Montefiore’s Pioneer Surgical Assistant Program Celebrates 40 Years

Montefiore Medical Center’s Surgical Assistant program recently came full circle. Not only did it celebrate the graduation of its 2011 class, it’s also looking back at 40 years since the program began.

Bronx Health Events Coming Up This Weekend

Zumbathon to Stomp Out Diabetes Montefiore Medical Center is hosting a zumba marathon on Friday, Nov. 18 at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center gym, 3450 DeKalb Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m. Zumba is a dance-inspired fitness workout. Tickets are $15 in advance (you can register at www.giving.montefiore.org/zumba) or $20 at the door. The first 50 1199 SEIEU members enter for free. You must show your 1199 benefit card. For more information, contact rshanker@montefiore.org or call (718) 920-5675. Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Vigil Sunday, Nov. 20 is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day. Local resident Damaris Vazquez is organizing a purple light vigil

For the first time in what feels like a long time, manufacturing jobs are coming into the Bronx instead of leaving it: Smith Electric, a Missouri-based company which makes electric trucks, will be opening a facility in Port Morris. Buoyed by a $6 million package of tax breaks, Smith Electric plans to renovate the Murray Fleiss building, a former lamp warehouse at 275 Locust Ave., according to a press release. The site should be up and running by 2012 and will create 100 jobs, a statement said. “This project is a win-win for the Bronx and the entire State, and

Bronx Anti-Smoking Events This Week

A number of local groups and elected officials will host a forum tonight at the Riverdale Y, 5625 Arlington Avenue, from 6 to 8 p.m. “Laying the Foundation for Healthy Living,” is the first in a series of forums organized by the Bronx-Smoke Free Partnership, and will focus on the health benefits of smoke-free housing policies. Panelists include the housing chair for Bronx Community Board 8, a representative from the New York Fire Department Fire Safety Education Department, and a pediatrician from Montefiore Medical Center. RSVP to Deidre Sully at dsully@healthsolutions.org or at (718) 466-8862. In other anti-smoking news, tomorrow,

Firefighters are currently responding to a two-alarm fire at Montefiore Hospital, on Gun Hill Road, near Bainbridge Avenue. Norwood News editor Alex Kratz is on the scene and says the blaze was small and started by a generator above emergency room. The emergency room and two intensive care rooms were evacuated. According to the hospital’s Twitter feed, no one was injured and the fire was contained immediately. We’ll have more information for you as it come in. Update: Employees returning to the building, as of 2:55 p.m.

Budding Marathon Star a Neighborhood Face

Buzunesh Deba, the runner up in the women’s race for the New York City Marathon isn’t just a Bronxite. She may be your neighbor.

Letter to the Editor: Smoking Concerns

As an artist with a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts and Art Therapy I am impressed with the fidelity to cultural practices and design of the fine cigars created by Francisco Rosario (Norwood News, Oct. 20, 2011-Nov. 2, 2011). Mr. Rosario’s dedication to maintaining the skills he adopted in childhood is admirable and no doubt his cigars bring enjoyment and relaxation to his customers. As a child advocate, I am concerned that he was working with toxic materials as a child and most likely subjected to the second hand smoke of the adults around him. As a health professional with a Master’s in Public Health, I have grave concerns about the impact of cigars on the health and well being of Mr. Rosario, his customers, their families, especially children and anyone in the wake of their smoke.

Domestic Violence Art Project Returns to Fordham Plaza

On Oct. 18, Bronx AIDS Services sponsored its annual “Clothesline Project,” in Fordham Plaza. Domestic violence survivors and their supporters decorated white T-shirts with messages of encouragement, and strung the shirts along clotheslines across the square. The event is meant to be an outlet of expression for survivors of abuse, and an opportunity for them to symbolically air their dirty laundry, said organizer SoJourner McCauley.

Bronx’s Marathon ‘Challenge’ Rep Outruns his Addiction

Six years ago, Rob Vassilarakis was coming up from the East 138th 5 train station when he was suddenly hit with a wave of energy that would change his life for good. It turned out to be New York City marathon runners charging through the 20-mile mark.