By JAMES POWELL // Our 20th century highways are failing us in the 21st century. The American Society of Civil Engineers grades U.S. highways as D-minus, with a cost of $2 trillion just to repair our crumbling bridges and roads, not including money to meet the ever-increasing truck and car traffic, which causes more congestion and delays. Our obsolete highway system doesn’t meet modern transport needs, and is killing us. Forty-thousand persons die annually in…

By GREGORY ZELLER // A regional mentoring initiative with a long history of supporting at-risk middle and high school students will mark its 15th anniversary this week in Brookville. Designed specifically for youngsters who might not necessarily be on the path to higher education, the annual Mentor New York conference lands Thursday on the LIU Post campus. The idea is to expose at-risk kids to college life and, hopefully, spark an interest in both collegiate…