TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015 • 28 104th Precinct Blotter M.V. Sex Abuse Suspect Arrested DA Gets Grant To Combat Auto Theft -CONTINUED FROM PG. 10- Parents Sought For Ed. Council Election Parents who want to serve on a CEC must have a child enrolled at a public elementary or middle school in their district. Those wishing to serve the Citywide Council of High Schools must have a son or daughter enrolled at a public high school; for the other citywide councils, members must have a child receiving the relevant services. Anyone wishing to seek a CEC or citywide council position may fill out an application, which will be available online at www.nycparentleaders.org on Feb. 11. They may also attend one of several upcoming Education Council Information sessions, the first of which is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. at Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan. Each district will host candidate forums between Mar. 18 and Apr. 18 for parents to make their pitch to the public. Members of each school’s parent or parent-teacher associations will cast ballots for their preferred candidates through online voting taking place between Apr. 19 and May 8. Full results will be posted on www.nycparentleaders.org on May 12. Elected members will receive training and leadership development sessions to prepare them for their service. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 14- LIC’s Wagner School Looks To Add A Grade Center for high school students under long-term suspension of up to 90 days. Additionally, Middle College High School—located nearby at 45-35 Van Dam St.— uses Wagner’s music room for various programs. “Although a utilization rate in excess of 100 percent may suggest that a building will be overutilized or overcrowded in a given year, this rate does not account for the fact that rooms may be programmed for more efficient or different uses than the standard assumptions in the utilization calculation,” according to the DOE notice. “Building Q891 has sufficient space to accommodate the expansion of Wagner under this proposal.” The agency also supports the plan due to Wagner’s “record of high academic performance,” which include an 82 percent fouryear high school graduation rate last year, well above the 62 percent citywide average; and middle school students scoring in the 100th percentile districtwide and 96th percentile citywide on English language arts and math exams. A public hearing on the grade expansion will take place on Tuesday night, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Wagner School. The Panel for Educational Policy is scheduled to make its final determination on the proposal at its Feb. 25 meeting on Staten Island. Public comment may be submitted orally by calling 1- 212-374-7621, by email to [email protected], or by standard written mail to Annabelle Eliashiv, Office of District Planning, 52 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 12- City To Impose Foam Waste Ban This Summer Dept. Of Education To Dismiss Cell Phone Bans -CONTINUED FROM PG. 12- computing devices and portable music and entertainment systems to school, but they may not be turned on or used at school; or students may bring cell phones to school but they will be collected by the school upon entry and stored in a designated location until the end of the school day. When the SLT adopts a set of rules, regulations and disciplinary actions for those that break the rules, they are to announce it to the students and parents, and put the policy in their Consolidated School and Youth Development Plans by October 31, for the 2015-16 school year, in accordance with Regulation A-413. With the ban on cell phones being lifted, phones and tablets are being looked at in a different light, as useful education tools. Fariña said, “I do think we need to become part of the modern world and I also know that a lot of technology is good instructional tools.” Lifting the cell phone ban also raises some concerns over inappropriate usage of phones in schools. De Blasio and Fariña explained that there will be a system of “checks and balances” that students will have to adhere to. If they do not, disciplinary actions will be taken. One such action might be taking away a student’s cell phone. “I think this is going to be an effective deterrent,” de Blasio said. “It is summarized by the simple phrase ‘if you misuse it, you lose it,’” Fariña added. The previous ban on cell phones did not allow students to bring their cell phones into the schools at all. This forced them to leave their phones at home or rent a locker for the day to safely store their phones until schools let out. This solved the problem of students misusing their phones in school, but created a slew of other problems. Parents were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to get in touch with their children in case of an emergency, which was one of de Blasio’s main reasons for lifting the ban. “Safety is a prerequisite to making sure our kids get a good education,” de Blasio said. “You have to secure their safety first, and this is about amplifying