Monday, February 20, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Brotherly Bond Unites Hasidic Boxer, Black Manager
Brotherly Bond Unites Hasidic Boxer, Black Manager
NEW YORK (AP) -- The hometown fighter climbs into the ring to the thumping bass of Matisyahu, the Hasidic reggae singer. Orthodox Jewish men in black suits with long beards and unlit cigars bounce and chant to the rhythm.
``Dima!''
``Dima!''
``Dima!''
``Dima'' is Dmitriy Salita, a 23-year-old super lightweight from Brooklyn, by way of Odessa, Ukraine. He is also a Hasidic Jew.
He is 5 foot 9, and officially 143 1/4 pounds, with close-cropped brown hair and an unscarred alabaster face. His robe is black silk with white lettering: ``Dmitriy 'Star of David' Salita.''
It's a Thursday night. There's more money in a Friday night fight -- live TV and bigger crowds. But Salita doesn't fight on the Sabbath.
The Manhattan Center is packed anyway. Fans from Brownsville, Brooklyn, have come for Curtis Stevens, a hard-hitting middleweight backed by the hip-hop money of producer Irv ``Gotti'' Lorenzo and his brother Chris. Fans from Spanish Harlem are here for Edgar ``El Chamaco'' Santana, also fighting on the under card. They all mingle with the Orthodox crowd. They all scream for Dima.
Following Salita to his corner are his manager, Israel Liberow, who is the brother of the boxer's rabbi; Hector Roca, a Panamanian trainer of world champions and Hollywood stars; and Jimmy O'Pharrow, a black trainer well-known on the amateur circuit.
``With me, Hector and Israel, we've got a league of nations,'' O'Pharrow says.
O'Pharrow, known to friends as ``Jimmy O','' has been a mentor to Salita since he taught the young boxer to jab at the age of 13. Jimmy O' is 80 years old now. He's given up training on a daily basis, even with Salita, who works mostly with Roca now. But Jimmy O' follows Salita's moves closely. The boxer's career might be the old trainer's last project.
``Dmitriy and I became very close friends,'' he says. ``When he gets hit, I feel it.''
Jimmy O' wants the young boxer to be more aggressive, to follow a sharp jab or punishing left hook with combinations. Salita is the World Boxing Association's eighth-ranked fighter; his friend and trainer thinks that maybe, in a year or so, he'll be ready for a title fight.
___
Salita and his opponent touch gloves in the center of the ring. Salita knows little about Robert ``Red Hot'' Frankel. He's from Denver. He signed on for the fight at the last minute after another boxer dropped out.
It's Frankel's eighth fight of the year, another payday for a fighter with children and a day job installing carpet. He is 12-4 and said to throw 100 punches a round, which is a lot.
Salita is heavily favored, but a loss would be devastating to his chances of getting a title fight.
As the first round opens, Salita probes with jabs. The men circle, feeling each other out.
With two minutes gone, Salita bulls in close. Frankel clubs at him with an overhand right. Salita ducks, but the blow glances off the top of his head.
Salita pedals backward and lands on his back.
The referee begins to count.
``One.''
``Two.''
``Three''
Turns out, the dad from Denver has come to New York to win.
___
It's been more than 60 years since Jimmy O' first strapped on boxing gloves and 30 since he started training kids. He's tall, lithe and close to his old fighting weight. His beard and hair are gray and his long hands are wrinkled. But his jab is still quick. So is his mouth.
``Dmitriy looks Russian, he prays Jewish, he fights black,'' Jimmy O's likes to say. ``I came up with that. Don't quote it from someone else.''
Salita is focused on being a champion and Jimmy O' wants it for him. But he knows there is more to life than boxing.
In the unlikely relationship that began over 10 years ago when a smooth-faced kid walked into his gym, Jimmy O' has found a quest that gives meaning to his later years, and a second act in the sport he loves.
It sounds like a Hollywood story, and Disney has taken notice, with a screenplay in development and Eminem penciled in to play Salita.
___
In the third round, Salita starts clawing back.
He'd popped right up after hitting the floor in the first, claiming he had just tripped. But it didn't matter to the judges, who put Salita two points in the hole.
Salita is fighting like Jimmy O' taught him now. ``Hit and don't get hit,'' he always said. Jabs and hooks. Ducks, feints and dodges.
Frankel is awkward. He charges with his head down. Salita is worried about tripping again or knocking heads. An accidental butt could end the fight with a gash and douse a promising career.
___
Jimmy O's boxing story begins in the 1940's. He started fighting in the street. Then he wised-up and paid dues in Manhattan gyms, like Grubb's and the legendary Stillman's.
He's among the last who remembers seeing Jack Johnson, the first black world heavyweight champion, who occasionally visited Grubb's before he was killed in a car crash in 1946.
``He seemed in all of the pictures such a large man, but he wasn't much bigger than I am,'' Jimmy
O' remembers.
The gyms were filled with GIs returning from the war. He had wanted to sign up himself, but the Army medical examiner said he had a bad heart. At 80, he laughs remembering it.
After a brief amateur career, Jimmy O' hung up his gloves, got married and found a job at a corrugated cardboard factory.
But for 30 years, he never forgot his jab.
In the mid-'70s, he moved to Starrett City, a mostly white housing project in Brooklyn, where his family stood out ``like flies in the buttermilk.''
He wanted to start a gym and asked Starrett City's board.
``Who knows why,'' he says. ``But I used to look at people, who were older and thought about people in their 80s and 90s, who were accomplishing something.''
The board gave him a modest space below a parking garage with no windows and ``nothing but the four walls.'' He focused on giving poor kids purpose; many were brought to him by the police.
``It was not just about learning how to be a boxer. It was about learning how to live, how to grow up,'' he says. ``I couldn't save every person, but I tried.''
Jimmy O's four walls became one of the country's top amateur gyms, producing dozens of Golden Gloves champions and some notable professionals including heavyweight Shannon Briggs.
One day in 1995, four years after the Salitas moved to the United States, Dmitriy was led in by his brother Michael. Dmitriy was one of the few white kids in the gym, but he didn't even notice.
``It wasn't intimidating to me,'' Salita says. ``That's how I knew America, just like my public school.''
Some of the other kids were not so color blind.
``I would put him in the ring with black boys, who said, 'Let me beat on that white boy,''' Jimmy O' says. ``Then when Dmitriy started doing what he was told, they would say, 'Uh-oh.'''
___
In the seventh, Frankel tires. Instead of charging forward, he's backing up now. Salita zeros in, scoring with combinations: jabs, followed by rights and left hooks.
Then, bang, an uppercut right on the nose. Blood streams from Frankel's nostrils. Jimmy O' and Hector Roca scream: Finish him.
But Salita can't find the knockout.
___
Young Dmitriy Salita would come home from Starrett City shadow boxing. He watched fight videos. He talked about nothing else.
His parents, particularly his mother, Lyudmila, were not pleased. They wanted a doctor, a lawyer, a nice Jewish boy. Not a boxer.
Then they met Jimmy O'.
``He's a man of dignity, character and style and finesse. He's a gentleman,'' says Salita. ``For my mother, the fact that I was around Jimmy brought her a certain amount of calmness, because she knew that Jimmy would look out and take care of me.''
So when Lyudmila got cancer, she came to talk with Jimmy O'.
``She saw things in this kid that nobody saw, that I didn't see,'' he says. ``She said, 'Jimmy I want you to take care of him.' I told her that I was, and she said, 'No I want you to really take care of him.' She knew she was dying, you see.''
Salita spent countless hours with her in the hospital. One day he met an Orthodox man attending to his own sick wife, and they debated the godliness of boxing. Salita, who had not been raised Orthodox, wondered how could there be anything immoral about the sport he loved. The man suggested he visit a Chabad Lubavitch synagogue and ask a rabbi.
The rabbi, Zalman Liberow, encouraged Salita to strengthen his faith-- and to box.
Salita was glad he found the synagogue. He was bereft when his mother died. But it helped to go say ``Kaddish,'' the Jewish prayer of mourning.
At first, it was enough to pray. But gradually, he took little steps toward the Orthodox tradition, often marked by his matches.
After one fight, he stopped turning on his coffee maker during the Sabbath, from twilight Friday until sundown Saturday. After another, he gave up the phone and the Internet while observing the Sabbath.
Jimmy O', who is Catholic -- ``Irish Catholic,'' he likes to joke -- encouraged Salita's spiritual development, though it complicated his career. At the New York Golden Gloves tournament, Salita was scheduled for Friday. Jimmy O', who carries weight in New York, spoke to the management. They rescheduled.
Salita won his weight class, but Jimmy O' told him to skip other tournaments.
``They are not going to change the whole system for you,'' Jimmy O' told him.
Jimmy O' always thought there was more to Salita than boxing, anyway. Once, he visited the teenage Salita at his Hebrew school.
``Here's this young kid talking with these learned men, with their long beards, listening and talking. It reminded me of the passage in the Bible when Jesus was in the temple with the older men, schooling them.''
Salita oozes ambition to be world champion; Jimmy O' worries that his friend will be pushed too far, too fast. Salita, he says, is a ``scientific'' boxer who has not yet learned to be mean when necessary. But he thinks the boy who came into his gym is now a man doing God's work.
``I sometimes think that God put him down here for another reason. I don't think it's completely boxing.'' Jimmy O' says. ``The fights are a gathering, you have the blacks, the Hispanics, the Jews all coming together. He doesn't know he's a leader yet, but that's what he's going to be.
``I think his mother knew it and I think she's up in heaven now, looking down saying I put my son in Jimmy O's hands and he's going in the right direction.''
___
In the 10th and final round, the exhausted boxers tap their reserves, letting their fists fly to impress the three judges. The bell clangs. The crowd is tense.
