The Bronx DA's office says an 83-year-old engineer lied about using steel in a building that caught fire and collapsed and left two firefighters dead in 2006. Jose Vargas, who pleaded not guilty, was arraigned in court yesterday. The three-alarm fire broke out at a 99-cent store on Walton Avenue on August 27, 2006; the building's roof and first floor collapsed, killing Lieutenant Howard Carpluk Jr. and firefighter Michael Reilly. Vargas, who signed inspection papers......

The Bronx DA's office is investigating Ralph Reyes, a Bronx man who was singled out by the New York Post last week as the center of New York City's dogfighting world. The Post was acting on information provided by the Humane Society of the United States, which has an Animal Fighting Task Force that investigated Reyes and dogfighting in the city, but abandoned its project when it was unable to get much cooperation from local......

Can it be? The Sun reports that the Assembly "could pass a medical marijuana bill" this week, and the Senate will do the same. The lead sponsor of the Assembly's bill is Manhattan Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who said, "There are thousands of New Yorkers who suffer from serious medical conditions who could have a better quality and longer life." Various people, including Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau and Montel Williams, have supported the legalization of marijuana......

The law can be very cruel, even to cancer-stricken 71-year-olds. The Daily News has a feature on Barbara Jackson, who was arrested last month after she bought some bags of pot in her Bronx neighborhood. Jackson was diagnosed with colorectal cancer eight years ago, and tells the News she's been smoking for the past seven to restore her appetite. "The marijuana calmed me down and gave me back my appetite. My taste buds are gone,......

We know a lot of things have changed at Sesame Street since it ruled our world completely. You know, there's this segment called Elmo's World that focuses on the breakout monster Elmo, his goldfish Dorothy, and things like rhyming in his apartment. But it's a different world when smack is being smuggled in boxs of "Sing with Elmo" (an Elmo Boom Box!). The Bronx DA's office announced that authorities had busted a drug ring smuggling......

The defense attorney of one of the men accused of beating up an off-duty police officer says his client will be cleared. Police Officer Eric Hernandez so badly injured when a group of men beat him at a White Castle that he was seemingly unable to hear an on-duty police officer's request for him to lower his gun, only the other officer to shoot him. The Bronx DA released footage of an interview with the......

Only eight days after a funeral for police officer Dillon Stewart who was killed during a traffic stop, the NYPD, elected officials, and New Yorkers attended another funeral, one for police officer Daniel Enchautegui who was killed while trying to stop a burglary. About 20,000 people attended the Bronx funeral, and like Stewart, Enchautegui was posthumously promoted to first-grade detective. The Bronx DA's office said the two suspects in Enchautegui's death who have been recovering......