Brooklyn Today: Monday, January 9, 2012

January 9, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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Good morning. Today is the ninth day of the year. It is the birth anniversary (1913) of Richard Nixon, 36th president of the United States. Nixon first became well-known as President Dwight Eisenhower’s vice president in the 1950s. After eight years in political limbo, he staged a comeback to win the presidency in 1968. His years in office were marked by the beginning of diplomatic relations with China, the winding down of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to his resignation.

Well-known people who were born today include former basketball player Muggsy Bogues, sportscaster Dick Enberg, singer Crystal Gayle (“Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”), singer Dave Matthews and Hall of Fame football player Bart Starr.

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Today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Borough President Marty Markowitz will host an open house at the Bedford-Union Armory in Bedford-Stuyvesant, followed by a town hall meeting at Medgar Evers College, 1638 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn has an opportunity to transform this former military facility into a world-class community resource. …

Tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the 78th Precinct, 65 Sixth Ave., Park Slope, the Public Safety/Environmental Protection Committee of Community Board 6 will meet. Six liquor licenses for local bars and restaurants are on the agenda. …

Tonight at 6 p.m., Empire State College will hold a public information session about its associate and bachelor’s degree programs at its Brooklyn location, 177 Livingston St., Brooklyn. The college serves more than 20,000 students worldwide.

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Today’s News

A man driving on the wrong side of the road on Eastern Parkway led to a fatal accident that involved three other cars, according to police. On Thursday, police say, the man’s Ford Explorer hit a Chevy SUV and then broadsided a Lincoln Town Car, which burst into flames. Finally, the Explorer struck a Mitsubishi sedan head-on. The driver of the Lincoln was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The drivers of the other three cars were all taken to Kings County Hospital, where they were reported in stable condition. The driver of the Explorer has been charged with reckless endangerment, criminally negligent homicide, assault, reckless driving and criminal negligence.

Also on Thursday, a 49-year-old deliveryman was struck and killed by a car at Gerritsen Avenue and Avenue V. The deliveryman, Ju Xiang, was operating a Yamaha moped scooter when he was struck by a car that had gone through a red light, say police. Eighteen-year-old Kathryn Foris of Queens has been arrested in the incident.

In Yakima, Wash., a club that teaches young people the fundamentals of baseball is known as the Brooklyn Academy. With 80 kids in the program, Brooklyn fields four teams. One of the coaches will be on the Detroit Tigers’ AA Erie roster this coming season. Three of the club’s alumni are now going to college on baseball scholarships.

The Daily News recently profiled the Miller family, who live next door to the subway-system ventilation building on Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights. From the outside, the building looks like another brownstone. The Millers say they lease the building’s backyard from the MTA and have turned it into a leafy garden. They also found slabs of expensive blue stone when they dug up the garden, and now use them as a cover.

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