MANHATTAN

KINDERGARTENERS TO GET FULL RIDE TO COLLEGE Four hundred kindergarteners in Harlem found out yesterday they will get a full-ride to the college of their choice, thanks to a new $50 million program sponsored by philanthropist George Weiss.

Mr. Weiss, who has sponsored similar programs in Philadelphia, Hartford, and Cambridge, started the “Say Yes to Education Foundation,” to encourage children to set long-term goals of graduating from high school and attending college. In Philadelphia, 86% of the high-risk children graduated from high school. The figures were similar at the other program sites.

The children, who attend P.S. 161, 180, 57, 83, and 182 in Harlem, will also receive free legal services for the next 15 years from Bingham McCutchen, free books, toys, and clothes, free health care from Harlem Hospital, and other perks.

“Public-private support for our schools is essential to the success of New York City public schoolchildren,” said schools Chancellor Joel Klein at the event. “I am grateful for George Weiss’s commitment to our schools and believe it is testimony to increasing confidence that the system is being turned around.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

OFFICER PLEADS NOT GUILT Y IN PIPE BOMB CASE A former police officer pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges he spread panic in a Times Square subway station by setting off a pipe bomb. A judge declared Joseph Rodriguez, 28, fit to go forward with the felony arson case after reviewing results of a psychological exam. His bail was set at $200,000.

The former officer, who has been jailed since his arrest July 31, appeared in the Manhattan courtroom wearing thick dark glasses and a neck brace. His “not guilty” plea barely rose above a whisper. The homemade bomb was detonated July 19 during Mr. Rodriguez’s last tour as a transit officer. The blast left him slightly injured; it also frightened commuters, delayed train service, and prompted a massive response by police on high alert for terrorism.

– Associated Press

BROOKLYN

REPORT: PRINCIPAL TRIED TO COVER UP FRATERNITY ABUSE The principal at Brooklyn’s Street Academy High School recruited children to join a fraternity, and then, when an adult fraternity representative sexually abused a student, the principal tried to obscure what happened, a report released yesterday found.

The special commissioner of investigation for the city school system, Richard Condon, found the fraternity leader, Robert Tarleton, promised an 18-year-old boy to help him get into Wesleyan University if he would participate in an “initiation.” He then drove the high school senior to a wooded area, told him to pull down his pants and his underwear, “and then proceeded to repeatedly strike his bare bottom with a paddle.”

The report says Tarleton, who has since pleaded guilty to hazing in New Jersey, forced the student to rub oil on his testicles. When the boy reported the incident to his principal, Thomas Baskin-Bey, the principal did not tell the regional superintendent. Rather, he waited a few weeks before contacting the district attorney’s office. When he eventually filed a Department of Education occurrence report, he instructed a subordinate to falsify the report.

A statement from the Department of Education said, “We will take all appropriate steps to implement the Special Commissioner’s recommendation to terminate the employee.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

BLOOMBERG HANDS OUT TAX REBATE CHECKS Mayor Bloomberg passed out the first of his promised property tax refund checks yesterday, announcing that 370,000 checks were going out to homeowners this week and another 245,000 will go out next month.

The state Legislature approved the tax rebate in its last budget. But it was the checks themselves – how they were designed and who signed them – that has been the subject of much behind-the-scenes negotiations around City Hall.

Mr. Bloomberg, who is up for re-election next year, had looked into whether he could sign the checks or put his name on them, officials said. The final product, with his name in the upper left hand corner, makes it look like the rebate has somehow been drawn on his account, even though the check was signed by Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., and the director of finance, Martha Starks.

Mr. Bloomberg proposed the $400 refund during his state of the city address in January, saying he wanted to give some money back to homeowners who were socked with an 18.5% property tax increase. Most owners of one-, two-, and three-family homes, condominiums, and cooperatives are eligible for the $400 rebate. Those who have not applied for the New York State School Tax Relief program need to do so in order to be eligible for the refund. Homeowners have until October 15 to apply.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

COUNCIL SPEAKER OPENS EDUCATION FUNDING HEARINGS City Council Speaker Gifford Miller opened up a new front yesterday in his all-but-announced campaign to replace Mayor Bloomberg, as he kicked off hearings that will help the council prepare a long-term education plan.

The city is expected to get an additional $4 billion to $5 billion in education funding after a panel of three court-appointed “special masters” determine an exact figure and establish a process for spending it on November 30.

Yesterday’s hearing was the first of seven that will be held by a special commission charged with preparing a council education plan. Already the state Senate, the state Assembly, Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, and the Campaign for Fiscal Equity have proposed plans of their own. The Campaign for Fiscal Equity is the nonprofit organization that litigated the question of school funding for New York City children for the last 14 years.

Though the speaker himself did not refer to Mayor Bloomberg’s plan in his opening remarks, the members of the commission, all of whom were appointed by the council, made it clear they were displeased with the current proposal from the city. In particular they cited the lack of detail on how the money will be spent and the lack of public input in the plan’s creation.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

THREE CHARGED WITH STEALING FROM CHURCH The former clerk of a Jamaica church, her husband, and a former pastor were charged in Queens Supreme Court with stealing nearly half a million dollars from the church.

Anna and Barry Kilpatrick, both 47, of Freeport, pleaded not guilty to charges of grand larceny and falsifying business records before Justice James Griffin, according to the office of the Queens district attorney. Mrs. Kilpatrick is accused of fraudulently negotiating checks totaling $260,000 from the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church during an eight-year period ending in 2003. Mr. Kilpatrick allegedly embezzled $70,600 in checks.

The church’s former pastor, Charles Betts, 68, of Brandon, Fla., allegedly embezzled $165,000 through writing fraudulent checks and racking up credit card bills for his own benefit. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

The Kilpatricks are accused of embezzling funds to finance their vacation in Hawaii, their mortgage, and summer school for their children. According to the DA’s office, the fraud was uncovered when the church received a bankcard in the mail in Mrs. Kilpatrick’s name and conducted an audit. Bail was set at $150,000 for Mrs. Kilpatrick and $50,000 for Mr. Kilpatrick.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE SEARCH FOR SUSPECT IN ROBBERY, SEX ASSAULT Police are asking for public assistance in apprehending a suspect in a robbery and attempted sexual assault. According to police, on September 25, the suspect entered a business and assaulted the store clerk, a 20-year-old woman, with a gun, striking her on the head with the butt of the weapon. He then forced her into a back room and attempted to sexually assault her. The victim struggled, and the suspect fled. The suspect then escaped with some of the victim’s personal property and an undisclosed amount of cash from the store.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic man between 20 and 25 years old, 5-feet-7 inches to 5-feet-8 inches tall, and weighing 150 pounds with a medium complexion. He was also described as wearing a long, dark T-shirt, blue jeans, and a dark baseball cap. Police are asking anyone with information about the suspect to call Crimestoppers at 800-577-TIPS, or the Brooklyn Special Victim Squad at 718-230-4418. A reward of up to $2,000 is being offered.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SILVER STORE STRUCK TWICE BY ROBBERS A silver antiques store in Manhattan was robbed of more than $100,000 worth of merchandise yesterday, only three weeks after a similar robbery at the same store, police said.

The Silver Fund Antiques Store at 1001 Madison Ave. was robbed between 6 p.m. Monday night and 4:15 a.m. yesterday morning, police said.

On September 14 at 3:53 a.m., the Silver Fund was robbed of more than $100,000 worth of merchandise by an unknown suspect, who broke through the front window and cut through a metal barrier to get inside.

Police have no suspects in either robbery, and the investigation is continuing.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun