CITYWIDE

REPORT: STUDENTS DUE THOUSANDS IN REFUNDS

Hundreds of students at three city high schools were deprived of refunds from money they paid to take the College Board Advanced Placement Examinations between 2002-05, according to a city investigation released yesterday. The money was collected at Brooklyn Technical High School, Stuyvesant High School, and the Bronx High School of Science, the report from the special commissioner of investigation for the New York City school district, Richard Condon, said. According to the report, each of the three schools collected more than $70,000 due back to the students. At Brooklyn Tech, students were owed $76,678 for 1,511 AP exams; at Stuyvesant, it was $71,272 for 1,571 tests, and for Bronx Science, it was approximately $73,000 for 1,421 tests.

– Associated Press

MAYOR GIVES $30 MILLION TO GRANT-MAKING FOUNDATION

Hundreds of neighborhood arts and social service groups will benefit from a donation of more than $30 million, the Carnegie Corporation of New York said yesterday. The gift came from an anonymous donor, but was easily traced to Mayor Bloomberg, who has given $85 million to Carnegie through the years. The billionaire mayor’s annual contributions to the grant-making foundation have steadily increased, ranging from $5 million to the $20 million he gave last year.

– Associated Press

PARENTS, TEACHERS UNION LINE UP IN OPPOSITION TO CELL PHONE BAN

Parents and the city’s teachers union have already lined up in opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on cell phones in city schools, and today the City Council will have its say. An overwhelming majority of council members have sponsored a bill that would allow students to carry cell phones to and from school “for the purpose of being used outside of school for safety reasons.” The bill, which is being introduced today at a joint hearing hosted by the committees on education and public safety, would amend the city’s administrative code. For years, the city turned a blind eye to cell phones in schools unless they rang during class or caused a disruption.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

HEALTH DEPT.: EFFORTS TO CURB SMOKING NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP RATE DOWN

Current efforts to curb smoking in New York City are not enough to keep smoking rates on the decline, according to the New York City Department of Health. The health department announced yesterday that smoking rates have leveled off. The first two years after the 2002 smoking ban saw a decrease to 18.4% from 21.6%, but the 2005 Community Health Survey indicated that 18.9% of New Yorkers smoke – essentially no change from the year before. Health department officials attribute the leveling off to the advertising investments made by the tobacco industry that the health department could not match.

– Special to the Sun

ALLSTATE GIVES CABDRIVER ACCOLADES FOR SAFE DRIVING

On June 6 at the South Street Seaport, Cliff Adler was presented with a check for $2,500 from Allstate; he was named the safest cabdriver in New York City by the insurance company. Allstate paid for all the rides in Mr. Adler’s taxi between June 6 and June 9. This was all part of a promotion by the insurance company to promote its new “Your Choice” auto insurance. The criteria for the award, set by Allstate and the Taxi and Limousine Commission, were number of years on the job and overall accident history. Mr. Adler, who has been a New York cabdriver for 30 years, had only one minor accident in the last five years.

– Special to the Sun

ALBANY

BRUNO: WE HAVE NO SUBPOENAS REGARDING LEGISLATURE’S SPENDING

The state Senate Majority leader, Joseph Bruno, said yesterday he has received no subpoenas from Albany County’s district attorney seeking information about the Legislature’s pork-barrel spending. A spokesman for the state Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, said that chamber had also received no such subpoenas. At a state Capitol news conference, Mr. Bruno was asked about a report in yesterday’s Albany Times Union newspaper, quoting an unidentified law enforcement source, that a district attorney, David Soares, has begun an inquiry into the Legislature’s handling of so-called member item grants that go to local programs favored by individual lawmakers.

– Associated Press

STATEWIDE

TEACHERS UNION AGREES TO RETIREMENT PLAN REFORMS

ALBANY – The state’s largest teachers union will pay $100,000 and adopt a series of reforms to end an investigation by office of the attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, into its practice of steering retirement investment business to a Dutch financial company. Under an agreement with ING, the New York State United Teachers union gets $3 million a year for urging its members to enroll in retirement plans that critics say charge high fees that erode returns.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

FOUR SUSPECTS ARRAIGNED IN EAST VILLAGE BIAS ATTACK

Four young men suspected of brutally beating a recording artist in the East Village while yelling antigay slurs have been arraigned on assault charges after the battered singer’s release from the hospital. Akino George, 20, of the Bronx, and Gregory Archie, 18, of Manhattan, were arraigned yesterday in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of first-degree gang assault and first-degree assault as a hate crime in the attack on Kevin Aviance, 38. Jarell Sears, 20, of Newark, N.J., and Gerard Johnson, 16, of Manhattan, were arraigned on the same charges late Monday.

– Associated Press

QUEENS

SMALL FIRE AT KENNEDY AIRPORT STORAGE ROOM; NO INJURIES

A small fire broke out yesterday in the basement of an airline terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport. There were no injuries, and the fire was almost completely extinguished by a sprinkler system, a spokesman said. The fire occurred around 4:30 a.m. in a storage room in the basement of the JetBlue terminal.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

WOMAN ATTACKED IN CENTRAL PARK

A 41-year-old woman was assaulted yesterday in Central Park following a dispute, police said. Police said the woman was fighting with a 45-year-old man who slashed her across the face before fleeing the scene. The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. yesterday outside of the Shakespeare Garden near West 61st Street, police said. The woman, whom police did not identify, was brought to St. Vincent’s Hospital in stable condition, police said. Police said she knew the man, whom police did not name last night.

– Special to the Sun

MAN MISSING AFTER BOAT CAPSIZES

A 36-year-old man went missing yesterday after a fishing boat off the Queens shore capsized yesterday afternoon. Police said four individuals were fishing for flute aboard a 22-foot T-craft yesterday near Breezy Point when the boat began taking in water and sank. A private boat rescued the boat’s 43-year-old owner, as well as 33-year-old and 12-year-old passengers, police said. Divers searching for the fourth man abandoned their search around 6 p.m. last night.

– Special to the Sun