Brooklyn in Brief -- Weekend Edition

- Debbie Almontaser -- who helped found New York City’s first Arabic-themed school in Brooklyn but later resigned amid controversy -- will not be rehired, a spokesman for Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said Thursday. Brooklyn Eagle

- The canvas Toms shoe has defeated the Floating Barge Pool—the "greatest thing to ever happen in the history of Brooklyn Heights"—for the Cooper-Hewitt People's Design Award. The Brooklyn Bridge came in 197th. Curbed

- Two cyclists died in Brooklyn in terrible accidents Thursday. Streetsblog

- The city is "sifting through several proposals from ferry operators to shuttle commuters between Manhattan and at least three stops in Williamsburg and Greenpoint," says the Brooklyn Paper. And Bay Ridge Ferry service may be restored as well. Brooklyn Eagle

- Some 15 glamorous grandmothers -- and one old man in drag -- nearly all from Brooklyn's close-knit Russian immigrant community of Brighton Beach, sang, danced and vamped across the stage at a local nightspot as they competed in the sixth annual Your Highness Grandmother Beauty contest. Reuters

- Sunday is the last day for the beloved vendors at the Red Hook Ball Fields to serve up food this season -- and maybe forever. Gowanus Lounge

- Scientists: at least one bumblebee species in the U.S., Franklin's Bumblebee, may have gone extinct. And it's not looking good for the rest of them. Bumblebees pollinate more than 15 percent of our nation's food crops. Huffington Post