The seconds crawl by as the judges scores are tallied and Salita's career hangs in the balance. Jimmy O' is confident, but disappointed that his boy left room for doubt.
The ring announcer booms the scores:
97-92.
96-93.
96-93.
``For the winner, by unanimous decision, Dmitriy 'Star of David' Salita.''
He raises a hand high to his fans and hugs Jimmy O'.
The men in the black suits and long beards resume their chant:
``Dima!''
``Dima!''
NEW YORK (AP) -- The hometown fighter climbs into the ring to the thumping bass of Matisyahu, the Hasidic reggae singer. Orthodox Jewish men in black suits with long beards and unlit cigars bounce and chant to the rhythm.
``Dima!''
``Dima!''
``Dima!''
``Dima'' is Dmitriy Salita, a 23-year-old super lightweight from Brooklyn, by way of Odessa, Ukraine. He is also a Hasidic Jew.
He is 5 foot 9, and officially 143 1/4 pounds, with close-cropped brown hair and an unscarred alabaster face. His robe is black silk with white lettering: ``Dmitriy 'Star of David' Salita.''
It's a Thursday night. There's more money in a Friday night fight -- live TV and bigger crowds. But Salita doesn't fight on the Sabbath.
The Manhattan Center is packed anyway. Fans from Brownsville, Brooklyn, have come for Curtis Stevens, a hard-hitting middleweight backed by the hip-hop money of producer Irv ``Gotti'' Lorenzo and his brother Chris. Fans from Spanish Harlem are here for Edgar ``El Chamaco'' Santana, also fighting on the under card. They all mingle with the Orthodox crowd. They all scream for Dima.
Following Salita to his corner are his manager, Israel Liberow, who is the brother of the boxer's rabbi; Hector Roca, a Panamanian trainer of world champions and Hollywood stars; and Jimmy O'Pharrow, a black trainer well-known on the amateur circuit.
``With me, Hector and Israel, we've got a league of nations,'' O'Pharrow says.
O'Pharrow, known to friends as ``Jimmy O','' has been a mentor to Salita since he taught the young boxer to jab at the age of 13. Jimmy O' is 80 years old now. He's given up training on a daily basis, even with Salita, who works mostly with Roca now. But Jimmy O' follows Salita's moves closely. The boxer's career might be the old trainer's last project.
``Dmitriy and I became very close friends,'' he says. ``When he gets hit, I feel it.''
Jimmy O' wants the young boxer to be more aggressive, to follow a sharp jab or punishing left hook with combinations. Salita is the World Boxing Association's eighth-ranked fighter; his friend and trainer thinks that maybe, in a year or so, he'll be ready for a title fight.
___
Salita and his opponent touch gloves in the center of the ring. Salita knows little about Robert ``Red Hot'' Frankel. He's from Denver. He signed on for the fight at the last minute after another boxer dropped out.
It's Frankel's eighth fight of the year, another payday for a fighter with children and a day job installing carpet. He is 12-4 and said to throw 100 punches a round, which is a lot.
Salita is heavily favored, but a loss would be devastating to his chances of getting a title fight.
As the first round opens, Salita probes with jabs. The men circle, feeling each other out.
With two minutes gone, Salita bulls in close. Frankel clubs at him with an overhand right. Salita ducks, but the blow glances off the top of his head.
Salita pedals backward and lands on his back.
The referee begins to count.
``One.''
``Two.''
``Three''
Turns out, the dad from Denver has come to New York to win.
___
It's been more than 60 years since Jimmy O' first strapped on boxing gloves and 30 since he started training kids. He's tall, lithe and close to his old fighting weight. His beard and hair are gray and his long hands are wrinkled. But his jab is still quick. So is his mouth.
``Dmitriy looks Russian, he prays Jewish, he fights black,'' Jimmy O's likes to say. ``I came up with that. Don't quote it from someone else.''
Salita is focused on being a champion and Jimmy O' wants it for him. But he knows there is more to life than boxing.
In the unlikely relationship that began over 10 years ago when a smooth-faced kid walked into his gym, Jimmy O' has found a quest that gives meaning to his later years, and a second act in the sport he loves.
It sounds like a Hollywood story, and Disney has taken notice, with a screenplay in development and Eminem penciled in to play Salita.
___
In the third round, Salita starts clawing back.
He'd popped right up after hitting the floor in the first, claiming he had just tripped. But it didn't matter to the judges, who put Salita two points in the hole.
Salita is fighting like Jimmy O' taught him now. ``Hit and don't get hit,'' he always said. Jabs and hooks. Ducks, feints and dodges.
Frankel is awkward. He charges with his head down. Salita is worried about tripping again or knocking heads. An accidental butt could end the fight with a gash and douse a promising career.
___
Jimmy O's boxing story begins in the 1940's. He started fighting in the street. Then he wised-up and paid dues in Manhattan gyms, like Grubb's and the legendary Stillman's.
He's among the last who remembers seeing Jack Johnson, the first black world heavyweight champion, who occasionally visited Grubb's before he was killed in a car crash in 1946.
``He seemed in all of the pictures such a large man, but he wasn't much bigger than I am,'' Jimmy
O' remembers.
The gyms were filled with GIs returning from the war. He had wanted to sign up himself, but the Army medical examiner said he had a bad heart. At 80, he laughs remembering it.
After a brief amateur career, Jimmy O' hung up his gloves, got married and found a job at a corrugated cardboard factory.
But for 30 years, he never forgot his jab.
In the mid-'70s, he moved to Starrett City, a mostly white housing project in Brooklyn, where his family stood out ``like flies in the buttermilk.''
He wanted to start a gym and asked Starrett City's board.
``Who knows why,'' he says. ``But I used to look at people, who were older and thought about people in their 80s and 90s, who were accomplishing something.''
The board gave him a modest space below a parking garage with no windows and ``nothing but the four walls.'' He focused on giving poor kids purpose; many were brought to him by the police.
``It was not just about learning how to be a boxer. It was about learning how to live, how to grow up,'' he says. ``I couldn't save every person, but I tried.''
Jimmy O's four walls became one of the country's top amateur gyms, producing dozens of Golden Gloves champions and some notable professionals including heavyweight Shannon Briggs.
One day in 1995, four years after the Salitas moved to the United States, Dmitriy was led in by his brother Michael. Dmitriy was one of the few white kids in the gym, but he didn't even notice.
``It wasn't intimidating to me,'' Salita says. ``That's how I knew America, just like my public school.''
Some of the other kids were not so color blind.
``I would put him in the ring with black boys, who said, 'Let me beat on that white boy,''' Jimmy O' says. ``Then when Dmitriy started doing what he was told, they would say, 'Uh-oh.'''
___
In the seventh, Frankel tires. Instead of charging forward, he's backing up now. Salita zeros in, scoring with combinations: jabs, followed by rights and left hooks.
Then, bang, an uppercut right on the nose. Blood streams from Frankel's nostrils. Jimmy O' and Hector Roca scream: Finish him.
But Salita can't find the knockout.
___
Young Dmitriy Salita would come home from Starrett City shadow boxing. He watched fight videos. He talked about nothing else.
His parents, particularly his mother, Lyudmila, were not pleased. They wanted a doctor, a lawyer, a nice Jewish boy. Not a boxer.
Then they met Jimmy O'.
``He's a man of dignity, character and style and finesse. He's a gentleman,'' says Salita. ``For my mother, the fact that I was around Jimmy brought her a certain amount of calmness, because she knew that Jimmy would look out and take care of me.''
So when Lyudmila got cancer, she came to talk with Jimmy O'.
``She saw things in this kid that nobody saw, that I didn't see,'' he says. ``She said, 'Jimmy I want you to take care of him.' I told her that I was, and she said, 'No I want you to really take care of him.' She knew she was dying, you see.''
Salita spent countless hours with her in the hospital. One day he met an Orthodox man attending to his own sick wife, and they debated the godliness of boxing. Salita, who had not been raised Orthodox, wondered how could there be anything immoral about the sport he loved. The man suggested he visit a Chabad Lubavitch synagogue and ask a rabbi.
The rabbi, Zalman Liberow, encouraged Salita to strengthen his faith-- and to box.
Salita was glad he found the synagogue. He was bereft when his mother died. But it helped to go say ``Kaddish,'' the Jewish prayer of mourning.
At first, it was enough to pray. But gradually, he took little steps toward the Orthodox tradition, often marked by his matches.
After one fight, he stopped turning on his coffee maker during the Sabbath, from twilight Friday until sundown Saturday. After another, he gave up the phone and the Internet while observing the Sabbath.
Jimmy O', who is Catholic -- ``Irish Catholic,'' he likes to joke -- encouraged Salita's spiritual development, though it complicated his career. At the New York Golden Gloves tournament, Salita was scheduled for Friday. Jimmy O', who carries weight in New York, spoke to the management. They rescheduled.
Salita won his weight class, but Jimmy O' told him to skip other tournaments.
``They are not going to change the whole system for you,'' Jimmy O' told him.
Jimmy O' always thought there was more to Salita than boxing, anyway. Once, he visited the teenage Salita at his Hebrew school.
``Here's this young kid talking with these learned men, with their long beards, listening and talking. It reminded me of the passage in the Bible when Jesus was in the temple with the older men, schooling them.''
Salita oozes ambition to be world champion; Jimmy O' worries that his friend will be pushed too far, too fast. Salita, he says, is a ``scientific'' boxer who has not yet learned to be mean when necessary. But he thinks the boy who came into his gym is now a man doing God's work.
``I sometimes think that God put him down here for another reason. I don't think it's completely boxing.'' Jimmy O' says. ``The fights are a gathering, you have the blacks, the Hispanics, the Jews all coming together. He doesn't know he's a leader yet, but that's what he's going to be.
