Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Vagrancy 101

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Vagrancy 101: Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, August 15- When one of the priests at St. Frances of Rome Catholic Church...

Vagrancy 101

Wakefield Area News

By Mary V. Lauro

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 15- When one of the priests at St. Frances of Rome Catholic Church in Wakefield stepped outside the Rectory to see what all the fuss was about, he was pelted with stones. The vagrants hid behind cars, the wall and the lone tree on the block. These were the same four children, ages eight to 14, who had tried to enter the closed school adjacent to the Rectory.

Each stone came with a snort and a round of laughter. When told to desist, the laughter morphed into foul language.

Eventually, they left but not satisfied with the mayhem they had caused at St. Frances, they went to St. Anthony Church on Richardson Avenue and pelted whoever entered or left that Rectory with the same glee and vile language in which they seemed to glory.

So sure and so pleased with themselves they persisted in their outrageous behavior until the police caught two of them both aged 14. (It is unknown whether the other two were also finally caught.)

We tell you this because these are our children. We call them vagrants because they are disorderly, not because they have no homes. They live in our community. They go to our schools but that is probably where the problem begins.

We read that our schools are concerned about Math and English scores. It seems we are lagging behind the world in what our children learn, so their days in school are spent in learning how to read better and add better. Apparently there is no time left to teach morals and civic duty which should be the first line of education because without them civilization dies.

While we do not expect our teachers to teach that there is a God who sees in the dark and judges mankind whether young or old, we do expect them to teach that some things are right and some wrong. Let them define the difference between good and evil and the math and reading scores will rise to the level of a child's capacity.

Without such instruction our four vagrants will move on to vandalism and eventually graduate to criminality!

A child is born into civilization, but not born civilized. The child must be trained from the outset. In Switzerland, one does not see any litter in the streets, not a gum wrapper or a cigarette butt. Children are trained early. It is true there are penalties for littering, but they are hardly necessary. One notes that the Swiss have a very low rate of crime.

What a difference in the greatest city in the world. Oh, yes, we have everything one could want except, it seems civility. Our streets are littered with our detritus: the plastic cups and dishes, the wrappings from some item, the half-eaten apple and, oh, yes, the paper receipts from the munimeters. If caught, there are fines, of course, which means that each time we litter we are laughing at the law.

We point out that Wakefield has more churches than Rome, but of the nine sectors in the 47th Precinct, it is the second highest in crime. There is a disconnect here which we will address at some future time, but not before we point out that those four vagrants throwing tones haven't the foggiest notion of right and wrong.

Kuroda Pitches Masterpiece

Yanks Defeat Texas, 3-0

(Photos by Gary Quintal)

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 15- Starters Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Harrison engaged in an exciting pitching duel on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Kuroda was the superior pitcher of the night as he pitched a complete game victory over the Texas Rangers, 3-0. The win moved the Yankees 1.5 games ahead of the Rangers for the best record in the American League.

The Japanese native lived up the complimentary words uttered by Yankee skipper Joe Girardi before the contest, “He’s met our expectations definitely. He has pitched outstanding for us. Each start he really gives us a chance to win. He’s given us distance. He’s been extremely consistent. It’s what we expected when we got him. The one thing we talked about with Hiroki was this guy can really pitch and locate, and he’s done that.”

Kuroda thrilled the 44,533 fans in attendance by pitching no-hit ball through the first six frames. During that time, the only runners were Elvis Andrus, who walked in the first and Mitch Moreland, who walked in the third.

Andrus broke up the no-hitter with an infield single to lead-off the seventh. Josh Hamilton’s long fly to right and a wild pitch moved Andrus to third, where he was stranded when Nelson Cruz grounded out to end the inning.

Michael Young singled through the middle to begin the eighth, the second and final hit for Texas in the game.

After the contest concluded, Girardi’s words of praise for Kuroda were similar to those uttered before the game began, “It was probably our best pitching performance. I saw he was very good early on. It was pretty much fastball, slider to get ahead [of the batters].

The win was Kuroda’s 11^th of the season. Girardi believes, “Realistically, he could have 15 or 16.”

When asked why he allowed Kuroda to complete the game, Girardi responded, “His pitch count was down [and] his pitches were still good.”

Kuroda, through an interpreter, responded to questions regarding how he felt when his no-hitter ended with the following words, “I feel bad; I let down all the fans. I had to regroup myself a little bit. Even if you throw a no-hitter, it’s only one win. The most important thing was for our team to win.”

Texas starter Matt Harrison handled the Yankees easily though 6.1 innings. Derek Jeter led off the first with a single to left field to raise his hitting streak to 10 games. The hit was his 3,243^rd in the majors. Harrison gave up hits to Casey McGhee in the second, Mark Teixeira in the third and McGhee in the fourth.

