The Jersey City Independent "

- Police & Fire Contracts Approved: The City Council last night approved contracts with five unions tonight, including the police officers, firefighters and fire officers, by a vote of 7 to 1. Ward C councilwoman Nidia Lopez cast the lone no vote. We’ll have more on this and everything else from the council meeting in tomorrow’s Council Report.

- State Nixes Formula One Race: A Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) commissioner says the agency is “not supporting” the idea of holding a Formula One auto race in Liberty State Park, but a DEP spokesperson says they still haven’t taken a position, since no application has been made. Either way, the chances of the race happening at this point seem to be quite slim. (Story not online.)

- State Moves Sex Offenders Out of HudCo Jail: The Department of Corrections moved more than 150 civilly-committed sex offenders from the Hudson County jail to East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge yesterday, ending a “temporary” arrangement that ended up lasting a decade. (Story not online.)

- Provident Expands into Wealth Management: Jersey City-based Provident Bank has added several people to its wealth management department over the past year, increased its product and service offerings and increased revenue in that division by about 20 percent. The Record reports that it is part of a national trend in which regional and community banks are expanding personal wealth management services and boost their fee income.

- O’Dea Wants to Add Line Item to Budget to Save Sports: Hudson County freeholder Bill O’Dea says he will propose adding a $150K line item to the county budget that would restore some of the sports programs that have been eliminated at the Hudson County Schools of Technology. (Story not online.)

- Jersey City’s Role in the NJ Super Bowl Pitch: The Jets and Giants have officially submitted a bid to bring Super Bowl XLVIII to the Meadowlands in 2014; the proposal calls for the Super Bowl Saturday Night event and concert to be held at Liberty State Park.

- History at Jersey City Art School: Dislocations does a little digging into the history of the art school’s 5th Street home — which most recently was the location of vintage store Hala Vintage — and finds that it was a meeting hall for the Catholic War Veterans.

Today’s Best Bets:

- There’s an opening tonight for “The Secret Life of a Jersey City Backyard,” a video exhibition by John Dunstan that features insects shot in — you guessed it — a Jersey City Backyard. That’s at Fish With Braids Gallery at 6 pm. NJCU’s Media Arts showcase — always a good chance to see a crop of new young filmmakers — is at the Loew’s (7 pm), and Art House Productions kicks off the second weekend of its new play, The Constant Never, tonight with a performance at 8 pm.

In Statewide News:

- Voucher Bill Coming: A state Senate committee is expected to consider today a voucher bill creating “opportunity scholarships” to let children leave failing public schools. The bill would create a five-year pilot program allowing up to 4,000 children to attend private school in its first year, at a cost of $24 million, increasing to up to 20,000 children and $120 million in year five. Funding would come from an “Opportunity Scholarship Fund,” created by corporations which receive tax credits equal to their contributions.

- Supremes Rule on ‘Unbecoming Conduct’: The state Supreme Court has ruled that a tenured teacher accused of sexually abusing a student can be brought up on disciplinary charges and fired, even if the assault case is not proved.

- The Impact of Reforms on Teacher Retirement: Education Commissioner Bret Schundler says state reforms, including recalculating the way pensions are calculated for current teachers, could prompt fewer than 13,000 teachers to take the offer — far less than the 30,000 figure the state’s largest teachers union put forth.

- Curbing the Pollution Blowing in from PA: Gov. Christie and his top environmental chief have formally petitioned the federal Environmental Protection Agency to mandate a reduction in air pollution billowing from the coal-fired Portland Generating Station, which sits 500 feet from New Jersey’s Warren County in Northampton, Pa.

- No Cleanup Plan for Oyster Creek Yet: A year after radioactive tritium seeped into groundwater from the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in South Jersey, plant officials and regulators have yet to decide how, or if, the pollution will be cleaned up.

- Turnpike Authority Employees Cashing In: New Jersey Turnpike Authority employees — while still on the job — have cashed in more than $7.2 million in unused sick and vacation time over the past two years, beefing up their salaries by thousands of dollars.

- Home Prices Up: New Jersey home prices rose for the first time in four years at the end of the first quarter, according to appraiser Jeffrey Otteau of the Otteau Valuation Group.

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