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, March 16

Rain today in the Bronx will supposedly give way to sunshine tomorrow.

To the news!

Story of the Day: Bronx Bus Crash Story Continues
Federal investigators met yesterday with Ophadell Williams, the driver of a tour bus that crashed on I-95 in the Bronx on Saturday morning, killing 15 passengers and severely injuring six others. Legal experts say Williams, an ex-con who served time for manslaughter, is unlikely to be charged with a crime unless he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or if he demonstrated a pattern of reckless driving before the crash. The NY Times staked out the crash site, near the on-ramp to the Hutchinson River Parkway, to find tour buses passing by ever so cautiously. On Monday night, another Chinatown tour bus bound for Philadelphia crashed on the Jersey Turnpike, killing two. Here's some video on the Bronx crash from USA Today:



Quick Hits:
As they search for a missing Bronx mother of four, Tina Adovasio, police are focusing their attention on the woman's husband, Edwin Coello, a former NYPD cop who has a history of domestic violence. A month ago, the woman filed for divorce. Video from NY1.

Continuing in this vein of alleged fatal domestic violence, the comatose Bronx woman who police say was injected with cyanide by her husband (who later killed himself by injecting the same poison) died yesterday.

Crain's on the averted Bronx building workers strike.

The bandits targeting Bronx postal workers are taking the mail carriers' keys.

And finally, SOME GOOD NEWS: The cheerleading squad at MS 127 in Castle Hill earned a trip to the national championships in South Carolina, but it needs some extra funding for its trip. Send donations to: MS 127 Cheerleaders, 1560 Purdy Street, Bronx, NY 10462