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- Gale force winds swept through the area yesterday, causing damage to buildings and closing the Pavonia-Newport Light Rail station.

- The Journal runs a trio of stories this morning about the federal stimulus. Tom Shortell reports that Mayor Healy is going after $65m for infrastructure projects in JC, including a new police station and sewer and road repair. Shortell also has a rundown of whom JC and HudCo’s electeds are lobbying to get a piece of the $789b pie. And an AP piece goes over the ways the stimulus will be seen by workers and businesses in the form of tax breaks.

- Tyrone Ballon of Ministry for M.E.N. reminds us in a letter to the editor of the Journal that he’s running for the Ward F council seat. Up to now his campaign has seemingly consisted primarily of letters like these, which call out issues in Ward F and gesture at proposed solutions. (The letter is not posted online.)

- Another Catholic school bites the dust at the end of this school year. Newark Archbishop John J. Myers announced yesterday that Our Lady of Victories School on Ege Avenue would need to enroll 225 more students in order to stay open, which is unlikely at best.

- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) celebrated its 100th birthday yesterday. The JC chapter, which is headed up by Deputy Mayor Kabili Tayari, gathered at the Lincoln Statue in Lincoln Park to commemorate the big day. The Lincoln Association of Jersey City also gathered there yesterday to commemorate Lincoln’s second centennial.

In statewide news:

- Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan faces scrutiny over his acceptance of public campaign funds. Lonegan was the state director of Americans for Prosperity, a lobby group, which should make his campaign ineligible for public funds, but Lonegan says he was paid by the educational foundation and therefore in the clear.

- Tom Wilson, Chairman of the state Republican Party, has filed a petition with the state Supreme Court requesting that it reverse an appeals court ruling that e-mails between Gov. Corzine and former state workers union leader Carla Katz need not be made public. The Supreme Court will decide whether to grant the petition and hear the case.

- According to a report from the National Association of Realtors, home prices for the fourth quarter of 2008 in the New York metro area are down nearly 12 percent from the same period last year. That drop is slightly less than the nationwide average of 12.4 percent. The pdf of the report is here.

- The state Department of Community Affairs reminds the public that home heating assistance is still available and encourages those struggling to pay their energy bills to take advantage.

- The state Ethics Commission released a decision yesterday that the New Jersey Pinelands Commission is liable to the state’s Conflict of Interest law despite its unique mission.