a parent’s ability to keep kids safe.” Another problem that arose from the original ban was that students who brought their phones with them had to pay out of their pocket to rent a locker to store their phones for the day. This added an unnecessary financial burden on students and parents. The lifting of this ban will allivalite this financial problem and set up “a fair and universal approach,” de Blasio said. the attack reportedly came to the victim’s aid, and Rada-Bayona allegedly assaulted her for intervening. Police said he reportedly fled into Middle Village and was confronted by several residents who observed the incident; they reportedly detained him until 104th Precinct officers arrived to take him into custody. Rada-Bayona, who was out on $7,500 bail for the December case, appeared in Queens Criminal Court last Thursday for arraignment on the new charges of forcible touching, thirddegree sexual abuse and harassment. Judge David Hawkins reportedly released him on $2,500 bail. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 6- medical mill operations as well as successful prosecutions of medical record fraud, staged accident rings and false medical insurance claims, and other fraudulent activities. The grant, which is part of an overall $3.7 million funding package that was announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last Thursday, Jan.8, will provide much-needed funding and will specifically support the salaries of four full-time assistant district attorneys assigned to the Auto Crime and Insurance Fraud Unit, the partial salary of the Bureau Chief of the Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau and the salaries of three full-time investigators who work with auto theft and insurance fraud related investigations. “These grants will help protect New Yorkers from car theft, as well as higher car insurance rates,” Cuomo said. “This funding will go a long way to helping law enforcement and other agencies around the state continue to crack down on these crimes, and I am proud the state is supporting their efforts,” he added. Since it was found that EPS foam could not be safely recycled, it has been banned. “While much of the waste we produce can be recycled or reused, polystyrene foam is not one of those materials,” Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said. The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2016, gives businesses a six month grace period before any fines will be assessed, and for the whole first year of the ban businesses will receive a warning instead of a fine.D SNY, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Consumer Affairs will provide outreach and education of the law in multiple languages to business throughout all five boroughs. Small businesses with revenue under $500,000 per year and nonprofits may apply for hardship exemptions from the department of Small Business Services (SBS) if they can prove that purchasing alternative products would lead to financial hardship. In accordance with the ban, the Department of Education (DOE) will begin replacing foam trays with compostable plates on May 1. All school meals will be served on these new plates starting in September. Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said, “DOE is excited to be part of the City’s new environmentally conscious polystyrene policy.” About EPS EPS is a plastic resin manufactured into consumer products such as “foam” cups, containers, trays, plates, clamshell cases and egg cartons. DSNY has collected approximately 28,500 tons of EPS in 2014 and estimates about 90 percent of that is from the single-use food service products. EPS is a major source of community litter and is hazardous to marine life. The lightweight foam material can clog storm drains, and end up on beaches and in New York Harbor. It also has a detrimental effect on the city’s organic collection program. During the collection process EPS foam can breakdown into smaller pieces and mix in with organic material, making it unmarketable. New York is now the largest city to ban EPS foam products, joining other cities including San Francisco, Oakland, albany and Seattle. In all, 70 cities have banned EPS foam and businesses have shifted to alternative products that are recyclable or biodegradable. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 8- harassment, by P.O. Scrimenti. (Beat 5) Paul Gijoni, at 60th Lane, for grand larceny, by P.O. Dupont. (Beat 12) Jennifer Kuhn, at 64th and Dry Harbor roads, for DWI, by P.O. Dowal. The 104th Precinct, located at 64-02 Catalpa Ave. in Ridgewood, can be reached by phone at 1-718- 386-3004. To report an emergency or a crime in progress, call 911 immediately. Quality of life matters, such as noise or a blocked driveway, should be reported to 311. It was noted that the charges against the persons listed above are accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. -CONTINUED FROM PG. 11- IITT’’SS NNEEVVEERR TTOOOO EEAARRLLYY TTOO RREEGGIISSTTEERR TTOO VVOOTTEE!! CCAALLLL 331111 TTOO GGEETT AA RREEGGIISSTTRRAATTIIOONN FFOORRMM
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