The Queens International Film Festival, held in Astoria last weekend, promised to be a stellar event. Hundreds of independent films from around the world would be shown, stars were set to appear on closing night, numerous networking programs were planned and a youth filmmaking project was in the works. Elected officials had endorsed the event, and major news organizations were supposed to cover it. The festival was in its seventh year and was in for another great run.
   Or so it seemed.

   The fact that representatives of energy service companies were soliciting business door-to-door in Old Howard Beach last Sunday evening was a concern voiced by residents at last week’s meeting of the 106th Precinct Community Council in Ozone Park.
   The individuals try to pressure their way into the homes of senior citizens by telling them they can save money on their electric bill by switching their services, residents said.

   Ann Lasker, broker and owner of Frank S. Lasker Realty Management, Inc., located in Ozone Park, believes that buying or selling a home is one of the most important transactions in the lives of many. To that end, she also knows that working with market experts you can trust in the process is a key factor in buying or selling a home.
   “If you are looking for the proper representation with honesty and integrity, the Lasker’s and their team of experts are your team,” Ann says with confidence.

   106th Precinct Detective Nathaniel Tauber, center, was honored last week with the Precinct’s Cop of the Month award for October in recognition of his excellent police work by 106th Precinct Community Council President Frank Dardani, left, and Precinct Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Joseph Courtesis, right.
   Tauber has worked in the precinct’s anticrime unit since August, where he has gathered intelligence which led to the obtaining and execution of five search warrants, according to Courtesis. Since August, he has also confiscated 14 firearms off the street.

   Two alleged carjackers were captured at 130th Street and 103rd Avenue in Richmond Hill on Monday by officers from both the 106th and 102nd Precincts, police said.
   On Monday morning, the suspects allegedly jumped out of their car at 107th Avenue and Van Siclan Street and grabbed a chain from around the neck of passerby, said Lt. Joseph Salvato of the 106th Precinct. Taking off in their car, they crashed into a tree on the next block, Salvato said. The perpetrators then got out of their vehicle and, at gunpoint, pulled a driver from his car, driving the victim’s car two blocks before crashing again, according to the lieutenant.

   A Howard Beach woman who says she was physically and mentally tortured for years and faces 25 years to life for fatally shooting her husband, was told by a Queens Supreme Court justice she’ll have to stand trial without psychiatric testimony — a crucial component needed to prove she suffered from battered woman’s syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.
   Barbara Sheehan, 48, was arrested last February at her home in Old Howard Beach after the mother of two fired 11 shots at her husband, retired NYPD officer Raymond Sheehan, while he shaved. According to Sheehan and her 23-year-old daughter Jennifer, the family lived in constant fear of Raymond Sheehan, whom the suspect has said threatened to kill her and their family and regularly punched and kicked her and held a gun to her head.

   The act of walking into a food pantry to request canned vegetables or bread that can be used to augment family meals or fresh apples and pears that will be strained and spoonfed to a hungry infant, is often a humbling experience.
   At Our Lady of Grace Ministry of Care and Service in Howard Beach Tuesday morning, however, the first face that appeared at the door was that of a smiling senior, arms weighed down by plastic bags brimming with boxed, bottled and canned provisions.

   A South Ozone Park man was found dead outside his home last Thursday morning in what police have labeled a “suspicious” situation.
   At about 3:30 a.m., police from the 106th Precinct responded to a 911 call from 103-46 107th St. and found Paradeep Rambarran, 51, dead. The man was discovered lying on a pile of sheets outside his home.

   Howard Beach residents got the opportunity to learn more about the Medicare Part D Drug Plan when Cynthia Zalisky, executive director of the Queens Jewish Community Council in Forest Hills, spoke at a meeting of the Sisterhood of the Rockwood Park Jewish Center on Monday evening.
   Many seniors and public officials are criticial of the Part D donut hole, in which insurance holders pay the full cost of their prescription medications between $2,700 and $4,350. Zalisky announced that from Nov. 15 until Dec. 31, recipients can change their current Part D plan without penalty. “I strongly urge you to re-look at your plans,” Zalisky said, adding that premiums have gone up. Depending on ZIP code, there are as many as 53 Part D drug plans from which recipients can choose.