44 The Queens Courier • JUNE 11, 2015 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Koslowitz replacing Mark Weprin as Queens City Council delegation chair BY ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected]/@robbpoz Karen Koslowitz was named on June 4 to lead the Queens City Council delegation in place of the outgoing Mark Weprin, who will officially resign his City Council seat next week. Koslowitz is in her second stint as City Council member representing the 29th District, which covers all or parts of Forest Hills, Rego Park, Middle Village, Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill. Several of her colleagues, including Paul Vallone and Jimmy Van Bramer, took to Twitter to announce her election. “I will do my utmost to maximize the effectiveness of my fellow Queens legislators in advocating for the interests of Queens,” Koslowitz said in a statement. “I am both humbled and gratified by the confidence that they have placed in me today.” Weprin had led the Queens City Council delegation since 2014, but last month announced he would step down from the City Council to become Gov. Andrew Photo via Twitter/@JimmyVanBramer Cuomo’s deputy secretary of legislative affairs. Weprin tweeted on Thursday morning that next week would be his last in the City Council, and that he officially starts with the Cuomo administration The City Council’s Queens delegation unanimously elected Karen Koslowitz (seated at right) as its new chairperson, replacing the outgoing Mark Weprin (seated at center). A spiritual look at climate change ght With Pope Francis expected to issue a papal doctrine on the environment this summer, the cable channel of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens will feature a special documentary on climate change this Sunday night, June 14. “Custody + Creation,” airing at 9 p.m. Sunday on NET-TV, explores the moral and spiritual debate regarding climate change and efforts underway to reverse environmental damages. The lm is directed, produced and edited by Am. Brier of NET-TV and follows scientists, theologians and others who speak about various solutions to pollution and reversing what Pope Francis previously called a “disposable culture” worldwide. Francis is expected to release this summer an encyclical on climate change; it has been speculated the statement will expound on the pope’s previous statements regarding humankind’s responsibility to the environment. “In past experiences, the church has a long history for advocating for the environment,” Brier said, “not just with regards to endangered species and efforts to conserve, but also people who are less fortunate. Often, they are the ones who suffer the most from negative environmental actions.” While Custody + Creation touches on various aspects of the environment, Brier noted, its focus is on water-- not only as the basic scienti c building block of life but also its spiritual signi cance in the Catholic faith. “We think about water as that which is in us and links us all,” she said. In examining the environment, experts talk about their research, experience and perspectives. Among those featured include Bill Patenaude, founder of CatholicEcology. net and a member of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management; Dan Misleh, executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant; and Erin Lothes, a theology professor at the College of St. Elizabeth who researched biblical links between faith and care for the environment. Filmed across the city and the northeast U.S., “Custody + Creation” examines environmental issues such as the Chesepeake Bay watershed, which emanates from a point in Cooperstown, NY; and endangered birds which travel along the Atlantic Flyway, a migratory bird path over the Eastern Seaboard. “The goal of the project is not to polarize people in the sense of us versus them,” Brier said. “We don’t want it to be a political stance. It should never be seen as a con ict between science and faith. It’s an effort to combine those efforts so people can nd the common ground that they share.” To view the lm’s trailer, visit www. netny.tv/shows/custody-creation. In addition to issuing the encyclical, Pope Francis is expected to discuss climate change during his visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September. NET-TV will carry full coverage of the pope’s visit to the U.S. on June 15. When he first announced his resignation on May 11, Weprin indicated that he would be out “within the next two weeks.” Once Weprin’s resignation takes effect, Mayor Bill de Blasio will call a special, non-partisan election to occur within the following 60 days. Each candidate must secure their own ballot line; political parties cannot officially nominate a candidate, but may make an endorsement. The winner of the special election will be sworn into office immediately upon certification of the results, but must run again in the November election for the right to fill out the remainder of Weprin’s term, which ends in 2017. The 23rd District seat covers parts of Bayside Hills, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Hollis, Little Neck, New Hyde Park, Oakland Gardens and Queens Village. After Weprin resigns, it will remain vacant until a successor is elected. During that period, staff members will handle constituent services under the auspices of the City Council speaker.
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