The Jersey City Independent "

- More Bad News at Liberty Humane: The state Department of Health and Human Services says Liberty Humane Society has failed three inspections and the inhumane conditions must be fixed by Friday, or else face potential fines, closure or the removal of all the animals. Volunteers at the shelter are also upset because they say the shelter is euthanizing adoptable dogs.

- Bayonne & the Spectra Pipeline: In a letter to federal regulators, Bayonne mayor Mark Smith says Spectra Energy’s proposal to route a natural gas pipeline through residential neighborhoods in his city is “entirely unacceptable.” After leaving Bayonne, the pipeline would run through Jersey City before going under the Hudson River to Manhattan; it is facing fierce opposition here as well.

- Sires Talks War Funds: U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, who represents much of Jersey City in the 13th District, isn’t facing much of a challenge from Republicans in his re-election bid this fall. So instead of talking horse-race politics with Politicker, he talks about some policy issues, including what seems to be a regret for voting for continued war funding in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I’m not voting for any more money for the war,” he says. “We started out with weapons of mass destruction and nation building … now its down to containment. … This is just bleeding the country.”

- Slain Woman Remembered: Community members remember the woman killed in last week’s murder-suicide as being a generous, loving woman who was committed to her son and local children.

- McNair Students Hope to Win $500K from Kohl’s: A 16-year-old incoming senior at McNair is spearheading an effort to nab $500,000 for the school, via the Kohl’s Cares for Kids Giveback Contest.

- More on Maritime Parc: While the newest restaurant in Liberty State Park hasn’t quite hit its target open date of mid-June, it is gearing up for a early September opening.

- Bobek Sentenced: Former United States figure skating champ Nicole Bobek has been sentenced to five years probation yesterday for her role in a Hudson County methamphetamine ring. The 32-year-old said her life is back on track and she’s working on her high school diploma.

- ‘Click it or Ticket’: The Hudson County Sheriff’s Office issued 2,133 tickets for seat belt infractions during the “Click it or Ticket” seat belt safety campaign that ran from May 24 to June 6 — that’s more tickets than any other law enforcement agency in New Jersey.

- Montgomery Street Fire: A Jersey City family was homeless last night after a two-alarm fire ripped through their Brunswick Estates residence on Montgomery Street yesterday afternoon. There are also reports of a fire that broke out last night at the Quick Stop supermarket at 649 Communipaw Ave.

Today’s Best Bets:

- There’s an opening reception for the new street art group exhibition featuring dozens of artists in City Hall’s Rotunda Gallery (6 pm). Free live music comes in two varieties this evening: the pop and R&B group Soul Finger performs as part of the Summerfest outdoor concert series at Liberty State Park (7 pm), while Laura MacLean and Devi are at Lucky 7′s (9 pm). Last, but not least, the Jersey City Comedy Show returns to the Lamp Post for its third-ever show, featuring comedy from Liam McEneaney, Ben Lerman and others. The show is hosted by Phil Rivo, and it is free (10 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Borrowing to Pay the Bills: New Jersey started this budget year with almost $900 million less cash on hand than it had last year and will borrow $2.25 billion in short-term notes to help pay the bills.

- Schundler Wants More Orgs to Oversee Charters: State Education Commissioner Bret Schundler says he supports the idea of allowing more entities to authorize and oversee charter schools, a responsibility currently only held by his department. In his Trenton testimony yesterday, Schundler also said he thinks some students could benefit from longer and more frequent school days.

- Capping Unused Sick-Time Payouts: A proposed bill would cap the end-of-career unused sick time payment at $15,000 for government employees who haven’t reached that magic number, and freeze payments for workers already over that limit.

- Cuts Coming to Legal Services: State aid cuts will force the New Jersey Legal Services System to lay off 100 workers, including 50 lawyers. The organization says the cuts will deny free legal help to thousands of low-income residents this year and next.

- New Meadowlands Stadium Opens: Last night’s pre-season game between the Giants and Jets brought 67,551 fans to the $1.6 billion, 82-500-seat New Meadowlands Stadium. Meanwhile, union members rallied to protest the new stadium vendor’s refusal to hire many workers from the old stadium. Oh, and the Giants won, 31-16.

- Wisniewski Calls for NJ Transit Hearings: The chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee says he will hold a hearing to examine repeated service disruptions involving NJ Transit trains this summer — and he wants the agency’s top brass to be there.

- ‘Shadow Government’ Reforms Slow Coming: Six months after Gov. Christie called for major changes at the state’s many authorities, board and commissions, reforms to overhaul these agencies have yet to be passed.

- Bill Nixes Offensive References to People with Disabilities: The words “retardation” or “feeble-minded” will be replaced by “intellectual disability” or “developmental disability” in all state laws and regulations, under a bill Gov. Christie signed into law yesterday.

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