The Jersey City Independent "

- More on School Turnaround $$: The $4.5 and $4.3 million in federal School Improvement Grant money that Fred W. Martin Number 41 School and Snyder High School are receiving, respectively, is going to be used to turn both into arts schools. Snyder will reportedly take over Jersey City Arts High School and become the Academy of the Arts, while School 41 will become the Center for the Arts.

- HCDO Reorganization: As expected, Bayonne mayor Mark Smith was named the leader of the Hudson County Democratic Organization at its reorganization meeting last night. He replaces Jersey City mayor Jerramiah Healy. And the Hudson County Republican Party county re-elected Jose Arango as its chairman.

- Second Hudson River Tunnel Being Studied: Amtrak is studying the need for another underground railway to complement the existing, century-old Hudson River crossing and the $8.7 billion tunnel that NJ Transit plans to build by 2017.

- Red Bull Air Race: Pilots competing in this weekend’s race held a media event yesterday at the Linden hangar where their planes are; the Journal was there.

- Mom Wanted After Leaving Her Kids Alone: A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a 24-year-old Jersey City woman after police and a school official found her three young sons home alone, hungry and poorly clothed Tuesday afternoon. She says she was out for a job interview.

- JC Students Heading to Ivies: Riana Balahadia, Anna Blazejowskyj, and Sameer Chauhan have been accepted to Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. The three Jersey City residents are among eight graduates from High Tech High School who are heading to the Ivy League this fall.

- Smart Transpo Policy Unveiled in Hoboken: Our neighbor to the north has launched a citywide car-sharing program, hoping to decrease the parking congestion on the city’s streets.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Tonight is the final chance to check out the free Actors Shakespeare Company Lab performance of Macbeth at the West Side Theater (7:30 pm). If you’re in the mood for some quality classical, Kanibal Home hosts two of Con Vivo’s finest musicians for a free concert of Bach, Handel and Hindemith (8 pm). Or take in the gypsy jazz of Manouche Bag at Madame Claude’s (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- No Assembly Vote on Affordable Housing Bill Today: The chairman of the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee says his committee will hear testimony on a controversial affordable housing bill today, but it will not vote on the legislation.

- Alleged Mortgage Fraud Ring Broken Up: A mortgage loan officer, secretly working as an FBI cooperator, helped federal investigators break up a series of alleged mortgage scams aimed at bilking lenders out of more than $5.5 million. The investigation led to 23 arrests yesterday.

- Census Spurs Job Gains: The unemployment rate in New Jersey slid to 9.7 percent in May, matching the national rate, while hiring in the public sector drove the number of jobs in the state up by 7,600, according to new figures released by the state labor department.

- Commission for Immigrants Under Review: A commission created by Gov. Corzine to advise the governor on how best to integrate the state’s legal and illegal immigrants is one of many that may be on Gov. Christie’s chopping block.

- Common Core Standards: New Jersey has become the ninth state to adopt the Common Core State Standards, a thick compendium of expectations for what children in each grade should be able to do and learn.

- ‘Red Tape’ Bills Up for Review: An Assembly panel today will consider four bills meant to reduce state bureaucracy at its core.

- ID Theft Protection Bill Introduced: A measure to combat identity theft by requiring the memories on business copiers be erased before the machines change hands has been introduced in the state legislature.

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