Some of the top-ranked men’s singles players in the east will square off in the seventh annual Greater Urban Pro Tennis Classic. The tournament begins Sunday, July 21, with two rounds of competition and runs for a week at Cunningham Park in Fresh Meadows. Comment.

Along with 400 other men and women, I am waiting to hear if I made the cut to become a ballperson at next month’s U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Those of us chosen to participate in the Grand Slam tennis event will be notified later this week. Comment.

It was refreshing to hear TimesLedger freelance writer Joshua Centor’s unbridled enthusiasm after having made the trek to Flushing Meadows Corona Park to both participate in and and write a story about the U.S. Open ballboy/ballgirl tryouts July 11. Comment.

In what has become an all-too-common occurrence for Monte Barrett, the South Jamaica native saw yet another fight — and yet another chance to make a serious move in the heavyweight division — go down the drain Saturday when a “conflict” with opponent Vaughn Bean put the kibosh on their 10-round bout, the scheduled main event of a card at Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. Comment.

Head coach Doug Rowen called it “a five-year plan” and that plan came to fruition Monday night when the Bayside Little League 12-year-old Major Division All-Star team won the District 26 Regional Baseball Championship in a well played 2-1 victory over Elmjack. Comment.

Strong Pitching by Nicole Epstein and Alexis Namit, strong hitting throughout the line-up, led by Danielle Santopietro and Londyn McCormick, and aggressive base-running by Diana Contreras, Tara McCullagh and Namit led Glen Oaks Little League’s Girls All-Star team to a two-game sweep of a strong Mid-Queens Fresh Meadows Little League team last week. Comment.

The 15- and 16-year-old Glen Oaks Hillside Liquor team opened their summer league schedule with two victories this week. Comment.

The Little Neck Pines Civic Association and the Douglaston Civic Association have held meetings at St. Anastasia’s Church and the Zion Episcopal Church to promote a letter campaign aimed at changing the zoning law that allows some nonprofit organizations to build churches and other institutions in residential neighborhoods. Comment.

It is easy to understand why residents of southeast Queens living near a newly opened homeless shelter are outraged. Although almost everyone wants the city to do more for the homeless, especially homeless families, no one wants the city to do more in their backyard. Comment.

After getting the bum’s rush from Brooklyn, Rabbi Yakove Lloyd has brought his Jewish Defense Group to Queens. Lloyd said his band of vigilantes has begun patrolling Forest Hills and Kew Gardens Hills even though the police have not seen the posse. Comment.

A survey indicated the leading cause of heart failure is getting up at night and stepping on your cat. Comment.

Music lovers will want to add the new album “Phrygianics,” by the Spiros Exaras World Jazz Ensemble, to their CD collection. Coming from a small independent label, anyone interested will have to go to a Greek record store in Astoria, or order it from the Internet. Comment.

It is just about time that two married couples in my family will be celebrating their Golden Anniversary within a month of each other. My cousin, Joan, and her husband, Victor Meyer, were the first of the two to celebrate in June. Joan’s sister, Ruth, and her husband, Jack Wilson, chose July as their month. They and their children have shared good and bad times, but have set wonderful examples for the rest of the family and for their communities. Comment.

In the April newsletter of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group, Leon Maniace’s article, “Good Parks Vital to Healthy Neighborhoods,” seems to be right on the mark. It explains our subconscious reason for fighting so hard to renovate Fresh Meadow’s Cunningham Park. Comment.

Is there as great a contrast anywhere else in the United States? The teeming waterways of the Catskill Region, which jump with fish, are only a two-hour drive from the teeming streets of Manhattan. Comment.

Proud of your gardening efforts? Neat rows of pansies, petunias, impatiens and a host of beautiful flowering annuals gracefully color your lawn...ah yes, summer has arrived. Comment.

I’m a moviegoer and have been for a long time. Movies are a big part of my life, as they probably are for a great many of you, whether I view them on a large screen in a theater or on a small screen on my television. I know. TV screens aren’t so small any more. Comment.

Welcome to the Point. The Point being College Point. Summer has really arrived. The free summer park programs began at MacNeil Park, sponsored by the Poppenhusen Institute and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreations, and funded partly by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Queens County Savings Bank and Queens Surface Corp. Comment.

“I broke my right femur,” I tell them. Comment.

Most kids don’t know what an egg cream is, not to mention where to find one of the old-fashioned desserts. Comment.

Whether you are an experienced or novice antique collector hunting for that unexpected-and-valuable piece, there is no better place than a state rich in American history, craftsmanship and tradition: Massachusetts. Comment.

July 18- Transitional Services for New York, Inc. - Fire Island BBQ Lunch, Cocktail Hour and Clambake Dinner "The Out" in Kismet, Fire Island - For More Information Call Steve Lichtenstein (718) 268-9255 Ext. 203 Comment.

