Holiday Hudson Reporter editorial and advertising deadlines
Because of the Labor Day holiday, some of the Hudson Reporter newspapers will have special advertising deadlines.
For the Sept. 8 edition of the Bayonne Community News, the display ad deadline is 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2. The classified deadline is noon on Friday, Sept. 3.
For the Sept. 9 edition of the Midweek Reporter, the display ad deadline is 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2 and the classified deadline is noon on Friday, Sept. 3.
The office will be closed on Monday, Sept. 6 for the holiday. It will reopen on Tuesday, Sept. 7. If you have questions about these deadlines or any other issue, please call (201) 798-7800. Also check www.hudsonreporter.com.
Enjoy: Palisade Magazine
When you open your Hudson Reporter this week, you’ll find the fall issue of Palisade Magazine, the Hudson Reporter’s glossy lifestyle magazine that connects the communities of Edgewater, Guttenberg, Hoboken, Jersey City, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, and West New York.
If you don’t see a copy of Palisade Magazine in this newspaper, free copies are available at public libraries – in Jersey City at the main branch – and at the Hudson Reporter, 1400 Washington St., Hoboken.
Palisade Magazine is published quarterly. In December, look for the winter issue as an insert in your Hudson Reporter.
Gov. Christie fires Schundler from education post
Gov. Christopher Christie issued a statement Friday that he has fired state Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler, the former Jersey City mayor.
A NJ.com report said Christie fired Schundler Friday morning after Schundler “refused to resign” in the aftermath of the state losing out on $400 million in federal funds after a mistake was made on the application for the funds. In particular, Schundler was seen on a video showing him unable to give an answer to correct the mistake on the application.
Christie issued the following statement about Schundler’s dismissal:
“I was extremely disappointed to learn that the videotape of the Race to the Top presentation was not consistent with the information provided to me by the New Jersey Department of Education and which I then conveyed to the people of New Jersey. As a result, I ordered an end to Bret Schundler’s service as New Jersey’s Education Commissioner and as a member of my administration.”
Schundler, 51, was appointed to the state’s education’s commissioner post in March. He had previously served as Jersey City mayor from 1992-2001. Before he took over the education commissioner post, Schundler was the COO of Kings College, a private Christian college in Manhattan.
Schundler could not be reached for comment on his dismissal.
Council hires lobbyist to fight gas pipeline
The Jersey City Council at its Wednesday meeting approved a resolution to hire Boston firm O’Neill and Associates for $32,500 to lobby federal officials and coordinate opposition to a natural gas pipeline project to run through Staten Island, Bayonne, and Jersey City to customers in New York City.
Spectra Energy is applying to the federal government for approval to run through these towns, but the company is facing opposition from top city officials, including Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who say the next six months will be important for this issue, because the final route for the pipeline will be determined before the end of the year.
Mayor Healy, in supporting the O’Neill hire, said the city needs help from a firm with experience dealing with federal agencies on the project. The firm’s contract would reportedly require them to issue regular reports to the city on their efforts.
City residents Dale Hardman and Stephen Musgrave also oppose the pipeline, which would deliver 800 million cubic feet of gas per day to New York. The two have launched a website, www.nogaspipeline.org, to disseminate information about the project and provide a focus for the fight against it, and also addressed the council before they voted on the resolution.
Fulop: Business administrator must leave post if he keeps other jobs
City Councilman Steven Fulop sent a letter Monday to City Hall calling for Mayor Jerramiah Healy to fire the city’s business administrator, Jack Kelly.
Kelly was hired by the city in May to replace outgoing business adminstrator Brian O’Reilly, who remained in a part-time post with the city until he officially retired last month.
Fulop said in the letter that Kelly “has remained as an employee at the City of Orange Township, in addition to serving as Business Administrator to Jersey City, and in addition to serving as tax assessor for two smaller townships.”
Kelly has retained part-time jobs as joint municipal tax assessor of Essex Fells and Caldwell Borough. But Fulop, in his letter, said Kelly has been in his Jersey City job for several months and there “would be no acceptable excuse if indeed he is still an employee of Orange in any capacity.”
Fulop explained in the letter that he saw Kelly’s name on the town of Orange’s website and then followed up with a call to their town hall, where it was confirmed that Kelly still worked for the town.
Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a statement that Kelly’s position in Orange is “part-time and temporary in nature and consists of transitioning a new CFO there as needed.”
Healy added, “Considering the fiscal crisis that this city and all others around the nation are in, it is a privilege to have him here.”
Kelly after Wednesday’s council meeting defended serving in the other jobs, saying he only worked on weekends in Orange to help train that city’s new CFO, and only worked three hours Tuesday evening in his tax assessor posts. He also said he put in “50-hour” weeks in his Jersey City job, and said Fulop’s concerns were “just political.”
Man arrested for JC bank robbery linked by police to others
Jersey City police have arrested a 23-year old Jersey City resident after employees at a downtown bank identified him as the man who allegedly robbed their bank.
Police spokesperson Stan Eason said Steven Lugo, 23, of Leonard Street in Jersey City, was arrested on Aug. 19 for allegedly robbing the Valley National Bank branch on Essex Street. Eason also confirmed that Lugo gave a videotaped confession, saying he was allegedly planning to rob the Valley National branch at 8901 Kennedy Blvd. on North Bergen, but had failed to carry out the robbery.
Eason said North Bergen police received Lugo’s videotaped confession on Monday and later charged Lugo with criminal attempt to robbery. According to police, Lugo is also a suspect in the recent robbery of a Valley National branch on Bergenline Avenue in Union City.
Downtown JC high school ranked near top of NJ Monthly list
Jersey City’s McNair Academic achieved another of the many honors it has received over the years when it finished in the No. 2 ranking on New Jersey Monthly’s 2010 Top High Schools list.
The list, which ranks the top 322 high schools in the state, was based on data reported by the schools to the state’s Department of Education for the 2008-2009 school year.
McNair maintained the same ranking that it did on the magazine’s 2008 list – the last time the list was compiled.
Other Hudson County high schools ranked on the list include Secaucus (102), Weehawken (104), Liberty – Jersey City (163), and Hoboken (187).
Local fundraiser in Journal Square for Pakistani flood victims
T he Jersey City Peace Movement is raising funds for victims of the floods that have devastated the country of Pakistan this month.
The fundraiser takes place today (Aug. 29) from noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Journal Square 9/11 Fountain near the PATH Station.
For more information, visit www.JCPM.org or http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1474715418#!/JCPeaceMovement?ref=ts.
Correction
In an article that ran in the entertainment section last weekend about Beth Rooney and Anthony Picone, the title of their film should have been “The Long Road Home,” not “The Long Way Home.”