WALKING WITH COFFEE, by R.J. Cirillo

VERDICT ON A THURSDAY AFTERNOON

Coffee, coffee, coffee, right. Jane just traded in the electric drip thing for a Keurig automatic thing.. It’s time for my 4pm make it through the day cup. She’s out at the moment but left me instructions on how to navigate this latest “modern convenience”.

There are buttons to push, but first you insert a sealed plastic cup containing a portion of ground coffee in the top of the machine, then pull down the patented Keurig lid. I pulled the lid down, feeling some resistance. Instead of checking to see if the little plastic cup was in correctly, I just pulled harder until it closed. Big mistake, because after hitting all the buttons there was an explosion of coffee grinds and boiling water, ending my attempt at using this new convenient brewing method. I was stuck with no coffee, just an annoying cleanup.

Still needing my late afternoon cup, I reached into the back of the cupboard and pulled out my mother’s long neglected Wear-Ever stainless steel coffee pot. Fifteen minutes later I was on the couch with a strong, hot, percolated cup of coffee and one Milano cookie to go with it. The TV was on and starting at NY 1 I clicked up the dial, pausing for a second or 2 on each station….Judge Fuckin’ Judy….crime drama….Local news….Vampire Something (Jane hates this, but it’s how I watch TV!)…..crime drama…..Naked and Afraid….Storage Wars …..(the cream of the crop!) ……PBS….finally landing on MSNBC which had a flashing headline VERDICT SOON. Could it be, after weeks of sordid tales of Vegas hotel encounters, exhibits of signed checks and former aids flipping and flopping around in a drab courtroom on Centre street , there will be an ending, one way or another? Over a projection of a grimacing orange face from hell came the non-partisan white type: Count 1-Guilty, Count 2- Guilty, Count 3- Guitly…..and on and on. Alvin Bragg’s team had pitched a 34-0 shutout. I switched from the smiling faces of the MSNBC hosts to the frowns and scowls of FOX news. The coffee from my mother’s Wear-Ever tasted fine, it was the best Thursday afternoon in a while.

Year of the Snake celebrated at Red Hook school by Nathan Weiser

PS 676/Harbor Middle School had another family fun night on January 28 after school in their cafeteria. The theme was Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year began on January 29, which marked the arrival of the year of the snake. The Lion Dance is performed during Lunar New Year as well as iconic firecracker ceremony. There was Chinese food and

Column: Since the community doesn’t seem to have much sway on the future of the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the courts beckon, by George Fiala

Money and politics often get in the way of what economists call “The Public Good.” Here is Wikipedia’s definition: “In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good) is a good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous. Use by one person neither prevents access by other people, nor does it reduce availability to others.

Carroll Gardens Association empowers Nannys, by Brian Abate

The Carroll Gardens Nanny Association (CGNA) is working to raise the standards in the domestic work industry. Rosemary Martinez, Wendy Guerrero, and Charon Best are all a part of the CGNA with Martinez working as a domestic worker organizer and Guerrero working as a program coordinator. All three have in common that they all did domestic work after moving to