•    Community Board 7 will hold its general meeting at Kittay House’s Fox Auditorium, located at 2550 Webb Ave. For all Community Board 7 committee meetings, call (718) 933-5650 or visit www.bronxcb7.info.

Community Board 7 and the Department of City Planning are holding a public hearing on Thursday, Nov. 4, as part of the city’s official land use review process as it weighs the merits of a rezoning initiative sponsored by the Board.

Some 5,000 cyclists tackled the 15th annual Tour de Bronx, the largest free biking event in the state, on Sunday, Oct. 24.

Last spring, a portfolio of buildings in the northwest Bronx caught the attention of housing advocates due to an onslaught of complaints from tenants who described horrendous living conditions.

The properties were owned by Milbank Real Estate, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles that purchased the buildings during the boom times with a risky $35 million mortgage. In 2009, Milbank defaulted on the loan, sending the properties into foreclosure proceedings. The buildings are now in the hands of a servicer, LNR Property Corp., which has been looking to sell them to a new owner.

Since foreclosure began, Milbank tenants have seen conditions in their homes deteriorate. The 10 properties have over 3,000 housing violations among them-rodents, mold infestations, leaking ceilings and rotting floors are the norm. For months, at protest rallies, prayer vigils and in the courts, these tenants, with the support of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, have pleaded for help to make their homes livable again.

But there’s some good news.

This year the Tour de Bronx honored the memory of Norwood resident Megan Charlop, a tireless health advocate, who died in a bicycle accident last March.

A new city proposal to ban the use of food stamps to buy soda and other sugar-heavy drinks has sparked a fervent debate among health advocates.

The Food Education Project at Montefiore Medical Center held its second workshop-type session two weeks ago. It focused on choosing healthy products at the supermarket. Guest speaker and seasoned chef, Allison Fishman (pictured), author of "Cook Yourself Thin" and former co-host of TLC’s "Home Made Simple," led the hour-long session on buying healthy and tasty foods.

After taking a tour of several dilapidated Bronx apartment buildings, officials from the city’s Department of Housing and Preservation vowed to take more aggressive action in getting the properties repaired and livable.

Following a recent rash of gay teen suicides and homophobic attacks in the city, a gruesome hate crime struck home for Morris Heights’ residents, making a bad situation worse for the borough’s community as a whole, especially the gay populace.