With the PolitickerNJ.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of New Jersey's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.

Corzine shares disdain for gas tax hike

As Gov. Jon Corzine ponders a new long-range transportation improvement plan, he said yesterday that raising the state gas tax "ought to be a very, very last resort." (Joe Donohue, The Star-Ledger)

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/121505979310810.xml&coll=1

O'Toole takes over GOP

Republicans on Wednesday night at the Princeton Hyatt unanimously elected Essex County Republican Chairman Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) as leader of the GOP county chair people.  (PolitickerNJ)

http://politickernj.com/max/21260/otoole-assumes-lead-role-gop-chairmen

Global warming deadline missed

A year ago this month, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed into law New Jersey's answer to the global warming crisis: an ambitious bill that promised, among other things, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. (Richard Pearsall, The Courier-Post)

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080703/NEWS01/807030365

Newark city council approves large settlement

The families of two women who drowned in 2004 when the car they were riding in veered off Raymond Boulevard in Newark and plunged into the Passaic River will share a $5.8 million settlement. (Jeffery C. Mays, The Star-Ledger)

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/121505983810810.xml&coll=1

Accused killer could be tied to government officials

The fugitive charged with gunning down his estranged wife last week as she watched her son take swim lessons at a Montclair YMCA has criminal ties to Hudson County, authorities said. (Michaelangelo Conte, The Jersey Journal)

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1215066647264240.xml&coll=3

Dems fail to reveal donations

The state Election Law Enforcement Commission has filed a complaint against the Bergen County Democratic Organization, alleging that the county party failed to disclose the names of several lawyers, developers and, in one case, a county employee, who made donations in 2004. (Oshrat Carmiel, The Bergen Record)

http://www.northjersey.com/politics/Complaint_filed_alleges_party_failed_to_disclose_donations.html

Mayor under close watch

HAMILTON -- A township police officer is temporarily guarding Mayor John Bencivengo just days after Hamilton's recently demoted deputy police chief died by suicide. (Ryan Tracy, Trenton Times)

http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1215057939273250.xml&coll=5

Council fears tax hike

WASHINGTON TWP. Approving a budget that calls for an 8-cent tax increase in 2008 could mean the township will be faced with less revenue next year and an even larger tax hike. (Jessica Beym, Gloucester County TImes)

http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-3/121507174192070.xml&coll=8

Keep your Wawa out of here

Camden County Superior Court Judge Francis J. Orlando ruled yesterday that a Voorhees ordinance preventing a so-called "Super Wawa" from opening in the town's Kirkwood section was legal, according to the township. (Matt Katz, Philadelphia Inquirer)

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20080703_Judge_upholds_ordinance_against_S__Jersey_Wawa.html

Bill creates two new judgeships

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, D-Jersey City, to create two new Superior Court judgeships to hear cases of non-violent drug offenders was signed into law by Gov. Jon Corzine on Monday. (The Jersey Journal)

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1215066372264240.xml&coll=3

Bergen and Bogota join forces

Bergen County and Bogota have agreed to share their public works departments in hopes of realizing future cost savings in road, sewer and park maintenance, officials said Wednesday. (Oshrat Carmiel, The Jersey Journal)

http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergenpolitics/22851324.html

Councilman acquitted on DUI charges

Plainfield Councilman Don Davis was acquitted yesterday of drunken driving, more than 15 months after local police arrested him on the charge, stopping his van after he left a restaurant. (Alexi Friedman, The Star-Ledger)

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/union/index.ssf?/base/news-4/121505979110810.xml&coll=1

With the PolitickerNJ.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of New Jersey's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.