Hundreds of trees have been planted on local streets in recent weeks, part of the mayor’s Million Trees Project.

Trees help the air we breathe and make our urban neighborhoods more attractive.

To make sure this massive green investment flourishes, we all should act as stewards of local trees.

Residents can adopt trees outside their buildings, merchants can tend trees in front of their stores, and local schools, houses of worship and community groups can care for nearby trees.

According to the Parks Department, watering trees is the most important thing you can do. Next on the list are removing weeds and removing waste.

On the last day in April, a woman came into the recreation center and complained that a group of children were picking on a baby squirrel. Senior Coordinator Noel Pesante, Deputy Manager Sheroly Jones and Maintenance Supervisor Annmarie Alston went outside and picked up the little creature and brought it inside. Noel put the baby inside a box, covered it, and searched the Internet for information on baby squirrels. Since the kids had carried the squirrel around, its mother could not be found. Its life was now in Noel’s hands.

I strongly disagree with the headline of your April 30 edition, "Living Wage Hopes for Armory Dashed." My hopes are not dashed at all. The article states that Jesse Masyr, a lawyer for the Related Companies, "put an end to any hopes of securing living wage jobs, saying that if all they were looking for in a benefits agreement was living wage jobs, he could put an end to the discussion right there. The answer would be no."

The Norwood News arts, entertainment and social events calendar for our readers in the Bronx and beyond.

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

The New York Botanical Garden inaugurated the vegetable planting season in its sprawling Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden on Friday. Local schoolkids from PS 205 on Webster Avenue and PS 46 on East 198th Street participated. Officials talked to the children about the importance of fruits and vegetables in a balanced diet and eating healthily, especially in a borough with alarming rates of childhood obesity and diabetes. Following the ceremony, Garden staff and elected officials traveled by van to the Garden of Happiness, a community garden on Prospect Avenue, where children from nearby PS 211 planted and tended to garden

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Hopes faded last week that a revamped Kingsbridge Armory will bring well-paying jobs to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Bronx.

During a closed-door meeting at the offices of Community Board 7 in Bedford Park, Jesse Masyr, a lawyer for the Armory’s designated developer, the Related Companies, told community representatives that the project would not go forward with guarantees for living wage jobs – $10 and hour, plus benefits, as defined by the City Council.

With an Army Reserve Center in Wakefield closing and the city controlling the redevelopment process for the building, activists see new hope for schools at the Armory.

Childcare advocates and parents across the city are upset as the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), which funds one of the largest subsidized daycare systems in the country, closes kindergarten classrooms and cuts funding for pre-K in an effort to close a $62 million budget gap.