- Union Challenges City-Worker Layoffs: Unions representing Jersey City municipal employees have filed an appeal with the state Civil Service Commission, challenging some 100 layoffs the administration has carried out so far this year.

- Aid for Cities: Gov. Christie has sent lawmakers a pair of bills that would restore $139 million in aid to distressed cities while ensuring more strict oversight of the program. MORE from the Asbury Park Press.

- E-Ticket System: Jersey City may join countless municipalities across the nation that allow residents who receive summonses to pay them online.

- Dehere & the JCPD: When a large fight and gunfire erupted outside ex-NBA player and former Jersey City Board of Education member Terry Dehere’s bar Saturday the former St. Anthony High School star was reportedly uncooperative and police were about to break down the door when he finally came out.

- Noise Complaints at Creative Grove: Dislocations has the latest report of complaints shutting down live music at the Grove Street PATH Plaza.

- Shooting: A 28-year-old Jersey City man was shot in his right hand while standing at Forrest Street and Martin Luther King Drive at about 10 pm Sunday night.

- Crabbing: The state Department of Environmental Protection is renewing efforts to remind residents that blue claw crabbing in the Lower Passaic River and Newark Bay is against the law.

- Prescription Drugs: Five New Jerseyans were sentenced to state prison on Monday as members of a Jersey City-based drug ring that trafficked prescription pain pills.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Soul Finger plays a free outdoor show at Liberty State Park as part of the Summerfest concert series (7 pm), while Cinema, Cinema and Knob Creek play a free gig at Lucky 7′s (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Charter Schools: When the Christie administration announced in January that it had approved 23 new charter schools, that number was celebrated as being the largest class of charters yet. Six months later, it turns out only seven of those 23 will be ready to open their doors come September.

- Social Service Orgs Fear More Cuts: As the state continues to grapple with Gov. Christie’s fiscal year 2012 budget, agencies threatened with funding cuts are as confused and uncertain as everyone else about how they will be affected.

- Rutgers Cashes in On Credit Cards: A deal to market credit cards bearing Rutgers University’s name earned $562,637 for New Jersey’s flagship public university last year, according to a recent Federal Reserve survey.

- One New Jersey: A group of Democrats have unveiled an organization called “One New Jersey” in which donors can also give unlimited sums without being subject to state laws governing contributions from public contractors. MORE from Politicker.

- News Corp Scandal & NJ: As a cell phone hacking scandal rages across the Atlantic, allegations that another News Corp subsidiary hacked computers in New Jersey are getting fresh attention.

- Pension Fund: The state will pay $22 million less into the state pension fund this year thanks to the overhaul of employee benefits passed into law last month.

- Pine Beetles: Environmental regulators are stepping up efforts to protect 1 million acres of evergreens from southern pine beetle infestations. They were rare in New Jersey until 10 years ago.

- Aid to Cities: Negotiations between Gov. Christie and legislators on restoring up to $139 million for New Jersey’s neediest cities are likely to begin this week.

- Dead Pedestrian ID’ed: The Jersey City man who died when he was struck by a car and impaled on a fence off Journal Square on Tuesday has reportedly been identified by an attorney retained by his parents in Mumbai.

- Suspects Sought in Dunkin’ Donuts Death: Hudson County authorities are searching for suspects who murdered a 52-year-old man early Tuesday after he had stopped in the parking lot of a Jersey City Dunkin’ Donuts on his way home to Brooklyn from work.

- Richardson to Run for At-Large Seat? Ward F Viola Richardson is considering a run for one of the two At-Large council seats up for grabs this November, according to the Insider. It would be a potential further break from the Healy administration for the councilwoman, as the mayor has already endorsed the two incumbents.

- Shooting: A 20-year-old man shot in the groin early Saturday in Downtown Jersey City was too intoxicated to help the police identify the shooter

- Flags to Fly Half-Staff Today: In honor of the 22-year-old Army soldier with Jersey City ties who was killed last Sunday while on patrol in Afghanistan, the state has ordered that all flags fly at half-staff today.