Jeter, the last batter Harrison faced singled with one out in the seventh. Jeter, with 3,244 hits, needs only eight to tie Napoleon Lajoie for 12^th place in the career rankings for hits. Of Harrison’s performance, Girardi remarked, “He seemed to get better as the game went on.”

Reliever Alexi Ogando gave up home runs to the first two batters against him. Nick Swisher followed Jeter with his 16^th dinger of the year. Mark Teixeira, the next batter, blasted his 23^rd of the 2012 campaign. Enough damage was done by Yankees batters that inning to ensure the victory.

The Yankees hope to increase their seven game winning streak over the Rangers in Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night as Freddy Garcia (6-5) gets the start against Scott Feldman (6-7).

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Dad gets life for beating infant to death in her b...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Dad gets life for beating infant to death in her b...: BRONX, NEW YORK, August 14- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that convicted murderer Lawrence Johnson has been sentenced to a...

Dad gets life for beating infant to death in her bassinet

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 14- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that convicted murderer Lawrence Johnson has been sentenced to a maximum term of up to life imprisonment in the fatal beating of his three-month-old daughter in December 2006.



The 31-year-old Johnson, of 924 East 181st Street, the Bronx, was found guilty in February 2012 of one count of Murder in the second degree for killing Jayla Omari Mystique Johnson.



Acting State Supreme Court Justice Peter Benitez sentenced Johnson to a term of 25 years to life imprisonment for the depraved indifference murder. Johnson must serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.



In the early morning hours of December 1, 2006, Johnson killed his daughter by punching her multiple times in the head while she slept in her bassinet at their home at 924 East 181st Street, the Bronx. Jayla was found dead in the morning by her mother.

On December 2, 2006 Johnson confessed to killing his daughter, but subsequently testified at trial that she could have been injured through a series of accidents and that he was forced to confess to her murder by the police.



The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Militano of the Child Abuse/ Sex Crimes Bureau.

 

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Cougar Gate!

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Cougar Gate!: Could This Be The End For The Rivera Dynasty? (Facebook photos of Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera with her boyfriend/staffer and another...

Cougar Gate!

Could This Be The End For The Rivera Dynasty?

(Facebook photos of Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera with her boyfriend/staffer and another with an unidentified woman.)

By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK, August 13- Could Cougar Gate torpedo the Rivera political dynasty? The fallout from a Facebook page showing Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera in skimpy clothing and talking about her boy toy have constituents wondering if the Morris Park pol’s days are number. 

In addition, officials are looking into why the elected official put her “Hunky Babe,” on payroll for her office even though he worked full time for the Department of Education. 

In what could be larger than the Congressman Weiner scandal, a Sunday New York Post article exposed a secret Facebook page that Bronx Assemblywoman Naomi D. Rivera had where she is just known as Daniela Rivera her middle name. The Post article says that the Facebook page is devoted to a man complete with dozens of photos of her in various poses with her “Hunky Babe,” who was put on her payroll as a full time staffer (according to NYS Comptroller DiNapoli's office, and Assembly records) while he was a full time teacher in Brooklyn. 

The Post article also shows a photo of Assemblywoman Rivera dressed in skimpy clothes with another woman. The Post article continues to say that the man is now seeking a soon to be vacant City Council seat in Williamsburg Brooklyn. It is said that the man did not return calls, and the Post says that Assemblywoman Naomi D. Rivera denied that he had a no show job, but did not respond to requests for an accounting of his work and hours. The Facebook page in question has since been taken down.

We have been told to look into Assemblywoman Rivera's expense reimbursements, because we were told that she may have put in for expenses when she was not in Albany. We tried calling her office and could not get any comment by our deadline. We also called several of Assemblywoman Rivera’s supporters on the Facebook article, again not getting much more than no comment, so she has a Facebook page, and most people do. An interesting curve here is that early last week we were told by a colleague of hers that her father Assemblyman Jose Rivera was in Florida. We were wondering why her father, who also has a primary less than one month from now, would be out of town. We were told that he was at the home of a close friend resting from the stress of several things that has occurred the past two weeks. We called Assemblyman Jose Rivera's office and were told that yes he was in Florida, and was okay when we asked about his health.

There are people who now are calling for not only Assemblywoman Naomi D. Rivera to resign, but also for her father Assemblyman Jose Rivera to step down. The elder Rivera boasted on NY1 Noticias “Pura Polital” that among other things that he wants to run for the city council next year to increase his pension. A city council member makes up to $50,000 a year more than an assemblyman. 

Go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com for the link to the New York Post article on Naomi Daniela Rivera.