The Jersey City Independent "

- Liberty Humane: Hoboken officials say they will be keeping a closer watch on the Liberty Humane Society after inhumane conditions were discovered at the shelter; the Mile Square City began paying the shelter $96,000 a year this year for animal control services. The Reporter has more on the fight over Liberty Humane.

- ‘Empty Sky’ Construction: State officials say construction on the “Empty Sky” 9/11 memorial in Liberty State Park is set to begin in November, despite continued local opposition and a state budget crisis. MORE from the Reporter.

- Red Tide in the Hudson: A reddish sheen reported Monday morning on the Hudson River has been determined to be red tide outbreak, an accumulation of bacteria whose dense concentration turns the affected water a reddish brown in color, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials.

- Homeless Man Wants Dog Back: A 49-year-old Jersey City man who is homeless had his dog was taken away by Jersey City’s animal control officer, and now he’s demanding the pet’s return — but it has already been adopted out by Liberty Humane, which first refused to return the dog to the man because he was homeless. (The shelter says the policy has since changed.)

- Body Found in Newark Bay: The body of an adult male was found at the water’s edge of Newark Bay on Sunday, and the death is being considered “suspicious” while authorities await the results of an autopsy.

- Home Health Aide Charged: A Jersey City home health aide was arrested Thursday after shocked family members of a 91-year-old woman viewed a videotape that shows the aide striking the woman repeatedly.

- Beating Suspect May Have Left the Country: A suspect in the case of a man who remains on life support after being attacked outside Grand Banks on the corner of Montgomery and Washington Streets is believed to have fled the country along with another “person of interest.”

- Hit & Run Victim’s Recovery: The 8-year-old boy who was dragged 70 feet in a hit-and-run accident two years ago is on the mend. “I’m doing awesome,” he tells the Journal.

- Jets Player Donates Equipment to High School: The Lincoln High School football program was pleasantly surprised last week when 80 pairs of brand new cleats and gloves were delivered to the school’s athletic department as a donation from New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes.

- DWI Checkpoint Nabs Three: A DWI checkpoint set up at 18th Street and Jersey Avenue by the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office over the Labor Day weekend resulted in three busts for driving under the influence, including two people who were also charged with carrying guns illegally.

- Heights Fire: Four families were displaced yesterday by a three-alarm fire that ravaged two houses on Bleecker Street in the Heights.

Today’s Best Bets:

- If you haven’t gotten over to Hamilton Square’s arty mini-golf course designed to raise money for the Jersey City Museum, tonight’s closing reception is your last chance (6 pm). LITM hosts the opening reception for Bonnie Gloris’ Surface Tension exhibition (7 pm); for more on Gloris, check out our Q&A that ran last week. And the film Clear Blue Tuesday, which was produced by NJCU alum Al Parinello has its premiere at the university’s Margaret Williams Theatre (6 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Immigrant Deportations: So far this year, 64 percent of the 4,000 people ordered deported from New Jersey had no criminal record, far more than the national rate of just under 50 percent.

- Race to the Top Fallout Keeps Coming: A week after he was fired, former education commissioner Bret Schundler says he isn’t considering taking legal action over his termination. But the former Jersey City mayor says he would like an apology. Meanwhile, state Democrats have invited a slew of people to testify at an Assembly committee hearing today in an attempt to determine how the error on the state’s Race to the Top application was made and “avoid future missteps.”

- Tuition Hikes Outpacing Inflation: Students at New Jersey’s four-year colleges and universities will pay between 3.5 percent and 7.3 percent more in tuition and fees this year as their institutions try to make up for cuts in state aid and rising operating costs, according to a Star-Ledger survey of two dozen schools.

- Christie vs. Public Workers: As Labor Day passes, NJ Spotlight takes a look at the “serious battles” to come over the next 10 months between Gov. Christie and the state’s public-worker unions.

- Christie’s ‘Reform Agenda’: Gov. Christie plans to unveil today the first of what aides describe as a series of reform initiatives targeting everything from conflicts of interest in state government to changes to ethics law, public pensions and regulations on how many public salaries a person can earn.

- Solar Rebate Program Returns: New Jersey’s Office of Clean Energy began taking applications for its residential solar rebate program last week after a four month hiatus, inaugurating a new distribution system that avoided the problem they had in May when they ran out of four months’ worth of solar rebates in a day.

- Transpo Trust Fund Issues More Debt: New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund Authority has approved $1.75 billion in new and refunding bonds, using up almost all the borrowing capacity in the state’s main funding source for highway and mass-transit improvements. The troubled fund is expected to be insolvent by some time next year.

- Christie & the Midterms: What impact will Gov. Christie have on New Jersey’s congressional races? Matt Friedman takes a look.

- Artificial Turf: As more and more New Jersey high schools, colleges and community-based organizations opt to go for synthetic turf over grass on playing fields, questions about cost and safety remain.

- Lots of Dragonflies This Year: Swarms of dragonflies not seen in years are flitting throughout New Jersey, and in spectacular numbers on the Shore’s salt marshes.

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