CITYWIDE

CONGRESSMAN MOVES AGAINST LIFTING BAN ON CERTAIN CARRY-ON ITEMS

A Democratic congressman representing parts of the Bronx and Queens, Joseph Crowley, said he plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit the Transportation Security Administration from lifting a ban on small scissors and other sharp objects in carry-on luggage that has been in place since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Federal transportation officials have said the changes expected to be announced today and go into effect later this month are meant to decrease the wait time for screening passengers at airports, and will not make passengers less safe. Knives and box cutters reportedly will still be banned. Earlier this year, aviation officials lifted bans on nail clippers and knitting needles. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Edward Markey, a Democrat of Massachusetts, will be introduced when Congress is in session next week.

– Special to the Sun

SCAM ARTISTS ROBBING IMMIGRANTS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS

Scam artists and unscrupulous lawyers are preying on immigrants, falsely claiming they can qualify for a late amnesty and robbing them of thousands of dollars. Father Bryan Jordan of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi’s Franciscan Immigration Center said more than 100 illegal immigrants have come to his center in recent months after often paying more than $1,000 for a program for which they do not qualify. The crooks are taking advantage of a rare immigration loophole: Until the end of the month, immigrants who arrived in America before 1982 and would have qualified for the 1986 amnesty can apply for permanent residency due to a few recent legal settlements.

Those who qualify, however, are a very small group. A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Shawn Saucier, said the vast majority of the applications they have received are from immigrants who are not are not eligible. “Those applying for any immigration benefit should be aware that by signing an application or petition containing false statements or inaccurate information you will be held responsible, even if someone else filled out the document,” Mr. Saucier said in a statement. “This can harm your immigration status, your eligibility for future immigration benefits, and could lead to criminal charges.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

REVIEW: $1.1M WENT TO CANDIDATES WITHOUT COMPETITIVE RACES

A preliminary review by the Campaign Finance Board found that $1.1 million in public matching money was doled out to City Council candidates who didn’t have competitive races. The CFB issued a news release yesterday that said 52% of all of the public funds dispersed to council candidates for November’s general election were given to candidates who won by between 60% and 80% of the vote. Critics of the current system are sure to use that finding as ammunition.

They argue that payments for non-competitive races waste taxpayer money and that the system should be reformed so that candidates with token competition do not qualify for the same amount of money in matching funds. The CFB review also found that 10 candidates out of the 24 who had contested primary elections in September won by the same wide margins but received about $761,000 in public matching funds. The issue of matching funds will be one of a number of topics discussed at CFB’s upcoming post-election hearings.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

COUNCIL MEMBER VOICES SUPPORT FOR TERM LIMITS

City Council Member Tony Avella announced his support for term limits in a letter to the 50 other members yesterday. “I find the thought of ignoring the wishes of the citizens of this city by plotting to overturn term limits offensive,” he wrote. New Yorkers voted in favor of term limits in referendums in 1993 and 1996. Six of the seven candidates for council speaker publicly support plans for overturning the law. Mayor Bloomberg has promised to veto any change in the term limit law not passed by referendum. Mr. Avella said that if the council overturns the term limit law, he would not serve a third term.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BRONX

BLOOMBERG: ANHEUSER-BUSCH, BALDOR TO MOVE TO HUNTS POINT

Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that the beer company Anheuser-Busch of New York and a distributor, Baldor Specialty Foods, will move into and expand on city owned sites in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. The companies were selected as part of the city’s effort to spur the existing wholesale food industry in the South Bronx. City officials estimate that the projects will generate more than $50 million in private investment and $40 million in economic activity in the area over the next 20 years.

“It really is a major milestone in reaching the potential of Hunts Point as one of the world’s great food distribution centers,” the deputy mayor for economic development, Daniel Doctoroff, told reporters at the 185,000-square-foot, refrigerated warehouse Baldor is moving to.

The announcement comes just weeks after the famed Fulton Fish Market moved into a new $85 million facility in Hunts Point. Baldor will be leasing an existing building from the city, while Anheuser-Busch plans to build a 167,000-square-foot building. The beverage company will lease the land from the city. The companies plan to invest millions of dollars in the local economy, and the projects are expected to create 900 new jobs.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

TRANSIT WORKER KILLED WHILE WORKING AS FLAGGER

A transit worker was killed at 5:35 a.m. yesterday morning while working as a flagger on a work train near the Jackson Avenue station on the nos. 2 and 5 lines in the Bronx, police said. The 35-year-old black man, whose name police did not identify, was found by coworkers shortly after he left the front of the diesel work train to take his position on the back of the train as it headed toward the train yard in the Bronx. Co-workers found the man unconscious and lying on the floor of the train, with cuts and bruises on his face, police said. The incident is under investigation.

– Special to the Sun

QUEENS

GIRL, 6, DIES AFTER BEING EJECTED FROM VAN IN QUEENS CRASH

A 6-year-old Brooklyn girl was killed yesterday when the van in which she was riding collided with another vehicle that ran a stop sign in Queens, police said. The girl, Samantha Bobbie, was ejected from the van when it hit two parked cars and overturned just after 3 p.m. at 81st Street and 95th Avenue in the Ozone Park section, police said. She died at the scene.

Police said the van was heading north on 80th Street when it was struck by the other vehicle, which was going west on 95th Avenue when it went through the stop sign. An adult and a second child were in the van, and two people were in the other vehicle, a police spokesman, Officer Martin Speechley said.

No further information was immediately available.

– Associated Press