I’m posting a great column I read today on Sports Illustrated’s Web site about Larry Luftig, a Hartsdale native and the first American to play in professional basketball in Lithuania. When Luftig played some 17 years ago, Lithuania was a poor and isolated country that had just split from the Soviet Republic; now, it’s a hotbed for pro-ball, writes columnist Jeff Pearlman. Luftig plays in a recreational league at the Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle. For the full story, read here: In a regular hack rec run, a gem of a hoop dream is discovered

Journalist Matt McAllester, who writes frequently about the Middle East, had an article yesterday about young teenage extremists in the West Bank. One of them, he writes, is from New Rochelle and is 15 years old. A far cry from New Rochelle, the teenager now lives in a cave-turned-settler outpost. A longer version of McAllester’s article has appeared in Details magazine and can be found here.

I wandered into the Nimble Thimble sewing store in Port Chester today, on Putnam Avenue near Lyon Park. The fabrics are mostly displayed by color, and it’s a pretty pleasant sight on a gray November day. My eye went to the green first.

Today I photographed Anthony McGill, the principal Metropolitan Opera clarinetist, visiting with clarinet students at Rye High School.

After performing for about 15 Rye middle school and high school students he gave them pointers. Here, Anthony McGill advises junior Jun Tsuboike, 16, as he plays Weber’s Concertino Op. 26.

McGill joined violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Gabriela Montero to perform before President Obama’s inauguration address. He will play with the Westchester Philharmonic next weekend.

More photos will appear in an upcoming Express and click here to see a gallery of photos.

I photographed Andrea Raynor of Rye today, who has published her first book, The Voice That Calls You Home, a collection of essays from her life experiences.

Andrea’s life experiences certainly lend themselves to a book. Andrea is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, and a United Methodist Minister, She served as the chaplain to the Jansen Memorial Hospice in Tuckahoe for over ten years, has worked with the homeless in NYC and Boston, and was a pastor to churches in N.Y., Conn. and Massachusetts. In the aftermath of September 11th, she served as a chaplain to the morgue at Ground Zero, offering blessings over remains and support to the many workers there. In addition, Andrea is also a cancer survivor. Look for Theresa Juva’s story on Andrea Raynor in an upcoming edition of The Journal News.

Monroe College students took over the Culinary Arts Center kitchen at the college today to prepare an international Thanksgiving dinner for students, faculty, and staff.

The feast took on a multi-cultural flavor as students prepared traditional Thanksgiving dishes as well as dishes from their home countries. The school set up a special tented dining area for the dinner, which takes place this evening. Look for Hannan Adely’s story tomorrow’s edition of The Journal News. For more photos, click here.

Yonkers has its Ella Fitzgerald statue, and Chappaqua has its Horace Greeley. Now Port Chester is looking around for a place to commemorate its hometown boy, Ed Sullivan.

Trustee Domenick Cicatelli threw out the idea of an Ed Sullivan Square — somewhere — at Monday’s board meeting. The last public street named for someone was not a cause for celebration.

(That would be William Brody Square, at South Main and East William Street, named as part of an apology over an eminent domain case. The village was faulted for failing to properly notify Brody, a building owner, that his property would be taken over for a mall.)

Anyway, the Sullivan salute would help to recognize part of Port Chester’s heritage, along with its current effort to develop and regulate entertainment venues, village board members said.

Sullivan’s family moved from Harlem to Port Chester when he was a boy. He graduated from Port Chester High School and wrote for the Daily Item.

The issue will formally go to the beautification committee for deliberations. In the meantime: Any thoughts out there? Send your ideas to Leah Rae at lrae@LoHud.com or post a comment below.

This is the second time that I have attempted to photo ex-Eastchester Police Officer James Pileggi as he exited New Rochelle City Court in connection to the fatal shooting of a friend when he was showing him a laser equipped hand gun.  The first time he came out of court with a jacket pulled over his head guilded out by his mother.  I was finally able to catch up with him as he spoke to his lawer John Pappalardo after his court appearance.  (Ricky Flores / The Journal News )

Leonard Edwards finished snaking a toilet last month when he stopped at a grocery store in Mount Vernon to pick up a couple lottery tickets.

The self employed plumber from New Rochelle has been playing the lottery for over 30 years and little did he know that day he won $1 million.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said today. “I got lucky. I’ve never won anything before.”

The New York State lottery presented Edwards today with his prize at The Westchester mall in White Plains. After taxes, Edwards will take home a lump sum of $660,300.

Edwards said he’ll use the money to pay off his house and whatever remainder to save for retirement. He was asked now that he won if he’ll keep playing the lottery.

“I’m not going to stop,” he said. “I hope I can get lucky again.”

Joining Edwards today was his brother Charles, officials from the state lottery and the mall and Santa Claus himself.

A group of teachers met after school at Port Chester Middle School today and received an impromptu lesson on civil rights history. Breness Smith, 73, shared his experience of leaving New Rochelle in the late ‘50s for an athletic scholarship at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. In 1960, he sat down at a lunch counter and joined a wave of civil disobedience actions in the segregated South.

The middle school is getting an early start preparing for Black History Month and Martin Luther King Day. Suffice it to say, it’s been a very big year for diversity milestones in Port Chester and the nation.

The school board includes the first Hispanic ever to win elected office in Port Chester, and the village board includes two African-American men who are the first minority voices on that panel.

At the invitation of teacher Gerald Washington, Smith talked about his experience. “This guy is like a diamond to me,” Washington said.

Smith joined a committee of five people at the college who were inspired by a lunch counter sit-in by four black students at North Carolina A&T. The movement “spread like wildfire” to historically black colleges. In 1960 — without telling his mother back in New Rochelle — he met with other students in a church to talk about nonviolent resistance.

Smith joined a group of students and sat down at a whites-only lunch counter. They didn’t budge after being punched and hit while police watched, “smirking, overall.” Some of the students were big football players; Smith played baseball.

“They did not flinch, and I did not either,” he said. They were cuffed and taken to jail, until the college president came, livid, and had them released. Smith said the experience lives with him every day. Civil rights would not be won until after he came back north. A retired human resources professional, he lives back in New Rochelle.

His youngest son now attends North Carolina A&T, he said, “where all of this began.”

Photos: Breness Smith, top, and Gerald Washington