During Monday’s so-called State of the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) address, Executive Director Eliot Sander talked about expanding Metro-North service to Co-op City, Parkchester and Hunts Point in the Bronx. As for the northwest Bronx, Sander also mentioned a possible northeastern extension of the D train to connect it with the 2 and 5 train subway stations across the Bronx River at Gun Hill Road. He said the Metro-North Williams Bridge station nearby could then be combined into a new mega-transportation hub offering easier access to Manhattan.

Council Member Oliver Koppell expressed disapproval of a number of the ideas in the NYC Department for the Aging (DFTA)’s "modernization plans" at a public forum in February.

Congressman Eliot Engel is cosponsoring the “James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2007.” The bill provides for guaranteed medical assistance for anyone who has been injured as a result of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks.

The Internal Revenue Service is mailing out letters throughout the month of March to over 130 million American households, reminding them to file a 2007 tax return to receive a 2008 economic stimulus payment.

A listing of upcoming public and community meetings in the northwest Bronx.

Bronx housing specialist Greg Jost took his experience and knowledge to Capitol Hill last week, testifying about the subprime mortgage crisis during a hearing chaired by a local lawmaker.

The Greek philosopher Diogenes walked around Athens in the daytime with a lighted lamp. He said he was looking for an honest man. There are no reports that he ever found one. We can all be excused for feeling like Diogenes while walking along, say, Jerome Avenue up by Van Cortlandt Park.

To the left is a filtration plant construction project where people in charge of large portions of it are accused in a 170-page indictment of taking money in return for hiring particular trucking companies. These latest revelations come on the heels of truly unbelievable cost overruns.

To the right is 213th Street, a block that has long had a serious drug problem. Twenty-two people have been arrested for participating in that trade and four related murders.

While it’s been a bad few weeks for a very small area, with crimes left and right, there is an up side to the situation.

As Jennifer DeYoung is absolutely right that “changing union representation can get complicated” [“Fordham Guards Rally for Job Security,” Feb. 21–March 5 issue], please let me clear up two misconceptions about union recognition and job security for the security officers at Fordham University. If a new security contractor replaces Summit Security, they do not have to recognize Allied International Union — particularly if a majority of officers sign cards withdrawing their support for them. Even if Allied had a 10-year contract with Summit, the contract would have no effect at Fordham if the university hired a different security contractor. As for

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On a Saturday afternoon, Amy, 3, helps her father Ebelio Veras, the superintendent of 300 E. 201st St., blot out fresh graffiti. Veras said it had just been put there within the hour, and that he touches up the walls of the apartment building every week.  He said he has notified police, who say there is nothing they can do unless they see the writers in the act.