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TODAY

Rob Piersanti’s first Pop Art Show of the year takes place at Boca Grande, complete with a complimentary wine tasting and live jazz band (6 pm, free).

The Black Maria Film Festival returns to NJCU for the 31st year. Admission is free to the premiere of the film festival, and refreshments will be served (7 pm).

Ladies on The Mic presents First Songs of Spring, a free concert celebration featuring two bands that cross pollinate their classical training with other musical genres like jazz, rock & pop–at Art House (7 pm, free).

American vibraphonist Eldad Tarmu performs at Raphs Plaza African Market and Internet Cafe (8 pm).

TOMORROW

There’s a weekend-long Dogfish Head Beer Benefit at the Iron Monkey. A portion of sales from all Dogfish Head drafts and bottles will go to 3 different charities (all day).

The Museum of Russian Art hosts a closing reception for two shows: Red Show and Mechanical Theater (4 pm).

Jordan’s Lounge hosts a National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Benefit. The event, presented by Our Youth, features dinner and celebrity impersonators and will honor HIV Activist Timothy Daniels and Jersey City councilwoman Viola Richardson (4:30 pm, $10).

The Laugh Tour returns to Art House for “an evening of hilarious stand up comedy” (7 pm, $15 in advance, $20 at the door).

SUNDAY

The Dogfish Head Beer Benefit continues at Iron Monkey.

St. Matthew’s is holding a Winter Rummage Sale fundraiser complete with home-cooked meals (12:30 pm).

-SUPER BOWL STUFF-

The Brightside Tavern – Two separate package deals, both include an open bar and buffet. Plus they’ll pick you up with a free shuttle service. 141 Bright Street.

The Lamp Post – A pre-tailgate party starts at 4 pm with $1 Clam Chowder and $5 Boilermakers. $3 shots with every touch down, $2 Kamikaze shots throughout the game. 382 2nd Street.

LITM – Will be showing the game on the big projector screen, and have drink specials and food specials all day–including $2 off all drinks if you’re wearing a Giants jersey. 140 Newark Avenue.

Lucky 7 – Food and drink specials all day, plus Giants jersey give aways at the end of every quarter. 322 2nd Street.

O’Connell’s – Happy Hour all night, $5 food menu, and give aways. 111 Montgomery Street.

Powerhouse Lounge – $40 presale/$50 game day package for open bar and unlimited food during the game. 360 Marin Boulevard.

Zeppelin Hall – The beer garden is boasting the most biggest hi-def screens and half price beer and wings. They will also have mug and jersey giveaways. 88 Liberty View Drive.

Hudson County Feeding the Rental Appetite: Hudson County rules the rental housing market in New Jersey, with the largest amount of Class A rental units and the highest average rental rate in the state–and the market is expected to grow rapidly, especially on the waterfront where several new projects in Jersey City are already underway.

Jersey City School’s Contest Helps ‘Kindle’ Student Interest in Reading: The Al-Ghazaly School, a nonprofit private school, has started a successful Kindle contest to get students to read more–some students now read 2 books a week and vie for the highest book report grades to compete for the device.

Former ‘Soul Train’ Dancer from Jersey City Remembers Longtime Host Don Cornelius: Jersey City resident Stephen McMillian commuted to Los Angeles once a month as a dancer for Soul Train; he remembers telling former host Don Cornelius, who died this week, that he admired him for being a trailblazer for African Americans, and discusses his experiences working with Cornelius.

In Statewide News:

New Jersey Assembly Committee Approves Bills Meant to Increase Port Authority Transparency: Yesterday, an assembly committee approved four bills intended to increase transparency at the agency and legislative control over it.

New Jersey Assembly Panel Advances Gay Marriage Bill: The New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the marriage equality bill in a vote Thursday afternoon, promising to escalate the standoff between Democratic lawmakers and Republican governor Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto the legislation.

New Jersey Arts Council Awards Nearly $200K in Fellowships: The New Jersey State Council on the Arts awarded $182,600 in fellowships to 22 sculptors, photographers, poets, playwrights and craft artists yesterday.

School Bus/SUV Collision in Front of Jersey City City Hall Sends Schoolchildren to the Hospital: A collision between a school bus and an SUV has sent a handful of schoolchildren to the Jersey City Medical Center, but there don’t appear to be any serious injuries, according to a witness.

