Montefiore Medical Center is moving forward with a controversial plan to replace nine registered nurses at its Family Care Center with less skilled personnel. Announced last month, the change triggered protest among Montefiore physicians and nurses, but administrators remain steadfast in their decision.

For the third straight year, the grand finale of Bronx Week – the Bronx Week parade – will take place on Mosholu Parkway on Sunday, June 26. It’s a wonderful event that highlights not just Bronxites and their many organizations, but also our very own community.

There are many lessons the mayor might learn from the saga of his failed plans for a Jets Stadium on the west side of Manhattan. The most important is that the outer-boroughs are not outer-space. In all his public statements, even on the day when the entire city seemed to be behind the alternative choice of Queens for an Olympic stadium, the mayor couldn’t help repeating that Queens was not the city’s first choice. The mayor, it seems, found it difficult to believe that Olympians or their fans would enjoy visiting the borough that is already the most international county on Earth.

Recent articles in The New York Times and AM New York call our attention to the air we breathe. The articles report the American Lung Association gives the Bronx (and most of New York City) an F for filthy air. And it is getting worse.

Life without Miss Maggie Battles just isn’t as sweet. "I miss her," said a frowning Muhammad Jogeh, 8. "She was so nice to us at school but then she got sick." Battles, known affectionately as "Sweet Magnolia," has touched thousands of students in her 26 years as an aide at PS 8 in Bedford Park. After falling ill with cancer, she stopped working in March and is undergoing treatment. But PS 8 hasn’t forgotten about her.

Snapping off his headphones, Jose Hernandez excitedly held up a treasure he’d found in the dirt. "Una cebolla," said Jose, brushing off a white bulb.

Last summer the Parks Department and the Bronx River Alliance laid out plans for adding boardwalks and restoring floodplains in the area of the river closest to Norwood and Bedford Park. A year later those plans are reality and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for June 25.

In his second appearance at St. James Park in six months, Mayor Bloomberg announced last Tuesday that the park would be the first to benefit from $200 million in park improvement monies made possible through the sale of water bonds.

A National Guard unit stationed in Iraq will finally get to display its Bronx colors, but it’s unclear how much longer the borough will be their home base