The story of contamination at Harris Field appears in our top stories because it would not have been a story at all if a Norwood News reporter had not asked the simple question: what’s taking so long?

The term “quality of life” can mean many things. It can range from the graffiti on your apartment building, to the dog poop on your sidewalk and even the blatant drug deal in front of your children. These are the negative things that bring down property values and affect the quality of your life.

In 2009, local residents in Community Board 7, from Bronx Community College to Woodlawn Cemetery, expressed deep concerns about quality of life issues in their neighborhoods.

Less than 18 months ago, Fernando Cabrera was a college professor living in Westchester County who spent his spare time leading the Morris Avenue church he founded two decades ago.

On Jan. 1 he will become a New York City councilman and recently, weeks before officially taking office, he played a central role in helping to stop one of the biggest development projects in Bronx history.

The problems with local school overcrowding and the Croton Water Filtration Plant are well-documented and, unfortunately, not going away any time soon.

A listing of arts, entertainment and recreational activities for all our readers in the Bronx and beyond.

A listing of services, programs, events and announcements for all our readers in the Bronx and beyond.

The City Council voted nearly unanimously on Monday to defeat a developer’s proposal, backed strongly by Mayor Bloomberg, to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall.

The vote was 45 to 1. Only Helen Sears of Queens dissented. Council members said it was the first time they had defeated an economic project backed by the Bloomberg administration.

During the holiday season on Kingsbridge Road, colorful, festive items from local mom and pop shops spill out onto the sidewalk as passersby cheerfully make their purchases. However, many feet above the holiday crowds, the empty towers of the Kingsbridge Armory loom over the street like an eerie castle-and they will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

After listening to the Department of Education’s underwhelming report on new school construction, Deria Senac called for an intervention of supernatural proportions to solve the northwest Bronx’s overcrowding crisis. "We need a volcanic intervention to create more land for schools," she said.