The St. John’s Red Storm got all it could have wanted when the team found out it had made it into the field of 65 for this year’s NCAA Tournament, a higher seed than expected (No. 9), a spot in the East bracket (Washington D.C.) and a beatable opponent (Wisconsin). Comment

Blending bright paint colors to exude the ultimate in freedom of expression, the artists at the Independent Arts Gallery in Jamaica have been garnering a reputation as a nouveau force, unrestricted, at least, in their bold step to be visible. Comment

Ah, home sweet home. There is nothing more lovely for a team than to play on familiar turf. If you’re game is softball, then home field advantage means knowing which way the ball will bounce down the fair line and where a batted ball can take a bad hop. Comment

Just as the basketball season was coming to an end for the St. John’s Red Storm, ESPN, the all-sports cable network, aired the first of a two-part series on the team called “The Season.” Comment

Yorki Munoz, of Jackson Heights, became the first member of the College Point Road Runners Track Club to cross the finish line in the Brooklyn Half Marathon. Comment

Lee’s Jewelers girls basketball team have been crowned champions, beating Ranshaw in two-out-of-three games. Sterling performances by everyone, especially high scorer Katie Brent and glittering baskets by Angelica Carmody, Angela Jurkovic, Lisa Rooney and Rebecca Colligan were all keys to the victory. Gillian Avery glowed at center and sparkling play throughout the game came from the special gems Tanya Kozakis, Lacey Losgar and Jessica Mora. Comment

It really wasn’t a surprise to anyone in attendance that the Flushing Flyers, the swim team representing the Flushing YMCA at the 2002 YMCA Swimming Championships held last weekend in Eisenhower State Park on Long Island, came away with first place. In fact, the Flyers have made a habit out of winning. Comment

Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) is a dropout from “City Council 101." The first Asian American elected to the City Council found the three days of introductory lessons offered to the new class of council members, which includes almost every member, to be offensive and condescending. Running the city “isn't rocket science,” he says. Comment

Where is Solomon when you really need him? Comment

Italian pizza is derived from matzoh, the unleavened bread of Passover. As per “The People’s Almanac:” “Pizzas were first made 2000 years ago when Roman soldiers added olive oil and cheese to their matzohs.” Comment

Westernization of China? Yes, to a degree. You can feel the changing atmosphere in the big cities. Comment

The New York City Charter makes it possible for the public to testify before the Queens Borough Board on the mayor’s Fiscal Year 2003 Preliminary Expense and Capital Budgets. The Queens Civic Congress, an umbrella organization of some 100 Queens civic associations, presented the consensus of what the citizens of Queens feel is necessary to maintain their quality of life. Comment

It has been more than six months since the United States declared war on terrorism. Although we have been asked to live our lives as normally as possible, we were also asked to do our part to support our environment’s war effort. Comment

If you want to enjoy a luscious green lawn in the summer, you best start your preparation in early spring. Comment

Welcome to the Point. The Point being College Point. Comment

Visitors and New Yorkers alike are invited to come to Queens to explore the diverse heritage and rich history this borough has to offer during this winter’s Insider’s Hour program featuring unique one-hour tours of New York City’s cultural organizations. Comment

The woman sitting in the office chair looked relaxed, confident, and in an overall jovial mood. Of course, she did. She was wearing her glasses. Comment

Advocacy groups representing the borough’s South Asian communities lashed out against the state Legislature’s redistricting proposal at a public hearing last week, claiming many of the new boundaries split apart ethnic populations with like interests, diluting their strength as voters. Comment

Three candidates have been nominated by their political parties, and a fourth filed a petition for the April 16 special election to fill the 31st Assembly District seat left vacant by the death of Pauline Rhodd-Cummings. Comment

For three hours last week hundreds of School District 26 parents went back to class for the top-performing district’s first major parents forum at MS 74 in Bayside. Comment

In a lot of ways, Bayside native Al Niedermeyer was bigger than life, his friends and family said. Comment

A 37-year-old tourist from India died Tuesday morning as the result of smoke inhalation from a three-alarm fire March 8 that destroyed the Sikh Cultural Society temple in Richmond Hill. Comment

A Fresh Meadows corrections officer who delivered pseudo cocaine to a Queens House of Detention prisoner was convicted last Thursday in State Supreme Court in Queens of smuggling and drug trafficking, the Queens district attorney said. Comment

In a case of mistaken identity, a St. Albans man was convicted last week in the shooting death of a man he believed to be involved in the murder of the front man of the rap group Lost Boyz. Comment

About 300 Queens teenagers headed to Albany last week to lobby state legislators to increase funding for the Youth Employment Program. Comment

The yellow cab industry made a bold bid to attract drivers to its ranks at the industry’s first-ever job expo Friday, where taxi medallions were hawked as a slice of the American dream to hundreds of prospective drivers. Comment

