Hail in the Bronx, Reservoir Rats, A Bronx-born Olympian and more news for Tuesday, Aug. 12

Lots to do today, so let's get to the news:

Yesterday's torrential downpour in the borough included a smattering of hail and one Bronxite saved some to prove it. [NYT]

Scientists warn that blasting at the Jerome Park Reservoir (which the DEP wants to do and the community is adamantly against) could lead to a huge infestation of rats in nearby communities. The community won a temporary restraining order against the blasting plan until Sept. 3, when there will be a hearing on whether the DEP needs to conduct more thorough environmental impact study before going forward.

Daily News borough chief Bob Kappstatter (spelling?) gossips about Council Member Maria Baez "going ghetto" on former Bronx Democratic machine lawyer Stanley Schlein, who ("while no one's pointing any fingers") found two of his tires slashed outside of the Bronx Board of Elections. Schlein apparently had a falling out with the machine and is now siding with the Democratic insurgents.

Here's more on the high school grad rates story from the NY Times. The 55.8 percent graduation mark we reported here yesterday also includes those seniors who graduated after taking summer classes. Without those students, the rate is 52.2 percent. Still, it's the first time more than half of NYC students graduated on time.

A Bronx sanitation worker died on the job yesterday. [Post]

A new gritty movie about the Bronx recently debuted to a small audience. [Daily News]

Construction of the new Yankee Stadium leaves local baseball players with no place to play. [Daily News]

And, finally, the most famous Bronxite in the world right now is Cullen Jones, the gold-medal-winning swimmer who was born in the borough, but grew up outisde of Newark, NJ. More on Jones here and here and here. [Daily News, NY Sun, Kansas City Star]

Meetings tonight

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is sponsoring a forum on health care this evening at Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. More information here.

Also, the capital plan for schools will be discussed at Community Education Council 10's monthly meeting tonight. More info here.

Coalition pushing for school S.E.A.T.S

Wednesday morning, organizers and youth from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (aka the Coalition), lamenting chronic overcrowding and its effects on education, stormed City Hall to demand more school seats in the Bronx and citywide.

In the process, the Coalition announced its S.E.A.T.S (Schools Exploding at the Seams) initiative, which is designed to pressure the education department, using the City Council as a lobbying arm, into adding more school seats for the current Five-Year Capital Plan, set to be revised in November. The City Council has an opportunity to weigh in on any capital plan revisions when it approves the city's budget in April.

The overcrowding issue has festered in the borough since last fall when the DOE announced it would be eliminating 1,700 Bronx seats from the capital plan, which many activists, parents, students and local politicians considered a slap in the face. For more background check out this story from the Norwood News.

The Coalition spent the morning pitching council members and then gathered on the steps of City Hall for a press conference where Coalition leaders, with a backdrop of 30 slogan-chanting students, laid out the case for more seats.

The goal, Coalition vice president Ronn Jordan said, is to make overcrowding a citywide issue. Jordan added that they were already getting a very positive response from council members, many of whom have already pledged their support for S.E.A.T.S.

Upper Manhattan's Robert Jackson (head of the education committee) and Brooklyn's David Yasky (looking like a math teacher in khakis and a pink button down) joined the Bronx's Oliver Koppell and Joel Rivera in speaking during the press conference.

Here's some video from the event.

Stay tuned, this will be an issue the Norwood News will be all over in the coming year.

News Roundup for July 12

On the City Room blog yesterday, NYT reporter Jonathan Hicks looks at Joel Rivera and Ruben Diaz Jr., close friends who he says could become rivals if they both run for Bronx Borough President.

In other political gossip, the Politicker reports on Haile Rivera's dinner with Barack Obama. He was one of 4 small donors (Rivera gave $5) who were selected to have dinner with Obama in D.C. Rivera has said he's interested in running for City Council in district 14 (currently represented by Maria Baez).

The NY Sun reports that a civil rights organization is criticizing Mayor Bloomberg and schools chancellor Joel Klein for not taking a stance on the recent Supreme Court decision on school segregation.

And the Daily News's Bronx Boro section this week has 2 stories on Montefiore Medical Center, on its plan to buy Mercy Medical Center and on a $12 million gift to the Children's Hospital.

In the News...

There's more on the Bronx ad campaign in today's AM New York and Daily News.

Mamadou Soumare, one of the fathers who lost his family in the devastating fire in Highbridge, took the first steps to file a $100 million negligence lawsuit against the city. NY1 and others have the story.

New York City students improved their math scores this year across the board. On the New York Times website, you can look up the increase for your district or school here.

News Roundup

In the news …

From yesterday’s Daily News, a story on a proposed rezoning in Norwood and plans for a homeless facility operated by the Doe Fund.

The Mayor and Speaker announced a new proposal for a bill limiting campaign donations, intended to rein in “pay for play” contributions . The Post explains that the bill would limit contributions for people with city contracts, franchises or grants worth more than $100,000 - as well as registered lobbyists - to $400 for candidates for citywide offices, a sharp decrease from the $4,950 previously allowed. The Times covered it, too.

In today's Daily News, Carrie Melago reports on the crisis caused by more stringent rules for admission to the city’s homeless shelters. Because families are shuffled between boroughs, kids are unable to attend school consistently.