``I think his mother knew it and I think she's up in heaven now, looking down saying I put my son in Jimmy O's hands and he's going in the right direction.''
___
In the 10th and final round, the exhausted boxers tap their reserves, letting their fists fly to impress the three judges. The bell clangs. The crowd is tense.
The seconds crawl by as the judges scores are tallied and Salita's career hangs in the balance. Jimmy O' is confident, but disappointed that his boy left room for doubt.
The ring announcer booms the scores:
97-92.
96-93.
96-93.
``For the winner, by unanimous decision, Dmitriy 'Star of David' Salita.''
He raises a hand high to his fans and hugs Jimmy O'.
The men in the black suits and long beards resume their chant:
``Dima!''
``Dima!''
Saturday, February 18, 2006
News from the seamy side of town:
News from the seamy side of town:
Will Dick run for the Assembly? Only time will tellBy Blithesome Spirit
Monday night's Town Board meeting was short and to the point. After a brief induction ceremony for some new auxiliary cops, Cornwall Supervisor Dick Randazzo ran through the remainder of his agenda in ½ hour. What I did find refreshing is that Chris Eachus, the newly elected representative for the Orange County 15th District, made it a point to show his face.
Dick Randazzo & Bill LarkinThis contrasts sharply with Alan Seidman, who represents West Cornwall in the Orange County Legislature. The only time you ever see Alan at a Town Board meeting is if there is a photo opportunity and he stands a chance of getting his name in the news. Dick is on his school tax reform kick again. He mentioned that it was his hope to get other towns and counties involved in the effort to change the method that is used by Albany to distribute aid to localities.I've said it before, and I will say it again. The only way school tax reform will work is if the electorate makes it clear to the members of New York State's Senate and Assembly that unless there is an overhaul in the system they'll be out of a job. Unless this happens, nothing will change. While I'm on the subject of the State Senate and Assembly I can't overlook the fact that this is an election year and all members of the Assembly will have their seats up for the taking. This brings me back to Dick.
As most folks know Nancy Calhoun (R - Blooming Grove) represents Cornwall in the 96th Assembly District. If you're remotely familiar with Nancy's Assembly record you'll also know she's not very effective. Dick has run against Nancy in the past and lost. This year, however, it may be different. Dick's been getting pretty good press lately and there' has been no inkling of improprieties in his administration (keep in mind though this is Cornwall and this can change at any time). If Dick decides to run for Nancy's seat in the Assembly look for him to make an announcement sometime in the spring. Where not to have a heart attack ...Okay, now I have a pop quiz for you.If Heaven forbid you or a family member had a heart attack and a heart needed to be restarted with a defibrillator (assuming that an EMT was not available), and the first responder was a cop, where do you think the patient would stand the best chance of survival?If you chose the New Windsor Police Department, you're right. New Windsor always has at least one car on patrol equipped with an AED (Automated External Defibrillator).According to Cornwall Police Chief Rusty O'Dell (as quoted in a memo I wasn't supposed to see), the CPD is able to equip all working vehicles with an AED (note the use of the word working - the CPD has a serious lack of vehicles that do not have excessive miles on their odometers). Rusty noted that not all officers are trained in the use of the AED, though he hoped to have this corrected by the end of April. Rusty also said that the CPD had a patrol car equipped with an AED on the road 80% of the time.Finally, if you live in the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, and you're experiencing symptoms associated with a heart attack, your best bet might be to drive to Cornwall, if not New Windsor.According to the memo which quotes Village Police Chief Charlie Williams, "We have one unit and it is the discretion of the officer working whether to take it on patrol or not."Have a good week everybody, and watch those carbs!
Will Dick run for the Assembly? Only time will tellBy Blithesome Spirit
Monday night's Town Board meeting was short and to the point. After a brief induction ceremony for some new auxiliary cops, Cornwall Supervisor Dick Randazzo ran through the remainder of his agenda in ½ hour. What I did find refreshing is that Chris Eachus, the newly elected representative for the Orange County 15th District, made it a point to show his face.
Dick Randazzo & Bill LarkinThis contrasts sharply with Alan Seidman, who represents West Cornwall in the Orange County Legislature. The only time you ever see Alan at a Town Board meeting is if there is a photo opportunity and he stands a chance of getting his name in the news. Dick is on his school tax reform kick again. He mentioned that it was his hope to get other towns and counties involved in the effort to change the method that is used by Albany to distribute aid to localities.I've said it before, and I will say it again. The only way school tax reform will work is if the electorate makes it clear to the members of New York State's Senate and Assembly that unless there is an overhaul in the system they'll be out of a job. Unless this happens, nothing will change. While I'm on the subject of the State Senate and Assembly I can't overlook the fact that this is an election year and all members of the Assembly will have their seats up for the taking. This brings me back to Dick.
As most folks know Nancy Calhoun (R - Blooming Grove) represents Cornwall in the 96th Assembly District. If you're remotely familiar with Nancy's Assembly record you'll also know she's not very effective. Dick has run against Nancy in the past and lost. This year, however, it may be different. Dick's been getting pretty good press lately and there' has been no inkling of improprieties in his administration (keep in mind though this is Cornwall and this can change at any time). If Dick decides to run for Nancy's seat in the Assembly look for him to make an announcement sometime in the spring. Where not to have a heart attack ...Okay, now I have a pop quiz for you.If Heaven forbid you or a family member had a heart attack and a heart needed to be restarted with a defibrillator (assuming that an EMT was not available), and the first responder was a cop, where do you think the patient would stand the best chance of survival?If you chose the New Windsor Police Department, you're right. New Windsor always has at least one car on patrol equipped with an AED (Automated External Defibrillator).According to Cornwall Police Chief Rusty O'Dell (as quoted in a memo I wasn't supposed to see), the CPD is able to equip all working vehicles with an AED (note the use of the word working - the CPD has a serious lack of vehicles that do not have excessive miles on their odometers). Rusty noted that not all officers are trained in the use of the AED, though he hoped to have this corrected by the end of April. Rusty also said that the CPD had a patrol car equipped with an AED on the road 80% of the time.Finally, if you live in the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, and you're experiencing symptoms associated with a heart attack, your best bet might be to drive to Cornwall, if not New Windsor.According to the memo which quotes Village Police Chief Charlie Williams, "We have one unit and it is the discretion of the officer working whether to take it on patrol or not."Have a good week everybody, and watch those carbs!
Friday, February 17, 2006
Residents challenge Woodbury rezoningBy Tony Houston
Highland Mills - To build or not to build, that is the question in the Town of Woodbury.
Zoning and land development, always a dominant issue there, has become white hot — with three of the town residents suing over the matter.
The year 1988 is as good a time as any to begin this tale, although the last two years are when the excitement takes place. Woodbury adopted its current Master Plan in March 1988.
The Planning Board, appointed by the elected Town Board, has the authority to approve or deny land development applications. In doing so, the Planning Board referred to both the zoning laws passed by the Town Board and the Master Plan written by the Planning Board itself.
An amendment to the Town Law of the State of New York changes the “Master Plan” to a “Comprehensive Plan,” which is to be prepared and adopted by the elected Town Board. This leaves the Planning Board with a narrower role of interpreting the zoning laws and Comprehensive Plan — both written by others.
Like the Master Plan, a Comprehensive Plan includes goals and objectives and the principles and practices to achieve them; finer details are left to the zoning laws. The Woodbury Town Board set out to write a Comprehensive Plan in July 2004.
That November, representatives of Rockland County developer Bill Brodsky of Carteret Group, Inc., asked the Town Board to amend the zoning law. The amendments, passed a year later on Nov. 3, 2005, as Local Laws 4 through 8, allowed for Brodsky’s Woodbury Suburban Project (WP3) located between Dunderberg and Nininger Roads and for increased development throughout the town.
It took 30 years, from 1973 to 2003, for Woodbury’s population to double from 5,000 to 10,000. Local Laws 4 through 8 would have the effect of an immediate pursuit of the 20,000 mark.
The allowed housing units on the 400-acre WP3 project would increase from 147 or 175 to 451, 460 or 652 — depending upon who is doing the counting. Among the other effects of the new local laws would be to allow 281 units on two-acre lots in the Legacy Ridge project, up from 164 units on three-acre lots.
Enough already, said John Seyferth, Karin Ungerer and Don Siebold, who on last Dec. 4 filed an Article 78 lawsuit against the Town Board, Planning Board and developer.
These Woodbury residents are asking a state Supreme Court judge to “annul, vacate, and in all aspects void” the Town Board’s enactment of zoning amendments contained in Local Laws 4 through 8 and the Town Board’s statement of findings pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act for the WP3 project.
Siebold is an appointed member of the Town of Woodbury’s Zoning Board of Appeals and, like his fellow petitioners, Siebold lives in the vicinity of the WP3 project. “My only concern is to preserve the character of the Town by controlled growth and not over-development, and being able to afford to live in Woodbury,” said Siebold. “The Town never mitigated the traffic.”
The Woodbury Town Board passed Local Laws 4 through 8 while it was working not only on a Comprehensive Plan, but on an Open Space Plan as well.
Released during this time was a draft of the Southeastern Orange County Traffic and Land Use Study, which recommended that the Town of Woodbury “reduce permitted intensity of residential development on land located along the north side of Dunderberg Road/Nininger Road,” just the opposite of the new local laws.
Included in the Article 78 legal papers is a Nov. 17, 2005, letter from Orange County Planning Commissioner David Church, Orange County Commissioner of Planning, in which “the petitions to rezone the subject properties (Local Laws 6, 7 and 8)” were disapproved. Local Laws 4 and 5 were mentioned in the letter, but were neither approved nor disapproved.