Jersey City Officials Say 911 Delays Amount to ‘Seconds,’ Not Minutes: Some 911 calls intended for Jersey City emergency responders are accidentally diverted to New York City, but the delays are minuscule and there’s not much that can be done to rectify the problem, city officials say.

Jersey City Artist Explores African Culture, Art in ‘Afrocentricity’: Darin DeField’s mixed media collages, photographs and digital prints often incorporate elements African art, as viewers will see in his upcoming exhibit “Afrocentricity” at LITM.

Crime Blotter: As shots rang out on Martin Luther King Drive yesterday afternoon, several residents scurried for cover inside the offices of the Urban League of Hudson County; A Jersey City man armed with a knife was arrested after threatening to kill police officers who responded to his home on a loud music complaint Tuesday evening.

Today’s Best Bets:

New Jersey City University presents Margaret Murphy, A Ten-Year Survey: Decoding the Market Place: coupons, dollar stores, and eBay, a survey of 40 of the artist’s important works over the past decade (5 pm, free).

Instigatorzine, an art and literary magazine takes over Art House’s open mic tonight (8 pm, $5).

In Statewide News:

State Test Scores Reveal Some Gains, Widening Achievement Gap: Budget cuts cost New Jersey school districts $1 billion, with some of the poorest districts paying the biggest price.

Jersey City’s Special City Council Race Candidates Report Spending Nearly $300,000: The 17 candidates in last year’s Jersey City special election to fill two vacancies on the City Council spent nearly $300,000 combined, with the two winning candidates shelling out nearly $100,000 total during the campaign.

Former Jersey City Mayoral Candidate Will Ask for New Corruption Charges to be Tossed: Former state Assemblyman Louis Manzo, a defendant in New Jersey’s largest corruption case, is seeking to have the charges against him dismissed.

Jersey City Man in Stable Condition After Exchanging Fire with Police: The Jersey City felon who was shot four times by police after allegedly opening fire on officers Friday remained hospitalized but in stable condition, officials said Tuesday.

Hudson Freeholders to Study Express Bus Service Between Jersey City and Bayonne: Hudson County is set to take one step closer to connecting Journal Square in Jersey City to Bayonne with an express bus service.

Crime Blotter: Three men posing as repair workers talked their way into a Jersey City home and robbed two residents in their 80s of more than $5,000 in cash and jewelry, police said; A man who flashed a knife during an argument in a Secaucus Road parking lot in Jersey City was forced to flee when the man he was arguing with pulled a machete from his pants; An 82-year-old Jersey City man walking on Clarke Avenue early yesterday morning was attacked from behind, then beaten and robbed by two thugs; Yesterday Jersey City police busted a 33-year-old Newark man they say stole an SUV and then rammed a police cruiser with the vehicle when cops were closing in.

Today’s Best Bets:

One of Jersey City’s newest galleries, WOOLPUNKstudios, hosts an opening reception for Digital Weavings: Works by Pat Lay and Michelle Loughlin (6 pm, free). Meanwhile, there’s a closing reception for ‘Images’ by Eric Schkrutz at Made with Love (7 pm, free).

Uptown Crew presents its bimonthly Open Mic for poetry, music, readings, spoken word, comedy, dance and more (8 pm, $5).

In Statewide News:

Gov. Christie Calls for Restructuring of Research Universities: Governor Christie yesterday outlined a sweeping overhaul of higher education that would create a New Jersey Health Sciences University in Newark to replace UMDNJ, place Newark’s University Hospital under nonprofit management, and fold Rutgers-Camden and its law school into Rowan University to give South Jersey its own research university.

New Jersey gets a D-Plus for Teacher Standards: New Jersey’s report card from a group that seeks to improve standards for educators is dismal: D-plus, 36th in the United States, and making less progress than most states.

New Jersey Ranks Last Place in Business-Climate Rank: The Washington-based Tax Foundation, which advocates for simpler tax codes with lower rates, today released its annual Business Tax Climate Index, which ranks the 50 U.S. states based on how welcoming their tax law is to businesses. New Jersey placed 50th, a position it also held in 2011.

Black New Jersey Leaders to Gov. Christie: Popular Vote is No Way to Achieve Civil Rights: Two of New Jersey’s most influential black leaders, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, blasted Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday for proposing gay marriage be put to a popular vote in November.

Jersey City’s Newly Appointed Assembly Officials Assigned to Committees: Hudson County’s newest state Assembly representatives have committee assignments.

