The Jersey City Independent "

- Montgomery Gardens’ Future: Jersey City Housing Authority executive director Maria Maio confirmed yesterday that Montgomery Gardens is the next Jersey City public housing project to get the HOPE VI treatment, with most of the 434-unit high-rise complex slated to be leveled and will be replaced by a seniors building and 60 to 90 other low-rise mixed-use residences. Conversion of the high-rise apartment buildings is in “very preliminary stages,” Maio says. Meanwhile, the Journal reports that the complex’s residents are fed up with the violence and crime, but remain fearful of complaining to police or being branded a snitch.

- City Switches Budget Cycle: The City Council has voted to shift from a fiscal year to a calendar year budget, and to set a six-month transitional tax levy at $97.15 million, which raises taxes for the average homeowner by $20 a quarter. Meanwhile, the council failed to pass an ordinance to provide 80 free parking spaces for city employees in the heart of Journal Square.

- Police Academy to Close: Jersey City is shutting down its police academy to save money and put more officers on the street. Administration officials say the city currently spends $1.95 million in salaries and benefits for officers at the site and an additional $56,442 in rent for the Caven Point facility.

- Stack Denounces Jitney Bus Inspections: Union City mayor and state Sen. Brian Stack has denounced the recent surprise inspections of mini-buses that have been done in the area and re-emphasized the need for such buses, while taking a jab at the quality of NJ Transit’s bus service. While Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio agrees the mini-buses provide a valuable service, he says the surprise inspections would continue to monitor mechanical problems and the drivers’ qualifications.

- New PATH Cars: The Port Authority plans to approve the purchase of 10 more PATH rail cars for its new trans-Hudson fleet at its meeting this afternoon.

Today’s Best Bets:

- 58 Gallery plays host to an opening reception for what looks to be another great exhibition — Glossolalia: Intersecting Language and Technology — tonight at 7 pm; the opening features a multimedia performance by The Waiting. Elsewhere, suds fiends can meet the brewers of Hudson County’s newest brewery, the New Jersey Beer Co., at Star Bar (6 pm), the Kennedy Dancers’ Summer Dance Fest returns to the Grundy Pier near Exchange Place (6:30 pm), and the Warehouse hosts a free screening of Weighed and Found Wanting (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Senate Bill Will Bring $667M to NJ: U.S. Senate Democrats have overcome Republican opposition and cleared the way for a $26 billion measure to help states ease their severe budget problems and save the jobs of tens of thousands of teachers and other public employees. In New Jersey, which is slated to receive $667 million of the pot, the funding will be used to avert mass layoffs of teachers, police officers and other public sector employees.

- Limit on Superintendent Pay Upheld: A state appeals court has rejected the claim of a New Jersey school administrators’ group that new regulations limiting compensation are unconstitutional. The panel did hold that assistant superintendents with tenure can’t have their compensation reduced, however.

- Atlantic City Plan Would Take Money from Statewide Fund: Following the release of sweeping recommendations from a gaming report he commissioned, Gov. Christie has called for allowing Atlantic City to keep all money from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, an agency created in 1984 to invest in economic development statewide using a 1.25 percent tax on gaming revenues. The authority has channeled $189 million to North Jersey counties since then.

- ‘The Process is Broken’: That’s what Department of Environmental Protection commissioner Bob Martin says about the leasing process by which private companies run pipelines, cables, electric lines and towers on public land; he says the DEP will create a panel to “overhaul” the process.

- Restaurants on Highways: State transportation officials want federal permission to add restaurants at rest areas on interstate highways in New Jersey.

- High Court Overturns Ruling on ‘Hunch’ Questioning: New Jersey’s Supreme Court has unanimously found that police had a reasonable suspicion to stop and question a man talking to a known drug-dealer, overturning an appeals court ruling that found Roselle police only had a mere “hunch” of criminal activity that did not rise to the level of suspicion.

- Union Members Won’t Pay More to Launch Anti-Christie Ads: Members of New Jersey’s largest state workers union have voted down a proposal that would have raised their dues to create a media fund aimed to counter Gov. Christie’s tough rhetoric against public sector unions.

- Students Don’t Fare Well in Test Biology Exam: Almost half of the New Jersey high school students who took the state’s new biology test this year — a trial run — flunked it.

- NJ’s Mosquitos: Thanks to a dry, hot summer, the mosquito population has generally taken a hit, but officials remain cautious about West Nile virus, as well as the Asian Tiger, an exotic import whose numbers have steadily grown in the Garden State and the rest of the nation over the past decade.

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