(NewsUSA) - According to recent reports, Warren Buffet has identified energy deregulation as the next big financial opportunity to reverberate around the country. Similarly, former GE Chairman Jack Welch described deregulation as "the next biggest thing since the Internet."

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn,Queens) came to the May meeting of the Lindenwood Alliance, in the Fairfield Arms Co-op, to meet some of his new constituents.

Jeffries told the audience that he was concerned with resolving any issues that residents had with the Federal Emergency Management Agency regarding Hurricane Sandy.

(BPT) - Home cooks are spending more time in their own kitchens and less time dining out, according to the January Monthly Measuring Cup Trend Report. Nearly half of surveyed consumers said they’re dining out less this year than they did in 2012 and are relying more on their cooking skills at home. Fortunately, technology makes it easier than ever for home chefs to prep and cook meals at home and clean up conveniently and efficiently afterward.

Major League Soccer’s proposal to build a stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park has re-emerged this week, jangling a borough that has spent the better part of three months focused elsewhere.

The league once again contends it’s weeks away from finalizing a deal with the city, as it did last fall. This time, the league may have found an oil-rich owner for the proposed franchise: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a billionaire member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

(StatePoint) With more women rising to top positions in business and government, the topic of women and their capacity for leadership has been all the buzz in the media lately.

Queens has a lot to brag about. 

But what it doesn’t have much of is open space. 

Perhaps that’s why denizens with green thumbs seek out any plot of dirt to plant colorful flowers and grow hearty vegetables.

(BPT) - If you’re heading out into the workforce for the first time, there’s plenty of prep work to do. An employer’s first impression of you could very well be your resume.

(StatePoint) Cancer. It’s a word no one wants to hear, yet all too many people are diagnosed each year. With a diagnosis comes many questions, most importantly how to get the best medical care possible. For many, the next logical question is how to maintain a normal life with cancer -- including balancing work, life and health demands.

(BPT) - Adding living space to your home can be an expensive prospect. However, creating an outdoor room is a budget-friendly option that gives you more square footage, as well as additional opportunities to enjoy the season. As an extension of the home, outdoor rooms with decks or pergolas can be personalized to truly bring indoor comforts outside for relaxation and entertaining.

“We were the first team to ever beat the Celtics, who went 68-14 that year, in a seventh game at the Boston Garden,” former Knicks forward Jerry Lucas recalled last Friday night as the Knicks honored members of their 1972-73 squad, the last New York team to win an NBA championship.

Lucas obviously took a pride in that accomplishment, but he was also sending a message to fans of the current Knicks team that even the Miami Heat, led by Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, a team that recently peeled off 27 straight wins, can be beaten by the never-say-die Knicks in the playoffs.

If you’re running late and driving through Woodhaven and Ozone Park, don’t bother looking up to find out the time, you won’t get it.

Southern Queens’ famous clock tower rises over the former site of the Grosjean kitchenware factory on Atlantic Avenue just west of Woodhaven Boulevard. Today, the site is occupied by the Pathmark shopping center and all that remains of the former factory is the extensive building that acts almost like a brick wall between the shopping center’s parking lot and Atlantic Avenue. On the eastern end of the expansive building is the clock tower.

Baseball fans are far more concerned with the health of the players on their favorite teams coming out of spring training than they are with their March win-loss records. Given that criterion, you can’t blame Yankees and Mets fans if they are not brimming with excitement about the start of the 2013 season this Monday.

Comparisons of the 2013 Yankees with the infamous 1965 Bronx Bombers team, when nearly all of the big names — such as Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Elston Howard, Bobby Richardson and Tony Kubek —seemingly all got old overnight together, started right after Derek Jeter broke his ankle during the 2012 playoffs. It picked up in intensity after Alex Rodriguez underwent hip surgery last fall. It now appears that A-Rod will not play until after the All-Star Game at the earliest. Then again, many think he may never play again.