Hudson County Sheriff’s Office Saved More Than $300,000 in Overtime Costs Last Year, Officials Say: The Hudson County Sheriff’s Office saved more than $300,000 in overtime costs, and was able to provide more aid to several municipalities, thanks to its implementation of a new, 24-hour-a-day patrol schedule, the sheriff announced at a press conference yesterday.

Hoboken Releases Southwest Redevelopment Study: The city of Hoboken released the Southwest Area Redevelopment Study last week, which states that parts of the area bordering Jersey City in the southwest part of Hoboken qualify to be designated as “in need of redevelopment.”

On 4th & Brunswick, There is the Newest Mural in our Fair City: Dislocations has a preview of a new mural painted by Isaac Fortoul.

Officials Break Ground on $3 Million Park that will Straddle North Bergen-Guttenberg Border: A $3 million, 1.5-acre park on River Road, straddling the border of North Bergen and Guttenberg, is slated to open this fall, and will include an amphitheater, a playground and unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline.

Crime Blotter: In the early morning hours of Wednesday, a total of $661 in cash was taken during two armed robberies that occurred within two hours at Jersey City gas stations within two miles of each other, according to police.

Today’s Best Bets:

You should probably start off tonight at Barcade’s Winter Beer Night. Heavy, highly alcoholic seasonal beers, limited releases and vintage kegs will be on draft–including this year’s Jersey City debut of our local brewery’s winter seasonal–New Jersey Beer Co.’s Weehawken Wee Heavy, which clocks in at almost 10% ABV this year (4 pm). Or you could combine your love of beer with your love of singing at Zeppelin Hall for Karaoke with Live Backing Band (8:30 pm, free). For rock and roll, head to Lamp Post, where Black Water, Invisible Lines and Lady in the Radiator will play a free show (9:30 pm).

In Statewide News:

Gov. Chris Christie Starts Selling 10-Percent Income Tax Cut Plan to New Jersey and Nation: The Governor hit the road and the airwaves yesterday to sell his proposed across-the-board 10 percent income tax cut to the people, both at home and around the country — and perhaps, position himself for a 2016 presidential bid.

New Jersey Tax Collections Fall $325M Short for First Half of 2011-12 Fiscal Year: The state government’s tax revenue collections, which are a major indicator of a state’s economic health, have fallen 3.2 percent short of expectations for the first six months of the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Sentencing of Convicted Former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell is Postponed Again: The sentencing of former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, convicted on corruption charges in July, has been postponed for the second time, officials said today.

State Employees’ Paid Leave Days can Roll Over from Year to Year Indefinitely, Court Rules: Days off that state employees negotiated with former Gov. Jon Corzine in return for pay raise deferral and furloughs are not like unused vacation time and can be carried from year to year indefinitely, a state appellate court panel ruled yesterday.

Former Deputy Mayor May Be Sent to Prison: Jersey City’s former deputy mayor may have to report to prison today to start serving a sentence for bribery. Leona Beldini has been free on bail since her 2009 arrest in New Jersey’s largest-ever public corruption sting.

Council Election Victors to Take Oaths Monday:
Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson and New Jersey City University official Rolando Lavarro, Jersey City’s newest at-large City Council members, will take their oaths of office on Monday in the council chambers.

Real Housewife Melissa Gorga Supports Local (and Danish) Business: Melissa Gorga from The Real Housewives of New Jersey was at the Liberty House restaurant last night to promote a Danish automobile, the Zenvo ST1-50S (price: $1.8 million), which will be sold exclusively by the Emporio Motor Group, at 911 Montgomery Street in Jersey City.

Comcast to Offer Digital Literacy Training: Two 90-minute training sessions are designed to bring Internet access to low-income families in Jersey City.

“Cake Boss” Cooking School: Carlo’s Bakery, the famed home of Hoboken’s “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro, has opened a cooking school in at 631 Grove Street in Jersey City.

Workers Sickened by Fumes: Four employees at the Hudson County Plaza in Jersey City were taken to the Jersey City Medical Center yesterday after inhaling spray paint fumes at Hudson County Plaza, a county building at 257 Cornelison Avenue.

Jersey City Medical Center Aims to Lower Smoking Rates: In promoting today’s 36th Annual Great American Smokeout, the Jersey City Medical Center unveiled last night its new “I Quit Smoking” program.

Closing Arguments in Love Triangle Murder Trial: A love triangle that ended with a man gunned down on a Jersey City street was the scenario depicted by the state in closing statements yesterday in the trial of a man charged with murdering his romantic rival in 2009.