- Sheriff’s Officers Resuscitate Baby: The quick thinking of two Hudson County sheriff’s officers saved the life of a year-old Jersey City boy who had stopped breathing Wednesday.

Today’s Best Bet:

- Art House Productions teams up with Barcade for a fundraiser in which each drink purchased between 5 and 7:30 pm will benefit the arts group’s upcoming season of performances (5 pm).

In Statewide News:

- State Budget: Democrats in the Legislature have struck out so far trying to undo some of Gov. Christie’s budget cuts for the new fiscal year but pledge to continue taking swings at it during Assembly hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.

- Economic Recovery: The road to economic recovery will be “long and difficult,” according to a Wells Fargo analysis of New Jersey’s economy released Friday.

- Redistricting: John Farmer, a former state attorney general and dean of the Rutgers-Newark Law School, was selected Friday to be the independent, tie-breaking member of a bipartisan commission that will redraw the state’s congressional districts in a year when New Jersey is losing one of its 13 seats.

- Power Plants: A letter to the governor’s office last week opposing new subsidized power plants was signed by 14 “New Jersey” companies, but most were big, national companies, and the two signatories with headquarters in the state said they weren’t familiar with the issue.

- Northeast Corridor: The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed an amended energy and water bill Friday that would divert $1 billion from high-speed rail projects — including electrical upgrades on the busy Northeast Corridor Line in New Jersey — to pay for flood relief along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. But New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. senators are trying to get the Department of Transportation to obligate the money before Congress gets hold of it.

- Solar Power: There’s been a lot of debate over the future of New Jersey’s growing solar market in recent weeks, but the latest results of a utility-led solar installation program may put to rest concerns that its best days are behind it.

- Sentence Lengthened for Shooting: As a result of an appellate court’s ruling, two years have been added to the sentence of a Jersey City man who was 16 when he fatally shot a Bayonne man.

- Street Renaming: A portion of Linden Avenue near Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City has been renamed for the late mother of Jersey City Deputy City Clerk Sean Gallagher.

- Shootings: A 28-year-old man was shot in the mouth early yesterday morning, and there were reports of multiple gunshots in the vicinity of Arlington Park Wednesday night.

In Statewide News:

- State Budget: Legislative Democrats will begin trying to override Gov. Christie’s line-item budget vetoes next week.

- Bullying: In less than two months, school districts across the state will be operating under some of the strictest anti-bullying policies in the nation. Yet some local school officials say they are still confused about some of the state requirements and are unclear on how some aspects of the policies will be implemented.

- ARC Tunnel: U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez Thursday continued to try to find common ground between the state and federal transportation officials over repayment of some $271 million expended on the now scuttled ARC tunnel.

- Obesity: A new study finds that New Jersey is getting fatter fast, but it’s still among the 10 states with the nation’s lowest obesity rates.

- Downwind Pollution: The Environmental Protection Agency is clamping down on pollution from power plants in 27 states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, that contributes to unhealthy air downwind.

- JPMorgan Settlement: Municipal bond issuers in New Jersey will receive $1.3 million in restitution as part of a $92 million multi-state settlement JPMorgan Chase signed yesterday to resolve an alleged municipal bond scheme.

- Decapitated Body Remains Unidentified: Homicide detectives have not yet been able to identify the decapitated, decomposed body of a man found along the Conrail train tracks on County Road in Jersey City on Saturday.

- Toll Brothers Returns to Profitability: With sales volume still 65 percent below the peak of the housing boom, luxury-home builder Toll Brothers returned to profitability in the third quarter. The New Jersey-based company is slated to develop towers in the Powerhouse Arts District, but hasn’t yet broken ground.

In Statewide News:

- More Race to the Top: The U.S. Department of Education has released video footage contradicting Gov. Christie’s claim that Washington bureaucrats refused to allow the state to fix a simple error in its application for $400 million in education grants. Meanwhile, state Sen. Barbara Buono has filed an Open Public Records Act request with the state Department of Education for information regarding how the Christie administration handled the failed application.

