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- ‘I am So Scared Right Now’: “I stand before you facing the most terrifying moment of my life,” former deputy mayor and Healy campaign treasurer said before a federal judge sentenced her to three years in prison yesterday. The Ledger has more. “It is a sad image: a 75-year-old woman expressing terror and begging for mercy as she is sentenced to three years in prison,” the Record editorializes. “But the jail sentence is justified for Leona Beldini.”

- Are Summer and Crime Actually Linked? All across New Jersey, but particularly in urban areas, the beginning of summer often is associated with a greater frequency of crimes, though the evidence has mostly been been anecdotal. Now the state Attorney General’s office is collecting data from all 21 counties to determine whether there is a correlation between rising temperatures and rising crime rates.

- Menendez Talks BP in JC: Sen. Robert Menendez held a press conference at Liberty State Park yesterday to push for proactive measures to protect East Coast shores from oil flowing into the Atlantic from the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf. Meanwhile, state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert Martin told an Assembly panel yesterday that “the oil will not affect New Jersey this summer, and it is extremely unlikely that it will affect New Jersey at all.”

- Man Shot: A 23-year-old Jersey City man is reportedly fighting for his life after being shot in the neck and chest on Park Street late Sunday night.

- No Progress at 111 1st: This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has walked around the Powerhouse Arts District lately, but the planned developments at 111 and 110 1st St. have stalled out.

- Code Violations Lead to Evictions: Several Jersey City residents have suddenly found themselves homeless after the city boarded up their Bayfront Avenue apartment building in the wake of dozens of unaddressed code violations.

Today’s Best Bets:

- The Actors Shakespeare Company begins a three-day run of free theater lab performances of Macbeth tonight at 7:30 pm. JCLGO hosts a Bingo Night fundraiser for August’s pride festival and march, at the Warehouse (7 pm). For live music, check out E.W. Harris and Niall Connolly at Lucky 7′s (9 pm) or the Crosstown Country Allstars at the Lamp Post (10 pm) — both shows are free.

In Statewide News:

- Appeals Court OKs Christie Education Cuts: In the first of two major school funding cases before state courts, a state appeals court has ruled that Gov. Christie did not overstep his authority this spring in issuing an executive order that withheld $475 million in aid for the current year, forcing districts to spend down their surpluses instead.

- Wind Power Bill Advances: The Senate Environment and Energy Committee has approved legislation designed to help developers finance wind projects off the Jersey coast. Advocates say it could vault New Jersey to the forefront of states aiming to harness offshore wind as a clean and free source of energy, but business interests are worried that the costs associated with building wind farms could raise the electric bills of commercial, industrial and residential customers.

- New Rules Lead to Fewer Searches: State Police troopers are searching fewer vehicles on New Jersey roadways after a state Supreme Court decision last year tightened standards for searches.

- State Leg Watch: One Assembly panel has approved a bill that would allow adoptees in New Jersey to access medical history and birth records, while another has approved legislation allowing public school districts to bill parents for children’s summer school classes.

- Senate Panel Asks Christie Not to Sue Over Health Care Law: The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee has approved a resolution urging Gov. Christie not to join 20 other states in a lawsuit against the new federal health care law. This comes as conservative activists are pushing the governor to join the 20 other states that have challenged the health care reform law as unconstitutional.