On the brief side...
Maloney Wins Choice Committee Spot

The Queens congressional delegation has snared another choice committee assignment, this one going to Congressmember Carolyn Maloney (D- Queens/Manhattan).

The veteran lawmaker announced yesterday that she has been appointed chair of the powerful Financial Institutions Subcommittee, which oversees the American banking industry, which includes more than 22,000 banks, thrifts and credit unions.

Maloney's new subcommittee post is an offshoot of the House Financial Services Committee, of which Maloney has been a member since entering Congress in 1992.

Maloney also announced that she and Congressmember Vito Fossella (R- C, Staten Island) had confirmed that for the first time ever, the White House will include $25 million in the 2008 budget for health treatment for sick 9/11 first responders ending successfully a four-year fight for the crucial funding. Comptroller Selection Today

Albany sources reported that the state legislature will vote today to select a new state comptroller to replace Alan Hevesi, who was forced to step down earlier this month.

Reportedly Assemblymember Thomas P. DiNapoli, a Democrat from Long Island, will be elected by a combined vote of the Assembly and state senate.

It had been expected that one of three candidates for the post, selected by a three-member panel appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, would have been up for the election.

However, Silver has said several members of the Assembly were supposed to be on the final list, which Spitzer favored and included William J. Mulrow, an investment banker, Martha E. Stark, New York City Finance Commissioner, and Howard S. Weitzman, Nassau County comptroller. Budget Hearing In Queens

Borough President Helen Marshall has announced that the Queens Borough Board will hold a hearing on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's expense and capital (construction) budgets on Thursday, February 22, at Queens Borough Hall, Room 213, 120-55 Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens beginning at 9 a.m.

Anyone wishing to speak must register by calling 718-286-2900 and must bring 15 written copies of their testimony. Vallone Announces Free Job Training

City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. (D- Astoria) announced a pre-apprenticeship training program by the NYS Housing Authority for residents living in public housing. The program offers candidates an opportunity to receive licenses and certifications required to begin union construction apprenticeships while receiving free tuition, meals and transportation.

To apply, interested parties must bring in a Social Security card, their birth certificate and a letter verifying residency from the NYCHA management office. They also must be physically fit, between the ages of 18 and 25 and possess a high school diploma or GED.

The program will begin in April. The deadline for applications is February 15 and candidates can call NYCHA at 718-246-6500 for more information. Ceremony Kicks Off American Heart Month

City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate (D- Corona) joined with American Heart Association officials last Friday afternoon to light the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows- Corona Park in red lights to signify the beginning of American Heart Month in February.

For the first time, Monserrate said, Queens joined cities across the country as they turned on red lights on February 2 as part of the American Heart Association campaign to raise awareness of the threat heart disease poses to women.

Joining Monserrate were Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski and Flushing Meadows- Corona Park Commissioner Estelle Cooper.