“That was not an oversight,” said Church. “We often remain silent on some of the issues brought to us.”
The letter of disapproval was not received by the Woodbury Town Board prior to its passing Local Laws 4 through 8. A supermajority of four votes of the five-member Town Board is needed to override a recommendation of such a disapproval.
Church’s letter referred to “significant public and private speculation” surrounding the potential sale and annexation of the 400-acre WP3 properties to the Village of Kiryas Joel if the new Woodbury local laws were not enacted. Church favored the analysis of alternative “as a means of comparing and contrasting significant adverse and beneficial environmental impacts with that of the preferred 451-unit alternative.”
The town made no such analysis, although it would have improved its case for amending the zoning laws.
The petitioners list three courses of action. The first is that the Town Board acted too soon, despite the four yes votes, by not allowing 30 days to pass after its October 21 submittal to the county. The second is that Local Laws 4 through 8 do not conform to the Town’s 1988 Master Plan. The Master Plan remains in effect until superseded by a Comprehensive Plan that has yet to be passed by the Town Board. The third cause of action would be that the Town Board failed to comply with the procedural and substantive requirements of SEQRA.
Five days after the passage of Local Laws 4 through 8, a new supervisor and a new councilman were elected to the Woodbury Town Board. The new board was seated in January of this year.
If Local Laws 4 through 8 are voided by the court, a re-vote could be quite different.
Town Supervisor John Burke defeated incumbent Sheila Conroy, who cast one of the four “yes” votes. He said this week that he didn’t know how far the lawsuit had gotten in the legal process.
“I’ve heard nothing about it since the December filing of the suit,” said Burke.
When asked about a possible re-vote if the petitioners won in court, Burke said “that is speculation — we’ll cross that bridge if and when we get there. The Town Board will sit down and decide where to go once the court rules.”
Highland Mills - To build or not to build, that is the question in the Town of Woodbury.
Zoning and land development, always a dominant issue there, has become white hot — with three of the town residents suing over the matter.
The year 1988 is as good a time as any to begin this tale, although the last two years are when the excitement takes place. Woodbury adopted its current Master Plan in March 1988.
The Planning Board, appointed by the elected Town Board, has the authority to approve or deny land development applications. In doing so, the Planning Board referred to both the zoning laws passed by the Town Board and the Master Plan written by the Planning Board itself.
An amendment to the Town Law of the State of New York changes the “Master Plan” to a “Comprehensive Plan,” which is to be prepared and adopted by the elected Town Board. This leaves the Planning Board with a narrower role of interpreting the zoning laws and Comprehensive Plan — both written by others.
Like the Master Plan, a Comprehensive Plan includes goals and objectives and the principles and practices to achieve them; finer details are left to the zoning laws. The Woodbury Town Board set out to write a Comprehensive Plan in July 2004.
That November, representatives of Rockland County developer Bill Brodsky of Carteret Group, Inc., asked the Town Board to amend the zoning law. The amendments, passed a year later on Nov. 3, 2005, as Local Laws 4 through 8, allowed for Brodsky’s Woodbury Suburban Project (WP3) located between Dunderberg and Nininger Roads and for increased development throughout the town.
It took 30 years, from 1973 to 2003, for Woodbury’s population to double from 5,000 to 10,000. Local Laws 4 through 8 would have the effect of an immediate pursuit of the 20,000 mark.
The allowed housing units on the 400-acre WP3 project would increase from 147 or 175 to 451, 460 or 652 — depending upon who is doing the counting. Among the other effects of the new local laws would be to allow 281 units on two-acre lots in the Legacy Ridge project, up from 164 units on three-acre lots.
Enough already, said John Seyferth, Karin Ungerer and Don Siebold, who on last Dec. 4 filed an Article 78 lawsuit against the Town Board, Planning Board and developer.
These Woodbury residents are asking a state Supreme Court judge to “annul, vacate, and in all aspects void” the Town Board’s enactment of zoning amendments contained in Local Laws 4 through 8 and the Town Board’s statement of findings pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act for the WP3 project.
Siebold is an appointed member of the Town of Woodbury’s Zoning Board of Appeals and, like his fellow petitioners, Siebold lives in the vicinity of the WP3 project. “My only concern is to preserve the character of the Town by controlled growth and not over-development, and being able to afford to live in Woodbury,” said Siebold. “The Town never mitigated the traffic.”
The Woodbury Town Board passed Local Laws 4 through 8 while it was working not only on a Comprehensive Plan, but on an Open Space Plan as well.
Released during this time was a draft of the Southeastern Orange County Traffic and Land Use Study, which recommended that the Town of Woodbury “reduce permitted intensity of residential development on land located along the north side of Dunderberg Road/Nininger Road,” just the opposite of the new local laws.
Included in the Article 78 legal papers is a Nov. 17, 2005, letter from Orange County Planning Commissioner David Church, Orange County Commissioner of Planning, in which “the petitions to rezone the subject properties (Local Laws 6, 7 and 8)” were disapproved. Local Laws 4 and 5 were mentioned in the letter, but were neither approved nor disapproved.
“That was not an oversight,” said Church. “We often remain silent on some of the issues brought to us.”
The letter of disapproval was not received by the Woodbury Town Board prior to its passing Local Laws 4 through 8. A supermajority of four votes of the five-member Town Board is needed to override a recommendation of such a disapproval.
Church’s letter referred to “significant public and private speculation” surrounding the potential sale and annexation of the 400-acre WP3 properties to the Village of Kiryas Joel if the new Woodbury local laws were not enacted. Church favored the analysis of alternative “as a means of comparing and contrasting significant adverse and beneficial environmental impacts with that of the preferred 451-unit alternative.”
The town made no such analysis, although it would have improved its case for amending the zoning laws.
The petitioners list three courses of action. The first is that the Town Board acted too soon, despite the four yes votes, by not allowing 30 days to pass after its October 21 submittal to the county. The second is that Local Laws 4 through 8 do not conform to the Town’s 1988 Master Plan. The Master Plan remains in effect until superseded by a Comprehensive Plan that has yet to be passed by the Town Board. The third cause of action would be that the Town Board failed to comply with the procedural and substantive requirements of SEQRA.
Five days after the passage of Local Laws 4 through 8, a new supervisor and a new councilman were elected to the Woodbury Town Board. The new board was seated in January of this year.
If Local Laws 4 through 8 are voided by the court, a re-vote could be quite different.
Town Supervisor John Burke defeated incumbent Sheila Conroy, who cast one of the four “yes” votes. He said this week that he didn’t know how far the lawsuit had gotten in the legal process.
“I’ve heard nothing about it since the December filing of the suit,” said Burke.
When asked about a possible re-vote if the petitioners won in court, Burke said “that is speculation — we’ll cross that bridge if and when we get there. The Town Board will sit down and decide where to go once the court rules.”
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Cornwall's "No Bid Zone
Cornwall's "No Bid Zone"By Tom SheppardMember, Board of Education
Have you noticed the "For Sale" signs that have been sprouting throughout Cornwall? I have, and I am concerned. While Cornwall Supervisor Dick Randazzo continues his crusade for school tax reform, his efforts are being undermined by our own Board of Education and its administration.Let me give you an example.
Aside from personnel costs, one of the largest contracts issued by the school district is for student transportation. For fiscal 2005-2006 approximately $2.6 million has been budgeted. In December private discussions were begun by the Board of Education with regard to the continuation of its transportation contract with the district's sole provider. There has been no effort made to secure bids from other vendors. On Thursday, February 2nd a potential competitor for a piece of the district's transportation contract met with Superintendent of Schools Tim Rehm. This well qualified and respected vendor made a commitment to transport special education students with equal or better service than the current vendor, and at a lower cost. On Friday, February 3rd Mr. Rehm sent a memorandum to Board members recommending that the vendor not be considered. Mr. Rehm did not explain his reasons and frankly I cannot see how he could make such a recommendation within a few short hours without doing his homework. My colleagues will undoubtedly agree with Mr. Rehm's recommendation, they always do. The point I am trying to make here is that it's the Board of Education's job to make your tax dollars do more by going further. We're making no such effort if we fail to seek alternatives that can save the district money. My other concerns are personal and pertain to my friends and neighbors. My heart aches when I hear my friends tell me they can no longer afford to pay their taxes, and the need to cut their medications in half so that they can save enough money to purchase oil to heat their homes.I am also tired and disgusted hearing the school district's administration claim recommended cost saving strategies will not be considered due to one reason or another. The people we have running our school district don't live here. We do, and we're the ones paying the bills. I applaud Dick's efforts in his crusade for school tax reform. Sadly Dick's efforts will be naught, however, if we don't take control of our own school district and demand reform from within.
Have you noticed the "For Sale" signs that have been sprouting throughout Cornwall? I have, and I am concerned. While Cornwall Supervisor Dick Randazzo continues his crusade for school tax reform, his efforts are being undermined by our own Board of Education and its administration.Let me give you an example.
