Bronx News Roundup Jan. 14

The rise and rise of Monroe College's Lady Mustangs.

Yankees President Randy Levine is appearing before a New York Assembly committee today to answer questions about his team's request for more taxpayer money to build their new stadium. The committee was formed to probe the financing behind the much-criticized project. A public hearing will be held tomorrow. A vote on whether or not to accept the Yankee's demands is expected on Friday. Here's what Times' columnist Jim Dywer has to say.

A firefighter who jumped from a fourth floor window to escape a raging fire that killed two of his colleagues in January 2005, testified yesterday at the manslaughter trial of three men tied to the deaths.

More on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's heating oil program, which abruptly cancelled last week and then reinstated two days later. The program saves thousands of Bronx residents hundreds of dollars each winter. Time Magazine wonders why American oil companies aren't being similarly generous.

Jazz greats Poncho Sánchez and Gato Barbieri are performing at Lehman Center for the Performing Arts this Saturday.

A Bronx firefighter underwent a painful operation so he could donate bone marrow to a Canadian teenager he'd never met in order to save her life.

A blogger has some interesting thoughts on whether or not Adolfo Carrion is qualified to head up Obama's new Office of Urban Policy. (See half way down the page.)

Congressman Jose Serrano has given two community activists from the South Bronx - ages 77 and 80 - tickets to Barack Obama's inauguration later this month.

Bronx News Roundup for Dec. 3

Voice of America has this report on Hugo Chavez, and the nationally owned Venezuelan oil company CITGO, supporting Rocking the Boat and other Bronx nonprofits.

Last stop for the City Council gravy train? Acccording to the New York Sun, The Council is on the verge of grappling with an issue close to the hearts—and wallets-of its members. Long considered part-time legislators, Council members, who are paid $112,500 are permitted to hold other jobs, some of them quite lucrative. All but a few members also get stipends – known as “lulus” for payments in “lieu” of salary – for chairing committees and subcommittees. This should get interesting.

San Francisco has banned plastic shopping bags. The Big Apple might not be ready to follow suit but two Council members, Simcha Felder and Gale Brewer, are drafting a bill that would give tax credits to businesses for offering alternatives to plastic bags. Meanwhile Council Member Peter Vallone favors a different measure that would require stores to offer recycling of plastic bags. Guess who else supports this, according to the Sun? The plastic bag lobby. Yes, Virginia, apparently there is indeed a plastic bag lobby.

Pointing to a NYT article this weekend about State Senate Majority Leader Joe Brunio, Bronx State Senator Jose M. Serrano predicts that the tide might be turning in the Albany scandal wars.

Bronx News Roundup, Mondary Morning, Oct. 21

Good morning (early afternoon) everyone. Here's a few news links to accompany your cup of coffee today. Some hot topics to discuss.

The NY Times is obsessed with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's link to the Bronx, well, specifically the South Bronx. In any case, this story in yesterday's Metro section examines the quasi-socialist leader's relationship with the Bronx, where he has donated discounted heating oil and millions for development programs through Venezuela's oil company, Citgo.

This quote sums up the Times' angle on the story: "It is an unlikely flow of largess, from an oil-rich South American country where much of the population lives in poverty to one of the neediest pockets in the seat of American capitalism."

Here's a look at the organizations and programs that will benefit from the Chavez money.

Some weekend crime stories:

Two men were stabbed, one to died, during a robbery in Mt. Eden early Sunday morning.

After an earlier stabbing death in Fordham on Saturday, a man was arrested and charged with murder.

Also on Saturday, a 7-year-old girl was hit by a car in Baychester.

Jose Calderon was convicted last week of manslaughter in the beating death of Quachaun Brown, 4, in Norwood last year. The jury acquitted Calderon of the more serious murder charge. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 1.

The NY Post and Gothamist report on a dogfighting "lair" here in northwest Bronx on Valentine Avenue. Warning: there are some graphic and unsettling images with these stories.

And, finally, here's a Times City section story about Mexican immigrants who fear for their safety in the North Fordham area here in the Bronx. Father John Jenik, of Our Lady of Refuge Church, is quoted in the story.

Often Jenik is alone in decrying the violence and drug activity in that troubled neighborhood. In an email sent to the Norwood News yesterday, Jenik said that, for the first time ever, drug dealers were conducting transactions in his church. Not a good sign.

Note: Please feel free to weigh in here on Bronx crime and safety concerns, Hugo Chavez or anything else you feel is of concern. We want to ramp up the discussion and hear from everyone.

Chávez's Cheap Oil Returns to the Bronx

Hugo Chávez, George W. Bush's "tormentor-in-chief," is again pumping oceans of discounted heating oil into poor Bronx neighborhoods, including Mount Hope. Regardless of the Venezuelan president's motives, he will be saving thousands of families hundreds of dollars each this winter.
Read more about the fuel-assistance program here, in a new article in The Nation. Last year, when Chávez's gesture started a media storm, there was this article in The New York Times. And there was this in the Norwood News.