Bronx News Roundup July 29

A group of Bronx teens are taking a month-long forensics class at Bronx Community College this summer, says the Daily News.

Also in today's News: a homeless man was hit and killed yesterday while walking on the Major Deegan Expressway; Bronx BP Adolfo Carrion is allocating more than half of this year's capitol budget to affordable housing; and Kappstatter's quirky weekly column on the mess that is Bronx politics.

The New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, led by State Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz, is holding a rally this afternoon to protest the world's skyrocketing gas prices. The rally, held at the Times Square Triangle (7th Avenue and 42nd Street), starts at 12 p.m. For information call (718) 991-3161. (UPDATE: the rally's being held this Thursday, not Tuesday. Sorry about that.)

Talking of Diaz and Kappstatter, it appears the two aren't on the best of terms. Check out this letter Diaz reportedly wrote to the News' Bronx Boro chief.

The New York Sun has a story about a Bronx-born man who's dreaming of winning a judo gold medal at the Beijing Olympics this summer.

Brandy Cochrane, founder of Friends of the Woods, is looking for volunteers, performers, and vendors to take part in a block party she's organizing in University Heights for August 30. For details e-mail thewoods@inbox.com.