Win-loss record for a pitcher is one of the most overrated statistics in baseball. There are better numbers to measure a pitcher’s performance than how many games he wins and losses. New York Mets ace Matt Harvey knows this all too well.

In town to speak to graduates at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made a pit stop in Queens to visit with students and business leaders at Aviation High School and talk about the rising focus on career and technical education.

Noting that CTE schools are of special interest to his boss, President Obama, Duncan said he wanted to learn more about how they are working in the city. Aviation is the third such school he’s visited in New York City, and the first in Queens.

(NAPSI)—When asked to name America's oldest ally, many would be surprised to find the correct answer is the Kingdom of Morocco.

In town to speak to graduates at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made a pit stop in Queens to visit with students and business leaders at Aviation High School and talk about the rising focus on career and technical education.

Last month the various broadcast networks introduced their new prime time shows to advertisers and the media at events that are called “upfronts” in the trade. Here is a look at what CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and the CW have in store for us this fall.

Though the All-Star Game is still about five weeks away, there has been quite a lot of hoopla already about New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey starting the game. But here is something to ponder – is it conceivable to believe if the National League is leading in the ninth inning that Bobby Parnell would be asked to close?

After all, Parnell, 28, has gone from answering questions about his reliability as a major league closer to whether he’s good enough to be on the National League All-Star squad in next month’s game.

(BPT) - The job market doesn’t appear to be as tight as it was a year ago. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.5 percent in April 2013, down from the 8.1 percent we faced in April 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even so, finding a job remains a tough challenge for new college graduates who are eager to begin their careers. 

(BPT) - Our bodies naturally crave salt, a necessary nutrient, and research shows that we gravitate to the amount we need for our bodies to function properly. Salt deficiency has been linked to a host of health concerns, including insulin resistance, increased risk of heart attacks and reduced cognition. But what if eating less salt also increases your weight by making you eat more?

America's West Coast has allure to spare: stretches of ocean highway, famously laid-back and inviting cities and beaches galore. But the northern half of the coast, the Pacific Northwest, is arguably one of the richest natural playgrounds in the country. From its soaring peaks to its mysterious forests, this is the place to go if you love the outdoors.

America's West Coast has allure to spare: stretches of ocean highway, famously laid-back and inviting cities and beaches galore. But the northern half of the coast, the Pacific Northwest, is arguably one of the richest natural playgrounds in the country. From its soaring peaks to its mysterious forests, this is the place to go if you love the outdoors.

The newest and most controversial candidate in the mayoral race, Anthony Weiner, said he knows he’s got a lot to prove but believes New Yorkers will be looking forward when choosing the next mayor this fall.

“We’re making a big mistake if we think that voters are looking to the past,” Weiner said in a sitdown last Friday with the Queens Chronicle staff, the first of his candidacy. “When they go to flip that switch, it is a fundamental, forward-looking, aspirational thing.”

With a cavalcade of notable people and an avalanche of blue and red balloons, Delta Airlines officially opened its JFK Airport gateway at Terminal 4 last Friday, just in time for the summer flying season.

Delta CEO Richard Anderson welcomed elected officials, sports stars and heads of foreign airlines, including Virgin’s Richard Branson, to Gate B41 at the end of Delta’s renovated and extended Concourse B — which at some points seems to look more like a mall than an air terminal — for the ceremonial grand opening.

The NBA Draft Lottery held last week at the Disney Studios in Times Square determined the order of selection in the 2013 NBA Draft, scheduled for June 27 at the Barclays Center. The participants were all from NBA clubs that did not qualify for the playoffs, which meant that for the first time in years, neither the Knicks nor Nets were involved. Nevertheless, there were a number Queens-related stories.

Ernie Grunfeld, the greatest basketball player in Forest Hills High School history, was at the lottery as president of the Washington Wizards. Ernie has the unique perspective of having been a former first-round draft choice himself, as he was chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1977, and now is in the position of selecting a player for that honor. I asked him about his memories of being selected by an NBA team after finishing his four years at the University of Tennessee.