Aside from personnel costs, one of the largest contracts issued by the school district is for student transportation. For fiscal 2005-2006 approximately $2.6 million has been budgeted. In December private discussions were begun by the Board of Education with regard to the continuation of its transportation contract with the district's sole provider. There has been no effort made to secure bids from other vendors. On Thursday, February 2nd a potential competitor for a piece of the district's transportation contract met with Superintendent of Schools Tim Rehm. This well qualified and respected vendor made a commitment to transport special education students with equal or better service than the current vendor, and at a lower cost. On Friday, February 3rd Mr. Rehm sent a memorandum to Board members recommending that the vendor not be considered. Mr. Rehm did not explain his reasons and frankly I cannot see how he could make such a recommendation within a few short hours without doing his homework. My colleagues will undoubtedly agree with Mr. Rehm's recommendation, they always do. The point I am trying to make here is that it's the Board of Education's job to make your tax dollars do more by going further. We're making no such effort if we fail to seek alternatives that can save the district money. My other concerns are personal and pertain to my friends and neighbors. My heart aches when I hear my friends tell me they can no longer afford to pay their taxes, and the need to cut their medications in half so that they can save enough money to purchase oil to heat their homes.I am also tired and disgusted hearing the school district's administration claim recommended cost saving strategies will not be considered due to one reason or another. The people we have running our school district don't live here. We do, and we're the ones paying the bills. I applaud Dick's efforts in his crusade for school tax reform. Sadly Dick's efforts will be naught, however, if we don't take control of our own school district and demand reform from within.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Garbage Can Survey
Dear Neighbors:
Please answer these questions about garbage cans left in the street 48 hours after pick up. I would like to hear your thoughts on this issue.
Thanks
http://www.mikeaforwoodbury.com/questions/survey.php?s_id=7
www.mikeaforwoodbury.com/questions/survey.php?s_id=7
Do you think there are too many garbage cans left in the street 48 hours after the pick up?
Number of responses: 27
Yes 66.7%
No 33.3%
Do you think we should write a new Town Law to enforce garbage cans left out in the street?
Number of responses: 27
Yes 59.3%
No 40.7%
Please answer these questions about garbage cans left in the street 48 hours after pick up. I would like to hear your thoughts on this issue.
Thanks
http://www.mikeaforwoodbury.com/questions/survey.php?s_id=7
www.mikeaforwoodbury.com/questions/survey.php?s_id=7
Do you think there are too many garbage cans left in the street 48 hours after the pick up?
Number of responses: 27
Yes 66.7%
No 33.3%
Do you think we should write a new Town Law to enforce garbage cans left out in the street?
Number of responses: 27
Yes 59.3%
No 40.7%
Sunday, January 08, 2006
How are we doing?
Please answer some questions about 2005.
http://mikeaforwoodbury.com/questions/survey.php?s_id=5
thanks
Mike
http://mikeaforwoodbury.com/questions/survey.php?s_id=5
thanks
Mike
Friday, January 06, 2006
Cornwall ~ A Designer Community
Cornwall ~ A Designer Community
By Blithesome Spirit
In a conversation with a dear friend she noted that the Cornwall we have today is not the Cornwall she knew from years back.
At one time the majority of the resident knew each other. This is no longer the case.
With the advent of new housing construction and the influx of the people it brings Cornwall has become a transitional community where people come, get what they need in terms of housing or education for their children, and then move on once the taxes become unbearable.
What we then have left are the old-timers, and their numbers are dwindling fast. Pictured is The Reserve subdivision located near Mt. Airy Road. When completed it will contain more than 400 housing units on lots no larger than 1/3-acre. We will also have to pay the bill for educating all of the children in the complex.
With the change in demographics we have also seen Cornwall become more fractionalized. Cornwall has become a designer community which seems more intent on reflecting the latest fads in lieu of capitalizing on its unique qualities which characterizes its strengths.
But moving on ...
On the whereabouts of the tap to the Catskill Aqueduct
In the past two weeks I've received a number of inquiries as to the whereabouts of the Catskill Aqueduct tap that provides much of Cornwall's water (see the related story).
From Five Corners in Vails Gate head west on Route 94. After passing under the New York Thruway turn right on Riley Road and you'll notice what looks sort of like an abandoned railroad grade, with no track.
All that you see is a grass covered berm with a flat top. What you've just seen is the aqueduct that carries water from the Ashokan to the Croton Reservoir.
As it heads toward the Hudson it drops deep underground and can't be seen from the surface. If you look carefully you'll see little white signs proclaiming 'No Trespassing' and 'Property of NYC Water Authority.'
On the need for a longer school year
I know this won't make me too popular with teachers, but there really is a need for a longer school year (currently is is only 180 days).
Here are some examples of how other countries handle educating their children ... According to the World Education Encyclopedia published in 1988, Japan's students are in school an average of 243 days a year; Israel's, 216. Germany requires an average 240 school days a year and England 192. The United States is toward the bottom of the 38-country list with 180 days on average, identical to Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Zambia.
Will we ever extend the school year here in New York?
I dare say you stand a better chance of seeing pig fly while playing the saxophone before this occurs.
NYSUT (New York State United Teachers'), is one of the two most powerful unions in the state and contributes millions of dollars yearly to legislators who are willing to do their bidding, and an extended school year is not one of their priorities.
While I'm on the subject of the school district ...
I'd like to offer some advice for those "lucky few" who are invited to serve on the school district's budget advisory committee.
When you receive your invitation run, don't walk, to the nearest incinerator and pretend you never saw the correspondence.
Contrary to the spin put out by the School Board the district will be operating in the red by the end of June (we will have an article on this next week).
Since approximately 97% of the budget is driven by contractual expenses and state mandated programs, there is really very little that can be discussed.
What would probably be more productive would be a discussion on ridding the district of unnecessary staff (administrators in particular), and in exploring ways to economize on employee benefit programs.
And finally, a few words on a truly marvelous lady ...
Believe it or not, the Town of Cornwall has a Board of Ethics. In theory their mission is to keep tabs on local government so as to keep them honest.
Unlike other municipalities Cornwall's Board of Ethics is impotent. It can't do anything unless the Town Board directs them to do so.
Over the past decade much of the ills that have befallen Cornwall were caused by members of the Town Board. Needless to say, the offending parties were never willing to permit the Board of Ethics to look into their misdeeds.
The long-time chairperson of the Cornwall's Board of Ethics is Maureen Shinners. For those who don't know Maureen she is a class act. Maureen is honest to the core and her dedication to the principle that there must be honesty and integrity in local government is unsurpassed.
Maureen's term on Cornwall's Board of Ethics expired in December and she has decided not to seek reappointment.
Frankly, I can't blamer her.
Maureen had fought for years to strengthen Cornwall's Code of Ethics. The problem though is that the politicians didn't want to hear her ideas. They didn't want to have anyone looking over their shoulder to make sure they did the right thing.
Cornwall has had its share of flim-flams over the years, and they will happen again.
With Maureen's departure there will be a void that cannot be replaced by simply making a political appointment to fill her seat.
It's just too bad Cornwall Supervisor Dick Randazzo and the Town Board can't appreciate the significance.
By Blithesome Spirit
In a conversation with a dear friend she noted that the Cornwall we have today is not the Cornwall she knew from years back.
At one time the majority of the resident knew each other. This is no longer the case.
With the advent of new housing construction and the influx of the people it brings Cornwall has become a transitional community where people come, get what they need in terms of housing or education for their children, and then move on once the taxes become unbearable.
What we then have left are the old-timers, and their numbers are dwindling fast. Pictured is The Reserve subdivision located near Mt. Airy Road. When completed it will contain more than 400 housing units on lots no larger than 1/3-acre. We will also have to pay the bill for educating all of the children in the complex.
With the change in demographics we have also seen Cornwall become more fractionalized. Cornwall has become a designer community which seems more intent on reflecting the latest fads in lieu of capitalizing on its unique qualities which characterizes its strengths.
But moving on ...
On the whereabouts of the tap to the Catskill Aqueduct
In the past two weeks I've received a number of inquiries as to the whereabouts of the Catskill Aqueduct tap that provides much of Cornwall's water (see the related story).
From Five Corners in Vails Gate head west on Route 94. After passing under the New York Thruway turn right on Riley Road and you'll notice what looks sort of like an abandoned railroad grade, with no track.
All that you see is a grass covered berm with a flat top. What you've just seen is the aqueduct that carries water from the Ashokan to the Croton Reservoir.
As it heads toward the Hudson it drops deep underground and can't be seen from the surface. If you look carefully you'll see little white signs proclaiming 'No Trespassing' and 'Property of NYC Water Authority.'
On the need for a longer school year
I know this won't make me too popular with teachers, but there really is a need for a longer school year (currently is is only 180 days).
Here are some examples of how other countries handle educating their children ... According to the World Education Encyclopedia published in 1988, Japan's students are in school an average of 243 days a year; Israel's, 216. Germany requires an average 240 school days a year and England 192. The United States is toward the bottom of the 38-country list with 180 days on average, identical to Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Zambia.
Will we ever extend the school year here in New York?
I dare say you stand a better chance of seeing pig fly while playing the saxophone before this occurs.
NYSUT (New York State United Teachers'), is one of the two most powerful unions in the state and contributes millions of dollars yearly to legislators who are willing to do their bidding, and an extended school year is not one of their priorities.
While I'm on the subject of the school district ...
I'd like to offer some advice for those "lucky few" who are invited to serve on the school district's budget advisory committee.
When you receive your invitation run, don't walk, to the nearest incinerator and pretend you never saw the correspondence.
Contrary to the spin put out by the School Board the district will be operating in the red by the end of June (we will have an article on this next week).
Since approximately 97% of the budget is driven by contractual expenses and state mandated programs, there is really very little that can be discussed.
What would probably be more productive would be a discussion on ridding the district of unnecessary staff (administrators in particular), and in exploring ways to economize on employee benefit programs.
And finally, a few words on a truly marvelous lady ...
Believe it or not, the Town of Cornwall has a Board of Ethics. In theory their mission is to keep tabs on local government so as to keep them honest.
Unlike other municipalities Cornwall's Board of Ethics is impotent. It can't do anything unless the Town Board directs them to do so.
Over the past decade much of the ills that have befallen Cornwall were caused by members of the Town Board. Needless to say, the offending parties were never willing to permit the Board of Ethics to look into their misdeeds.
