by-mail and sample ballots are being sent out to Jersey City residents today.

- Rising Tide CEO Tapped for St. Peter’s Commencement: Alfa Demmellash, the CEO and co-founder of Rising Tide Capital, will address the class of 2010 at the 119th commencement exercises for St. Peter’s College on May 23.

- Cadets in Town: Fourteen West Point cadets will once again begin a three-day tour of duty in Jersey City today as part of the “Winning the Peace Program,” which exposes future military leaders to diverse cultures and religious customs.

- High Tech Student Gets Full Ride to Cooper Union: High Tech High School senior and Jersey City resident Sameer Chauhan has received a full scholarship to the Albert Nerken School of Engineering at NYC’s Cooper Union, the only private, full-scholarship college in the United States. “When I read that I had been awarded a full scholarship,” he says in a release, “I was ecstatic.”

- TV Winner: A 26-year-old Jersey City man won $15,000 on yesterday’s episode of the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

- Wanna be a Radiographer? The Christ Hospital School of Radiography is current accepting applications for enrollment in its 24-month program.

- Our Bad: Yesterday we ran an item on this weekend’s Pet Ownership Day, and we identified the event’s day as Saturday. It is actually Sunday. We regret the error, which has since been corrected.

Today’s Best Bets:

- The Warehouse continues its Thursday evening free film screenings tonight with Eagle vs Shark (7:30 pm), and Catch a Rising Star does its comedy thing at Michael Anthony’s, with a show featuring SHULI, with Host John “Nutsy” Fagan and Medicated Pete & “Mark from Jersey City” Byrnes (7:30 pm). Meanwhile, there are two very different free theater options tonight, with the classic Greek play The Trojan Women returning to NJCU for another weekend of performances (7:30 pm), and the musical comedy Urinetown continuing its short run at St. Peter’s College (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Higher Ed Leaders Speak Out on Budget Cuts: At a hearing yesterday, nine public college presidents said that Gov. Christie’s proposed cuts in state aid would result in tuition increases, bigger classes and fewer scholarships.

- Legislation May Spark a Slew of Retirements: State employees and new retirees would begin paying a portion of their benefits costs beginning August 1 under legislation being put together by the Christie administration. The administration says the bill could bring on a flood of retirements, but a Christie spokesman says “that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

- Jail Strip Searches on Trial: The constitutionality of strip searches in jails will be considered today by a federal appeals panel in a lawsuit by a New Jersey resident that has drawn support from five of the state’s former attorneys general.

- NJ Woman Wins Big-Prize Bakeoff: Sue Compton of Burlington County has been named the winner of the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off contest; the award comes with a $1 million prize.

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