PHILADELPHIA — Despite heading to college on a basketball scholarship, Lashonda Hathorne will enter and leave St. John’s Prep as a track runner. Comment.

Maspeth drivers want yellow buses busted. Comment.

The last of the four southeast Queens schools that were pegged for phase-out by the city had its fate officially sealed last week and parents are divided as to whether it was the right decision for their children. Comment.

Whitestone is getting a new civic association despite opposition from state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside). Comment.

A Ridgewood school is in for a major reorganization or possible closure, but that did not stop students of Grover Cleveland High School from celebrating a new greenhouse that will be used for hands-on learning. Comment.

Members of a western Queens civic association rejected plans by CSX railroad company to move a noisy piece of equipment farther away from a residential area last week. Comment.

A 2,600-year-old Egyptian mummy got to experience modern cutting-edge technology when she underwent a CT scan last week at North Shore University Hospital so doctors and officials at the Brooklyn Museum could learn more about her life and how she died. Comment.

Newly appointed city Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott completed an alma mater tour of the schools he attended in the borough with an early-morning visit to his Hollis middle school last Thursday. Comment.

Instead of repeating last week’s violent melee over the power struggle for the presidency of a Richmond Hill Sikh temple, worshipers took to prayers Sunday to find a way to sort out their differences. Comment.

City Comptroller John Liu told about 30 business owners in St. Albans Friday he was fighting to ensure they were not unfairly burdened by city government rules and could work to recover the city’s economy. Comment.

The family of slain 113th Precinct Officer John G. Scarangella marked the 30th anniversary of their patriarch’s death by making sure his years of service in the southeast Queens community will be remembered for generations. Comment.

A man from Jackson Heights and a man from Elmhurst were given long sentences in Queens Supreme Court last week for brutal crimes that left their victims permanently scarred, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Comment.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission denied landmark status for the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium Tuesday, which shocked preservationists hoping to save the decaying structure. Comment.

More than a dozen needy teens from around the borough had their wishes to look great at their high school prom granted this weekend and all they had to do was express themselves creatively. Comment.

The Jamaica Branch of the NAACP has threatened to boycott the Aqueduct racino project and “shut the place down” over what it perceived as a lack of respect by the company building the project, which it said has so far failed to employ minority contractors and black residents from southeast Queens. Comment.

Even the wildest Community Board 6 meeting wouldn’t compare to the gym of St. Mary Gate of Heaven School in Ozone Park on a week night. Comment.

A grand jury decided two NYPD officers did not commit a crime in Forest Hills last year during an altercation with a Long Island man who later died. Comment.

Arson was labeled the cause of a fire last week at a Kew Gardens Hills kosher supermarket, preventing the new store from having its scheduled grand opening last Thursday, a 107th Precinct community affairs officer said Monday. Comment.

Elected officials, parents, teachers and union officials rallied Friday outside Francis Lewis HS to urge Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to alleviate overcrowding at the Fresh Meadows school and demanded that they do not cut teachers as planned. Comment.

Thomas Shanis was at home Tuesday morning in the sixth-floor Flushing apartment he shared with his elderly mother when the apartment was broken into and Shanis was mortally stabbed multiple times, police said. Comment.

Officials, parents and the NYPD were stunned after authorities said an 8-year-old boy brought a loaded handgun into a Flushing elementary school last Thursday and sold it to a fellow third-grader for $3.50. Comment.

The issue of English-language signage in downtown Flushing is dividing the community like no other issue as new voices get involved in the fracas. Comment.

The 29-year-old Jackson Heights man who drunkenly killed a 23-year-old recent Chinese immigrant in a Flushing alley last May has been sentenced to 22 years in life in prison. Comment.

The Queens Botanical Garden celebrated the environment, and water in particular, at its annual kick-off event last Thursday. Comment.

The entire nation was shaken by the devastation Osama bin Laden unleashed Sept. 11, 2001, but nowhere was the pain more felt than in Queens. On that day, 76 Queens firefighters were killed as they bravely rushed into what was left of the Twin Towers. Many more Queens residents also died when bin Laden sent planes crashing into the World Trade Center. Comment.

Helen Anagnostos calls herself a “reformed Wall Streeter.” Comment.

With the songs of the center’s birds chirping in the background, environmentalists gathered at the Alley Pond Environmental Center in Douglaston last week to discuss urban biodiversity and hopefully encourage a new generation of environmental stewards to take action. Comment.

The MTA rescued Nassau County’s bus service in 1973, but the financially strapped agency says it can no longer afford to foot the bill. Comment.

The auditorium at Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School in Bayside was swinging last Thursday night, swept up in the excitement of familiar faces and fancy footwork. Comment.

Douglaston will be a little greener this summer after GrowNYC received approval for its greenmarket Monday night from Community Board 11. Comment.

For his valiant and determined effort in the line of duty, Firefighter Antonio Velez was recognized last week as he stood among his fellow firefighters and the father and son whose lives were touched by his bravery. Comment.

Family members of Queens 9/11 victims were overwhelmed by emotions ranging from elation to distress when they heard the news that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the World Trade Center attack, had been shot dead Sunday. Comment.

REGO PARK — Three people were hospitalized Saturday afternoon after an elderly driver lost control of his car and crashed, head-on, into a nail salon, the authorities said. Comment.

RICHMOND HILL — A Kew Gardens man was arrested last week for reportedly threatening someone with a metal pipe, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Comment.

BRIARWOOD — A man was arrested last week for reportedly wrecking a parked car, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Comment.