Many people, especially retirees, are strapped for cash. Interest rates on CDs, money market funds and Treasuries are the lowest they have been in years, and while inflation is low, it hasn’t stopped. The stock market has been in free fall for more than two years, and it seems there is nowhere to turn to make a decent income without undue risk. Bonds are unpredictable, since their values will go down if interest rates go up. Comment.

Bayside, 26-14 223 St., Single Family Detached, $489,000, Bed 4, Bath 2, Construction-Vinyl, Basement-Full, Lot Size: 50 x 100, Taxes: $2,074 Comment.

With the recent market volatility retirees are looking for investments that combine some growth with good dividends. Convertible bonds are a good choice. For the past six months I have been using more convertible bond funds in client portfolios to reduce risk and position for growth and income. Comment.

For the past month the lake at Springfield Park has been plagued by a mustard-yellow algae bloom that has covered the surface, caused by low water levels and rising temperatures. Comment.

School Board 24 members named Brooklyn principal James Quail last Thursday as their second candidate to fill the district superintendent post before filing a grievance against Chancellor Harold Levy for rejecting their first choice. Comment.

A day after city and state test results showed School District 26 to be the highest scoring school district in the five boroughs this year, the members of School Board 26 spent last Thursday bickering throughout the group’s monthly meeting. Comment.

A Jamaica shooting late Sunday night outside a grocery store on Sutphin Boulevard left one man dead and another in critical condition, police said. Comment.

All but one of the 14 Queens city council members have signed on in support of redefining the term limits law in a move that would allow all members of the Council to serve two consecutive four-year terms and not push several out after only six years. Comment.

A little more than a year after News Communications Inc., owner of the Queens Tribune and the Press of Southeast Queens, began selling off some of its weekly papers, it has sold an interest in the company to media baron Conrad Black’s Hollinger International. Comment.

Yes, City Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis) is sporting a new dapper look. Comment.

A Brooklyn man who spent 17 years in prison for a 1985 murder he did not commit outside a Richmond Hill bingo hall has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the state. Comment.

A Long Island man who was killed in a collision last week with another power boat driven by a Douglas Manor teen on Little Neck Bay had a small amount of crack cocaine in his 1990 Bayliner and two prior arrests for drug possession, law enforcement sources said. Comment.

There will be no more daily 90-minute subway trips from his South Bronx home to a Richmond Hill tortilla factory for Manuel Reyes. Comment.

The controversial plan to build housing on a vacant parcel of land on Admiral Avenue in Middle Village has been revamped after shedding 11 units to accommodate community concern that the development was too large. Comment.

Queens commuters can cross the East River between Hunters Point in Long Island City and Wall Street in eight minutes starting this summer if plans of the N.Y. Waterway Ferry lines go according to plan. Comment.

Richmond Hill historians Carl Ballenas and Nancy Cataldi call their enthusiasm for the neighborhood’s past an addiction. Comment.

A cleaning woman was beaten to death inside a Ridgewood movie theater on Myrtle Avenue early Wednesday morning, but police had not identified a motive or suspects in the hours after the attack. Comment.

A 13-year-old boy formerly from Springfield Gardens was killed in Brooklyn last week over a dollar, police said. Comment.

In a crowded field of seven candidates seeking to become Flushing’s new assembly representative, Richard Jannaccio is quick to point to his experience as a civic leader as setting him apart. Comment.

In Game No. 1 right-handed hurler Kevin Conlin hurled a complete-game shutout and scattered four hits while striking out seven in a 6-0 Dodger win over the Hawks from San Diego. Comment.

In addition to an already established jump shot, handle and rebounding prowess, Charlie Villanueva proved he had another quality at the Adidas ABCD camp last week at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J. Comment.

The inaugural run of the $1.9-billion AirTrain which, in its final stage will rush passengers from the new Jamaica terminal to airlines throughout John F. Kennedy International Airport, is almost at hand. Comment.

Despite protests from the southeast Queens community and elected officials, about 60 families are now living in the city homeless shelter at the former Best Western Carlton House hotel just north of Kennedy Airport. Comment.

A 170-ton crane operating without a city permit on the renovation of the State Supreme Courthouse in Jamaica fell on the rear of the court building Monday afternoon, injuring two people, fire officials said. Comment.

George Lawrence, Jr., of Little Neck, was 17 in every way, his older sister Jessica said this week. Comment.

George Lawrence, Jr., of Little Neck, was 17 in every way, his older sister Jessica said this week. Comment.

The new genetic research facility opened by North Shore-LIJ Research Institute and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a scientist’s dream. But it is reserved for borough students rather than top researchers. Comment.

David Price saw the wear and tear on the team, so he decided it was time for a break. Comment.

Trash on Flushing’s streets has been a matter of debate for many years, but since the end of June, new trash cans have moved onto center stage. Comment.

The Haitian-American Republican Coalition might be new and not in the political mainstream, but Queens Haitians came out in force to honor two longtime borough politicians at the group’s gala reception and awards dinner Sunday night in Cambria Heights. Comment.

