As usual, we encourage all of our readers to take part in the democratic process by participating in the primary on Sept. 13, where candidates for City Council, mayor and public advocate will be on the ballot. If you want information about where to vote, call (212) VOTE-NYC. If you are not already registered to vote, you won’t be able to vote in the primary, but you will be registered in time to vote in the November general election if you call the same phone number and ask them to send you a voter registration form.

Two years ago, Veralyn Williams, a senior at DeWitt Clinton High School, looked forward to attending a prestigious private college. But she soon learned from her parents she would not be able to attend a private school because she was not a citizen, did not have a green card and was not eligible for financial aid.

Three venerable providers of youth programs lost their city contracts last month under a reorganized system for after-school services. One agency, the Tolentine Zeiser Community Life Center, has already shuttered its program and laid off staff, and others are wondering how they will keep their offerings afloat.

Janet Graham and Carlos Mendoza stood on the Williams Bridge station platform one recent Friday waiting to board the 5:21 p.m. Metro-North train to North White Plains. Graham, who works at Montefiore Medical Center, was waiting to go home. Mendoza, who works nights in Westchester County, was just beginning his day. That Friday, like every day, they boarded the train in Norwood and didn’t get off until they reached North White Plains.

Dial 311, wait, and lodge a complaint about landlord negligence. Thousands of people perform this civic ritual every month, according to the mayor’s office of operations, hoping that the condition they’ve called about will be resolved. However, 311 calls mainly highlight problems in individual apartments, rather than in entire buildings or the landlords who own them. Now, for irresponsible landlords across the city, those calls are starting to add up.

When the borough’s new regional library opens early next year on Kingsbridge Road, community advocates want to make sure that two North Fordham streets in the immediate vicinity are no longer eyesores.

We thought it would be useful to explain the roles of the different sections on the editorial and opinion pages and how we choose what to print here. Credit goes to Bernard Stein, former editor of The Riverdale Press, for suggesting this in a workshop we attended several years ago.

The recent news reports from Israel and Palestine have been depressingly familiar: a Palestinian suicide bomber strikes. Israeli soldiers take over a West Bank town. Palestinians send rockets into Israel. Israel responds by destroying seven alleged weapons factories with helicopter gunships and amasses troops at the border for an invasion.

For as long as there’s been the New York Public Library system, there’s been the summer reading program, to encourage city kids to continue learning when school is not in session. This year’s program theme is "Tune In at Your Library," and the Fordham branch has a number of eager participants