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Westchester Now

Newsday Westchester's news blog, covering snippets of government, politics, crime, transportation, education and local events in Westchester, Rockland and the Hudson Valley.

Latest posts from

Amanda Koval

Amanda Koval is a senior at Iona College where she is majoring in mass communications with a concentration in journalism. She is Newsday Westchester's fall social media intern.

Dylan Skriloff, Rockland County Times editor, runs for Stony Point supervisor

Dylan Skriloff, editor and chief of the Rockland

Photo credit: Courtesy of Dylan Skriloff

A local Rockland County reporter known for walking the political beat is now taking a run on the campaign trail.

Dylan Skriloff, 33, editor-in-chief at the Rockland County Times, was nominated by the county's Republican Party this week as its pick for Stony Point's town supervisor, making him the only contender so far against incumbent Geoffrey Finn.

But Skriloff, who was born in Rockland...

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Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin’s legal defense fund: Many residents refuse to contribute

Noramie Jasmin, mayor of Spring Valley, leaves federal

Photo credit: John Roca

Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin may have to look to other avenues to pay for her legal fees as some residents aren’t eager to open their wallets for her legal defense fund.

“She ruined Spring Valley,” said village resident Colette Lamar, 42.

“She’s been caught red-handed and she has to face the consequences. It’s outrageous to ask the public for funds," said Lamar, who went as...

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Rob Astorino: No new taxes in 2014

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino delivers the 2013

Photo credit: Office of the Westchester Executive

Amid the hubbub last week about Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s dispute with the Department of Housing and Urban Development over affordable housing, it was easy to miss the other news in his State of the County address.

In the Tuesday speech in the county courthouse, Astorino pledged to submit a 2014 budget later this year that won’t contain tax increases.

The Republican...

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Hudson River Striped Bass Derby can net $100,000 for angler with a big haul

Pete Kilpatrick, 31, the Bronx, fishes along the

Photo credit: Faye Murman

Talk about a big catch.

About 200 anglers – possibly more – will be competing this weekend in the Hudson River Striped Bass Derby in hopes of a $100,000 payoff. Those who compete for the grand prize will need to haul in a winner that weighs at least 50 pounds and measures more than 48 inches.

There’s also a regular contest with a top pot of $1,000 for the heaviest fish of the weekend,...

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Metro-North's Peekskill, Croton-Harmon stations get $15 million makeovers

The MTA held a ribbon-cutting for artist Joy

Photo credit: Xavier Mascarenas

The Peekskill signs at the city's made-over Metro-North station look like something ripped from the cover of a Grateful Dead album.

Flowering vines creep around railings and columns to spell "Peekskill" beneath the station platform's eaves and above elevator banks.

Artist Jan Taylor says it wasn't Jerry Garcia or his band mates that she had in mind when she designed the carbon...

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NY bribery scandal: In wake of Noramie Jasmin arrest, 7 already vying for Spring Valley mayor's seat

Months before filing for candidacy is even permitted, the seventh Spring Valley mayoral hopeful is set to announce his run this Saturday.

Miguelino Joseph, 24, a property manager who works for a not-for-profit organization in Brooklyn, is the latest Rocklander to step forward. He intends to make a formal announcement Saturday afternoon outside his childhood apartment on Eckerson Road.

The...

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Ossining MATTERS raises cash by 'selling' educators

One way to deal with continual budget cuts

Photo credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara

Amy Seiden was outbid online Wednesday by a 13-year-old in Ossining who really wants to win that shoe-shopping trip with teachers Sarah Arbitrio and Linda Whitney.

And with just three days to go, the leading bid to be assistant princpal for a day at Roosevelt Elementary School is up to $50.

The Ossining MATTERS fundraiser, which antes up cash for extracurricular programs and equipment,...

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Prehistoric tree appears at Metro-North offices in North White Plains

A dawn redwood tree recently was spotted in

Photo credit: Handout

First a Styrofoam head looking like something out of ancient Greece or Rome is found bobbing in the Hudson by some Marist College crew team members.

Now comes word of a tree whose ancestors date back to the dinosaur era living in North White Plains.

What's next? Prehistoric fish living under the Tappan Zee Bridge? Oops, already have those.

Metro-North officials say they recently...

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Greg Ball appeals to donors after on-air skirmish with CNN's Piers Morgan

CNN host Piers Morgan, left, and New York

Photo credit: Getty Images / Newsday

Not one to let an opportunity pass, state Sen. Greg Ball (R-Patterson) is trying to parlay an on-air skirmish with CNN's Piers Morgan into some campaign dollars.

On Tuesday, the Republican lawmaker, known for his conservative views, sent an email blast to supporters patting himself on the back for putting "Piers in his place" and banging on his tin cup for contributions.

"Just...

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorses Ken Jenkins for Westchester County exec

Lawyers don't want Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to

An icon of the Democratic Party in the Hudson Valley, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., endorsed Board of Legislators chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) for Westchester County executive on Tuesday.

“Ken has the moral fiber, administrative talent, idealism and beef jerky toughness to stand up to the big shots, end the corruption and restore Westchester as the Empire State’s paradigm of good government,”...

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