Crime Blotter: Missing for 12 days, a 13-year-old Massachusetts girl was found yesterday at the Greenville home of a 45-year-old Jersey City man whom sources say she met over the Internet.

Today’s Best Bets:

Two art shows open today: NJCU’s Art Faculty Biennial Exhibition at 4:30 pm; and Becoming Who We Are, a photo/video group exhibition dealing with masculinity, femininity and the artists’ LGBTQ identity at Hudson Pride Connections beginning at 6 pm.

Meet Radeberger Brewery at the Iron Monkey and learn about the German pilsner’s 140-year history while sipping on $4 glasses (6 pm).

The Lamp Post hosts a free kickoff show for Darren Deicide‘s 800 Miles to Chicago Tour, with Brownbird Rudy Relic, Trash Executioner and David Fagan beginning at 7 pm.

In Statewide News:

Discussion of Ethics at League of Municipalities Meeting: The New Jersey State League of Municipalities offered a session Wednesday with William Kearns, the league’s lawyer about “the do’s and don’ts of ethics.” Kearns advised against accepting gifts.

Gov. Christie Says He Doesn’t Hate Gym Teachers: Gov. Christie said he has nothing against gym teachers, after the state’s education union criticized his comment that math and science teachers should earn more than those in physical education.

Charter Advocates had Big Role in Charter Application Process: Over the past year, the Christie administration employed an array of national and state charter school experts, educators, officials, and other advocates to help review applications for new charters, according to documents released under a public records request. Absent were traditional public school educators and community representatives.

Plug-In Electric Vehicles Need Infrastructure: With the rollout of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), New Jersey’s utilities and regulators face a range of decisions about building the infrastructure to allow drivers to easily charge their cars.

Gov. Christie Blames Former Port Authority Official for Perks: An angry Gov. Christie on Wednesday laid blame for hidden Port Authority executive perks at the feet of the agency’s former executive director, Christopher O. Ward.

In March 2011, Maine Gov. Paul LePage ordered the mural depicting the labor history of the state to be dismantled from the reception area of the Department of Labor in Augusta.

Though the mural is still being held in an undisclosed location, the artist who created it has been invited by the Hudson County Community College Foundation to talk about the project — from conception to development to execution, and the controversy surrounding its removal.

The eleven-panel work depicts historical scenes from the colonial era to the present: in the first, a cobbler teaches a young apprentice; in the last, a retired tradesman passes along a hammer to a new generation. Between the two panels are scenes of child labor, women workers in textile mills, and Frances Perkins (Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Labor Secretary), to name a few.

In 2007, Taylor won a commission to paint the mural, which was overseen by the Maine Arts Commission. Completed in 2008, the project attracted no negative attention until March 2011.

Gov. LePage justified his decision to remove the mural by citing an anonymous fax that compared the 36-foot wall painting to something from “Communist North Korea, where they use these murals to brainwash the masses.”

According to several media sources, Gov. LePage never viewed the mural in person before ordering it to be removed from the Labor Department headquarters.

The association to North Korea propaganda particularly took Taylor aback.

In a statement made to the Bangor Daily News on March 30, 2011, Taylor wrote that her father served as a forward observer during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star.

“He was a man who stood by every word he spoke,” she wrote. “It was so heartbreaking to learn that this controversy may have started with an anonymous letter comparing this mural to a North Korean propaganda poster. Perhaps we should hang my father’s Bronze Star for his service in Korea in the now empty reception area of the Maine Department of Labor until the mural is returned, as a symbol of the importance of remembering our history, and not shuttering it away.”

Born in Nebraska and raised in the Midwest, Taylor moved to New York City in 1985 and studied at the New York Academy of Figurative Art and National Academy of Design. In 1995, Taylor moved to Mount Desert Island in Maine and established the studio and gallery in Seal Cove that she still operates.

Taylor’s work may be found in several public and private collections, and thanks to the generosity of the Estate of Dr. Arnold Rose, M.D., one of her works is included in the Hudson County Community College Foundation Art Collection.

Details:
Thursday, November 10, at 6 pm
HCCC Culinary Arts Institute/Conference Center
161 Newkirk Street

For tickets, contact Andrea Siegel at 201-360-4007 or by emailing asiegel@hccc.edu

Photos courtesy of the artist.