(NewsUSA) - Medicare members have a second opportunity to join a 5-star Medicare health plan, and they can enroll in even more Kaiser Permanente 5-star plans than the previous year. The 5-Star Special Enrollment Period, underway through November, provides Medicare beneficiaries with the option of enrolling in a 5-star plan rather than waiting until the usual fall open enrollment. Seniors and individuals with disabilities must meet certain eligibility criteria and live where a 5-star plan is offered.

There has been an ongoing debate about how the New York Mets will alter their starting rotation when Zack Wheeler, the team’s top pitching prospect, makes his much-anticipated debut – probably sometime next month.

Two of the team’s current five starters – Matt Harvey and Jonathon Niese – aren’t going anywhere. On Sunday night, Shaun Marcum, 31, took a step in the right direction to add his name to that list.

The newest and most controversial candidate in the mayoral race, Anthony Weiner, said he knows he’s got a lot to prove but believes New Yorkers will be looking forward when choosing the next mayor.

“We’re making a big mistake if we think that voters are looking to the past,” Weiner said in a sitdown Friday with the Queens Chronicle editorial staff, the first of his candidacy. “When they go to flip that switch, it is a fundamental, forward-looking, aspirational thing.”

Though people experiencing many different symptoms come to her office, the majority of patients seen by Dr. Ellen Edgar of Complete Neurological Care in Forest Hills suffer from recurring headaches or migraines.

“We have a good success rate in helping patients with headaches,” the doctor says, adding that they “usually feel better after two or three weeks. They see a big difference.”

Championing their constituents’ gripes about airplane noise over their homes, elected officials from Northeast Queens headed down to Washington, DC last Wednesday to convince the Federal Aviation Administration that its environmental review process was insufficient when it changed the procedures for planes departing from LaGuardia Airport last year.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside), and Reps. Grace Meng (D-Bayside) and Steve Israel (D-Melville) agreed with federal and regional FAA representatives to meet again with lawyers and technical experts to discuss the legal arguments over implementing new flight paths without a cumulative environmental impact study. The first meeting is not scheduled yet.

“This is a totally obvious statement, but being the mayor of the City of New York is a tough job, and people need to make sure they have somebody who’s tough enough to lead, but smart enough to listen and to lead in a collaborative way.”

That’s how City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) responded to the first question asked of her during an interview last Thursday with the Queens Chronicle editorial board: the old standard, “What makes you the best candidate?”

(NAPSI)—A new poll on popular though sometimes controversial schooling issues shows that moms of school-age children are frustrated with K−12 education’s current course. Perhaps as a result, they want the ability to choose where and how their children are educated outside of public schools.

It’s been 30 years since the New York Islanders won their last Stanley Cup, and frankly, they have been abysmal for most of the years between 1983 and now. During this labor-dispute-shortened National Hockey League season, the Islanders played respectably enough to earn their first playoff berth in seven years as they clinched the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders drew the unenviable assignment of playing Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins, long an NHL powerhouse, in the first round. To their credit, the Isles showed that they weren’t merely happy to be there, as they battled hard to force the series to six games. Unfortunately for the Isles, they lost two overtime games at the Nassau Coliseum, including Saturday night’s finale.

The recent spate of arrests and criminal investigations involving public officials has ensnared a high percentage of minorities in the state Legislature, leading some in the community to ask if black and Hispanic lawmakers are being targeted.

State Sen. James Sanders (D-Jamaica) decided last week that the question of conspiracy or corruption was far better-suited for an open, frank and free-wheeling debate before nearly 200 people at the Black Spectrum Theatre in Roy Wilkins Park in Jamaica.

Universities are taking online degrees to a whole new level, giving college students opportunities and experiences that are not often found in a traditional college classroom.

A group that began seven months ago with a few people venting their complaints while eating at the Terrace Diner has evolved into a neighborhood movement, a force dedicated to making the Federal Aviation Administration and the Port Authority work for the residents of Northeast Queens to alleviate the noise and pollution from planes flying out of LaGuardia airport.

Approximately 200 people with similar frustrations attended the first Queens Quiet Skies community education meting on May 2 in the Bayside High School auditorium. While planes rumbled overhead, leaders and experts presented residents with legal and technical information and encouraged them to get more involved.

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.