There are spots available at Bronx Community College’s Project Hire, a 20-week program that prepares people to enter construction unions. Candidates must be between 18 and 60, low-income and a citizen or resident alien. No construction experience is necessary. There’s also a free GED preparation class beginning in June, for which citizenship is not a requirement. Sign up for one or both at the Department of Environmental Protection office at 3660 Jerome Ave., Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (718) 231-8470.

Aleisha Smith pleaded guilty on June 19 for her role in the beating death of her 4-year-old son, Quachaun Browne, last January in her Kossuth Avenue apartment.

This fall will bring changes in the District 10 leadership, as district offices are re-opened with 32 new community superintendents responsible for evaluating the schools in their districts.

Michael Alvarez presides over a spectacularly successful Bronx Library Center. But, as he is quick to say, he could not have done it without his staff.

A former cartographer for The New York Times, Janet Norquist-Gonzalez of Norwood made maps for 22 years. Then one day, four years ago, “I noticed I was just staring at the screen,” she said.

St. Patrick’s Home for the Aged celebrated seven women who have each seen over 100 years of life last Tuesday, as staff, residents and family members gathered to say happy birthday to their "centenarians."

Sitting in her Bedford Park office smoking an extra-long Kent cigarette, Rita Kessler, the venerable den mother of Community Board 7 (CB7), spent a recent Friday morning spinning tales about her early years as district manager.

Last Friday afternoon, a 22-year-old man walked into a barber shop on Andrews Avenue near Fordham Road. There was a bit of a wait and the barbers told him to come back in a few minutes. The young man turned around, walked outside and headed slowly down the block.

There is a 150-year-old tradition of artistic and literary immersion among Cuban torcedores, or cigar rollers that continues to this day. While cutting and rolling cigars, torcedores spend their days listening to rich cultural tales such as "Don Quixote" and "Les Miserables."