The American Red Cross Emergency Communications Service meets on the first Thursday of the month, 8 p.m. at 133-50 41st Ave., Flushing. Call 357-6851. Comment.

The New Theatre Players will conduct auditions for its two new productions Comment.

A look round the room for Claudia Aldamuy, founder of the non-profit children's theater, T.E.E.M. (Teach, Enlighten, Empower, Motivate), can prove perplexing at first. The Springfield Gardens mother of three - her oldest child being 20 - might have you looking for a middle-aged woman. But Aldamuy, when surrounded by her youthful T.E.E.M. troupe, blends right in, proving true the axiom that working with kids keeps one youthful. Comment.

More than 1,000 new subway cars featuring everything from more hand rails for straphangers to grasp to computerized air conditioning and a smoother and quieter ride will go into service in a few months, although none of them will replace the renowned "red bird" cars on the No.7 line. Comment.

Want to be Mr. or Miss Popular? Know the best party games to play with your guests? Do you know what to talk about on your next date? Do you know the three C's behind every pristine credit rating? (For your future reference: Character, Capacity and Capital.) Comment.

Artist Karine Falleni tilts her head in the direction of a Christmas tree nestled in a corner of the Rego Park residence she shares with husband and fellow artist, Dale Rinkowski. Comment.

118-16 Queens Blvd. Forest Hills Comment.

On Sunday evening, Sept. 12, the night of last year's Emmy Awards show, Donna and Albert DeMatteo were glued to the television screen, waiting for their daughter Drea to make an appearance. Though not a nominee, Drea was expected to make intermittent appearances that night during the program, perhaps during the pre- or post-award parties, perhaps during the awards ceremony itself. In any case, they were ready. With the assistance of their sons, Joseph and Darren, they had three VCRs set to record their daughter's big night as a star of the HBO hit television series. Comment.

Unhappy over a lack of playing time, sophomore forward Osei Millar has left Boston College. The former Christ the King star, who averaged 3 points and 3.9 rebounds in eight games this season, left the Eagles shortly after the Christmas break when he called BC head coach Al Skinner and informed him of his decision. Comment.

Angel and her friends, who talk a lot about parties and games, are like any other group of young kids who first start coming to the Saturday meetings of Business Leaders of Tomorrow at the Port Authority building in Jamaica. Comment.

After struggling in its last two games, the St. Francis Prep hockey team notched an important win, defeating Queens rival Molloy 5-4 Sunday night at Abe Stark Arena in Coney Island. Comment.

If it had been a prize fight, the Catholic High School Athletic Association league match-up between the Christ the King Royals and the St. Francis Prep Terriers Friday night would have been a 12-round thriller, with the favorite eking out a split decision. Comment.

While one must remember that all civic association leaders are volunteers who devote countless hours to civic activities that benefit their communities, some volunteers do more than others. This column will honor some of these civic volunteers. Comment.

One of the wonderful things about the holiday season we just enjoyed is hearing about miracles. Actually, if we stop to think about them, they are around us all the time: from changes in the weather to growth in different species. Everywhere we look, there is some miracle to be found. When they strike us as being most profound, however, is when we hear of some unpredicted healing of body, mind or soul. Comment.

The more one studies the history of Queens, the more it becomes apparent, as one old text on the subject proposes, that it was a "county of worthies." Many noteworthy men and women made their homes here, charmed by the area's bucolic beauty. In various ways, they contributed to its remarkable story, spanning a period of 300 years. Comment.

In 1983, Congress established the third Monday in January, beginning in 1986, as a federal holiday in honor of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King. This tribute was created so we could all pay homage to a great American who led peaceful demonstrations for equal rights. Comment.

He was there last week to welcome a mobile asthma van from Elmhurst Hospital when it made its maiden voyage to Roy Wilkins Park. And he was there last year when leaders from southeast Queens gathered at York College to discuss a project designed to make the young people of the area more aware of the accomplishments of African Americans. In this part of Queens, Solomon Goodrich is everywhere. He may not think much of "the system" but he has learned to work with it. Comment.

This weekend marks the kickoff for Queens 2000, a yearlong series of programs reflecting on the 20th century African-American experience in Queens. Comment.

It was nearly two years ago that we reported to you about a crude and immature stunt carried out by a nonprofit organization that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funding. At the time we questioned whether such an organization should be trusted with your tax dollars. Comment.

