Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

Former Gang Members Issue Sober Warning to Neighborhood Youths

    Two former gang members who describe themselves as former drug kingpins were among the panel members who spoke at a gang awareness forum held at the high school Benjamin Banneker Academy in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

Slow Station Rehabs Leave People with Disabilities in the Lurch

    Michael Harris of the Disabled Riders Coalition discusses subway accessibility challenges and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's obligation to make 100 high-traffic stations accessible to wheelchair users by the year 2020. Published in Courier-Life Publications on March 31 and May 18, 2006. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

Forest City Ratner Companies Mute On Atlantic Yards Security In Event of Terror Attack

    If terrorists decide to target the Nets basketball arena planned for Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, it is unclear how the 19,000 people that the arena is planned to seat would be evacuated. Forest City Ratner Companies, the developer of the Atlantic Yards project that includes the arena and 17 residential and office towers, says the company does not discuss security with the public.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

What Shape Should Proposed Gowanus Tunnel Take?

    The Gowanus Community Stakeholders Group and the Department of Transportation are seeking community input on a nine-year-old proposal to move the Gowanus Expressway underground. The DOT’s latest proposal is to build a tunnel rather than replacing the expressway that Sunset Park activists say increases pollution in an area overburdened with industrial uses.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

Local Woman Leads Charge Against Hepatitis C

    Betty Vega, a member of the Brooklyn Hepatitis C Task Force, is on a mission to educate New Yorkers about the Hepatitis C virus, which affects more than 300,000 people in New York City and five million people nationwide. 

    “What I’m doing is just trying to educate people and get people to participate in the march. It’s a major epidemic and nobody seems to be talking about it. What we’re doing is just trying to get it out there so people know there is a killer virus out there,” said Vega.

    The task force comprises representatives from a variety of health agencies, including syringe exchange programs, HIV prevention agencies, substance abuse treatment programs, pharmacies and academic institutions.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

Some Shut Down Shops In Solidarity With Immigrants

    Workers on Coney Island Avenue and Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park and celebrated International Workers’ Day by shutting down their stores in the middle of the afternoon. To show solidarity with recent immigrants who could be deported or detained if a pending House of Representatives bill becomes law, they joined hands to form human chains. Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

Brooklyn Lawmakers Target ‘Medical Mills’

    A New York City Council bill co-sponsored by two Brooklyn lawmakers threatens to put businesspeople in jail for up to a year for committing automobile insurance fraud. Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)