Americans need not choose between safety and freedom, speakers at a forum on the Bush administration’s new anti-terrorism legislation said Saturday, suggesting that some such laws could undercut basic principles of liberty. Comment

Grace Herold, the 98-year-old co-founder of the Whitestone Community Volunteer Ambulance Service known as “Amazing Grace,” died March 9. Comment

After being halted by the city Buildings Department for nine months, construction on a Korean church in Little Neck was set to resume this week, a Buildings spokeswoman said. Comment

Long Island Jewish Medical Center’s proposed addition to its parking garage might alleviate some of the traffic that has plagued the surrounding neighborhood, but adding two more levels to the existing structure has the community riled up. Comment

A Hollis man on trial in the beating death of a Chinese food deliveryman testified Monday that police forced him to sign a statement saying he took part in the in the murder. Comment

It’s been a game the Christ the King girls’ basketball team has wanted to get back to since it left the Glens Falls Civic Center last March. The Royals built their season around getting a chance to avenge their shocking 66-59 loss to PSAL powerhouse Murry Bergtraum, to start a new string of state Federation titles after their streak of 11 straight was snapped last year in the semifinals. Comment

It looks like 4-year-old Anthony Napolitano will hold onto his post as mayor of his school for at least one more term. Comment

A Woodhaven man who owns an Astoria nightclub and his Bayside bouncer were arrested last Thursday on charges of bribing police officers with $8,000 cash payments to let the club stay open past the legal 4 a.m. closing time, authorities said. Comment

A Woodhaven man who owns an Astoria nightclub and his Bayside bouncer were arrested last Thursday on charges of bribing police officers with $8,000 cash payments to let the club stay open past the legal 4 a.m. closing time, authorities said. Comment

The head of the Flushing NAACP said he was disappointed by last week’s sentencing of two Oakland Gardens cousins convicted of a hate crime assault against two teenage NAACP election workers in November 2000. Comment

More than 300 Queens residents learned a valuable lesson at Saturday’s Financial Planning Day: It’s never too early or too late to start investing in your financial future. Comment

New accusations of abuse made public last week brought the Roman Catholic priest scandal home to northeast Queens, when a two brothers alleged that a priest working at St. Anastasia’s Church in Douglaston molested them in the early 1970s. Comment

City Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis), chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, warned members of the Queens Civic Congress that rough times are ahead for the borough because of the looming $4.8 billion gap in the city’s budget. Comment

Steve Cameron was Public Enemy No. 1 as far as the St. Peter’s hockey team was concerned Friday at Abe Stark Rink on Coney Island. And the St. Francis Prep senior defenseman-turned-winger couldn’t have been happier. Comment

The most important element to a successful baseball team is solid starting pitching. Can a team find three or four guys who will keep his team in the ballgame to have a chance to win? That is the question on the minds of all coaches every off-season. Comment

Part of a series Comment

As citywide funding for school construction evaporates, Schools Chancellor Harold Levy has proposed delaying construction of four new Queens schools to meet Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget cuts. Comment

In the late 1980s the Queens Village Republican Club was on its deathbed with membership down to only four, but the oldest GOP club in the nation has experienced a resurgence with the help of new Americans. Comment

A College Point man was one of three Queens residents charged with participating in a luxury car theft ring that stole from valet parking lots at Boccacio’s Restaurant in Little Neck and Water’s Edge Restaurant in Long Island City, the Queens district attorney announced last week. Comment

A College Point man returned home Monday after being wounded in the mountains of Afghanistan and receiving the Purple Heart. Comment

With burglaries on the rise in northeast Queens’ 111th Precinct, police said this week there is one good way for residents to protect themselves: education. Comment

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown has warned that a 7 percent cut in the budgets of his office and those of the city’s four other district attorneys would “undermine the city’s commitment to ensuring public safety.” Comment

When the state Legislature drastically limited the authority of community school boards in 1996, one power they retained was naming their schools. Comment

A public high school based at LaGuardia Community College will soon offer students a chance to stay an extra year and add an associate’s degree to their diplomas as part of a $7.6 million grant awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Comment

A two-alarm fire gutted nearly half of a Roman Catholic church in Hollis early Saturday morning, destroying holy relics and disrupting services for 800 parishioners as well as classes the week before Easter. There were no injuries. Comment

Walk into the Jackson Heights Expo Design Center, a division of Home Depot, and one color is noticeably absent. Comment

In an effort to improve pediatric care at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, the hospital chain announced last week it was combining its children’s heath services into a single department. Comment

Two Long Island Rail Road stations in Queens have been cited by city Comptroller William Thompson Jr. for unsafe conditions that pose hazards to passengers. Comment