Robert J. Berke, a resident of Manor Road in Douglaston for more than 30 years, died Jan. 6 at North Shore University Hospital after suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage. He was 79. Comment.

With the release of Windows 95, the personal computer industry, like the Internet, grew exponentially, but until recently you could drive the length of Jamaica Avenue through Jamaica and Hollis and not come across a single computer sales store. Comment.

With a strongly worded statement issued last week, the Board of Education upheld the removal of a member of School Board 30 for trying to intimidate another board member. Comment.

Queens West, the 74-acre waterfront development in Hunters Point, has narrowed the field of bidders for its commercial core down to two, but Forest City Ratner is not one of them. Comment.

Two years after her teenage son was hurt in a hit-and-run accident near her home at 69th Place and 60th Avenue in Maspeth, Ellen Giordano has nearly given up on reasoning with the city Department of Transportation. Comment.

Queens commuters would like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to spend money on a direct subway link to LaGuardia Airport rather than building a Second Avenue subway, a poll by Public Advocate Mark Green revealed. Comment.

His companions say he was just trying to protect a friend from an abusive husband. Comment.

It is hard to imagine 3-year-old Taj, a golden Akita mix with soft, dark eyes and a mouth that almost seems to grin, roamed the streets near Kennedy Airport for two years before she became a pet therapy dog in Forest Hills. Comment.

The Howard Beach branch of the Bernard Fineson Developmental Center, home to more than 100 people with mental retardation and other types of developmental disorders, will close due to consolidation plans by the state agency that funds and operates the center. Comment.

For several weeks 54-year-old Juan Aybar has mulled over whether or not to deposit the $56,000 check he received from the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. Comment.

More than 300 friends and family members of state Sen. Alton Waldon (D-Cambria Heights) were on hand as he officially left his post in Albany and was sworn in as a judge on the State Court of Claims in a ceremony Sunday at Sacred Heart Church in Cambria Heights. Comment.

A few hours after City Council Speaker Peter Vallone (D-Astoria) had finished his State of the City address Tuesday, most of the dignitaries, television cameras and blanched asparagus set out for the luncheon were gone. Comment.

Downtown Jamaica is bustling. Retail stores and public buildings are drawing shoppers and government workers to the once rundown business district along Jamaica Avenue. Comment.

Mohammed Arsalan Malik, the 12-year-old Jamaica boy who was attacked and then left unconscious on the sidewalk with a fractured skull a block from his home on Dec. 20, was discharged from Mary Immaculate Hospital Friday. Comment.

The kindergarten class at the Queens Village Day School sat fiddling with their chicken noodle soup in their classroom filled with all the traditional early childhood learning tools: posters of minority history as well as reading aids and math problems diagrammed on blackboards and easels. Comment.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown has concluded that his office does not have jurisdiction to prosecute the Big Apple Oriental Tours of Bellerose on charges it promotes prostitution through its bachelor tours to Thailand and the Philippines. Comment.

The Glen Oaks Volunteer Ambulance Corps is known for saving lives and rescuing people who have lapsed into cardiac arrest, gone into shock after being stung by a bee or suffered from smoke inhalation during a fire, not for being a positive role model for teenagers. Comment.

Mohammed Arsalan Malik, the 12-year-old Jamaica boy who was attacked and then left unconscious on the sidewalk with a fractured skull a block from his home on Dec. 20, was discharged from Mary Immaculate Hospital Friday. Comment.

It might be difficult to explain their winning projects in a few words, but the science know-how of six talented Queens public high school students has earned them and their individual schools $1,000 semifinalist prizes in the nationwide Intel Science Talent Search. Comment.

Investigators with the 109th Precinct are hoping that $40,000 in reward money might shed some light on the disappearance of Samiya Haqiqi, a 26-year-old law student from Flushing who vanished this past November. Comment.

Faulty escalators and other problems with the renovation of the No. 7 subway station in downtown Flushing came under fire from Community Board 7 members at their monthly meeting Monday. Comment.

An independent environmental watchdog group praised state Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Bayside) last Thursday for having one of the best voting records on environmental issues in 1999. Comment.

Completing another move in its chess match with the mayor, the Board of Education maneuvered Citigroup attorney and state Regent Harold Levy into the post of interim schools chancellor with a 4-3 vote that hinged on the support of the Queens representative. Comment.

Beach Channel High School basketball star Marcus Fyall has been declared academically ineligible by the Public School Athletic League, ending the season for the 6-foot-6 junior center. Comment.