The event is a good way for Jersey City residents to skip the mall and shop directly from local vendors; JCCM expects to have more than 40 on hand. There will also be live demos and tutorials for attendees to make their own stuff, whether its LED ornaments or stockings. It will be free for shoppers, but JCCM will encourage all attendees to donate $1 to the church’s Breakfast Plus program, which provides breakfast for the community’s hungry every Sunday.

Interested vendors or instructors can secure a six-foot spot with a non-refundable $10 fee. On-site tables will be available, but you’re encouraged to bring your own. To sign up, click here.

For more information, email Luca Cusolito at luca.cusolito (at) gmail.com.

“In 2002 and 2003, I participated in the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour and had a great time — but something was missing. That something was live bands playing outside the studio,” festival cofounder Mike McNamara says. “So in 2004, I applied for a street-closing permit, booked a few acts, my neighbor/co-founder/friend Joe Chirchirillo built a stage, and the rest just evolved.”

We recently sat down with McNamara, a photographer who has lived in Jersey City for about 10 years, to talk about this year’s event and the role it plays in the cultural landscape of Jersey City.

What is your role in the festival, and who else is involved in the organization of the event?

My role in the festival is to make sure everything that needs doing gets done. On the good days that means delegating those jobs to the crew, and sometimes it means spending hours making calls and running all over town. My partner, Marc Caterina, has the same role, and after three years of working together we’ve become pretty good at picking up each other’s slack when needed. Our repeating mantra is “just get it done.” Some aspects we hardly have to think about, like the stage and technical specs — this has all handled by Max Michaels since 2007. Anne McTernan and Sophie Penkrat are constantly working on fundraising and press for the next event.

This is the 7th annual festival. How will this one differ from the first, and what do you hope to accomplish?

The main difference between the 2010 and the 2004 festival will simply be the amount of people that come to enjoy it. I feel that the idea from the beginning was to: 1. rock out; 2. make art; and 3. bring people in the community together to celebrate, smile and dance. That is my hope for this year’s festival as well.

The festival has grown exponentially over the years, and people come to the festival in droves. All types of people too — 30-something denim demons with neck tattoos pushing baby carriages, old-timers in straw fedoras chomping on cigars, school kids drawing chalk tigers on the street with parents in tow, etc. Why does the festival have such a broad range of appeal, and what keeps the people coming back?

We really have tried to accommodate everyone. Our music lineup is well thought out and caters to a mellow and family friendly scene. At dusk things get a bit more high-energy and many of the local artists that were hosting their own open studios start showing up.

I have worked for several nonprofit organizations that organized large-scale events similar in nature to the 4th Street Art & Music Festival. These events required a tremendous amount of resources. They needed time, money, and manpower — a full-time staff had to generate revenue, find and coordinate talent, identify community partners to help build and sustain the event. 4th Street is not a professional organization. It’s a grassroots community with no full-time staff. How do you guys organize an event of this nature?

Everything you say is true: time, money and people power. The toughest one of those is time. As far as money goes there are many local businesses that have been sponsoring the festival for years, and if the budget grows we go out and get a few more [Editor’s note: The Independent has proudly been on that list for the past two years]. We also have a few fundraisers over the course of the year, and the local community always pitches in to make them a success.

Our crew is top of the line. We have a good system at this point; it allows everyone to work on some things and avoids having anyone working on everything. People find their niche or create their own position and as time allows they do their thing. It’s hardly a perfect system but in the end things definitely come together.

When do you start to plan the festival? Do you get paid for your efforts, and if you do not get paid, why volunteer the time and energy?

Planning begins as soon as the festival ends: What went great? What was not so great? We set the goals, make the wish lists, etc. We then take a break for a few months and pick it back up in the spring. In between we’ll be working on other 4th Street events. In December we will again host the 4th Street Ball at City Hall, and in February the second-annual Chili Cook-off. 4th Street is a completely volunteer organization. As I mentioned earlier I began the festival because of my craving for live music. At this point it’s now about community and bringing people together, but that’s the point of live music anyway — bringing people together for the shared experience.

In your opinion, what is 4th Street’s contribution to the neighborhood and to Jersey City as a whole?

The Village is an amazing place to live. I think about the stories a couple of Village old-timers have told me, about what it was like way back when — when Brunswick Street was full of open-air markets instead of full of chicken bones and potato chip bags. Maybe 4th Street can help change that “drop your garbage on the ground attitude” that plagues this city. In the spring we beautified an area at the end of the street that was being used as a dumping ground. We had a mural put on the wall by artist and crew member Norm Kirby, some great kids from the School #5 helped paint it, and we added a couple of seats, trees and a garden. Since then the dumping has decreased quite a bit.