- Municipal Checklist Tied to State Aid: The Christie administration sent a detailed questionnaire to each of the state’s 566 municipalities this week along with a warning that they must furnish a certain number of “yes” answers in order to receive their full allotment of state aid. MORE from NJ Spotlight and the Asbury Park Press.

- Unfunded Mandates: Local officials are making sure state lawmakers get the message that unfunded mandates drive up property taxes and make it tough on Garden State residents. The opposition to unfunded mandates has united municipalities with business interests, according to NJ Biz.

- Family Planning $: Trenton Democrats will try to override Gov. Christie’s veto of $7.5 million in funding for family planning clinics on September 20, despite a pledge from Republicans to sink the effort.

- New Energy Provider to Enter NJ: Constellation Energy, the largest supplier of power in the U.S., says it is entering the New Jersey residential electric market, promising homeowners price reductions of up to 12 percent on their utility bills.

- New Jersey Association of Counties: A freeholder who oversees the taxpayer-financed New Jersey Association of Counties told 22 trustees — most of them elected officials – they could skirt public-records laws with this advice: “Keep these documents solely in your personal possession.”

- Christie’s Earnings: Newly released financial disclosure statements show Gov. Christie and his wife earned more than $500,000 in the past year.

- New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition Wins Grant: The New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition has won a competitive grant from REI Inc. under their “REI Gives” grant program. It will be used to fund operations for the NJBikeSchool, a free, comprehensive bicycle safety program that educates children about sharing the road safely with motor vehicles and pedestrians.

- Weird NJ’s New Book: The magazine has released a new book on the odd New Jersey poet Alfred Starr Hamilton.

- Secular Group Bombing Trenton with Billboards: The Freedom From Religion Foundation is blanketing Trenton with 19 billboards going up this week for a month, saying: “Imagine No Religion,” depicting the face of a penny with the words “In Reason We Trust,” warning “God & Government a Dangerous Mix” and saluting Charles Darwin in a billboard depicting his image and saying “Praise Darwin: Evolve Beyond Belief.”

- Immigration Detainees, Now in Hudson, Further Isolated: Immigration detainees who were transferred to the Hudson County jail from NYC last month are upset about alleged poor health care, confiscation of legal documents and mistreatment by guards at the jail, and they are threatening a hunger strike. The detainees are also upset over a 800-plus percent increase in the cost of a call to New York — to more than 89 cents a minute — because under Hudson County’s phone contract, calls to New York are considered long distance.

- Harsh Winter Brings Potholes: Potholes “seem to be everywhere,” according to the Journal. The city still has $70,000 available to fill potholes this year.

- Azucar Chef Beats Flay: Celebrity chef Bobby Flay challenged Nick Vazquez of Washington Boulevard’s Azucar to a Cuban sandwich throwdown for Flay’s Food Network show. On the show, which aired last week, Vazquez won — he says the sandwich has been in high demand ever since.

- Marketing Firm Chooses JC for East Coast Outpost: Marketing Werks, the nation’s largest independent experiential marketing firm, has opened a corporate office on Montgomery Street to serve its east coast clients and function as a regional operations center.

- The Short Parade: Jersey City’s annual One-Block St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held today on York Street beginning at 3:30 pm.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Rita Moreno, one of only several artists to win all four of America’s major entertainment awards — the Oscar, the Tony, the Emmy, and the Grammy — will be at HCCC tonight (6 pm) for the last of three installments in the college’s annual community lecture series, themed this year as “Reaching New Heights.” And for you St. Patrick’s Day revelers, the Ed Saultz Trio will play a show at O’Haras Downtown tonight (10 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Menendez Recall Can Go Forward: A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a conservative tea party group should have the right to try to throw U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez out of office, but also said the group may have to wait for a final decision by a higher court before proceeding.

- Meahwhile, Healy responds to criticism of the Hudson County Democratic Organization leveled by Union City’s Brian Stack last week, and says the organization has done plenty to reach out to minorities.

