Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 26

Yup, more snow. A winter storm warning is in effect today until 6 p.m., so bundle up; the weather folks are saying four to eight inches.

President Obama gave his second State of the Union Address last night, one that called for a bipartisan effort to fix the nation's economy and a proposed 5-year spending freeze.

Salon.com has named Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel number three on a list of Congress' "top five biggest aisle hogs"--politicians who stake out an aisle seat before a big speech in hopes of getting a handshake and a few words from the President. Check out this video of the worst offenders through the years:


The family of a 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, one of four victims believed to have been murdered by a serial killer on Long Island, say they received taunting phone calls on the woman's cell phone in the days after she disappeared.

Police are searching for a group of ten men who shot up a Melrose street last night, killing a 21-year-old man.

A Bronx woman pleaded not guilty yesterday to manslaughter charges for hitting and killing a woman with her car in Manhattan in November.

A Lehman College student stuck in Chile during protests there this month became the unofficial spokesman for about 1500 other stranded tourists, and earned himself a certificate of appreciation from the U.S. State Department.

Plans to lay seven miles of pipe from Van Cortlandt Park to Hunts Point have been scrapped by the city due to soaring costs. The plan was part of the ongoing Croton Water Filtration Plant project.

A Bronx couple is facing jail time for animal cruelty charges after nearly 100 emaciated cats were found in their artist's loft in Brooklyn. A neighbor told the Brooklyn paper the two were simply trying to care for the neighborhood's strays.

The widow of a murdered Throgs Neck man gave chilling testimony in court yesterday against her husband's accused killer, an alleged mob man.

A mugger tried to steal the cell phone of former Gov. George Pataki's eldest daughter at the Freeman Street subway stop.

The State Senate's Republican majority gave committee chairmanship roles to Jeff Klein and the other members of his Independent Caucus. Klein will chair the Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

A 17-year-old student at Celia Cruz High School for Music was found dead in the snow on a Harlem street over the weekend. Loved ones of Gregory Willis Jr. say they are baffled by the quiet teenager's mysterious death; autopsy results are pending.

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More Bush Bashing from Engel

Fellow Bronx Congressman Eliot Engel (pictured to the right) echoed his colleague Serrano in pointing out Bush's shortcomings following the president's State of the Union address.

Engel, however, chose to enumerate all the problems facing our country because of Bush's policies.

"The State of the Union is not good," began Engel's blunt statement.

Here's a couple of other cheery highlights:

"The economy is in deep crisis..."

"Unemployment is rising and has passed a level not seen in recent years."

"Over a trillion dollars of our debt is being held, mostly by the Chinese, and the debt keeps increasing..."

"Far, far too many of our citizens, especially millions of children, have no health insurance..."

"...the lofty goals of the No Child Left Behind Act failed to have the necessary level of funding for it."

"In Iraq, there is no exit strategy, and no talk of one for our troops."

In the end, Engel offered a few suggestions to the President, including:

"He should have offered the promised funding for No Child Left Behind..."

"He should have offered an extended unemployment benefits package to help our laid off workers."

"There should be a program to reduce our deficit..."

Bronx Congressman on Bush's State of the Union

For those of you who didn't tune in to President Bush's final State of the Union speech, here's Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano's take. Let's just say, aside from the proposed economic stimulus package, Serrano, an outspoken critic of the current Republican administration, wasn't too impressed.

On the Iraq war:
"Tonight the American people got more of the same from President Bush -- especially on the failed Iraq war. As we approach 4,000 fatalities, and tens of thousands of wounded, we still have yet to hear a truthful assessment of the present condition on the ground, and a clear-eyed statement on our nation's future course in Iraq."

On the economic stimulus package:
"I am glad that the package that seems to be coming together focuses on helping working class and disadvantaged people...they are the people most hurt by slumps in the economy."

"I also am fighting for the inclusion of Puerto Rico and the territories in any package -- their economic fortunes are tied directly to our own."

On special projects (so-called pork barrel projects):
[Bush] would have us believe that those projects which are aimed at the needs of our communities, are the cause of our fiscal problems at the federal level...With these projects budgeted at $11 billion in 2008, and his request for spending on the war in Iraq totaling more than $150 billion for this year, it's hard to believe that special projects are budget-busters."

In sum: "Having heard much of this same speech for the past seven years, I am looking forward to a new direction and message in the 2009 State of the Union."