Despite opposition from Flushing residents, the state Department of Environmental Conservation recently approved a waste transfer plant’s bid to treat more solid waste in Willets Point. Comment

Little Neck residents who had a difficult time navigating a maze of Con Edison work trucks that suddenly sprang up on Marathon Parkway last week can take heart: a company spokesman said this week the work should be finished by the end of the month. Comment

When police officers experienced trouble moving a crowd of distraught Sikhs who had gathered in front of their burning 118th Street temple the morning of March 8, they knew exactly who could do the job. Comment

It took Police Officer Christopher Chin only a few minutes to know he had something big on his hands. Comment

Commanding officer Capt. John Essig acknowledged that two 10-year-old girls were approached by a man on their way to school, but he told Monday’s 113th Precinct Community Council meeting there was no evidence that a sexual predator was targeting area schools. Comment

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and EMT union presidents joined forces in Whitestone last Thursday to protest the city’s proposed changes in the handling of ambulances run by the Fire Department. Comment

During her stint as a fashion show make-up artist a decade ago, Jeannie Irizarry of Kew Gardens witnessed many hopeful young models be rejected because of their weight, height or other features. Comment

A 16-year-old student at John Bowne High School in Queensboro Hill was arrested Monday after he allegedly pulled a loaded gun on his fellow students, police said. Comment

A Brooklyn man was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life for killing a Jamaica woman who was smothered and then burned inside her apartment, the Queens district attorney said. Comment

A 20-year-old man was shot in broad daylight last Thursday in front of a Burger King on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street, the busiest pedestrian intersection in all of northeast Queens, police said. Comment

Three Queens bus companies struck a tentative contract deal with their union late Tuesday night, averting yet another threatened strike while passing the buck onto the city to satisfy the workers’ remaining demands. Comment

A proposal to erect a row of storefront businesses with apartments upstairs on the site of a long-closed 69th Street gas station drew the ire of Maspeth residents at last week’s Community Board 5 meeting. Comment

The issue of group homes has angered residents of Glen Oaks, Bellerose, Jamaica and other neighborhoods in southeast Queens who contend their communities have been inundated with an unfair concentration of these facilities. Comment

FLUSHING — A fire broke out in a second floor apartment of 34-25 146th St. at 4:19 p.m. Friday afternoon, fire officials said. Comment

39-41 Queens Blvd. Comment

39-41 Queens Blvd. Comment

Garden Jewish Center of Flushing, 24-40 Parsons Blvd. Mondays, 7:15 p.m. 445-1317. Comment

Michael Voudouris never expected to leave the Olympic Games with a medal dangling from his neck. Comment

Rufus’ Egg Hunt. Find surprise-filled eggs in Rufus’ yard. March 30, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. King Manor Museum, King Park, Jamaica Avenue and 150th Street. 206-0545. Comment

Oratorio Society of Queens, under the direction of David Close, invites singers to join in its 75th anniversary celebration. Mondays, 7:45 p.m. North Presbyterian Church, Flushing. No choral experience necessary. 460-0726. Comment

Kew Gardens resident, and actress Juanita Walsh will make her prime time television debut on NBC’s sitcom, “Ed” this Wednesday as Mrs. Gottilieb, a patient of Dr. Michael Burton. Comment

“Elder Grace: The Nobility of Aging,” the exhibit of photos of beautiful older people by Chester Higgins Jr., was exhibited previously at the New York Historical Society. The new exhibit at Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning is different in that, with the exception of a happily embracing George and Lettice Winsor, the photos are of individual faces shot against a black backdrop. Also, unlike the previous exhibit, not every subject is an African American. Comment

Queens had five girls’ high school basketball teams competing for five different championship trophies this weekend and three of those teams came home with titles. Comment

On the eve of their biggest game of the season, coach Joe Lewinger wanted the Mary Louis basketball team members to take their minds off of basketball. Do whatever, go to the St. Patrick’s Day parade — as long as it didn’t involve basketball. Comment

St. Francis Prep girls’ basketball coach Tom Finn doesn’t have to worry about eating breakfast alone Friday morning. Comment

Nayshee Collins shook off the nerves, ignored the raucous crowd and calmly sank the second of two free throw attempts with 11.8 seconds remaining in regulation, breaking a 52-52 tie and handing the Bronx Leadership Academy Lady Wolves a one-point win over the John Adams Spartans in the PSAL ‘B’ Division city championship last Thursday at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights. Comment

It seemed the only people who thought the Francis Lewis girls’ basketball team had a chance to win the PSAL ‘A’ title were the Patriots’ 12 players and two coaches. Comment

With a berth into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at stake, Queens native Royal Ivey stepped to the foul line for the Texas Longhorns with 26.2 seconds left and his team leading Mississippi State 64-62 and remembered some words of advice from his father, Rod. Comment