UPDATE: This cut in aid payments will only affect municipalities that operate on a calendar year budget; as such, Jersey City will be spared since it operates on a fiscal year budget:

- Gov. Corzine is reportedly set to announce a cut of $20.7 million in aid payments to the New Jersey’s municipalities as part of his plan to close the state budget gap.

- “Black & Whites,” a new exhibition from Uno, opened at Fish With Braids Gallery on Friday, and Dislocations was there.

- Legislation to expedite the payment of accidental pension death benefits for the families of fallen police and firefighters was approved Monday by an Assembly committee. The bill was spurred by the nearly three-month-wait endured by the widow of JCPD detective Marc Anthony DiNardo after he was killed in the line of duty in July.

- Jerry Walker of Team Walker responds to the residents who are trying to keep him from opening an after-school center for children on Pine Street in Lafayette, and who turned out in force at last week’s council meeting to state their case. “I understand the concerns of the citizens around there, but the kids that I deal with, they know how to behave,” he tells the Journal. “I don’t think there will be a problem or an issue with the safety of their families.”

- In an effort to get President Obama to be the guest speaker at the 2010 graduation ceremony of all the city’s public high schools, school children from Grades K-12 have written their personal requests to the president emphasizing what his appearance would mean to them.

- An autopsy has determined there was no foul play involved in the death of a 63-year-old Jersey City woman whose body was found in the aftermath of a Heights fire this weekend.

- For the third time in four years, the members of the West Bergen Knitting & Crocheting Club at the West Bergen Branch Library will be donating knitted and crocheted items for people in need. The club will present its items to the Jersey City nursing home Liberty House next Monday at 10:30 am.

- New Jersey City University has been named a winner of the NCAA’s 2008-09 Overall Diversity in Athletics award.

- The Hari Om Tat Sat Cultural Center, which mostly serves Caribbean Hindus, has purchased a mixed commercial/residential building on Kennedy Boulevard close to the Jersey City-Bayonne border.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Stop by LITM at 7 pm for “Little Wonders,” the third annual small works show featuring work by dozens of artists; it should be a great opportunity to snag some unique holiday gifts — and they’ll even have free gift wrapping tonight. At 9 pm, you’ve got two options on 2nd Street — Melissa Surach’s BabyHole is at the Lamp Post (she’s collecting canned food for Let’s Celebrate! so bring anything extra you’d like to donate) and Kellsey from Pillow Theory and Rik Mercaldi will play a free show at Lucky 7′s.

In statewide news:

- Some Democratic state lawmakers are aiming to change the way U.S. Senate vacancies are filled to ensure that Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie would have to appoint a Democrat, should there be an opening over the next four years.

- The Assembly State Government Committee has approved legislation to set lower and more uniform fees for copies of official state government documents. (For more on the bill, check out the guest opinion piece we ran yesterday from open government advocate Ron Miskoff.)

- A New Jersey prisoner has won a settlement that allows him to preach at services inside the prison.

- An official in New Jersey’s Military and Veterans Affairs Department has admitted he falsely claimed a heroic record in the Vietnam War as a paratrooper and artilleryman, and has resigned from his position.

- Officials at the Jersey City Medical Center are seeking the public’s help to identify an 89-year-old Asian woman suffering from dementia who walked into the hospital early on Wednesday.

- NJCU students, faculty and staff react to the election of Chris Christie as New Jersey’s next governor.

- There will be a memorial hockey game to honor fallen Jersey City detective Marc Anthony DiNardo on Sunday, Dec. 13; the JCPD hockey team will take on a team of New Jersey Devils Alumni in a 3 pm match-up at Newark’s Prudential Center.

- Dislocations has a report on what it dubs the “arborcide” happening on Christopher Columbus Drive as part of that street’s widening.

- In NJCU’s Gothic Times, Jan Aguilos has a quick primer for students on the “cast of characters” that make up our beloved City Council.

