By Dee Richard
Police Officers from the 109th Precinct responded to the call and apprehended and arrested the suspect. He is the man responsible for a series of at least 15 recent robberies in the area. He is 38 years old and, according to sources, has spent 20 of those 38 years in prison. The 109th presented our brave bus driver, along with each of the six officers involved in the apprehension of the suspect, with a plaque at the Officer of the Month ceremonies. We ran into Jessie Sleigh of DA Brown's office at the Chinese Business Association Dinner Dance at Terrace on the Park later in the week. He was unaware of that specific incident and said he would read the 109th's minutes pertaining to the case. He also said perhaps he could recommend to DA Brown some sort of recognition and or appreciation for the young man's immediate action, doing his civic duty while running the risk of being confronted by the suspect.On Tuesday the New York Press Club held a conference featuring Bill O'Reilly host of the O'Reilly Factor on the Fox news channel. What an interesting and provocative individual, truly one of a kind. His thought processes and reasoning for his opinions are rather unique. O'Reilly has written three books, all of which have made The New York Times best seller list, with a fourth one due soon. He stated that, contrary to popular belief, he is not a conservative, but rather he considers himself a traditionalist, whatever he means by that definition. It was without a doubt one of the most interesting interviews we have attended recently. O'Reilly claims he has no boss, no one tells him what to cover or what to say. He personally selects six stories every night to report on out of the possible 60 or so that he is presented with daily. He tells people what they need to know, not necessarily what they want to hear. In short, he tells it like it is. He does not feel obligated to present the opinions of stockholders, advertisers, publishers, or editors and does not let the economy (good or bad), affect his selection of issues. He believes that the press knows right from wrong and should insert a little more morality in the reportage rather than constantly chasing sensational headline grabbing stories that benefit no one. One “National Enquirer” publication is more than enough to go around. O'Reilly does admit that he lacks patience with stupidity and could at times be considered rude, saying that if he wanted to be nice, he would host a children's show and call it “Fun with Bill.” His favorite media people are Mike Wallace, Tim Russert and Gabe Pressman. That seems like pretty good company to be traveling in.In our travels, we ran into an interesting woman who said she would supply us with information pertaining to her job. She works for the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens. This organization offers a home-sharing program, which matches seniors with someone to share their home with.Home sharing is based on the premise that both participants in the program benefit. First, it lowers the monthly rental for those living in New York City. Secondly, it offsets some of the cost of maintenance on the home. It adds security by having another person living in the home, and it helps the senior to avoid some of the feelings of loneliness and isolation. Finally, it enables seniors to feel independent and, for the host person, to continue to live in their own home.It has been a most successful program since its inception in 1968. It is a much more satisfying solution than living alone or in a nursing home. NYFSC carefully matches the home sharers. If you or someone you know has any interest in the program feel free to call 212-962-7559. Someone will be happy to explain the program and how it works for you.On Friday the Chinese Business Association held its 24th annual dinner dance at Terrace on the Park. It was a huge affair, requiring two rooms for the cocktail party and the entire ballroom for the dinner. There must have been close to 600 people present.One of the guest speakers was Christine Quinn, the newly elected speaker of the City Council, who handled herself rather well. She seems to have confidence in what she is doing and what she would like to do in the future. Naturally all the local politicians were there to welcome her to Queens.The guest list was not only an Asian list but also one of all the movers and shakers in Queens. The Chinese are to be commended on the marvelous job they have done in turning Flushing around and making it a thriving business community. The transformation is living proof that nothing is impossible; it just requires imagination to recognize the possibility, ingenuity to carry it out and a little money from investors to get it moving. We have a backlog of several other events to report on, but we will have to save them for next week.That's it for this week; we look forward to receiving you voice mails at 718-767-6484, your faxes at 718-746-0066 and your e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com. Don't forget to check out the photos on the Focus on Queens page. Till next week, Dee
