CITYWIDE

TENANTS GROUPS TO RALLY AGAINST EVICTION NOTICES

Tenants groups are planning to rally today outside the city’s Housing Court on Centre Street to support their claim that they are being unfairly forced out of their apartments by owners planning to convert rental buildings into condominiums. Attorneys representing tenants of the Sheffield building at 357 W. 57th Street will argue that eviction notices they received violate their rights under fair housing laws. Dozens of condominium conversions are planned across the city, affecting thousands of residents. Building owners have argued they are operating within the law.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CONFERENCE EXPLORES TECH IMPACT ON POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Technological innovation, from blogs to podcasting to the expansion of broadband Internet access, has forever changed the nature of American political communication, participants in a political technology conference agreed yesterday. At the Google Incorporated-sponsored Personal Democracy Forum, an annual conference exploring the intersection of technology and politics, participants exchanged ideas on marshaling the power of the Internet to boost citizen participation in politics. But the well-wired group was also warned that the bells and whistles of technology are no substitute for human interaction. “Get off the computer. Any long-term political movement demands personal relationships,” the co-founder of RedState.org, a conservative blog, Mike Krempasky, said.

– Associated Press

TRANSIT OFFICIAL: COMMERCIALS TO BE TESTED ON SUBWAY TUNNEL WALLS

Commuters staring out subway car windows may soon have a lot more to look at than black tunnel walls. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will place electronic panels capable of broadcasting commercials on the walls of some subway tunnels, said Roco Krsulic, who heads the MTA’s real estate and advertising department. Advertisements on the panels will be displayed at rates determined by train speeds – allowing riders to get a clear look.

– Associated Press

NEW STEM CELL LAB TO FOCUS ON LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE

A privately funded stem cell laboratory that will focus on Lou Gehrig’s disease and related illnesses opened yesterday. The laboratory is a joint venture between Columbia University and an organization devoted to finding treatments and a cure. It is financed by Project A.L.S., which is based in New York. The initials stand for the formal name of the disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

– Associated Press

BROOKLYN

BROOKLYN COLLEGE SAYS IT’S INVESTIGATING REPORTS OF DAMAGED ART

Brooklyn College said yesterday it was investigating claims that students’ artworks were damaged and lost when they were moved from a city-owned war memorial because parks officials deemed them inappropriate for the space.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

OFFICIALS HAIL HIGH COURT RULING AS VICTORY

SYRACUSE – New York officials described the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal yesterday to review a Cayuga Indian land claim appeal as a decisive victory. The Cayuga Indian Nation of New York and Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma – joined by the federal government – had asked the nation’s top court to reverse last year’s dismissal of the land claim and $247.9 million judgment by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case leaves standing the circuit court ruling.

– Associated Press

DAUGHTER OF ACTRESS DIANNE WIEST PLEADS GUILTY TO LARCENY CHARGE

The daughter of Oscar-winning actress Dianne Wiest, accused along with two other girls of jumping a schoolmate and taking his iPod last year, pleaded guilty yesterday to a theft charge in connection with the incident. Emily Wiest, 18, entered the plea of guilty to petit larceny in Manhattan Criminal Court in exchange for a sentence of two days community service and restitution of $150. Ms. Wiest, whose mother was in court, will be allowed to do the community service in Florida where she will live.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN CHIMNEY BURGLARY SUSPECT HELD ON $10,000 BAIL

A burglary suspect, rescued after being stuck in a chimney for nearly eight hours, was held on $10,000 bail yesterday after he appeared in court, his face smeared with what appeared to be soot. Serafin Gomez Sanchez, 24, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of second-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Judge Tanya Kennedy set the bail and scheduled his next court appearance for Friday.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

MTA: SUBWAY RIDERSHIP REACHES RECORD HIGH

The total ridership on New York City subways and buses is up, including a record-high number of subway riders in March, transit officials reported yesterday. The average number of daily riders on subways and buses in March rose 3.1% to 7.4 million riders compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, subway ridership alone – up 3.1% in March compared to last year – accounted for 4.9 million average daily riders, the most recorded since officials began keeping track in 1970. Transit officials attributed the rise to MetroCard discounts, among other things.

– Special to the Sun

POLICE SEARCH FOR MISSING STUDENT

Police are searching for a missing Columbia University student who disappeared last week just shy of completing the final two exams required of him before graduation. As of yesterday, police said the engineering student, Richard Ng, 22, was listed as a missing person. Mr. Ng was last seen May 7 around 9:30 p.m. when he left his Morningside Heights dorm room. Published accounts indicate Mr. Ng may have looked for directions to the Brooklyn Bridge on his computer before his disappearance, although police yesterday declined to say whether investigators were concentrating their search in any particular area.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

TWO NEW YORKERS AMONG FOUR MARINES KILLED IN IRAQ ACCIDENT

A vehicle accident in Iraq has claimed the lives of four Marines, including two from New York. The Department of Defense said in a statement yesterday that the accident took place in the Anbar province on Friday. Among those killed were Second Lieutenant Licalzi, 24, of Garden City, and Corporal Steve Vahaviolos, 21, of Airmont.

– Associated Press

CIVIL LIBERTARIANS SAY DNA DATABASE EXPANSION WOULD NET INNOCENT

ALBANY – Civil liberties groups argued yesterday that New York State should not rush into expanding its criminal DNA database, citing concerns over human error and cases in which local authorities have kept genetic samples from people who have not been charged with crimes. Law enforcement officials, including the New York State District Attorney’s Association, are backing a law proposed by Governor Pataki requiring DNA collection from all convicted criminals to create what they say would be the most comprehensive DNA database in the nation.

– Associated Press

HANDYMAN GETS LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDER OF SUBURBAN HOUSEWIFE

NEW CITY – A laborer who murdered a suburban housewife in her bedroom was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole after the widower tearfully told the court how the killer “beat, cut, raped, sodomized, and strangled the greatest love of my life.” “How any human being could inflict so much pain is beyond my comprehension,” the husband of victim Mary Nagle and father of their two children, Daniel Nagle, said. Looking at the killer, Douglas Herrera Castellanos, he said, “I hope that you wake up every single day and know that you ended your life on the same day you ended Mary’s.”

– Associated Press

TRISTATE

CASE PITS DEMOCRATIC PARTY BOSS AGAINST LOBBYIST

TRENTON, N.J. – A former lobbyist accused of stalking the head of the state Democratic Party is undergoing court-ordered counseling to keep her criminal record clean and hoping that her life gets back on track. Karen Golding says the relationship between her and Assemblyman Joe Cryan started as a friendship nearly 10 years ago and then blossomed before collapsing in a swirl of criminal accusations. Those culminated in February with the ex-girlfriend arrested. She placed a successful afterhours call to Governor Corzine to bail her out of jail. Ms. Golding, 36, is accused of sending threatening e-mails, letters, and phone messages to Mr. Cryan and two women he dated, and of breaking into his car while it was parked in a Statehouse garage on February 6.

– Associated Press

EX-SOLICITOR GENERAL TO HELP IN SKAKEL APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT

HARTFORD, Conn. – A former U.S. solicitor general will help a Kennedy cousin, Michael Skakel, appeal his murder conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying yesterday the case will focus on when the charges were filed. Theodore Olson has argued 43 cases before the nation’s highest court, including representing President Bush in the disputed presidential race of 2000.

– Associated Press