The Jersey City Independent "

- Man Shot in Apartment: A 30-year-old aspiring hip-hop performer was shot to death in his Forrest Street apartment Tuesday morning.

- Liberty Humane Files Defamation, Harassment Suit: In the latest development over the no-kill saga surrounding Liberty Humane Society, the shelter has filed a lawsuit over comments on a Facebook fan page.

- Changes in the School District: Superintendent Charles Epps has shifted principals at 12 of the district’s 38 schools and has assigned supervisors to buildings, expecting them to spend more time in classrooms than their offices. “It’s about increased accountability, it’s about raising the bar,” he tells the Journal. When the school year begins tomorrow, there will also be new principals at several Jersey City schools.

- Red Tide Investigation Continues: New Jersey environmental workers pitched in Tuesday on the investigation of red tide in the Hudson River and New York Harbor, with an aerial survey and boat crews who sought samples so biologists can identify the tiny crimson organisms.

- Autopsy Reveals More About Body Found in Newark Bay: An autopsy has revealed that shotgun blasts caused of death of a 58-year-old Jersey City man whose body was found in Newark Bay this weekend; investigators say he was shot in the tent where he was living at the water’s edge.

- Fighting Eviction: Facing the possibility of arrest, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry came to Jersey City yesterday to try and prevent the scheduled eviction of a 60-year-old woman Daughtry says is disabled and has always paid her rent. The woman’s attorney was able to convince a court to revisit her case today.

- JC Native Gets Kennedy Center Nod: Jersey City-born Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman will join Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard and Bill T. Jones as this year’s honorees in the Kennedy Center Honors.

In Statewide News:

- Race to the Top Hearing: Lawmakers scrutinized the sequence of events that led the state to miss an opportunity to secure $400 million in federal education reform funds at a tense partisan hearing at the Statehouse yesterday. MORE on the hearing from NJ Spotlight and The Record. Meanwhile, the state Attorney General’s office says it is reviewing the contract of a consultant paid more than $500,000 to help the state with the failed application.

- The Lingering Debt of the Old Giants Stadium: The old Giants Stadium, demolished to make way for New Meadowlands Stadium, still carries about $110 million in debt, or nearly $13 for every New Jersey resident. And now that it doesn’t exist, a big source of revenue to pay down the debt has shriveled. Already-strapped New Jersey taxpayers this year will pay $35.8 million in principal and interest on the $266 million in remaining bonds for the entire complex; those bonds will not be paid until 2025.

- Christie’s Agenda: Gov. Christie is once again pushing for changes in state ethics laws, pension and health benefits, education and New Jersey’s business climate, asking the legislature to tackle the issues before Christmas.

- ‘Quiet Cars’ Debut on NJT: NJ Transit’s new Quiet Commute program made a successful, silent debut yesterday on the 3900 series Northeast Corridor Line trains at the start of a 90-day pilot program.

- Lawn Care Products Face Ban: Called the most comprehensive and prohibitive legislation of its kind in the nation by supporters and opponents alike, a bill being considered in Trenton calls for a sea change in the way New Jerseyans apply fertilizer to their lawns, limiting the amount and type of nitrogen in fertilizer to a level that can’t be met by any of the products currently offered by the world’s largest lawn care retailer.

- Questions on New Energy Company Pitches? New companies are moving into New Jersey, trying to sell residents cheaper electricity than they are getting from the utility company. The Ledger’s Abby Gruen has a quick Q&A about the companies based on questions she’s been getting from readers.

- Farming Disaster Zones: Six South Jersey counties have been designated agricultural disaster areas because winds, frost, freezes and even hail wrecked blueberries and other crops in May.

- School Bus Safety: New Jersey takes nearly 10,000 of its 23,000 school buses off the road each year, upholding the strictest school bus safety standards in the country, according to Motor Vehicle Commission officials.

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