Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 30

Happy Halloween eve! On to some pre-Fright Night news links.

More than 100 people showed up yesterday to pay their respects and offer their memories at the funeral of Sadie Mitchell, the 92-year-old Bronx woman, who was tragically killed by a stray bullet while watching TV on Oct. 20. By all accounts a lovely, caring woman, Mitchell's Williamsbridge neighbors called her a pillar of the community and "the grandmother of the block."

On Wednesday, the Bronx DA's office announced that it would be charging Jamal Blair, 18, with the Mitchell's murder.

Deon Taylor, a former NYPD cop who was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb, was honored yesterday by the city. Simpson St. at 163rd St. in Longwood was renamed Police Officer Deon Taylor Way.

The top-seeded Bronx Science girls soccer team pulled out a tough 1-0 win over Susan Wagner HS on Wednesday in the first round of the playoffs. They play Tuesday against Francis Lewis.

A sailor on the USS New York who grew up in the Bronx said coming home on the Navy vessel would be better than "the Yankees winning the World Series."

A principal at the Bronx's Lehman High School is under invetigation by the city's Dept. of Education for allegedly fixing grades.

A Rikers Island guard was charged in Bronx Supreme Court with beating up inmates.

An off-duty cop was charged with running down an elderly woman, who later died, near Broadway and 232nd Street.

Bronx News Roundup Oct. 27

Contrary to what Sarah Palin believes, not all “real” American heroes live in small-towns, argues Mike Lupica, in his Daily News column. Lupica points to Deon Taylor, who grew up and lived in the Bronx while working as a narcotics officer in Brooklyn. Taylor, 30, served and tragically died for his country, killed by a road-side bomb last Wednesday while stationed in Afghanistan. He is remembered as someone who “fought for our city as a policeman and then went off to fight for our country.”

In their “Living In” section, The New York Times explores Crotona Park East. Known as the “worst slum” in the 1970s, Crotona is now the site of many new real estate projects, including Intervale Green and Louis Nine House, which will be open for rent next month. Restoration projects for Crotona Park and Indian Lake are also underway. For those interested in settling in the area, Times provides a digest of the local schools, public transit, grocery stores, and cost of living.

Jason Neal, 33, from the Bronx was found guilty of transporting narcotics across the country and of possession of a firearm. He faces a life sentence.

Police are searching for a man in his 20s or 30s, around 5’6”, suspected to have robbed three banks in a five month period.

Two Bronx men were arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 24-year-old woman in Yonkers yesterday. The woman, also from the Bronx, went to meet a man she had met on the internet at her friend’s house in Yonkers. The man forced her at gunpoint into a car where another man was waiting, and they drove off. Police say the woman was not harmed.

SUNY Canton student, Matthew W. Rivera, from the Bronx, was stabbed several times Sunday night while heading to the movies to watch “Saw V” with a large group of students. Jevaughn Francis, 17, also from the Bronx, was charged with the stabbing and three others are suspected to have been involved. Rivera was taken to Canton-Potsdam Hospital and is said to be in stable condition.

Bronx News Roundup: Oct 24

Chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is holding a fourth hearing on Capitol Hill about whether NYC officials inflated the land value of the new stadium in order to secure more tax-exempt bonds to finance the project. Currently, the Village Voice's Neil deMause is live-blogging the hearing, while video is available on the subcommittee's website. Yankees' President Randy Levine, Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Finance Martha Stark and President of the NYC Economic Development Corporation Seth Pinsky are on today's schedualed docket.

In more Yankee Stadium news, Standard & Poor's, the credit agency more commonly know for its S&P500 stock market index, said yesterday that the new Yankee Stadium is 30% over budget, warning that the country's recent economic turmoil could hinder the city's efforts to help finance the stadium through the sale of municipal debt.

NYPD officer and Bronxite Deon Taylor has been killed while serving with the Army in Afghanistan. The 30-year old Longwood resident died in a roadside bombing Wednesday.

Roy Gray was sentenced to 25 years to life for his role in a November 2004 shooting murder that took place on Hammersley Avenue.

"Boo at the Zoo" takes place this weekend at the Bronx Zoo reports the New York Times. The weekend celebration will include face painting, Halloween parades, games, music and even magic shows.

The Columbia Spectator paints "a small town portrait" of City Island, reminding us that The Bronx's "seaside village" is only a Bx29 ride away.