The Jersey City Independent "

- Cops Enforcing Traffic Laws: The Jersey City Police Department says it is cracking down on aggressive driving across the city, having issued over 250 summonses for various traffic offenses, including 125 tickets to drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks between April 21 and June 30.

- The Battle for the County Republican Party: While a move to unseat Jersey City’s Jose Arango as chairman of the Hudson County Republican Party failed last month, a group of Republicans is still trying to steer the local party in a more hard-right ideological direction.

- City Hopes to Rent Fewer Parking Spaces at JSQ: The City Council will vote today on the introduction of a measure approving a contract to rent 80 parking spaces at Journal Square — at a tune of $134,000 a year — instead of 100, as the city previously has. If approved, taxpayers will have to continue to pay for city workers’ free parking at one of Jersey City’s busiest transit hubs, even as the city continues to face down a fiscal crisis and even as the administration pledges to create a “cleaner, greener” Jersey City.

- Lopez Residency Case: Two state Appellate Division judges have heard the arguments and now they will decide whether or not Ward C councilwoman Nidia Lopez properly vacated her Florida residency before running for office in New Jersey. Attorneys for both Lopez and challenger Norrice Raymaker tell the Journal they are confident about their chances.

- Man Shot Himself Accidentally: An autopsy report has concluded that a Jersey City teenager who died from a gunshot wound to his head last week shot himself by accident.

- ‘Anecdotal Census’ on WNYC: If you missed yesterday’s Brian Lehrer Show segment about the changes in Hudson County over the past 10 years, you can check it out here.

- Woman Sentenced for Bank Robberies: A 35-year-old Jersey City woman has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to three counts of bank robbery.

Today’s Best Bets:

- If the rain goes away later (not likely, according to forecasts), two free outdoor events await you tonight. Plastiq Passion, Copesetic and Bern & the Brights are set to rock the Groove on Grove stage (6 pm), while the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Annual Family Festival in the Marion neighborhood begins its second and final weekend of food, games and entertainment (6:30 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Property Tax Cap Signed into Law: Gov. Christie yesterday signed the new 2 percent property tax cap, bringing sweeping change to how every town and school in New Jersey spends taxpayer money. Meanwhile, as NJ Spotlight notes, getting the other 32 parts of Christie’s 33-part “toolkit” to help municipalities, counties and school districts bring down their costs — of which the tax cap was a integral part — passed into law may be a long, arduous process.

- Income Cap for Free AIDS Medications Lowered: In letters received over the weekend, the state Health Department told patients about new income guidelines for a program that enables thousands infected with HIV or diagnosed with AIDS to receive life-sustaining yet expensive anti-retroviral drugs. As of August 1, a patient’s income cannot exceed $32,490, instead of the previous threshold of $54,150. The move is expected to impact 950 patients.

- Vouchers Bill’s Slow Progress: The bill that would create the first school vouchers program in New Jersey, already moving slowly in the Senate, is also facing obstacles in the other house. It now stands in the Assembly’s Commerce and Economic Development Committee, and its chairman says he will consider the proposal — but only in the context of a larger set of urban school reform measures that has not yet been fully introduced.

- Christie Hesitant to Sign Homebuyer Tax Credit Bill: Gov. Christie says he has concerns about a bill designed to help jump-start New Jersey’s housing market by creating a tax credit for home purchases, which cleared the legislature in June. “The easiest thing to do in Trenton is to say yes, the hard thing to say is no,” Christie said yesterday at NJ’s Building and Construction Trades Council Convention in Atlantic City

- Christie & Reform Jersey Now: Gov. Christie says he is not responsible for the group Reform Jersey Now, which is skirting state campaign finance laws while campaigning for Christie’s agenda, even as he welcomed the “help” against labor unions that he says are spending furiously to fight his plans.

- Tigher Rules on License Suspensions: The state Supreme Court has tightened the rules for when municipal judges can exercise their authority to revoke driver licenses, in a move experts say will likely lead judges to suspend fewer licenses.

- NJ Marine Dies in Cuba: Military officials say a 22-year-old U.S. Marine from Camden has died in a swimming accident at Guantanamo Bay.

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