[PS 48 in Hunts Point won a $50,000 prize for its music program thanks to this video.]

In the latest edition of the Norwood News, we examined the legislative record of Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein’s Independent Democratic Caucus, which includes Klein and three other right-leaning Democrats. What we didn’t explore is Klein’s dealings as a private lawyer, which landed him in today’s NY Post and not in a good way. The Post’s Chuck Bennett reports that Klein appeared to have been playing both sides of the city lawsuit game.

Klein’s law firm, Klein, Calderoni and Santucci, has signed three contracts worth $2.25 million with the Comptroller’s Office to perform initial reviews of lawsuits brought against the city. They advise the city on whether to fight the suit or settle.

At the same time, Klein was being paid by a major personal-injury firm headed by William Gallina, which has filed 114 lawsuits against various city agencies since 2007. (One suit involving a woman injured on a city sidewalk resulted in $1,240,000 judgement for one of its clients.)

In his defense, Klein said he never worked on city cases for Gallina and never discussed cases from Gallina’s firm with Fred Santucci, Jr., his partner who handles the city contract. He said he stopped working for Gallina earlier this year.

Much to the delight of its Bronx backers, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio  announced his support for the City Council’s so-called Living Wage bill, which would require developers to guarantee living wages ($10 an plus benefits, or $11.50 an hour) at some city-subsidized projects. The bill is sponsored by two Bronx Council members and fervently supported by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. Today, Diaz said in a statement:

“The ‘Fair Wages for New Yorkers’ Act will ensure that our taxpayer dollars are spent not only to enrich major developers, but also to provide a way forward out of poverty for their employees. Bill de Blasio understands that, and I welcome his support for this bill and look forward to working with him on making it law.”

Diaz also pointed out that New Yorkers overwhelmingly supported the legislation, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll.

The family of a 9-year-old PS 47 (Bruckner, south Bronx) student who choked to death on a school-supplied meatball are looking for answers.

Medical researchers with the Bronx-based Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center say they have new evidence linking headers by soccer players to brain damage.

An 18-year-old girl was shot early Sunday morning in Morris Heights and may not survive.

John’s Boxing Gym is closing (but hoping to relocate) after 30 years on Westchester Avenue.