Here’s another mess the Norwood News would like to highlight near 199th Street and Marion Avenue. Notice the sheer magnitude of messiness. This trash-strewn parking lot is not only surrounded by graffiti, but its sole inhabitant is an abandoned old car on one wheel. In fact, we’re nominating it for mess of the year right now and it’s only March. We dare you to top it. Please send Mess of the Year entries to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org.

A listing of community services, programs and events for our readership in the northwest Bronx.

I listing of entertainment and community events for our readership in the northwest Bronx.

Leaders at a Norwood-area mosque say their landlord is not only verbally threatening and harassing them, but also using them as a scapegoat for $9,000 worth of repair work that they say they had nothing to do with.

For the decade that ended last spring, the DeKalb Avenue Crew operated as a vast and violent drug organization that collected some $5 million in drug money and killed at least four people in the process, according to a federal indictment released two weeks ago.

As a prime example of how this rock of an institution has evolved since it first began 100 years ago, St. Brendan’s Catholic Church held a spirited multicultural festival a couple of Saturdays ago on Feb. 23.

When school principals got to school on Jan. 31, many were surprised to discover that their school budgets had shrunk overnight. The city Department of Education (DOE) announced it is cutting $100 million from school budgets across the city. That means each school will face a 1.75 percent reduction, ranging from $9,000 to $447,587 per school.

On the heels of a recent citywide education budget cut, and a decrease in expected funding for education from the state, city and state leaders met at Lehman College in the Bronx to discuss strategies for getting more students to stay in school.

At a meeting two weeks ago, city investigators would not say whether or not there had been any criminal influence involved in the enormous, highly controversial and over-budget Croton Water Filtration Plant project in Van Cortlandt Park. They did say, however, that the investigation into potential mob ties related to the project is ongoing.