Bronx News Roundup, Tuesday, Aug. 2

Weather: After today's sizzler -- high of 92 expected -- Bronx air will cool back down into the low 80s tomorrow and should stay comfortably below 90 for the rest of the week.

Story of the Day: Bronx Kids Writing Around Town
This summer, the Bronx Council on the Arts is transporting Bronx youngsters to destinations outside of the Northern Borough for rich cultural experiences they otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to enjoy. Before, during and after they go to galleries, museums or places like the Anne Frank Center in SoHo, the kids write about what they've seen and experienced. The goal of the Bronx Write Bus, says program director Maria Romano, is two fold: keeping kids stimulated and off the street and, at the same time, exposing them to cool cultural places and ideas. Good story from former BxNN intern turned Times scribe Andrew Boryga. The program ends next week.

Quick Hits: 
Sad, bizarre crime story in the NY Post today about two clerks at the AutoZone on East 149th Street who chased after and caught a shoplifter yesterday. One of the AutoZone employees managed to wrestle the thief down and call police before the perpetrator turned the tables, for a minute anyway. Eventually, as onlookers told the employees to just let the guy go (why, they wondered, would they risk injury for a business they didn't even own?), the thief gave up the goods and departed before the cops arrived. Later, the Post found the alleged thief, who was sporting a shiner and other injuries. He said he was homeless and that "they didn't have to do that to me."

Bronx News Roundup April 30

A Baychester woman found a 60-pound tortoise in her yard on Tuesday.

Nearly 1,000 gun were handed in during last Saturday's gun buy-back events at six Bronx churches.

The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge is 70-years-old.

A pear tree that was nearly completely destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks has been gaining strength and new limbs, these past few years, in a nursery in Van Cortlandt Park. In 2011 the tree will be uprooted and replanted in the plaza of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center.

Job seekers take note. The Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition is receiving federal dollars to expand its home weatherization program. The funds will allow the organization to hire about 10 new people.