The Jersey City Independent "

- New Fire Chief: Deputy Chief Darren Rivers will be promoted to fire chief either later this week or early next week, according to the Healy administration. Rivers, who will be the first black fire chief in Jersey City history, took over on a provisional basis at 12:01 am today from Chief Michael O’Reilly, who is now retired.

- NJCU to Conduct Audit: New Jersey City University is conducting a forensic audit after discovering financial irregularities that resulted in the Attorney General’s Office filing charges against a staff member and her husband for allegedly stealing more than $167,000 from the school’s Student Government Organization.

- Parking Authority Cracking Down on Handicapped Placards: The leader of the Jersey City Parking Authority tells the Journal the agency is cracking down on the misuse of handicapped placards. The agency also has raised the parking meter rate from 50 to 75 cents per hour, as previously announced.

- Shooting Arrests: Jersey City police have arrested five boys in connection with this past weekend’s shooting near Pershing Field in which a 43-year-old woman was wounded, and warrants are being issued for the arrest of at least two more boys.

- NAACP Confusion: About 75 people attended last week’s meeting of the Jersey City NAACP to get a clear understanding of who will, or won’t, be eligible to vote for president and executive board members in branch elections in November. But by the end of the meeting, there were just as many questions as answers.

- New Post in Sheriff’s Office: Joseph Steneck, 29, a seven-year veteran of the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, is the county’s new “drug recognition expert,” a position that aims to distinguish drivers with medical conditions as opposed to someone using illegal drugs.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Be sure to check out one of the final Groove on Grove concerts of the season, featuring three excellent Jersey City acts: The Old Man and His Po Buckra, Land of the Look Behind and The Old Glorys (which features members of local faves Any Day Parade) — 6 pm at the Grove Street PATH station. Artists and supporters are invited to a “late-summer soiree” at LITM to celebrate the arts in Jersey City and look ahead to this year’s Artists’ Studio Tour (6 pm). Author Adeyinka Makinde will be at the main branch of the public library to talk about and sign his latest book, Jersey Boy: The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula, which looks at the local boxing legend (6:30 pm). And the acclaimed film Up in the Air will be screened for free in Van Vorst Park as part of the summer Films in Van Vorst Series (starts around sundown — about 8:15 pm).

In Statewide News:

- More Race to the Top Fallout: In his first public comments on Bret Schundler’s high-profile termination Friday, Gov. Christie insisted yesterday that the former commissioner misled him about what happened when Schundler’s team presented New Jersey’s proposal for $400 million in federal Race to the Top grants to a panel of judges in Washington, saying the message of his firing was “don’t lie to the governor.” Politicker has Schundler’s reaction. Meanwhile, NJ Spotlight has learned that the private consulting company the state hired to help with the application, as well as an earlier failed application, has charged New Jersey more than half a million dollars for the work. And the state’s top Democrats say Christie owes President Obama an apology for first blaming his administration for the gaffe.

- Rising Retiree Healthcare Costs: The annual cost of providing healthcare benefits for retired teachers and state government employees will more than double over the next nine years from $1.27 billion to almost $2.75 billion, adding to New Jersey’s long-term budget woes, according to the state’s actuarial consultant.

- School Spending Report: A review of New Jersey’s state education spending is due today, but Gov. Christie says he has advised the education department not to release the report because it could hurt the state in a current legal challenge.

- Higher-Ed Layoffs: Rutgers and Kean will be among the local universities handing out layoff notices as students return to class for the fall semester.

- New Sulfur Rules: New Jersey followed in the steps of several nearby states on Tuesday by adopting new rules to drastically reduce the amount of sulfur in home heating oil, a move that will cut smog and improve health by reducing particulates in the air.

- ‘Clean Water’ Bills Signed: Gov. Christie has signed three bills today that allows the state to make interest-free loans to local governments for “clean water” projects.

- West Nile Cases Confirmed: The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services yesterday reported the season’s first three human cases of West Nile Virus in a 68 year-old female from Ocean County, a 78 year-old female from Essex County and an 86 year-old male from Passaic County.

- The Green Economy: A green economy can be a “game-changing economic strategy” for New Jersey, but only if reinforced by state and federal policies that actively support green products and services, according to a paper by the senior leadership at the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

- Turnpike Widening Contracts OK’ed: The New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s board has approved the latest contract in the massive Turnpike widening project — a $111.9 million deal for widening where the highway meets Interstate 195. The board has also approved $25.5 million in contracts to do the final design for returning shoulders to the Garden State Parkway in the Shore area.

- Company Fined for Selling Defective Toy: A judge has ordered an Indiana company to pay New Jersey more than $67,000 for selling yo-yo waterballs, toys that were banned as dangerous.

- Retail Vacancy Rate: Retail vacancy rates in central and northern New Jersey held relatively steady at 8.16 percent in July, according to a new report by real estate brokerage firm The Goldstein Group.

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