• Joe Bruno's lobbyist son emerges as the crucial link between the embattled State Senate GOP leader and pony-loving businessman Jared Abbruzzese. The Feds allege an unsummarizable roundelay of sweetheart deals, lobbying stints, and commission fees. [NYT]
• Three central New Jersey high schoolers are dead after a head-on collision between their car and a van less than a mile from campus. The van's driver was also killed, and her unidentified teen passenger hospitalized with serious injuries. [AP via amNY]
• A Brooklyn principal barred a special-ed student from entering a district spelling bee, telling him, "You don't have the brains to do it." This after organizing a special schoolwide bee seemingly aimed at eliminating him. [NYDN]
• City firefighters are putting up flag decals on their lockers in defiance of Fire Department's order to remove all personal adornments from department buildings. Expect an interesting debate on whether a locker is a private or a public space (and a staggering amount of porn in the trash bins behind firehouses). [IHT]
• And speaking of trash, New Yorkers generate a lot of it. Almost twice as much food waste, in fact, as any other city. Best recyclers? No surprise there: Park Slope. [NYP]