2007 was a banner year for bringing more local media to many more west Bronx residents.

2007 brought resolution – at least in court – to a 2006 child abuse case that shocked the Bronx and the city, when those responsible for the brutal beating death of 4-year-old Quachaun Browne were convicted and sentenced.

After being reassigned to the city Education Department’s Region One offices last February pending an internal investigation, former PS/MS 280 Principal Gary LaMotta quietly retired over the summer.

Deputy Inspector James Alles took over command of the 52nd Precinct, ending the lengthy (three and a half year) run of Deputy Inspector Joseph Hoch, who moved on to run the Bronx transit division.

An enduring neighborhood mystery was partially solved in 2007. The bones of Florence Bock, a woman in her 80s who lived at 3280 Perry Ave. were discovered in her home when workers were cleaning out the house for a new owner.

Local groups staged not one, not two, but three spirited rallies last summer in front of the vacant Fordham Library building in the northwest Bronx demanding the building be turned over to the community.

This fall, when northwest Bronx homeowners began losing their homes at an increasingly high rate to foreclosure, housing advocates pointed to a half decade of subprime lending practices, which left borrowers with high monthly payments they simply couldn’t keep up with.

Last winter, the Norwood News reported that a majority among the Fordham Hill Owners Cooperative’s Board of Directors had begun making a string of sweeping changes at the high-end University Heights housing cooperative.

The construction of a new track and field at Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood and three new synthetic ball fields at Harris Park in Bedford Park has heated up a debate among local residents about which surface – grass or synthetic turf – is better and safer for city parks.