We took last week off, but we’re back today on Breaking Bronx with some freewheeling and random tidbits as we head into the weekend.

— First of all, a very Happy Veteran’s Day to all of our brave men and women who have served or are currently serving overseas.

— I want to take a minute to send a shout out to the vet I know best, ex-Marine Nicky Rosa, a tattoo enthusiast and beer aficionado who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and experienced some crazy, ah, stuff. (Full disclosure: he’s my lovely wife’s cousin.) Soon after coming home from the Middle East, Nicky moved to the Bronx, a borough he is exceedingly passionate about. He loves the Bronx’s working-class, down-to-earth people and attitude. For the past few years, he’s lived on Decatur Avenue, a few blocks north of Fordham Road (one of toughest neighborhoods in the northwest Bronx and he loves it) and now spends his days underneath the Cross Bronx Expressway plying his trade as a union iron worker. Though it’s not official and I don’t mean to jinx it, Nicky is in the process of fulfilling his dream of buying a house in Woodlawn, which he hopes to fix up with the help of his beautiful girlfriend Kelly.

Recently, I’ve read lots of stories about veterans struggling to adapt to life after war and I think it’s completely understandable. While it hasn’t always been easy for him, Nicky has worked hard, stayed positive and, as a consequence, his story keeps getting better and better and should serve as an inspiration to other veterans who are looking to find their post-war way. Cheers, Nicky.

— The family of Bimal Chanda, the 59-year-old Bengali man who was fatally beaten two weeks ago, has hired attorney Joseph Awad.In a phone interview today, Awad said Chanda’s widow, who found her husband in stairwell (and may or may not have scared off his attackers) is understandably devastated and receiving counseling to help her cope with the pain of losing her husband. I asked him about rumors saying Chanda was targeted for some reason — like his ethnicity or the possibility that he witnessed a crime. Awad said, at this point, “there was no reason to believe he was targeted.”

Awad’s own private investigators, who he described as ex-cops and FBI agents, are trying to piece together the sequence of events and hopefully aid police in their investigation, which Awad said was being conducted by the book. One thing they already discovered and that wasn’t reported, he said, is that the 82-unit apartment building at 30 W. 190th St. was not secure at the time of the attack on Chanda. Following the attack, the front door lock was fixed.

There are still many unanswered questions. If the attackers were out to rob Chanda, why didn’t they take most of the man’s cash, his credit cards and cell phone? And why was Chanda, who receives disability checks and has been described as frail, taking the stairs up to his third-floor apartment when the elevators were working? And why would the attackers need to administer such a savage beating on such a frail person who probably would have given up his money even if they had simply asked in a relatively stern manner? My brain hurts. Moving on.

— To another tale of inexplicably terrifying violence: A man was attacked last night on the 3900 block of Bronx Boulevard, thrown into a van and then found unconscious on a street corner in the east Bronx with his arms tied around his back. He died soon after being found.

— Two updates on two stories we wrote about yesterday: Cincer Balthazar, the 4-year-old who was shot on Tuesday night during a failed robbery attempt in University Heights, is “still breathing.” Police arrested Michael “Mills” Wayman, of the Burnside Money Getters gang, for allegedly shooting up Bronx Lebanon hospital on Wednesday night. Wayman was apparently going after a rival from the Riverside Towers Crew who was being treated at the hospital.

— Here’s our story on yesterday’s how-to-stop-all-the-madness brainstorming session lead by Council Speaker Christine Quinn at the office of Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera.

— Quinn was 26 minutes late to the meeting, but otherwise showed a talent for facilitating a very productive discussion. Plus, she can be pretty funny, cracking a joke about how her high school Spanish teacher scolded her for a line in Spanish she recently butchered on television.

— Despite all the recent violence, count Bronx transplant and NYC Marathon runner-up Buzunesh Deba among those hyping the borough’s quality of life. “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, this is such a safe place,” she told the Riverdale Press. She also hinted during the post-race press conference that she might have fared better (though losing by three seconds in a two-and-a-half-hour race isn’t too shabby) if more of the race were in her adopted borough. “I felt much more confident when I was running in the Bronx, so if more of the course were in the Bronx, I’d be very happy.”

— High School progress reports are out and it wasn’t pretty for at least one well-renowned local school. DeWitt Clinton earned an “F.”

— Sources tell us that Sal’s Pizzeria on Bainbridge Avenue has been sold to new owners. Here’s hoping the new owners keep up Sal’s rep for great under-the-radar Italian food.

Thanks for tuning in. Send me tips or feedback or hate mail at norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.