In statewide news:

- The budget news keeps getting worse: The state is telling bond investors it is facing a $1 billion hole in this year’s budget, a shortfall five times bigger than previously disclosed. To try to close the gap, the state plans on cutting funding for schools, municipalities, higher education, hospitals and pension plans to close the gap. And representatives of those groups, most of which have already faced devastating cuts over the past few years, are now wondering: What else can possibly be cut? Gov. Corzine says he’ll have the answer to that question by Christmas.

- Reacting to the news that former CNN blowhard Lou Dobbs might be gunning for his Senate seat, Bob Menendez offered up the best quip we’ve heard in a while: “I’m concentrated on jobs, not Dobbs,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

- Corzine has sent President Obama a letter asking him to declare much of the Shore a disaster area in the wake of the recent nor’easter.

- A lawsuit filed by the state prison investigators’ union alleges that senior officials at the Department of Corrections are illegally blocking internal investigations into bribery, cell phone smuggling and gang activity.

- A recently released federal report accuses the Federal Aviation Administration of endangering public safety by not changing landing procedures at Newark Liberty International Airport.

- We all know that Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy is Official 4 in the criminal complaints made public last week. Now we know that his former chief of staff, Carl Czaplicki, who is the director of the city’s Department of Housing, Economic Development & Commerce, is Official 3. Czaplicki, like Healy, has not been charged with anything.

- Federal investigators have subpoenaed information from the city regarding the seven city employees who were charged in the corruption sweep. The records, which are being collected by the city’s law department, include emails, phone records, appointment books, calendars, message pads and telephone logs.

- Outside of federal court in Newark, the attorney for L. Harvey Smith says the Assemblyman “is completely innocent and was just doing conscientiously his job as an elected official for the people of his district.” Meanwhile, Lori Serrano’s attorney says she “is caught up in the web of deceit.”

- The Record looks at the links between powerful development interests and New Jersey policymakers in the wake of the corruption probe. The paper, pointing to recent legislation tilted towards developers, finds the ties have never been stronger.

- Many of the politicians and officials caught up in last week’s sweep are likely to claim entrapment as a legal defense; they’ll say that the CW, Solomon Dwek, set them up just to get himself out of a jam. But legal experts tell the Star-Ledger that this strategy rarely works in court; they also rightly note that few of those accused will opt to face a trial, given the tapes that exist and the recent heavy sentences meted out in corruption cases. Look for a lot of plea deals, and perhaps some flipping on others — a scenario explored in a little more detail by Bob Braun.

- The Times asks the question: Why is New Jersey so corrupt? The paper finds a “culture of corruption so ingrained that it has become impossible to resist when the envelope appears.”

- Writing in TIME, New Jersey native Bill Saporito takes a moment to look at the bright side of last week’s bust: “It shows how wonderfully diverse New Jersey has become,” he writes. “Look at the names on yesterday’s arrest list, and it’s a beautiful rainbow of wretchedness.” Also: “None of those charged has been fingered by the Feds as being a member of the Mafia. So many new groups are now involved in corrupting New Jersey that the Mob must have been crowded out of the market. We’re talking progress, people.”

- An attorney in the PNC Bank case against Solomon Dwek notes that his role as an FBI informant was the “worst-kept secret in New Jersey.”

- The corruption probe has given Republican state Sen. Marcia Karrow a new reason to criticize the amount of money the state gives ailing cities in municipal aid. Karrow is calling for a freeze in the aid and an audit.

In other news:

- OK, we all know that New Jersey’s roads — particularly Jersey City’s — are in sore shape. Many of them are getting fresh looks — paving, light repairs, etc. — from an injunction of federal stimulus dollars. “But the stimulus money is a one-shot deal to finance repairs long delayed,” transportation planners tell the Times. “To redress years of neglect, states would need to find a way to significantly increase spending and refocus their priorities.”

- A Hudson County jury has awarded $70,000 to a corrections officer for economic and emotional damages stemming from alleged violations of worker compensation and discrimination laws.

- Six people were injured in a shooting early Saturday morning.

In statewide news:

- Gov. Corzine on Saturday tapped Bergen County Democrat Loretta Weinberg as his lieutenant governor. The Record has a good piece on her roots in local activism.

