Gary LaMotta, the longtime principal of PS/MS 280, one of the northwest Bronx and District 10’s most successful schools, was reassigned on Feb. 5 to the Region One office pending an internal investigation.

A controversial confidentiality agreement is threatening to derail the selection process as New York City searches for a developer to renovate the Kingsbridge Armory in the northwest Bronx.

John Reilly loves his home on 202nd Street near the Grand Concourse, the home his grandfather purchased that now houses a fourth generation of Reilly’s. But while he never considered the house to be on beachfront property, his insurance company, Allstate, decided the home was too close to the Atlantic coast and for that reason would not renew his policy after over 20 years of coverage.

A fire broke out in a restaurant kitchen on Feb. 12, and by the time 168 firefighters tamed it two and a half hours later, a decade’s worth of Kingsbridge Road businesses had gone up in smoke.

When it comes to choosing a development proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory is the city interested in what the community thinks, or isn’t it?

The race to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory into a massive mixed-use facility is now a three-way contest. While the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the quasi-public entity spearheading the Armory’s development, remains tight-lipped about which developers submitted proposals, the Norwood News learned that three candidates have thrown their hats in the ring.

Reform is the buzz word hovering over the New York state legislature. Playing a vital role in any kind of reform movement will be how the state deals with member items – funds distributed by state senators and members of the Assembly for local projects in their districts. Through this series, the Norwood News will examine how member items are distributed by local lawmakers, how these funds assist local organizations, and what happens when they are distributed improperly.

We were pleased to learn at a recent meeting of Community Board 7, that the Board is planning to create a Web site this year. As Long Term Planning Committee chair Paul Foster said at the meeting, "It’s impossible to be a community board [in the 21st century] without a Web site."

When the AMPARK Neighborhood School opened Sept. 5, it marked the end of an exhaustive effort by Amalgamated parents to bring a school to their community. “People have wanted this school for a long time,” says Principal Betty Lopez-Towey, explaining why, in its first year, AMPARK already has a thriving PTA. “I’m here until eight at night all the time because we have so many committees.”