ASTORIA — Police were on the lookout for a man they said tried to steal money from one bank and robbed another over the last two weeks. Comment.

ELMHURST — A Manhattan man was arrested two weeks ago for allegedly assaulting a man outside a TD Bank, the DA said.. Comment.

Something is drastically wrong. Comment.

Being a resident of the Whitestone area for many years and working in Flushing, I have seen many changes. Comment.

Apart from the destruction of hundreds of small businesses and the loss of jobs by thousands of people and their dependents, as an article that appeared in The New York Times April 13 makes clear, the proposed Willets Point project is a folly. The article referred to the following projects in downtown Flushing. Comment.

In these uncertain economic times, the Queens small business community faces immense challenges. It becomes even more difficult for Queens business owners to make ends meet when they are forced to foot an outrageous “fraud tax” bill in the form of auto insurance premiums 167 percent higher than the national average. Comment.

Springtime is one of the most beautiful seasons, with flowers blooming and trees starting to leaf out. It seems that everyone is looking forward to the warmer weather since the snow has melted. Comment.

As we get closer to the 2011 election cycle, it is evident that certain changes are needed, mostly involving military and overseas ballots. There was significant controversy in 2010 that some military personnel did not get to have their votes counted. That was especially true in New York, which has a considerable number of voters who serve in the armed forces overseas. Comment.

Believe it or not, but we’re now in the month of May, usually a busy, fun month. This May is shaping up to be no less than the previous one. Comment.

Helen Anagnostos calls herself a “reformed Wall Streeter.” Comment.

The world’s attention on Sunday turned to Pakistan, where the long-awaited death of Osama bin Laden became America’s greatest triumph in the war against al-Qaeda — but in late 2009 and early 2010, the focus was on a few men in their 20s from Flushing. Comment.

For the Santora family, whose firefighter son died in the Twin Towers Sept. 11, St. Michael’s Cemetery in East Elmhurst has been a place to seek solace. Comment.

Sexual predators are not the biggest threats to children online, but cyberbullying by their peers is, an expert on the form of computer harassment told a conference Friday at St. John’s University. Comment.

Cemeteries are typically associated with peace and solemnity, but when St. Michael’s Cemetery’s annual Scott Joplin Memorial Concert rolls around May 14, the East Elmhurst resting place will become a live entertainment venue. Comment.

Although there was no immediate threat against the city following the death of Osama bin Laden, the authorities said they had taken precautions this week to make sure Queens’ hot spots remained safe in the aftermath of the terrorist leader’s demise. Comment.

The borough’s elected officials said the death of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in which 76 firefighters from Queens were killed, was a tremendous achievement but cautioned that the killing does not mean the country no longer has to worry about terrorism. Comment.

State Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach) was appointed last week to succeed the late Gloria D’Amico as Queens County Clerk by a personnel committee of the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division. Comment.

The 83-year legacy of a Maspeth bar and restaurant went up in flames late Sunday night just hours before O’Neil’s was completely gutted by a five-alarm fire. Comment.

The death of Osama bin Laden has come as a welcome relief to the Queens Muslim community, who said the terrorist mastermind tarnished their peaceful religion and slaughtered thousands of their own all over the world. Comment.

With their long hair and turbans, the borough’s Sikh community was subject to deep suspicion and hate attacks after Sept. 11, 2001. Comment.

The debate rages on about the wide health-care reform legislation passed last year, but a forum at the Flushing branch of the Queens Library Friday featured no rancor — only people determined to explain the new law and express concerns about its impact. Comment.

Hundreds of New Yorkers flocked to Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan late Sunday night after President Barack Obama announced that U.S. military forces had finally killed 9/11 architect Osama bin Laden. Comment.

Instead of asphalt and a big box store, the Maspeth community has a new green space park, thanks to an 8-year-long effort from a Maspeth civic group. Comment.

More than a hundred Queens leaders and community members gathered at Douglaston Manor Saturday to pay tribute not only to the women of today who are a making a difference, but also to the elected official who paved the way for their success. Comment.

Britain out, Scandinavia in. Comment.

Feelings of joy and relief over the killing of Osama bin Laden were mixed with the realization by Queens families that despite the al-Qaeda leader’s death Monday, their loved ones who fell victim to the plans of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks could not be brought back. Comment.

Delayed trains and crowded cars are common complaints for straphangers across the city, but western Queens residents who take the No. 7 train say signal problems along the tracks have given them more than their fair share. Comment.

A former accountant who embezzled more than $13,600 from television company NBC Universal while working for the hit TV show “30 Rock,” which is filmed in Long Island City, received a conditional discharge last week after repaying the money he stole, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Comment.

As Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts held its annual gala at Flushing Town Hall, recognizing the generous support from business and institutions that have kept the organization afloat through troubled economic times, another uplifting Queens story was unfolding on stage. Comment.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg rolled out his $65.7 billion budget plan Friday, which includes eliminating 6,000 teacher positions, including some 4,500 jobs through layoffs. Comment.

The air at Ground Zero Thursday afternoon was tense and chilly as the moment neared when President Barack Obama would be laying a wreath at the foot of the 64 unfinished floors of the rising One World Trade Center tower. Comment.

Two Queens subway lines served as bookends for the best and worst in the latest survey of cleanliness in the city’s transit system. Comment.

A Queens Village mother who believes she lost her son to the toxic dust at Ground Zero and a retired Kew Gardens Hills paramedic who survived the Sept. 11 attacks said Osama bin Laden’s demise is bittersweet because it can never repair the holes in their lives. Comment.