New homeowners typically remodel a kitchen or install extra lighting, but in Howard Beach the first step some residents take after buying houses is to knock them down. Comment.

The owners of a Jamaica Estates health center have agreed to pay back $11 million to taxpayers for Medicaid payments improperly paid to them between 1996 and 2001, plus the interest on the payments, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said. Comment.

Natalia Paruz has an eclectic palette of artistic tastes. Comment.

The 73-year-old retired real estate salesman and his wife recently moved into the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Apartment, Flushing’s newest senior housing run by Selfhelp Community Services. Comment.

More than 200 people have been arrested on charges they manufactured and sold false identification as part of a 120-day investigation run by a collaboration of agencies under the direction of the Queens district attorney’s office. Comment.

A trio from Flushing was arrested in a midnight raid July 4 for allegedly running a million-dollar money-laundering operation that washed profits from drug sales by sending them out of the country with counterfeit goods, the Queens district attorney said. Comment.

The Big Top is pitched in Forest Park again this week. Comment.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) said he is pushing his colleagues in the House of Representatives to vote for a bill that would allocate $90 million for long-term physical and psychological medical treatment for Ground Zero workers. Comment.

The city Parks Department will address one of the many needs at Cunningham Park by renovating the bathrooms with about $1.9 million that the area’s current and former councilmen secured from the city for capital improvements, said Martha Taylor, founding chairwoman of the Friends of Cunningham Park. Comment.

A group of Orthodox Jewish rabbis has organized a series of protests at the home of a Kew Gardens Hills man asking him to attend proceedings in a divorce court. Comment.

A sport utility vehicle slammed into a Parks Department truck and then sideswiped a school minibus carrying 10 5-year-olds home from Bayside before flipping over on the westbound stretch of the Long Island Expressway Monday afternoon, police said. Comment.

Nearly all Queens school districts showed at least some improvement on this year’s test scores for city and state exams, but only a pair of the borough’s seven districts had a majority of students pass the reading and math exams. Comment.

Nearly 40 years of stagnation ended at one of the most scrutinized urban renewal sites in city history last Thursday as elected officials and developers scooped symbolic shovels of dirt to mark the beginnings of a new 2,300-unit seaside residential community in the Rockaways. Comment.

JetBlue Airways, the Kew Gardens-based low-fare airline, plans to expand its winter service to its five Florida destinations from John F. Kennedy International airport, adding nearly a score of new daily flights. Comment.

City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside), City Councilman Dennis Gallagher (R-Middle Village) and the Bayside Community Volunteer Ambulance Corps joined forces to sponsor a blood drive to help a 2-year-old Ridgewood girl who suffers from leukemia. Comment.

A lease agreement has been signed to turn the rundown Caldor property in the heart of downtown Flushing into a mall, but the deal has not yet been closed. Comment.

A Flushing developer and a Rockaway lawyer were named as the borough’s two representatives to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s newly formed city charter revision commission. Comment.

A promising compromise brokered by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall to end the county’s monthlong bus strike stalled Sunday night after union members walked out of a meeting about the plan. Comment.

A combined $188,000 in New York state grants should have about 250 Queens children in day care sooner than anticipated with new facilities set to open in Jackson Heights and Woodside within a year. Comment.

The remains of a car were scattered on the Grand Central Parkway and 94th Street after it crashed into another car Sunday at 4:30 a.m, police said. Comment.

770 Middleneck Road Comment.

770 Middleneck Road Comment.

Housing work group Comment.

Crime Victim Assistance Unit Comment.

Acting Seniors - Senior Theater Acting Repertory welcomes seniors interested in acting. Wed. & Fri.. 347-2310 or Stan Guttman at 224-2729. Comment.

Neighbors of PS 144 in Forest Hills are up in arms because they say teenagers are hanging out around the elementary school after dark, spray painting buildings in the area and generally causing a raucous. Comment.

BALLET FOLCLORICO DE CHILE EXCLUSIVE NY ENGAGEMENT Comment.

Kevin “The Flushing Flash” Kelley took a major leap on his road back to the world championship Saturday night, beating Humberto Soto by majority decision for the NABA Lightweight Championship at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Comment.

Jeffrey Rosenstock is giddy. Perhaps he should be. After all, he hasn’t gotten much sleep the last few weeks. Comment.

The Midville Dodgers, fresh off their successful United States Amateur Baseball Federation tournament in San Diego, Calif., came back to Queens last week and continued their winning ways by taking four straight games. Their reward was a Elite Eight League Championship and a Long Island Baseball Association crown. They will now move on to regional playoffs starting this week. Comment.

One team is rolling while the other has been erratic. But starting Thursday, both the Bayside Yankees Junior Americans and the Long Island Cardinals are hoping to stamp their ticket to the NABF World Series in Detroit, Mich. as each will compete in the regional playoffs. Comment.