The Jersey City Independent "

Public notice legal ads have long been a moneymaker for local newspapers, and they’ve helped keep many afloat in recent years as traditional display and classified advertising have dwindled. (One publisher last year told me, grimly, that the housing bubble’s implosion — and the rash of public notice ads for foreclosures that followed in her [...]

The latest FAS FAX report released last week by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), covering the six months ending March 31, finds that average paid daily newspaper circulation fell 8.7 percent across the country year-over-year.
Here in Jersey City, the Jersey Journal’s slide was not quite as steep, as its average paid daily circulation fell [...]

- Budget Narrowly Approved, Property Taxes to Rise: The City Council last night approved the current fiscal year’s budget by a 5 to 3 vote; the result will be a tax increase of $572 a year for the owner of a property assessed at $100,000. Ward B councilman David Donnelly, Ward E councilman Steven Fulop [...]

Jersey Journal editorial page editor (and “Political Insider”) Agustin Torres has made no bones about his distaste for Mayor Jerramiah Healy in recent years. And the feeling seems to be mutual, judging by Healy’s refusal to appear at several candidate forums that involved Torres during last year’s mayoral election.
With all that in mind, I was [...]

- The City Council is expected to name David Donnelly, a special aide to Mayor Jerramiah Healy, the new Ward B councilman at this week’s meeting. The anointment of Donnelly, who was hand-picked by Healy to fill the seat, troubles Ward E councilman Steven Fulop, who says the appointment should come from “outside of the [...]

- Mayor Healy has sent a letter to the developer of 77 Hudson saying he does not support granting the sweetened tax abatement it is seeking from the city. The mega-developer K. Hovnanian is asking for the same deal that the city granted to Fisher Development Associates for its luxury Crystal Point building. In his [...]

- Jimmy King, who was arrested by the FBI in last month’s corruption probe, is closing down the Jimmy King Civic Association. “This is to inform you that we are retiring. We are looking forward to spending more time with our 5 grandchildren,” a postcard mailed to the association’s members reads. “For the last six [...]

- U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo approved continuances for most of the 44 defendants arrested in last month’s corruption probe; the orders effectively extend the time under which federal prosecutors must bring a defendant to trial.
- At the corruption hearing held yesterday by a Republican Assembly committee, Morris County political consultant George Dredden offered [...]

- Florida officials say that Ward C Councilwoman Nidia R. Lopez could owe that state $5,700 for claiming a property tax exemption, if it’s determined she filed for it improperly.
- A computer glitch in Trenton has kept about 2,800 Hudson County residents from being able to file for public assistance for the past two weeks.
- [...]

- Mariano Vega wants to hold on to his position as City Council president, but At-Large councilman Peter Brennan, who made a play for the position four years ago, is trying for it again.
- A former Jersey City building inspector has pleaded guilty in federal court to extorting tens of thousands of dollars, as well [...]