The Jersey City Independent "

- Wind Power at Port Jersey: The Port Authority’s proposed project at Port Jersey on the border of Bayonne and Jersey City would have five wind towers, each more than 280 feet tall. The authority is seeking suggestions from companies that might be interested in managing the project on how to set up the turbines, and a spokesman says the wind plant could be operating by 2013. The Port Authority plans to use the power generated to operate the container port there, then to feed the surplus energy into the local power grid, offsetting some of the authority’s consumption elsewhere.

- Jersey Avenue Extension: The $72 million extension of Jersey Avenue into Liberty State Park, which was scheduled to start by the end of this month, has been delayed because the city was rejected for a federal grant.

- Hit-and-Run Driver Sentenced: The 20-year-old Bayonne man who ran a red light on Marin Boulevard and struck a 53-year-old Jersey City man before fleeing the scene has been sentenced to 364 days in Hudson County jail. Meanwhile, a 38-year-old Jersey City driver who fled the scene of an accident on Route 1 & 9 that left another man critically injured was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with endangering the life of an injured victim.

- Canada Geese: The towns and institutions that opt to get rid of some or all of the many Canada Geese that call Liberty State Park and many other corners of the state home face another choice: How to do it? Gannett takes a look at the problem, and finds that “many of the options are unpopular. So is doing nothing about the problem.”

- Provident Sees Mortgage Refinancing Boom: Record low mortgage rates have spurred refinancing booms in recent weeks for some local lenders, including Jersey City-based Provident Bank, where loan applications in July were up about 50 percent from June.

- Search for Graves of Stillborn Children: A New Jersey family is searching for answers to a decades-long mystery of where its stillborn child was buried in Jersey City.

- Bergen Calls for Mandatory Water Restrictions: Bergen County, which like Hudson, is currently under a drought watch issued by the Department of Environmental Protection, has imposed mandatory restrictions on lawn watering.

- Manslaughter Conviction: A jury has found a 42-year-old Jersey City man guilty of knowingly killing someone in the heat of passion. He had been charged with the murder of 28-year-old Soveira Rojas, with whom he shared a home.

- Healy’s Next Steps: The Insider says there is buzz that Mayor Healy, who is almost certain not to run for re-election in 2013, may seek a position as Hudson County Register. Meanwhile, he also wonders: whatever happened to the mayor’s 2010 State of the City address?

- Raising Money for Cancer Patients: Jersey City’s Walgreens branch joined nearly 90 other Walgreens stores across North Jersey in a Saturday fundraiser for cancer patients and research.

- Saturday Shootings: Three Jersey City men suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds in three incidents late Saturday evening.

- Boyd Avenue Fire: Five Jersey City firefighters were injured and five residents were displaced in a two-alarm fire that started in the basement of a two-family house on Boyd Avenue yesterday morning.

In Statewide News:

- The Exodus: Retirement applications from teachers, police officers, firefighters and state workers jumped 67 percent through the first seven months of the year, partly due to public-sector workers’ concerns over the fate of their pensions under Gov. Christie.

- NJ Transit Asking for $ for Northeast Corridor Fixes: NJ Transit says it is seeking $885 million in new federal funding for infrastructure improvements on the busy Northeast Corridor rail line. Meanwhile, the agency’s trains are having a summer of late trains and service disruptions.

- Judicial Independence: Gannett’s Michael Symons takes a look at the “fine line” New Jersey’s judiciary has long walked between politics and being above politics.

- ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ Legal Battle Ends: A New Jersey appeals court panel has declined to confront the issue of whether hospitals can refuse to continue life support over the objections of a patient’s family by dismissing a case because the patient involved in the lawsuit has since died.

- July Revenue: New Jersey’s July revenue was virtually on target with expectations, but state treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff says we shouldn’t read too much into the data. “One month of revenue collections certainly does not establish a meaningful trend,” he says.

- A&P Closing Some NJ Stores: Supermarket operator The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. says it will close 25 stores in New Jersey and four other states as part of a turnaround strategy for the company, though it declined to identify specific locations. Stores that could be closed include A&P, Waldbaum’s, Pathmark, SuperFresh and Super Foodmart. The union representing local grocery workers, however, did give a list of stores to be closed to NJ Biz.

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