Blue police barricades set the stage on Saturday as nearly 75 protesters, made up of Trade Fair meat department union workers and supporters, took to the street outside the supermarket chain’s headquarters in Astoria to rally for their jobs back.

“I want to see this resolved. Put us back to work; let’s go,” said Richard Findlay a meat department manager at Trade Fair who has been with the company since 1993.

Nearly 100 Trade Fair supermarket union employees working in the meat department at nine Queens store locations began an unfair labor practice strike on Wednesday, with a strong proponent in their corner to help them fight for a “fair contract.”

“I want to be very, very clear: I will not tolerate the further abuse of these workers by Mr. Jaber, the owner of Trade Fair,” Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) said.

St. John’s University men’s basketball coach Steve Lavin jokingly calls himself the “Kindergarten Cop” over the lack of juniors and seniors on his team. But if he can keep his troops healthy and intact for a year or two, then the Red Storm should return to the NCAA Tournament — better known today as March Madness.

Red Storm fans will have to be patient, however, because it probably won’t be this year, based on Sunday’s 63-47 loss against their old Big East nemesis, the Pittsburgh Panthers, at Madison Square Garden.

On Sunday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. the Once Upon a Time Theatre Company, 87-61 111 St., Richmond Hill, presents “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” a musical for young and old alike. Advance tickets are $8, $5 for children. At the door tickets are $10, $7 for children. Call (718) 846-9182, email oncetime@aol.com or visit onceuponatime-inc.com for more information.

An African-American art exhibition by Khalil Koromantee and His Young Black Artists will be on display on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Rosenthal Library, Room 230, at Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing.

It was supposed to be an evening for the community to hear the positions of candidates in the 31st District City Council race, but a lot of the forum, held Tuesday night in Laurelton, was spent grilling one contender for his decision to sue several of his opponents, challenging the validity of their signatures and attempting to get them thrown off the ballot.

Rosedale attorney Jacques Leandre filed, and later dropped, lawsuits against his opponents Mike Duncan, Donovan Richards, Earnest Flowers, Allan Jennings and Selvena Brooks. He pursued the action against Marie Adam-Ovide, but a judge decided in her favor. He did not challenge the remaining candidates, Saywalah Kesselly and Pesach Osina.

(BPT) - One upside to the burgeoning obesity epidemic is that it’s fueling the growth of jobs in the fitness industry. 

The Mets’ signing of free agent pitcher Shawn Marcum wouldn’t normally generate a headline except that it’s big news whenever the Mets spend money on anyone who has ever played in Major League Baseball. They were the last MLB team to sign a veteran free agent this year.

The Mets gave Marcus a guaranteed $4 million contract. As has long been the case with most Mets acquisitions, there are red flags. Marcus did not pitch much last season because of elbow issues. When healthy, he’s capable of winning 15 games with a good team such as his former club, the Milwaukee Brewers. My guess is that Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is throwing away owner Fred Wilson’s money because (a) Mets pitchers rarely stay healthy and that goes double for reclamation projects such as Marcus, and (b) the Mets offense is so puny it would be hard for any pitcher to post a good record with the team.

(NewsUSA) - America's elderly are one of the fastest-growing segments of the population. As a group, senior citizens over age 85 are expected to double between now and 2030. While people are wondering what Social Security will look like in the coming years, senior housing is another rising concern.

(BPT) - It’s dark. It’s cold. Heading to the pool might be the furthest thing from your mind. While summer is the time of year for playing at the beach, pool parties and outdoor water sports, the colder months are actually a great time to start swimming.

Queens politics in 2012 brought new districts, a historic election in the 6th Congressional District and enough cloak-and-dagger intrigue to fill a Robert Ludlum novel.

But when Hurricane Sandy struck in October, killing 12 people in Queens and more than 40 in the city, devastating the Rockaways, Howard Beach, lower Manhattan and Staten Island, the people of central Queens, who were largely spared the storm’s wrath, rallied to the cause of those worst hit.