It’s nice to know were not alone on this. One of our partners in awesomeness, the Village Neighborhood Association, has really grown over the last few years and the latest news from them is that the overgrown and abandoned 1st Street park will not be overgrown and abandoned for much longer. There’s amazing growth all around Jersey City. Beauty and pride spread quickly.

PHOTOS: 4th STREET ART & MUSIC FESTIVAL THROUGH THE YEARS

THE DETAILS
4th Street Art & Music Festival; Saturday, October 2 from noon to 10 pm; on 4th Street between Newark Avenue and Merseles Street. Get full details on the band lineup here on our Cultural Calendar, or here on Facebook.

All photos: Courtesy Mike McNamara

- Surprise Inspections Raise Concerns About Commuter Vans: Of 33 independent commuter vans stopped for surprise inspections last week, 23 were found to be unsafe, according to the county Prosecutor’s Office. Wednesday’s inspection yielded 285 citations for a range of safety infractions including bad brakes, faulty steering components, non-working emergency exits and lights, and bald tires, as well as 37 summonses for drivers without insurance, without licenses and with fraudulent documents.

- Thousands Gather for Red Bull Air Race: This weekend the Red Bull Air Race made a stop in Jersey City, and thousands of spectators were on hand to take in the action. Check in with JCI later today for photos.

- Liberty State Park Bus Service Resumes: A shuttle service that links a NJ Transit Light Rail station to several stops around Liberty State Park resumed Saturday, and will continue to run on weekends through August. NJ Transit cut the shittle in May, citing low ridership and budget constraints.

- Goldman Sachs Walkway Reopens, Crystal Point’s Remains Closed: The stretch of Hudson River Waterfront Walkway around the Goldman Sachs Building in Jersey City will reopen this weekend; it was closed earlier this month for construction to prepare for an upcoming building inspection. But the waterfront walkway at luxury condo tower Crystal Point has been closed while the developer awaited state approval to complete the walkway.

- Student-Made Mosaics Brighten Greenville School: After two years of work, students at Ezra L. Nolan Middle School 40 in Greenville have completed 14 wall-sized mosaics that adorn the lunchroom area of the school.

- Bobek Pleads Guilty: Former United States figure skating champion Nicole Bobek pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to distribute crystal methamphetamine and faces from probation to five years in prison for her role in a major Hudson County drug ring.

- No-Contact Order Issued in Neglect Case: Dashnay Beckwith of Jersey City — who was arrested last week after police and a school official found her three young sons home alone, hungry and poorly clothed — has been ordered by a county judge not to see her children.

In Statewide News:

- Sweeney and Christie Butt Heads Over Tax Cap: Gov. Christie’s proposal for a constitutional amendment to cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent a year was dealt a severe blow Saturday when Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he wants to limit annual increases to 2.9 percent — and do it through law, not a constitutional amendment.

- PSE&G Raises Gas Delivery Fees: After state Board of Public Utilities commissioners approved a 0.9 percent increase in electric rates last week, PSE&G was granted a 0.9 percent increase in its gas delivery charges Friday, finally resolving the utility’s request to raise customer fees.

- DEP Data Favors Offshore Wind: The state Department of Environmental Protection released a draft report Friday on the preliminary findings of a two-year research project examining the potential ecological impact offshore wind energy projects would have in the Garden State. According to the report, wind energy turbines, which could be located three to 20 miles off the New Jersey coast, would have negligible impacts upon bird, fish and marine mammal life.

- A Call for Stricter Court Standards on Eyewitness Testimony: A report expected to be released today, commissioned by the state Supreme Court, will suggest New Jersey adopt the toughest standards in the nation for allowing eyewitness testimony in the courtroom.

- New Law Allows Judges to Forgive State Fees: Until recently, unpaid state-assessed fees associated with convictions could never be forgiven, even if the defendant was indigent or bankrupt. But a new law enacted in January allows municipal judges to reduce or eliminate such financial penalties. Judges also can assign community service or jail time to replace fees.

- Racinos Face Long Odds: Intense out-of-state competition for horse racing action has largely drawn the best horses and jockeys out of New Jersey, but a proposal to build a “racino” at the Meadowlands is meeting with stiff opposition from Atlantic City casino owners. Now a special commission appointed by Gov. Christie on New Jersey’s sports, gaming and entertainment industries could end up deciding the ultimate fate of horse racing and the casinos.