Bronx News Network

One Title Lost, Two Found For Down But Not Out Boxer

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By David GreeneLike the roller-coaster life he has lived until now, former middleweight boxing champion Iran “The Blade” Barkley, who recently regained one lost title belt, has now learned he will be getting a second belt-19 years after defeating Thomas “The Hit-Man” Hearns.Barkley, 50, lost his first belt, the WBC Middleweight Championship belt he’d won from Hearns with Ring Magazine’s “Upset of The Year” performance in 1988, back in October when a relative changed the locks to the family home at the Patterson Houses on Third Avenue.The fighter would get a box of his possessions, minus the coveted belt. Barkley recalled, “I had it where I kept it.” He reported the theft of the missing belt on October 28, and the NYPD released a photo of the belt to media outlets on December 8.Barkley’s Middleweight belt was recovered recently after it was

Bronx News Network

Bronx Events: Caribbean Garden Exhibit at the NYBG

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Tired of this cold, miserable winter weather? Escape to the Botanical Garden, now through Feb. 27, for its Caribbean exhibit, featuring the garden’s most tropical selection of flora. A lush display of banana and mango trees and exotic plants like the butterfly orchid will help you forget, even temporarily, that you have to go home afterwards and shovel your car out of a snow bank.Tickets are half off for a limited time only, meaning $10 for adults, $9 for students and seniors and just $4 for the little ones. The Garden will also being hosting a visitor photo contest of the exhibit starting this week; more details here.Check out this and other events in our community calendar, below.Editor’s note: What did we miss?

Bronx News Network

Your Bronxites of the Year!

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We posted this last week, but seeing as there will probably be no further posting today we thought we’d once again unveil, in the spirit of MLK Day, your choices for Bronxites of the Year – those who give, and have given, so much to their communities without much recognition or glory. This is a new feature and something we’ll probably do every year. Enjoy!A few weeks ago, as 2010 came to a close, we asked our readers to submit their choices for Bronxite of the Year-taking a cue from Time Magazine and its annual person of the year. We asked you to nominate a member of your community who you thought made a difference this year, who’s been a force for good, and who’s gone above and beyond.To be clear, this isn’t a contest, but more of a way to showcase a number of individuals who served the borough with distinction in 2010. We didn’t pick a winner-we’re posting them all below.So here they are-your picks for Bronxite of the Year.Meg Charlop at the Tour de Bronx in 2000 (Norwood News file photo)Zach Charlop-Powers nominated his mother, Meg Charlop, a long-time Norwood resident and veteran public health advocate who worked at Montefiore for more than 25 years in the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, and most recently as director for community health in the School Health Program.

Bronx News Network

Light Blogging Today

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Hi folks,Blogging is light – OK, nonexistent – due to a variety of circumstances today. James Fergusson is working on cleaning out and putting together a new satellite office at the Mount Hope Housing Company (we’re back there after a bit of a hiatus). Alex Kratz is out for a while as his lovely wife, Tessa, gave birth to a baby girl, Naya, on Jan. 12. And I’m home with a pretty bad cold.

Bronx News Network

Update on Our 2011 Annual Appeal

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We wanted to update you on our 2011 Annual Appeal that we launched on Monday. So far we have raised $1,121. Thank you to everyone who has donated to our campaign. We really appreciate it. We want our blog to be the “home page” for the Bronx and a place for dialogue that leads to community improvement.