The Jersey City Independent "

- Liberty Humane Axes Director: Just one week after Liberty Humane Society’s board resigned, the new three-member interim board fired shelter director Joanna Hopkinson last night. Interim board member Diana Jeffrey says they fired Hopkinson mainly to dispel the notion that the shelter is too beholden to its largest donor, John Neu. She says Hopkinson’s salary was being paid from a restricted grant from Neu that could only be used to pay Hopkinson.

- 5-Year-Old Continues to Recover: The mother of the 5-year-old girl shot in the neck on Friday says that her daughter is strong and recovering well from Monday’s surgery that removed the bullet that had struck her spine. Meanwhile, cops hope to take possession of the bullet today and send it for ballistics testing, and a rally against violence has been planned for tomorrow at the site of the shooting.

- Man Shot Last Year Dies, Charges Will be Upped: A 20-year-old Bayonne man who was shot multiple times in Jersey City near Liberty State Park last year has died and the charges against the Rahway man already indicted in the shooting will now be upgraded to murder.

- Using Cell Phone in Jail: An 25-year-old Jersey City man jailed on charges he murdered a man in the Ringside Lounge has allegedly been in contact with the outside world while behind bars and is now charged with using a cell phone while locked up at the Hudson County jail.

- National Wholesale Liquidators Reopens: National Wholesale Liquidators reopened its Route 440 location today. Since filing for bankruptcy in 2008, 9 of the more than 50 stores in the chain have reopened.

- Washburn Street Cleanup: Workers from several Jersey City agencies chainsawed trees, scoured blacktop and hacked at overgrowth on Washburn Street yesterday after getting complaints from residents about the state of the street located near Dickinson High School.

Today’s Best Bets:

- J CITY Theater’s latest production, the comedy Gun-Shy, opens its 8-night run tonight at The Underground Theater at St. Michael’s Church by Hamilton Park (8 pm). Groove on Grove is back outdoors tonight, with a stellar lineup featuring Hello, Boat, The Demands and WJ & the Sweet Sacrifice (6 pm). A few hours later, The Blind Side will be screened for free in Van Vorst Park (8:30 pm). Two worthy fundraisers are on tap tonight: The Iron Monkey is donating money to Au Capoeira for many drinks sold after 5 pm, while a business networking fundraiser for the United Cerebral Palsy of Hudson County is at Michael Anthony’s (5:30 pm). And as part of Make My City week, Made with Love hosts live music this evening from Sarah Jean, Jake Brukhman, and Mike Hofman (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Christie Wants to Take Over Atlantic City: Gov. Christie will announce plans for an unprecedented overhaul of New Jersey’s troubled gaming industry today — including a complete takeover of the Atlantic City casino and entertainment district, and the sell-off or shutdown of the struggling Meadowlands Racetrack. MORE on the political calculus behind the move, and the reaction of local officials.

- No New Taxes? Gov. Christie says he won’t raise taxes to close a $10.5 billion deficit next year, a gap nearly matching the record hole he and lawmakers filled in the current $29.4 billion budget. But observers say that could prove to be difficult.

- Common Core Standards: When the state Board of Education signed on to the new national standards for language arts and math last month, it joined what is now 24 other states setting a single milestone for what every child should be taught in school and when. But the real work has only just begun, as the vote set off a flurry of activity for the state to next develop a matching “model curriculum” for schools to follow and move toward new state assessments, both short- and long-term.

- Report Touts Private-School Savings: A study commission on non-public schools released yesterday by Gov. Christie finds that private and parochial schools save New Jersey $2.7 billion annually, while providing “expanded educational options” for children.

- Limiting Sick and Vacation Payouts: A bill sponsored by state Sen. Joe Kyrillos would restrict to $15,000 the payment of supplemental compensation at retirement for accumulated sick leave for “current and future officers and employees of boards of education and local governments.” The bill would also limit the carrying forward of vacation leave to just one year.

- Group Will Remove Oyster Beds: NY/NJ Baykeeper has submitted a schedule to remove its experimental oyster beds from contaminated waters in the Raritan Bay area, although the proposed work will not meet a July 30 deadline set by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

- Political Fundraising on the State Level: While the big state Democratic fundraising committees outraised and outspent Republicans during the first half of 2010, the GOP appears to be closing the longstanding fundraising gap with Democrats.

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