Happy Birthday Mr. President

   We want to wish President Obama a happy birthday, as today is his 49th birthday.

Morrison Avenue Music Festival

   Cano Estremera, Héctor Tricoche and Oro Sólido are some of the bands that will participate in the Morrison Avenue Festival in the Bronx.

   This festival, which is being sponsored by the Hispanic Federation, Bronx Borough President, Rubén Díaz, Jr., Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, and community leader Luis Sepulveda, 

will be held on:  Saturday, August 21, 2010.

   Location:  Morrison Avenue between Westchester Avenue and Watson Avenue starting at 12:00 p.m.

   For more information, please contact Brendaliz Candelaria at (917) 701-0297 or Ralph Morales at  (917) 449-5877.

33rd State Senate Update Tuesday Aug 3

   At the Board of elections today the challenge of the name J. Gustavo Rivera was dismissed by the board commissioners after the lawyer for 33rd candidate J. Gustavo Rivera produced a June 2nd time stamped  copy of the voter registration form dated July 21st with J. Gustavo Rivera as the name of the voter. This ran contrarily to the challenge of the voter registration form copy that the challenger had dated June 26th. However that still leaves the question to us as why did our copy of the voter registration form dated August 2nd from the Bronx Board of Elections have Jose G. Rivera as the voter? We don't know how that is, but Mr. Rivera submitted his revised voter registration form to the board of elections at 32 Broadway as there was a copy of a receipt for one returned registration form dated June 2, 2010 to Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera stating that the registration form will be clocked and forwarded to the borough offices for processing, and signed by a representative from the Voter Registration Department. I might add that was given to me by Mr. Rivera's lawyer after the hearing.

   We think that the public should have the answer to why the Bronx Board of Elections computer  says one thing, and the NYC Board of Elections computer says a different thing on the same matter, especially when both boroughs computers are on the same program.

  

33rd State Senate Race Update No First Name

   It has come to our attention that the petition of 33rd State Senate candidate J. Gustavo Rivera is being challenged for having no first name. It appears that the name of the candidate on the petition does not match the name on the voter registration form (VRF), which lists the name as Jose G. Rivera. 

   Could it be that this Jose Rivera did not want his name mixed up with that of 78th Assemblyman Jose Rivera, and not have people say that they already signed for Jose Rivera or did not live in his district?

   Having checked the petition for J. Gustavo Rivera and the VRF of Jose G. Rivera it appears that there is no first name on the petition for senate candidate Rivera, and that should knock him off the ballot. If this is a fatal mistake for Mr. Rivera it is inexcusable as his clam to fame is his political experience in helping many candidates (including State Senators and President Obama) win their elections.

   Now for the political magic, we have been told that Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera filed some sort of change to his VRF on June 4th 2010. We called the NYC Board of Elections to ask how long any change takes to be listed on the permanent VRF, and we were told three to four weeks. Our check of Mr. J. Gustavo Rivera's VRF was done on August 2nd two months later and the name on the VRF is the same as before Jose G. Rivera.

Charlie Rangel Update

   Democrats were trying to make a deal where as Congressman Charlie Rangel was to get only a slap on the wrist, but that did not fly with house Republicans who want to use Rangel as their poster boy as to why to vote Republican in 2010. While the 13 charges were read into the house record Rangel is still playing it cool. It is expected that with the somewhat weak field of contenders that Rangel should be reelected this year. 

   One Manhattan Democrat who is sticking with Rangel is Manhattan Democratic County Leader Assemblyman Keith Wright. It appears that Wright who made an appearance at the Bronx county dinner last month could be next in line for Rangels seat should Rangel decide to retire soon after winning congressional reelection for the Manhattan and very small part of the Bronx seat.

Could The 33rd State Senate Race, Be Down to Two Candidates?

  We have been told that there are serious defects to the petition of  J. Gustavo Rivera for the 33rd State Senate District. These claims come from two separate sources and are of a different nature. Both sources claim that they will have candidate Rivera knocked off the ballot for the September Democratic Primary. in the 33rd District. These challenges to the petition will be heard on Tuesday, and we don't want to speculate on them as of now because we can not substantiate or deny the charges. 

   On first glance however this could wind up a two person race in the 33rd State Senate District between incumbent Pedro Espada Jr. and challenger Dan Padernacht. We have seen similar instances where this has happened to invalidate items on a petition.

Elections Update

   Having been at the New York City Board of Elections headquarters where the hearings on the specifications filed against candidates running are being heard the past two days, this will continue on Tuesday August 3rd as all hearings were not finished today as scheduled.

  Today Board of Elections commissioners ruled that a few of the candidates being challenged are to remain on the ballot, and of note today Board commissioners ruled 80th Assembly candidate Robert Guiffree on the ballot, however candidate Guifree still faces a court challenge to be heard on Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Guifree was angered by what he called trying to tie him up at the Board of Elections and in court. Guifree added "that the voters of the 80th Assembly District will know about this".

   On another note former Queens State Senator Hiram Monserrate's petition for Assembly was ruled valid by the Board of Elections commissioners after being challenged. Mr. Frank Bolz attorney for the challenger of the Monserrate petition said aloud that "the petition was safe for now, but won't be after the hearing in court next week".

Senator and Weill Cornell Community Clinic to Provide Free Screenings for Bronx Residents

   State Senator and Deputy Majority Leader Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) and Weill Cornell Community Clinic will provide free heart health screenings to Bronx Residents on Saturday, July 30th at the Throggs Neck Community Center at Throggs Neck Houses.  At the event, which will run from 8:30AM-12:0PM, community members can have their blood pressure and cholesterol tested, and be screened for diabetes. Physicians will be on hand to provide referrals and recommendations based on individuals’ screenings, and to answer any questions. 

  The screenings will be on Saturday, July 31^st starting at 9:30AM at the Throggs Neck Community Center 550 Balcom Ave, Bronx.