The long-time chairperson of the Cornwall's Board of Ethics is Maureen Shinners. For those who don't know Maureen she is a class act. Maureen is honest to the core and her dedication to the principle that there must be honesty and integrity in local government is unsurpassed.
Maureen's term on Cornwall's Board of Ethics expired in December and she has decided not to seek reappointment.
Frankly, I can't blamer her.
Maureen had fought for years to strengthen Cornwall's Code of Ethics. The problem though is that the politicians didn't want to hear her ideas. They didn't want to have anyone looking over their shoulder to make sure they did the right thing.
Cornwall has had its share of flim-flams over the years, and they will happen again.
With Maureen's departure there will be a void that cannot be replaced by simply making a political appointment to fill her seat.
It's just too bad Cornwall Supervisor Dick Randazzo and the Town Board can't appreciate the significance.
Lahey chosen as Orange County Legislature chairman
Lahey chosen as Orange County Legislature chairman
Lahey
Former Orange County Legislature Majority Leader William Lahey yesterday was chosen on a party line vote as the new chairman of the lawmaking body. Republicans hold a one vote margin over Democrats and for the last two weeks, both parties were trying to come up with a compromise candidate.
Republicans Frank Fornario, Jr. and Spencer McLaughlin and Democrat Roxanne Donnery wanted the job.
Back room negotiations failed to produce a clear cut frontrunner so last week, Lahey expressed interest in the post and following quickly called party caucuses prior to the first session of the year yesterday, the dye was cast.
Lahey was nominated by Republican colleagues. Democrat Thomas Pahucki nominated McLaughlin. Another Democrat, Minority Leader Anthony Marino nominated fellow Democrat Roxanne Donnery. After that, McLaughlin withdrew. That left the 11 Republicans to vote for Lahey and the 10 Democrats to vote for Donnery.
Lahey is seen as a compromise candidate who will be able to work with both parties, which he mentioned in his brief remarks.
“It was the desire to resolve the issue within the Republican caucus that we solve this thing with the 11 of us and control the legislature as we should with 11,” he said.
Democrat Minority Leader Anthony Marino doesn’t anticipate ma jor problems with the new leadership. “There will certainly be issues that obviously where we’re going to part, but I don’t think over all it will be a difficult time dealing with Mr. Lahey,” he said.
County Executive Edward Diana expressed relief that the process is over. “I will work with all 21 legislators for the betterment of Orange County and the people that live and work here to make this a better county than it is today,” he said.
Marino will remain on as minority leader and McLaughlin will serve as interim ma jority leader.
Lahey
Former Orange County Legislature Majority Leader William Lahey yesterday was chosen on a party line vote as the new chairman of the lawmaking body. Republicans hold a one vote margin over Democrats and for the last two weeks, both parties were trying to come up with a compromise candidate.
Republicans Frank Fornario, Jr. and Spencer McLaughlin and Democrat Roxanne Donnery wanted the job.
Back room negotiations failed to produce a clear cut frontrunner so last week, Lahey expressed interest in the post and following quickly called party caucuses prior to the first session of the year yesterday, the dye was cast.
Lahey was nominated by Republican colleagues. Democrat Thomas Pahucki nominated McLaughlin. Another Democrat, Minority Leader Anthony Marino nominated fellow Democrat Roxanne Donnery. After that, McLaughlin withdrew. That left the 11 Republicans to vote for Lahey and the 10 Democrats to vote for Donnery.
Lahey is seen as a compromise candidate who will be able to work with both parties, which he mentioned in his brief remarks.
“It was the desire to resolve the issue within the Republican caucus that we solve this thing with the 11 of us and control the legislature as we should with 11,” he said.
Democrat Minority Leader Anthony Marino doesn’t anticipate ma jor problems with the new leadership. “There will certainly be issues that obviously where we’re going to part, but I don’t think over all it will be a difficult time dealing with Mr. Lahey,” he said.
County Executive Edward Diana expressed relief that the process is over. “I will work with all 21 legislators for the betterment of Orange County and the people that live and work here to make this a better county than it is today,” he said.
Marino will remain on as minority leader and McLaughlin will serve as interim ma jority leader.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Town Board critic taking the helm as new supervisor
Town Board critic taking the helm as new supervisor
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Woodbury - His new seat might get hot in the days ahead. But the small, bare office John Burke now occupies in a corner of Woodbury Town Hall felt cold yesterday morning as he settled into his new job, clad in sweater and jeans.
Burke, who beat former Supervisor Sheila Conroy in an election two months ago, started work Sunday and will be sworn in tonight, taking his place on a Town Board he's more accustomed to questioning from the audience, particularly during this past rancorous year.
Only two days after picking up his keys to Town Hall, the retired high school principal faced his first local-government challenge: a storm that dumped 8 or more inches of wet snow on Woodbury's roads and required mobilization of the plows.
Maybe that was an omen.
More difficult plowing lies ahead, including working with three board members who support a 451-home development proposal that Burke and others spent the last year fighting - a controversy that lingers on, thanks to a court challenge.
Once a board critic, Burke will now feel its pain: by day, fielding calls from irate residents and managing a $15 million budget and more than 100 employees; by night, catching flak at board meetings.
It won't be all headaches: Burke said the town's department heads have welcomed him and given him tours since his election victory.
But as the only Democrat on a five-member board, he might find himself on the losing end of votes, especially those involving land-use decisions.
"I plan on maintaining my positions, knowing full well that five people vote," Burke said yesterday. "I've not given up my right to make an individual vote on things I feel very strongly about."
Maybe the thorniest issue of all on the horizon is a potential land war with neighboring Kiryas Joel.
Burke said he's willing to meet with Kiryas Joel leaders but sounds no more willing than his predecessor to consider a compromise that would allow the Hasidic community's high-density housing to spread into Woodbury's rural fringe.
That goes for any annexation of Woodbury land into Kiryas Joel: "If the solution is for part of Woodbury to be no longer be part of Woodbury, I'm not interested."
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com
Woodbury - His new seat might get hot in the days ahead. But the small, bare office John Burke now occupies in a corner of Woodbury Town Hall felt cold yesterday morning as he settled into his new job, clad in sweater and jeans.
Burke, who beat former Supervisor Sheila Conroy in an election two months ago, started work Sunday and will be sworn in tonight, taking his place on a Town Board he's more accustomed to questioning from the audience, particularly during this past rancorous year.
Only two days after picking up his keys to Town Hall, the retired high school principal faced his first local-government challenge: a storm that dumped 8 or more inches of wet snow on Woodbury's roads and required mobilization of the plows.
Maybe that was an omen.
More difficult plowing lies ahead, including working with three board members who support a 451-home development proposal that Burke and others spent the last year fighting - a controversy that lingers on, thanks to a court challenge.
Once a board critic, Burke will now feel its pain: by day, fielding calls from irate residents and managing a $15 million budget and more than 100 employees; by night, catching flak at board meetings.
It won't be all headaches: Burke said the town's department heads have welcomed him and given him tours since his election victory.
But as the only Democrat on a five-member board, he might find himself on the losing end of votes, especially those involving land-use decisions.
"I plan on maintaining my positions, knowing full well that five people vote," Burke said yesterday. "I've not given up my right to make an individual vote on things I feel very strongly about."
Maybe the thorniest issue of all on the horizon is a potential land war with neighboring Kiryas Joel.
Burke said he's willing to meet with Kiryas Joel leaders but sounds no more willing than his predecessor to consider a compromise that would allow the Hasidic community's high-density housing to spread into Woodbury's rural fringe.
That goes for any annexation of Woodbury land into Kiryas Joel: "If the solution is for part of Woodbury to be no longer be part of Woodbury, I'm not interested."
Sunday, January 01, 2006
News from the seamy side of town:
News from the seamy side of town:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Absurd Predictions!
By Blithesome Spirit
.I'm going to start by wishing one and all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year. The Cornball-Local.Com won't be publishing next week, so I had wanted to get the niceties out of the way.
With the new year we're going to see local government and the school district once again raid our wallets. Some increased will be caused by need,
while others will be due to mismanagement. You decide which one is which.
Let's start with the Town of Cornwall. Dick Randazzo had to raise taxes slightly. This wasn't his fault, it has more to do with the prior administration's gross mismanagement of our tax dollars.
Be watchful though for some slick real estate transactions and deals coming down the road. It's unfortunate, but it seems likely the Cornwall we used to know will soon be no more due to unchecked growth.
Then of course there's the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. Even though you may be a resident of the Town you will get zapped with Eddie Moulton's latest water rate hike.
Is it warranted? Of course not. We're already paying the highest water rates in the entire Hudson Valley. Eddie's just using this to subsidize his budget.
And if you're thinking the Town Board will advocate for lower water rates forget it. None of them want to bump heads with Eddie, he's too slick for 'em.
Then there is the school district. What can I say ...
In the coming days there will be a call for volunteers to participate in a citizens advisory committee that will in theory provide input into the formation of the 2006-2007 budget.
If you're interested in participating call 534-8009, extension 8, and give them your name.
While it may be a good idea in concept just consider the following -- approximately 98% of the school district's budget is driven by contractual expenses and state mandated programs.
Only 2% of the overall school district budget has any wiggle-room.
The school district's administration could always do something about minimizing contractual expenses, but cronyism seems to rear its ugly head every once in a while and it's hard to undue old habits.
In other words, before you volunteer your expertise, give some thought to whether it's worth your time and effort.
If this committee approach sounds reminiscent of the high school task force that was created in 2001 you're right. Bottom line is the folks at the school district will be using PR and not sound economics to try to get its budget passed next time around.
.Next week New Windsor Supervisor George Meyers will bid his adieu and walk-off into the sunset.
For those who don't the guy, he's a good person with a big heart.
