The Jersey City Independent "

- 77 Hudson Denied Abatement Change (Again): The city’s Tax Enhancement Committee unanimously voted against developer K. Hovnanian’s request to sweeten its tax abatement deal with the city this week. It is the second time the request has been denied. The developer argues that it’s unfair the luxury condo building Crystal Point was given a sweetened abatement while the city keeps denying one for 77 Hudson. “It’s our position that the sales pace at Crystal Point is double ours and the only reason is the difference in the tax abatement,” a Hovnanian attorney says. Mayor Healy has argued that Crystal Point deserved the special deal because it is in a more remote location — 2nd Street on the Hudson River — than 77 Hudson.

- More on the School Board Ballot Snafu: Board of Education incumbent and candidate Gerry McCann went to court yesterday to see if he could get Tuesday’s election postponed, in the wake of the error on sample and vote-by-mail ballots. Judge Maurice Gallipoli denied McCann’s request.

- Schillari is Back on the Job: Frank Schillari, the HCDO-backed candidate in this year’s race for Hudson County Sheriff, was reinstated as undersheriff Monday morning following his abrupt dismissal by Sheriff Juan Perez last month.

- Vega*, Cardwell Get Corruption Trial Dates: The trial of At-Large councilman Mariano Vega* will begin Oct. 12, while longtime political operative Joe Cardwell’s proceedings will get going Nov. 8.

- Why Drivers Should Care About NJ Transit Fare Hikes & Service Cuts: “If you drive a car — as 6.3 million New Jerseyans do — should you really care?” asks the Record‘s Road Warrior columnist. “If you love traffic congestion, the answer may well be no. But for the other 6,299,980 of us, the deal that was sealed in Newark on Wednesday will make conditions worse on our roads and anyplace where the notion of efficient transportation policy still has merit.”

- Cops Enforcing New Pedestrian Law: As part of a campaign to enforce the new pedestrian crossing law that took effect April 1, which says vehicles must fully stop for folks in crosswalks, Jersey City will have cops posing as civilians crossing the street.

- Christ Hospital Sleep Center Gets Accreditation: The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has formally recognized Christ Hospital’s Sleep Center as an accredited facility. The center is on pace to perform over one thousand sleep studies in 2010.

- Summer Scholars Program: Today is the deadline to apply to St. Peter’s College 2010 Summer Scholars Program. The five-week program, for students entering their junior or senior years of high school, allows students to enroll in one college-level science, arts or humanities course, and earn three transferable college credits.

In Statewide News:

- The Hole in the Safety Net: With millions of dollars in proposed cuts to health care, housing and public assistance programs, Democratic lawmakers and advocates for poor and disabled people are questioning Gov. Christie’s talking point that his budget includes “shared sacrifice” for all New Jerseyans.

- Flipping Bonds for Profit: New Jersey’s troubled pension fund is bolstering its finances by buying Build America Bonds from the state’s debt underwriters, then selling them for a profit in as little as five days, according to state records obtained by Bloomberg. The practice is under review by the Internal Revenue Service because the U.S. Treasury subsidizes 35 percent of the Build America Bonds’ costs.

- Teacher Retirements May Skyrocket: If the Christie administration changes benefits and pension rules as it hopes to, the number of educators leaving the job could jump seven-fold, with as many as 30,000 veteran teachers exiting before the next school year, according to the NJEA.

- Tea Partyin’ in NJ: Conservative Tea Party activists decried what they said was unchecked growth of the federal government during several Tax Day protests yesterday in New Jersey.

- Speaking of Protests: The state’s embattled public worker unions say they will hold the biggest protest rally in Statehouse history next month.

- Bonds for School Construction: Speaking of bonds, the state says it will sell up to $2 billion in bonds, in part to avoid making scheduled bond payments for the current fiscal year and the next, and in part to fund $500 million in already-planned school construction.

- NJ’s Q1 Foreclosures Outpace National Rate: Foreclosure filings in New Jersey rose 33 percent in the first quarter of 2010, compared with the same period in 2009, according to newly released data from RealtyTrac. Nationally, foreclosure filings were up 16 percent in the same time span

- Cable Companies Reach Wifi Pact: Comcast, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable say they have reached an agreement to allow their broadband subscribers to roam freely across each of their wifi networks.

- Bringing Ospreys Back to the Hackensack: Conservationists hope that the new nesting platform they installed on the Hackensack River in Little Ferry will attract a pair of ospreys, a kind of raptor that was all but wiped out in New Jersey decades ago and is now enjoying a resurgence.

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