Bronx News Roundup, Wednesday, Aug. 3

Weather:  Not too hot today, sunny with a high of 81. Tonight, thunderstorms in the forecast with temperatures in the high 60s.

Story of the Day:
15 people were injured yesterday afternoon when an MTA bus collided with a livery cab and a sports car. The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. when a Bx55 bus, moving southbound on Third Avenue, made an unscheduled stop. The bus hit both the cab and sports car at the intersection at East 170th Street. EMS Deputy Chief Howard Sickles said that none of the injuries are life threatening.

Quick Hits:
The principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel elementary school has been fired for his writings on white supremacy. Frank Borzellieri, who has ties to a group called American Renaissance, wrote a book titled "The Unspoken Truth: Race, Culture and Other Taboos," which talks about the "the myth of integration" and "multicultural madness."

It's Organ Donor Month

April is Donate Life Month--check out the flier below for more info on how you can register to be an organ donor.

Bronx News Roundup, March 18

Hopefully you are reading this on a laptop or iPad/Phone in Van Cortlandt or Crotona or Soundview or Pelham Bay or Roberto Clemente or Williamsbridge Oval or any one of the Bronx's many parks. And if you're not, hopefully you'll get to one later today as temperatures will soar into the 70s! Less warm over the weekend, but it will still remain jarringly comfortable.  

To the news!

Story of the Day: Spotlight on Ex-Cop Husband of Dead Bronx Mom
Yesterday morning, Eddy Coello, a former NYPD housing cop, walked unprompted into the 45th Precinct with his lawyer to talk with police one day after the dead body of his wife, Tina Adovasio, was discovered in a wooded area in Westchester County. Medical examiners said Adovasio died from asphyxiation. Coello, who has a history of domestic violence, refused to give police a DNA sample and walked out of the precinct 24 minutes later. At this point, police are saying he is the only "person of interest" in this case. A former girlfriend told the Daily News Coello was volatile and prone to violent outbursts. As police continued to gather evidence from Coello's car and the Throgs Neck home he shared with Adovasio and her four children, Adovasio's lawyer told the Post the case was "plodding toward an inevitable conclusion."

Quick Hits:
Here's our story on the decision to close the Oak Point post office. 

The state revoked the license of Ophadell Williams, the driver of the Chinatown tour bus that crashed on I-95 in the Bronx, killing 15 passengers and leaving six others in critical condition. Transportation officials and state police are also clamping down on other tour bus drivers.

On "Match Day," some 200 medical students at the Bronx's Albert Einstein College of Medicine found out where they will be going to be resident physicians. Many are surprisingly choosing the lower-paying family medicine route. Students will disperse throughout the country, but one, who will stay in the Bronx at Montefiore Medical Center and pursue family medicine, said, “This country needs more primary care doctors. It’s the best way to deliver care, in terms of prevention, in terms of long-term follow-up, patient satisfaction, and reducing cost."

A new exhibition at the Lehman College art gallery is highlighting the resurgence of so-called "fiber arts" -- knitting, weaving, embroidery, that type of thing. 

Woodlawn Cemetery and the union representing its workers have reached a tentative agreement that would increase wages and lead to the cemetery cutting only 12 staffers, down from the original 23.

Bronx/Harlem State Senator Jose M. Serrano says he's much more excited about the new Puerto Rican and Latino caucus than he was last year, when it included Pedro Espada Jr. (ousted by voters, facing criminal charges) and Hiram Monserrate (ousted by the senate after being convicted of beating his girlfriend). The new caucus includes Bronx reps Serrano, Ruben Diaz Sr., Gustavo Rivera, Adriano Espaillat as well as Martin Milave Dilan (Brooklyn) and Jose Peralta (Queens).

Many Bronx tenants continue to benefit from oil donations given out by Citgo, the oil company controlled by Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan government.

Check out all the planned work-related service changes on Bronx subway lines this weekend. Every line in the borough will be affected.

The Riverdale Press unmasks the "phantom painters" behind the giant shamrock painted every St. Patrick's Day on W. 238th Street and Review Place.

Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 11

Another snowstorm (ugh!) is expected to hit the city tonight, a possible 6 to 12 inches. That could be bad news for your commute tomorrow, as the MTA has considered halting service on certain trains during the next big storm--including the Dyre Avenue line--to avoid more stuck subway car mishaps.

Bronx Congressmen  Engel, Crowley and Serrano are shaken by this weekend's tragic shooting in Tuscon, AZ, which left their colleague Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition after a bullet went through her head. Six others died in the attacks.

A 14-year-old boy was shot to death last night near a subway stop at E. 219th St. and White Plains Road. Witnesses say he was approached by three other males before was shot; no arrests have been made.

Every borough has a story, writes Daily News columnist Patrice O'Shaughnessy--and the Bronx's is one of resilience.

A "nude housekeeper" is currently on trial for the 2007 murder of a paralegal who'd hired him to clean his apartment. The defendent, 41-year-old Bronx resident Thomas Cordero, claims he acted in self defense.

Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., is blasting colleague Jeff Klein and his new Independent Democratic Conference for getting money for "staff and better offices."

Diaz' rant comes after reports that Klein switched offices with Deputy Senate Majority Leader Tom Libous this week and that he and his fellow independents might get their legislative office budgets increased by majority Republicans to as much as $3 million.

Speaking of Klein: he held a news conference yesterday in Albany where he said he opposed the idea of linking a property tax cap to New York City rent regulation--meaning one bill could not pass without the other (new Gov. Cuomo is pushing for the property tax cap).

Bob Kappstatter has your other Bronx political news this week, including the swearing in of new reps Sen. Gustavo Rivera and Assemblyman Eric Stevenson. Also: there are rumors of a police crackdown on prostitution near St. James Park, he writes. (here's more on the problem from November's Norwood News.)

An elderly man was struck by a car and killed yesterday in Co-Op City.

A 15-year-old Haitian girl who left her country after last year's devastating earthquake is getting a new heart at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Montefiore Medical Center tomorrow--the one year anniversary of the earthquake disaster. Lovely Ajuste has had a heart condition since the age of eight.