The local media was not kind to George and misled the public. It's going to be interesting to see the tables turn when the Green administration takes office and starts making wholesale changes in New Windsor's town government.
And in closing ...
For some absurd reason our readership is at an all time high and we don't have any idea why.
We're visited by more than 6,000 people regularly every month with some of our readers located as far away as Iraq and Afghanistan.
To all of our readers, and supporters, the folks at the Cornball-Local.Com would like to extend a big "thank you" and we wish you all Happy Holidays!
See y'all in two weeks ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Absurd Predictions!
By Blithesome Spirit
.I'm going to start by wishing one and all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year. The Cornball-Local.Com won't be publishing next week, so I had wanted to get the niceties out of the way.
With the new year we're going to see local government and the school district once again raid our wallets. Some increased will be caused by need,
while others will be due to mismanagement. You decide which one is which.
Let's start with the Town of Cornwall. Dick Randazzo had to raise taxes slightly. This wasn't his fault, it has more to do with the prior administration's gross mismanagement of our tax dollars.
Be watchful though for some slick real estate transactions and deals coming down the road. It's unfortunate, but it seems likely the Cornwall we used to know will soon be no more due to unchecked growth.
Then of course there's the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. Even though you may be a resident of the Town you will get zapped with Eddie Moulton's latest water rate hike.
Is it warranted? Of course not. We're already paying the highest water rates in the entire Hudson Valley. Eddie's just using this to subsidize his budget.
And if you're thinking the Town Board will advocate for lower water rates forget it. None of them want to bump heads with Eddie, he's too slick for 'em.
Then there is the school district. What can I say ...
In the coming days there will be a call for volunteers to participate in a citizens advisory committee that will in theory provide input into the formation of the 2006-2007 budget.
If you're interested in participating call 534-8009, extension 8, and give them your name.
While it may be a good idea in concept just consider the following -- approximately 98% of the school district's budget is driven by contractual expenses and state mandated programs.
Only 2% of the overall school district budget has any wiggle-room.
The school district's administration could always do something about minimizing contractual expenses, but cronyism seems to rear its ugly head every once in a while and it's hard to undue old habits.
In other words, before you volunteer your expertise, give some thought to whether it's worth your time and effort.
If this committee approach sounds reminiscent of the high school task force that was created in 2001 you're right. Bottom line is the folks at the school district will be using PR and not sound economics to try to get its budget passed next time around.
.Next week New Windsor Supervisor George Meyers will bid his adieu and walk-off into the sunset.
For those who don't the guy, he's a good person with a big heart.
The local media was not kind to George and misled the public. It's going to be interesting to see the tables turn when the Green administration takes office and starts making wholesale changes in New Windsor's town government.
And in closing ...
For some absurd reason our readership is at an all time high and we don't have any idea why.
We're visited by more than 6,000 people regularly every month with some of our readers located as far away as Iraq and Afghanistan.
To all of our readers, and supporters, the folks at the Cornball-Local.Com would like to extend a big "thank you" and we wish you all Happy Holidays!
See y'all in two weeks ...
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Message board is live
I am putting the message board back up and see if we can use it to help better the town.
http://www.mikeaforwoodbury.com/zmichaels/index.php
Fornario in line for Orange County Legislature chairmanship
Fornario - coalition
candidate?
Republicans and Democrats on the Orange County Legislature are putting the finishing touches on an arrangement that would see Republican lawmaker Frank Fornario, Jr. become the chairman in the new year. Sources told MidHudsonNews.com Friday night that the other GOP chairman hopeful, Spencer McLaughlin, has dropped out of the race.
In return, the Democrats, who have one vote less than the majority Republicans, have agreed to back Fornario, the sources said. Democrat Minority Leader Anthony Marino last night would only say that he would have an announcement to make early in the new week.
Fornario is seen by Democrats as a coalition builder who would include the Democrats in leadership positions in the committee process.
Even if many of the 11 Republicans vote against Fornario, he will have the 10 Democrat member votes, his own, and that of his staunch GOP supporter Michael Amo.
The new legislature will vote on a chairman next Thursday.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Cash pours in for student with $1 million Web idea
Cash pours in for student with $1 million Web idea By Peter Graff
Thu Dec 29, 1:05 PM ET
If you have an envious streak, you probably shouldn't read this.
Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.
Selling porn? Dealing prescription drugs? Nope. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the screen that appear when you call up his home page.
He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university.
The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100.
He sold a few to his brothers and some friends, and when he had made $1,000, he issued a press release.
That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for pixels, with links to their own sites.
So far they have bought up 911,800 pixels. Tew's home page now looks like an online Times Square, festooned with a multi-colored confetti of ads.
"All the money's kind of sitting in a bank account," Tew told Reuters from his home in Wiltshire, southwest England. "I've treated myself to a car. I've only just passed my driving test so I've bought myself a little black mini."
The site features testimonials from advertisers, some of whom bought spots as a lark, only to discover that they were receiving actual valuable Web hits for a fraction of the cost of traditional Internet advertising.
Meanwhile Tew has had to juggle running the site with his first term at university, where he is studying business.
"It's been quite a difficulty trying to balance going to lectures and doing the site," he said.
But he may not have to study for long. Job offers have been coming in from Internet companies impressed by a young man who managed to figure out an original way to make money online.
"I didn't expect it to happen like that," Tew said. "To have the job offers and approaches from investors -- the whole thing is kind of surreal. I'm still in a state of disbelief."
Thu Dec 29, 1:05 PM ET
If you have an envious streak, you probably shouldn't read this.
Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.
Selling porn? Dealing prescription drugs? Nope. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the screen that appear when you call up his home page.
He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university.
The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100.
He sold a few to his brothers and some friends, and when he had made $1,000, he issued a press release.
That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for pixels, with links to their own sites.
So far they have bought up 911,800 pixels. Tew's home page now looks like an online Times Square, festooned with a multi-colored confetti of ads.
"All the money's kind of sitting in a bank account," Tew told Reuters from his home in Wiltshire, southwest England. "I've treated myself to a car. I've only just passed my driving test so I've bought myself a little black mini."
The site features testimonials from advertisers, some of whom bought spots as a lark, only to discover that they were receiving actual valuable Web hits for a fraction of the cost of traditional Internet advertising.
Meanwhile Tew has had to juggle running the site with his first term at university, where he is studying business.
"It's been quite a difficulty trying to balance going to lectures and doing the site," he said.
But he may not have to study for long. Job offers have been coming in from Internet companies impressed by a young man who managed to figure out an original way to make money online.
"I didn't expect it to happen like that," Tew said. "To have the job offers and approaches from investors -- the whole thing is kind of surreal. I'm still in a state of disbelief."
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Track Santa's annual flight online
Track Santa's annual flight online
News partner NBC 6
December 23, 2005, 10:48 AM EST
When Christmas Eve comes, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), will track Santa Claus during his annual flight.
NORAD is responsible for handling the air defense of the North America continent. But it has also been tracking Santa's movements on Christmas Eve for the past 50 years.
NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa -- radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft.
The satellites have infrared sensors, meaning they can see heat. Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile launch. Thus, the satellites can detect Rudolph's bright red nose with practically no problem.
The tradition of tracking Santa began in 1955, when a local Sears, Roebuck and Co. store ran a newspaper ad urging children to make a phone call on Christmas Eve and talk to Santa Claus. As fate would have it, the phone number was misprinted and, instead of reaching Santa, youngsters found themselves talking with Air Force Col. Harry Shoup of the Continental Air Defense Command at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.
Rather than hanging up, Shoup and his troops answered every child's call that night with a report of Santa's location. CONAD personnel kept up the practice until 1958, when NORAD was formed and took over Santa-tracking duties.
"We think of it as a geography lesson, because the different places that Santa visits or sightings that we have, a lot of people haven't heard of," said Air Force Master Sgt. John Tomassi, co-director of Santa-tracking operations. "If we can get some children to go and look at a map to find out where Timbuktu is, or where India is, or Pakistan, or wherever, then we feel all the better for that."
Last Christmas Eve, volunteers at Cheyenne Mountain answered nearly 55,000 phone calls and 35,000 e-mails from children around the world. This year, about 500 volunteers -- most of them U.S. and Canadian military personnel and their families -- will report for telephone-answering duty on Christmas Eve. But already, youngsters are sending messages to Santa via the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site.
"E-mails are arriving from India and Ireland and all over the world already from children with their wish lists who want to talk to Santa," Tomassi said. "We receive, on average, 200 e-mails a day."
NORAD Tracks Santa volunteers will answer calls from 2 a. m. MST Dec. 24 to 2 a. m. MST Dec. 25 at 877-Hi-NORAD. You can send also Santa an e-mail at NorthPole@OfficialSantaMail.com
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
News partner NBC 6
December 23, 2005, 10:48 AM EST
When Christmas Eve comes, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), will track Santa Claus during his annual flight.
NORAD is responsible for handling the air defense of the North America continent. But it has also been tracking Santa's movements on Christmas Eve for the past 50 years.
NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa -- radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft.
The satellites have infrared sensors, meaning they can see heat. Rudolph's nose gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile launch. Thus, the satellites can detect Rudolph's bright red nose with practically no problem.
The tradition of tracking Santa began in 1955, when a local Sears, Roebuck and Co. store ran a newspaper ad urging children to make a phone call on Christmas Eve and talk to Santa Claus. As fate would have it, the phone number was misprinted and, instead of reaching Santa, youngsters found themselves talking with Air Force Col. Harry Shoup of the Continental Air Defense Command at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.
Rather than hanging up, Shoup and his troops answered every child's call that night with a report of Santa's location. CONAD personnel kept up the practice until 1958, when NORAD was formed and took over Santa-tracking duties.
