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- At the Temple Beth-El’s regular service honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. last night, the dean of UMDNJ talked about race in America, linked King and Barack Obama, but said that work still needs to be done to achieve true equality. The Journal notes that the service was well attended by local pols, including mayoral candidate Lou Manzo, Councilwoman Viola Richardson, deputy mayor and JC NAACP president Kabili Tayari, and Council candidates Jimmy King and Shelley Skinner.

- In a rare Journal on the Line that addresses anything of real substance in a somewhat meaningful way, Sylvia Wright echoes what Lori Serrano brought up at Wednesday’s Council meeting — that the families remaining at the A. Harry Moore Apartments on Duncan Ave. are being intimidated into leaving by the JC Housing Authority. Serrano said on Wednesday that the tenants have not had any heat, and Wright says that Housing Authority employees are calling the tenants and telling them they should move before the Authority just throws them out. The high-rise apartment buildings that make up the Moore complex are in the process of being demolished in favor of townhouses in an effort to bring Jersey City’s public housing up to date with the best practices of urban planning.

- A woman was shot in the head during what cops say was a robbery attempt at a boarding house near Baldwin Ave. and Academy St. last night. Meanwhile, a driver from Somerset County hit three pedestrians with his massive truck near Exchange Place yesterday, and a fire in the Heights “heavily damaged” a print shop.

- In his column today, the Insider does little more than toot his own horn when it comes to “analyzing” the JC mayoral race, but he does note that Mayor Healy is trying to line up a “galaxy of star pols” (like the illustrious Nick Sacco) at his official “I’m running” announcement scheduled for Thursday. The Insider does provide an interesting look at how the HCDO/Brian Stack power struggle may play out in Hoboken’s mayoral race, which is also in May.

In statewide news:

- Gov. Corzine says he has started compiling a list of prominent Dems to become his lieutenant governor candidate, including Newark Mayor Cory Booker, state Sen. Barbara Buono and Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer. The position is a new one for NJ this year.

- Construction on the planned tunnel that would double the number of NJ Transit and Amtrak trains crossing the Hudson River could begin by June, Gov. Corzine says. But in order to get started, he and other tunnel proponents say the federal government should fill the $3 billion funding gap that remains between the tunnel’s projected cost and the $5.7 billion already set aside. There are a number of transit and infrastructure projects nationwide fighting to get some of the money promised by Obama as part of a stimulus package.

- State Senate President Richard Codey is questioning the viability of the struggling Xanadu project in the Meadowlands, given the repeated delays in its opening as well as the downturn in the national economy. New concerns about the toxicity of the site have come to light this week.

- At a rally this week, GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan played to his base and said that fellow nominee Chris Christie can easily be branded a RINO (Republican in Name Only). Lonegan said the Christie campaign’s plan is to “keep him away from me as long as possible.”

- A GOP pollster has released a statewide poll of 500 registered voters showing Gov. Corzine unable to reach 50 percent in head-to-head contests with each of three Republican candidates (Christie, Lonegan and Richard Merkt), even as a generic Democrat running statewide still beats a Republican candidate by eight points. The poll also — no surprise — says that the economy and taxes are top concerns for voters this year.

- The Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers in Monmouth County are freezing over, increasing concerns that a pod of bottlenose dolphins that have lived since the summer might not be able to survive much longer.

- Car rental company Hertz is cutting 50 jobs in NJ.

- Over at Politicker, reporter Matt Friedman is fighting aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is recovering from surgery last Friday to remove a tumor from his epiglottis. He is expected to make a full recovery, and he has our best wishes.