BRONX

TRUCK BURSTS INTO FLAMES, KILLING DRIVER
An 18-wheel tanker-truck carrying home heating fuel burst into flames after capsizing at the top a hill on the northbound side of Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx yesterday. The driver was killed, though no other injuries were reported. The Fire department received reports of the accident at 2:02 p.m., and within 10 minutes they elevated the situation to a third alarm, requiring the deployment of 33 trucks and 138 firefighters.

The burning oil ran down the hill,igniting several parked cars, though, by 3:21 p.m. fire fighters had extinguished the conflagrations.

Both sides of the boulevard had to be closed, and service was suspended until 4:30 p.m. on the no. 6 train between Third Avenue and 138th Street and the Parkchester stop. Amtrak suspended service between Pennsylvania Station and New Haven, Conn. Runoff from the accident entered the sewers, though it was contained at the Hunts Point treatment plant. The state’s environmental conservation department was set to investigate once the wreckage had cooled. It is not known what company owned the truck.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

BUSINESS COUNCIL FIGHTING BUDGET-ALTERING AMENDMENT
The Business Council of New York State, an independent watchdog group, launched a Web site yesterday,www.hightaxesnewyork.com, to combat a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would fundamentally alter its budget process. Proposal 1 on November’s ballot would allow the state Legislature to ignore the governor’s budget until the present deadline for action had passed. At that point, it would simply adopt the previous year’s budget as a starting off point from which to propose its own modifications – mostly, the Web site cautions, spending increases. Currently, if the legislature misses this deadline, it sacrifices all paychecks until it acts on the governor’s budget. “New York needs budget reform, but this isn’t it – as this Web site will show,” the president of the Business Council, Daniel Walsh, said. The site includes a report and fact sheet on the proposal, ideas for alternate reform, and editorials from several New York papers, including The New York Sun.

– Special to the Sun

CITYWIDE

BLOOMBERG PLACES MEAT Y BET ON YANKEES
Mayor Bloomberg put his pastrami where his mouth is and bet the mayor of Anaheim, Calif., a pile of pastrami that the Yankees will defeat the Angels in the American League division series. The Anaheim mayor, Curt Pringle, wagered a crate of oranges, a surfboard, and other California kitsch against Mr. Bloomberg’s wager of 2 pounds of corned beef and brisket, three loaves of rye bread, and 2 pounds of mustard from Katz’s Deli. The bet also included two pizzas from Staten Island and a lemon ice from Queens.

– Special to the Sun

BUTTS ENDORSES BLOOMBERG
A radio campaign ad for Mayor Bloomberg that aired yesterday contained an endorsement from the Reverend Calvin Butts, one of the city’s most influential black leaders. The 60-second ad features Rev. Butts, the pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, touting Mr. Bloomberg’s record on improving schools, reducing crime, and promoting women- and minority-owned businesses. “Michael Bloomberg is man of good deeds – he hasn’t ignored Harlem, he’s been here for us, making a difference,”

Rev. Butts said in the ad: “Time after time, Mike Bloomberg has come to our community to help our organizations survive and thrive.” Previously, Rev. Butts supported Democratic mayoral candidate, C. Virginia Fields, but he quickly endorsed the mayor after Ms. Fields lost in the Democratic primary. At that time, Mr. Bloomberg called the endorsement “significant” and said it could work to counteract the impact of the Reverend Al Sharpton’s endorsement of the Democratic mayoral nominee, Fernando Ferrer.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BUSH MOVES TO MAKE GRAVE SITE A NATIONAL MONUMENT
The White House yesterday moved toward declaring the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan a national monument – a step which could greatly boost federal care for the historic site. In a letter to the secretary of the interior, Gale Norton, President Bush asked the agency to determine whether the burial ground should be declared a national monument “and whether it may warrant permanent federal protection.”

The burial site was uncovered in 1991 during planned building construction in Lower Manhattan near City Hall and across the street from federal offices and courts.

– Associated Press