Yet another potential candidate, Randi Martos, who has expressed interest in Council Member Oliver Koppell’s seat, is now Jeff Dinowitz’s new chief of staff, the assemblyman announced last week.

While there may have been some confusion about the upcoming primary, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz has released a statement explaining that there will be no primary in the Bronx on Sept. 18.

The trail leading to the heart of the biggest story in New York City over the past two weeks – the death of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero and the mysterious company hired to do the demolition work there – can be traced all the way up to the northwest Bronx.

Teresita E. Fajardo, the new principal of St. Philip Neri School in Bedford Park, officially started on Sept. 1, but in the first week of August, she was already booked solid with appointments with veteran teachers, new hires and other members of the community.

Proud parents and their backpack-toting kids descended upon the campus of PS 15, just north of Bronx Community College in University Heights, for the first day of public school on Tuesday. It’s a bittersweet occasion that unofficially marks the beginning of fall and the end of summer.

Despite laws requiring large firms to award a percentage of subcontracting jobs to certified minority contractors on large public projects like the Croton Water Treatment Plant in Van Cortlandt Park, small contractors are finding that the certification process, high insurance costs and a lack of political connections make it tough to win bids.

As we report in this issue, the Parks Department is about to embark on a desperately needed rehab of Williamsbridge Oval Park, Norwood’s most active and much loved green space. The $13.5 million allocated for the project – from that controversial deal that swapped the giant filtration plant being built in nearby Van Cortlandt Park for improvements to Bronx parks – sounds like a lot of money, but it is, unfortunately, not sufficient to address all the park’s needs.

How many parents of public school students could pass a pop quiz on the latest reforms of the system? Would any of them know where to seek help for their child if they can’t get it at their school? (Answer: the new local Office of Parent engagement).

The decrepit fencing around Oval Park has become a safety hazard. This time it fell down on the grass. Next time it could be on a car or a person. See editorial.