- Meanwhile, Corzine is calling for tougher gun control laws, and painting himself as tougher on crime than his opponent Chris Christie.

- Leaders at the agencies most responsible for New Jersey’s child-protection agency say the state will no longer publicly disclose the details of DYFS prior actions when a child it has supervised dies from abuse or neglect.

- The state Attorney General’s Office has filed a motion to dismiss the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection over that agency’s approval of permits for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to widen the Garden State Parkway.

- The wet June weather has wreaked havoc on the summer’s butterfly population, causing a steep decline throughout much of New Jersey.

- The Star-Ledger‘s resident curmudgeon Paul Mulshine once again takes Jersey City to task for receiving special state aid. He argues that special aid to distressed cities is a major reason why “many other states offer their residents an equivalent level of services to New Jersey but with lower taxes.”

- The Insider visits Ward F to pick the mind of some voters there. The residents he speaks to are none too pleased with the current administration.

- The city’s decision to begin enforcing the requirement to have backflow preventers present in some buildings — a code policy that was previously ignored — has caused a backlash from property owners.

- Two men were shot on Martin Luther King Drive on Saturday night — officials say one of them is facing life-threating injuries.

- A car accident near the Bayonne border involving an alleged drunk driver has left two pedestrians in critical condition.

- Walks across the state — including one in Jersey City — raised an estimated $2.5 million for the Multiple Sclerosis Society yesterday.

In statewide news:

- The $200 million bond approved by voters two years ago to preserve farmland and open space is almost gone, and legislators are trying to figure out how to replenish it at a time when funds are scarce.

- Days after leaving her position as campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial hopeful Brian Levine, the Rev. Shannon Wright launched her own campaign for governor on Saturday.

- Even Princeton, one of the richest schools in the nation, is having to cut back during this recession.

- Returning from a national summit on bedbugs where she spoke, Assemblywoman Joan Quigley says she “came home more frightened than I was when I went.”

- Mayor Healy has been dubbed the 9th Greenest Mayor in America by MSN. Bob Dixson of the tiny hamlet of Greensburg, Kan. (population 850) took the top honor.

- A 59-year-old man entering Healy’s campaign office in the Heights was shot in the leg by a pellet gun wielded by two teenagers.

- A walk to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is slated for Sunday at 10 am. It kicks off in the Newport section of Jersey City. Check out the walk’s website for more details.

- Today’s Jersey Mom column looks at senior safety and the JCPD Senior Citizen Police Academy.

- The Provident Bank recently collected more than $10,000 in donations for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey through its “Deposit $1 of Hope” fundraising campaign at the bank’s 82 branches.

- Capital Moving & Storage Co. recently acquired the industrial building at 150 Theodore Conrad Dr. near Liberty State Park from Triboro Fastener and Supply Co. for $5.8 million.

- Hudson Catholic Regional High School will induct five new members into its Hall of Fame on April 26.

In statewide news:

- The unemployment rate rose in New Jersey for the 14th straight month, up to 8.3 percent in March from 8.2 percent in February. The state’s rate still comes in just under the national rate of 8.5 percent.

- Rutgers University officials say they will lay off workers, cut courses and raise tuition to fill a $60 million hole in the university budget brought on in part by state aid reductions included in Gov. Corzine’s proposed budget.

- Gov. Corzine’s plans to furlough state workers would close motor vehicle offices and inspection centers for one day each in May and June.

- The Treasury Department says the state’s pension funds, used to pay retirement benefits to teachers, firefighters and government workers, faced a $34.4 billion long-term deficit as of June 30, up $6 billion from the previous year.

- Ten severely polluted sites — all in South Jersey — will share more than $120 million of the cleanup money that the Environmental Protection Agency is distributing nationwide from the recently enacted economic stimulus plan.

- Teen drivers will soon get a new set of rules, including being required to place an identifying decal on their vehicles.

- Preliminary tax information released by Gov. Corzine shows he had a 2008 adjusted gross income of minus $2.75 million, mostly due to investment losses.

- The Chicago-based owner of four malls in New Jersey has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.