NorwoodNews.org

Stories by Edition: October 30, 2008 (17 Stories)

Packed House for St. Brendan's 100th - The parish of the Church of St. Brendan in Norwood wrapped up its centenary celebrations last Sunday with a multilingual standing-room-only Mass that included a homily by Cardinal Egan and drew the attendance of over two dozen guest clergy and about 1,100 worshippers. | Read the Story

Crime Down in Area But Chronic Hotspots Persist - Crime statistics remain down overall in the 52nd Precinct (Norwood, Bedford Park, University Heights and North Fordham), including a significant drop in murders and shootings. But violent incidents in perennial high-crime areas, serve as a reminder that the precinct's hotspots are resilient and don't always jibe with precinctwide statistics. | Read the Story

Mounting Costs, Changes Rile Filter Foes Anew - As the enormous water filtration plant project in Van Cortlandt Park moves farther away from the original plan outlined in 2003, the project's monitoring committee, local activists and city planning experts say it's becoming glaringly apparent that the plan didn't account for significant impacts on the community. | Read the Story

Council Races Take Shape Following Term Limits Vote - Lost, or at least partially obscured, in the tussle over term limits is the reality that the incumbents who are now eligible to run for a third term, including the mayor, have to actually run. Many local insurgent candidates launched Web sites and have been fund-raising for months, meaning some spirited and competitive races may be coming next fall. | Read the Story

Bronx Rep Engel Helps Obama in Florida - With mere days remaining in the presidential campaign, Bronx Congressman Eliot Engel spent some time campaigning for fellow Democrat Barrack Obama in Florida. | Read the Story

Bike-Friendly Goal Set For Bronx - Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión wants to make the Bronx the most bike-friendly borough in the city. By increasing the number of bike racks in the Bronx, Carrión hopes to encourage more commuting and recreational riding throughout the borough. | Read the Story

Public and Community Meetings - A listing of public and community meeting in the northwest Bronx. | Read the Story

Shelter Storm - For two years, local leaders and residents have demanded the vacant old Fordham Library building be turned into something that benefits the underserved and densely populated community. But recently, the city quietly gave control of the 27,400-square-foot structure over to the Health Department for use as an animal shelter. | Read the Story

Your Voting Guide - In the excitement over the presidential race, local races have been somewhat obscured to say the least. But there are local races for Assembly, state Senate and Congress, despite their low profile and the usual lack of competitiveness in a heavily Democratic borough. Here are all the candidates for these offices. Incumbents are noted and candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Don't forget to vote on Nov. 4!

78th Assembly District: Robert Lupo (C); Jose Rivera (D-incumbent); Jose Torres (R)
80th A.D.: Louise DeLucia (R); Patrick McManus (C); Naomi Rivera (D-incumbent)
81st A.D.: Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-incumbent); Jeffrey Klapper (C)

33rd Senate District: Pedro Espada (D); William Sullivan (C)

16th Congressional District: Ali Mohamed (R); Jose Serrano (D-incumbent)
17th C.D.: Eliot Engel (D-incumbent); Robert Goodman (R)

Voter information

For more info on these candidates, go to the League of Women Voters Web site at: lwvny.www.capwiz.com/election/guide/ny. Don't like any of these candidates? Well, then you have the right to write in the candidate of your choice. There are instructions on the far left side of the ballot that explains how to do this. They are a little complicated. If you need help, ask a poll worker to show you.

To find your polling place, go to www.vote.nyc.ny.us and click on the poll site locator button (second button at left). To make sure you're registered, check www.canivote.org (a national site that checks local registrations across the country). And www.866ourvote.org has tons of information state-by-state on your voting rights and what to look out for.

Important phone numbers:

(866) VOTE-NYC. Board of Elections hotline. Call to check your registration status or have any problems on Election Day.
(866) OUR-VOTE (connected to the Web site listed above). Largest national election protection hotline. For Spanish, call (888) VE-Y-VOTA.
(212) 822-0282. This NYPIRG hotline has specialists trained in NYS election law available to assist voters from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. | Read the Story

The Problem With Espada - Out of 311,000 residents, less than 8,400 citizens voted in the Democratic primary for the 33rd Senate District. We must question the legitimacy of such an election by any democratic standards. Who, exactly, is represented by a candidate with so few supporters? | Read the Story

Catholicism and Voting - My husband recently found an anonymous note on our front gate challenging the "Catholics for Obama" sign in our window. The challenge is based on Obama's being pro-choice. | Read the Story

Lovable Clinton Bowling Over Competition - For years, Clinton bowling has lagged behind the competition. But this year, they're destroying the competition with a lovable cast of characters. | Read the Story

Kennedy Quells Clinton Uprising - Kennedy Quells Clinton Uprising: In a matchup of the best two high school football teams in the Bronx 10 days ago, the Kennedy Knights defeated the Clinton Governors, 14-8. Kennedy had ruled this rivalry for several years, but Clinton came into the game with a 5-1 record and an upset in mind. Last week, Clinton rebounded with a win over Lehman and Kennedy beat Christopher Columbus. Both teams should make the Cup Division playoffs. | Read the Story

They're Our Parks! - Some 200 volunteers showed up for last Saturday's "It's My Park Day" celebration, part of Mosholu Preservation Corporation's (publisher of the Norwood News) Embracing our Parks Initiative. At the Mosholu Parkway "gully," between Decatur and Webster avenues, volunteers from the group Building with Books worked on general cleanup, mulching and composting, planting bulbs and creating two entrance gardens. Other volunteers did similar work at the Williamsbridge Oval. On Sunday, New Life Outreach International Church and members of the Riverdale YMCA helped out at St. James Park. | Read the Story

Out & About - The Norwood News arts and entertainment guide. | Read the Story

Neighborhood Notes - The Norwood News listing of services, programs and community events in the local area. | Read the Story

School Roundup: Educators Set Goals for New Year - The Norwood News spent the past six weeks calling our local public schools to see what's going on this year and get a glimpse inside our varied campuses. Many are introducing new programming and faculty. Many are dealing valiantly with overcrowding problems. All are trying to challenge the minds of our youth. | Read the Story