"We think of it as a geography lesson, because the different places that Santa visits or sightings that we have, a lot of people haven't heard of," said Air Force Master Sgt. John Tomassi, co-director of Santa-tracking operations. "If we can get some children to go and look at a map to find out where Timbuktu is, or where India is, or Pakistan, or wherever, then we feel all the better for that."
Last Christmas Eve, volunteers at Cheyenne Mountain answered nearly 55,000 phone calls and 35,000 e-mails from children around the world. This year, about 500 volunteers -- most of them U.S. and Canadian military personnel and their families -- will report for telephone-answering duty on Christmas Eve. But already, youngsters are sending messages to Santa via the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site.
"E-mails are arriving from India and Ireland and all over the world already from children with their wish lists who want to talk to Santa," Tomassi said. "We receive, on average, 200 e-mails a day."
NORAD Tracks Santa volunteers will answer calls from 2 a. m. MST Dec. 24 to 2 a. m. MST Dec. 25 at 877-Hi-NORAD. You can send also Santa an e-mail at NorthPole@OfficialSantaMail.com
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Suit aims to stop developer
Suit aims to stop developer Woodbury board jumped gun on 451-home OK, opponents say By Chris McKennaTimes Herald-Recordcmckenna@th-record.com
Woodbury - Opponents have sued to stop Bill Brodsky's proposed 451-home development, using as ammunition a dispute between the Town Board and Orange County planners over the project's merits.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn five laws the board adopted giving the Rockland County developer the zoning accommodations he needed to move forward with his development, which is now being reviewed by the town Planning Board.
The litigation rekindles a bitter fight that dominated town politics for a year and culminated with the Nov. 3 Town Board decision and the election - five days later - of John Burke, a leading critic of the housing proposal.
Burke unseated Supervisor Sheila Conroy, a supporter who argued the proposal offered the town abundant benefits.
A subplot within the saga is a clash between the Town Board and the Orange County Planning Department over whether those benefits justified zoning changes that tripled the number of homes Brodsky could otherwise build at the 400-acre site.
County planners raised sharp doubts while reviewing the project this year and finally disapproved it on Nov. 17 - after the Woodbury board had already made its decision.
In his letter to town officials, Planning Commissioner David Church said they'd voted prematurely because they didn't give his office the 30 days required by state law to review all project documents, including ones submitted to the county after Oct. 21.
Opponents have made that a main argument for overturning the Nov. 3 votes. They also claim the proposal had a flawed environmental review and would violate the town master plan.
Woodbury officials dispute Church's interpretation of the law. In a nine-page reply, Conroy argues the 30-day clock started not on Oct. 21 but on June 28, when Woodbury sent copies of the proposed zoning laws to the county Planning Department for review.
Conroy's letter goes on to describe how the town complied with some of the county's recommendations and explains why it rejected others. Two concessions were requiring Brodsky to plan a second entrance to the development and build a gravel parking lot for a park at the site.
"We were disappointed that the county did not see the benefits to the community," Conroy said in an interview. "Obviously, somebody did not read this document."
Church replied yesterday that two planners worked on the review, including a senior staff member who spent 20 to 30 hours looking at Woodbury's materials.
"We did not lightweight this," he said. "In fact, I had the opposite conclusion - I thought we were spending too much time."
Woodbury - Opponents have sued to stop Bill Brodsky's proposed 451-home development, using as ammunition a dispute between the Town Board and Orange County planners over the project's merits.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn five laws the board adopted giving the Rockland County developer the zoning accommodations he needed to move forward with his development, which is now being reviewed by the town Planning Board.
The litigation rekindles a bitter fight that dominated town politics for a year and culminated with the Nov. 3 Town Board decision and the election - five days later - of John Burke, a leading critic of the housing proposal.
Burke unseated Supervisor Sheila Conroy, a supporter who argued the proposal offered the town abundant benefits.
A subplot within the saga is a clash between the Town Board and the Orange County Planning Department over whether those benefits justified zoning changes that tripled the number of homes Brodsky could otherwise build at the 400-acre site.
County planners raised sharp doubts while reviewing the project this year and finally disapproved it on Nov. 17 - after the Woodbury board had already made its decision.
In his letter to town officials, Planning Commissioner David Church said they'd voted prematurely because they didn't give his office the 30 days required by state law to review all project documents, including ones submitted to the county after Oct. 21.
Opponents have made that a main argument for overturning the Nov. 3 votes. They also claim the proposal had a flawed environmental review and would violate the town master plan.
Woodbury officials dispute Church's interpretation of the law. In a nine-page reply, Conroy argues the 30-day clock started not on Oct. 21 but on June 28, when Woodbury sent copies of the proposed zoning laws to the county Planning Department for review.
Conroy's letter goes on to describe how the town complied with some of the county's recommendations and explains why it rejected others. Two concessions were requiring Brodsky to plan a second entrance to the development and build a gravel parking lot for a park at the site.
"We were disappointed that the county did not see the benefits to the community," Conroy said in an interview. "Obviously, somebody did not read this document."
Church replied yesterday that two planners worked on the review, including a senior staff member who spent 20 to 30 hours looking at Woodbury's materials.
"We did not lightweight this," he said. "In fact, I had the opposite conclusion - I thought we were spending too much time."
Friday, December 02, 2005
Parade of champions this Saturday at 3
Parade of champions this Saturday at 3
Monroe - The Village of Monroe will play host to a parade for the state champion Monroe-Woodbury football team, starting at 3 p.m. Saturday at Airplane Park.
The parade will come down Lake Street and turn onto Spring Street where it will end in Smith Clove Park.
The football team, the Monroe-Woodbury High School band, local police, fire and ambulances corps members and local politicians are expected to participate.
“We are encouraging people to come out and cheer them on,” said Monroe Police Chief Dominic Giudice. “We also want to advise residents and local businesses that there will be the periodic closing of streets to accommodate the parade as well as some temporary traffic delays.”
Blog to monitor antisemitism
Blog to monitor antisemitism
Woodbury —The Southern Orange County Antisemitism Watch (SOCAwatch) started up at http://socawatch.blogspot.com on Tuesday. The Woodbury-based blogger has been posting messages “to increase public awareness of antisemitic rhetoric from politicians, media, and ‘grassroots’ organizations in southern Orange County.”
According to its Web site: “Some of the words on this site are hateful. Some perpetuate stereotypes. Some demonstrate great prejudice. I post them here for your review, your commentary, your analysis.
“To me, what is scary is that these words are not necessarily being mumbled by one private citizen to another, but they are being shouted by our political leaders. Our media is dedicating an excessive amount of negative coverage to a minority community. This blog is not meant to inflame a hateful situation. It is meant to lift up the carpet and expose it to the light.”
Several of the first postings reprinted a letter from Spencer McLaughlin, an Orange County legislator, about water supply problems at Kiryas Joel in Monroe.
Another was merely fun. Congratulating the Monroe-Woodbury football team, SOCAwatch wrote: “Good luck in Syracuse! For the first time in history, Jews root for the Crusaders.”
To which “Anonymous” replied: “Can you show proof that this is the ‘first time in history’?”
Woodbury —The Southern Orange County Antisemitism Watch (SOCAwatch) started up at http://socawatch.blogspot.com on Tuesday. The Woodbury-based blogger has been posting messages “to increase public awareness of antisemitic rhetoric from politicians, media, and ‘grassroots’ organizations in southern Orange County.”
According to its Web site: “Some of the words on this site are hateful. Some perpetuate stereotypes. Some demonstrate great prejudice. I post them here for your review, your commentary, your analysis.
“To me, what is scary is that these words are not necessarily being mumbled by one private citizen to another, but they are being shouted by our political leaders. Our media is dedicating an excessive amount of negative coverage to a minority community. This blog is not meant to inflame a hateful situation. It is meant to lift up the carpet and expose it to the light.”
Several of the first postings reprinted a letter from Spencer McLaughlin, an Orange County legislator, about water supply problems at Kiryas Joel in Monroe.
Another was merely fun. Congratulating the Monroe-Woodbury football team, SOCAwatch wrote: “Good luck in Syracuse! For the first time in history, Jews root for the Crusaders.”
To which “Anonymous” replied: “Can you show proof that this is the ‘first time in history’?”
about $1 million a year
ChesterC&S revives plans for new warehouse C&S Wholesale Grocers is renewing plans to build a 90-foot-tall warehouse in the Chester Industrial Park just over a month after it pulled out of the venture, former Chester Mayor Joseph Battiato said. He said he negotiated a deal to bring the wholesaler back on track to build the 373,547-square-foot refrigerated warehouse next to C&S's existing warehouse. C&S pulled out of the planning process in October. Critics feared the building would block their mountain views, use too much water and create traffic. Battiato said the Town of Chester's concerns were addressed by C&S officials, but the village would not budge on traffic and road maintenance issues. The building would straddle the village-town line, requiring approval from both municipalities. Battiato said he stepped in to protect the potential tax revenue to be generated from the new building – estimated at about $1 million a year. Battiato said he mediated a deal in which village officials agreed to speed up their review of C&S's plans in return for the company's commitment of more than $100,000 to village water and risk management funds
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
a symbol of justice, mastery and honesty
A bronze statue of Bruce Lee, a Chinese-American martial arts master in a typical fighting pose, is unveiled during a ceremony in Mostar November 26, 2005. A new symbol of unity was erected on Saturday in the ethnically divided Bosnian city of Mostar - a statue of Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee, worshipped by Muslims, Serbs and Croats. A group of enthusiasts in Mostar, the scene of fighting between Muslims and Croats in 1993-1994, agreed they needed a symbol of justice, mastery and honesty - virtues upheld by the late Chinese-American actor. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)