Health Care Expands March 5 to All Vets Exposed to Toxins during Military Service at Home or Abroad

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The U.S. Department of Veterans Services announced on Monday, Feb. 26, that all veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military, at home or abroad, will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care beginning March 5. VA officials said this means all veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11 will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits.

Love in The Bronx

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Love is in the air and on Feb. 14, across the globe, millions celebrated Valentine’s Day. At one Norwood store, we were told flower sales were up by a whopping 70 percent. So, is it just another opportunity to make a quick buck or is there merit in reminding people of love? To find out, we are grateful to those Bronxites who were brave enough to talk to us about their own love stories.

Bedford Park: Man Sought for Assault on Elderly Woman

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The NYPD is asking for the public’s assistance identifying the person seen in the attached video and photos who they say is sought in connection with an assault on an elderly person on the border of Bedford Park and Kingsbridge Heights.

Op-Ed: Preserving Woodlawn: A Stand Against Overdevelopment

By WILLIAM MURRAY

On Monday, Feb. 12, the Woodlawn Heights Taxpayers and Community Association gathered at the Rambling House for a critical meeting. The focus of the discussion revolved around the alarming proposal by The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative, developed by NYC Department of City Planning, which lays out potential changes throughout the city that will be significant and could have detrimental effects on the cherished neighborhood of Woodlawn.

Kingsbridge Library Reopens

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Kingsbridge Library has reopened following a temporary closure in late January which continued into February and which, according to the New York Public Library press office, was due to repairs to its HVAC unit, which library officials said was causing a lack of heat in the building, located at 291 West 231st Street in Kingsbridge.

Wakefield: Police Appeal to Public to Help Identify Hospitalized Man

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The NYPD is asking for the public’s help identifying the man seen in the attached photo who was assisted at Wakefield subway station last December and later transported to a local hospital.

UPDATE Bedford Park: Man Arrested, Woman Fatally Shot, One Teen, One Child Stable in Early Morning Tragedy

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Four days before Valentine’s Day, ironically, tragedy has struck the Bedford Park community by Valentine’s Avenue and East 203rd Street once more, as a woman, a teen, and a young child were seemingly gunned down in their home in the early hours of Saturday morning. The woman is dead and the two other victims are stable, police said.

Marta Gavora the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ of Microbiology Retires After 54 Years

By AMY SACKS & SÍLE MOLONEY

When Marta Gavora immigrated to the United States from communist Czechoslovakia with her younger sister in 1969, she was just 23 years old and spoke no English. While helping to organize the Dermatological Symposium held in Bratislava in then-Czechoslovakia, in 1966, she came across a scientific paper presented by a Montefiore physician.

Love Your Heart During American Heart Month & Forever!

By ARIEL PACHECO & SÍLE MOLONEY

Heart disease is preventable, yet it is the leading cause of death in the United States according to the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI) with more than 800,000 people dying of cardiovascular disease every year. Despite this, a recent poll conducted by Harris and the American Heart Association found that more than half of U.S. residents are unaware of these facts.