Westchester Now

Applause for one of Westchester's very own.

New Rochelle educator Anne Marie Rooney was named one of five finalists for top teacher in a contest on "Live with Kelly and Michael" Tuesday morning.

Rooney is a special-education teacher at Ward Elementary School. She was nominated by the parents of one of her students, Timothy Bavosa, who wrote an impassioned letter to the TV...

New Rochelle will be watching tomorrow morning to see whether its own Anne Marie Rooney is named one of the five finalists for top teacher honors on TV's "Live with Kelly and Michael."

Rooney, a special education teacher, said last week that she was overwhelmed by the nomination from thankful parents for her work with their autistic son. She said that for more than...

Westchester County Board of Legislators chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) picked up two more endorsements in his effort to win the Democratic Party’s nomination for county executive.

The Black Democrats of Westchester and the New York Hotel Trades Council, or HTC, recently gave Jenkins their support.

"Ken's candidacy will excite the Democratic and labor base in November like...

Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin has been mum with the media since her arrest last week -- under the advice of her counsel -- and seemingly focused on avoidance of any further public embarrassment.

But on Tuesday, at her first Village Board meeting since the arrest, she slipped up, allowing one trustee to vote by phone -- a move that's against the state's open meeting laws, according to...

If you're passing through New Rochelle in the next few weeks, you might want to be sure not to run any red lights. New Rochelle officials are studying several intersections to see whether they are dangerous enough to warrant the installation of red light cameras to crack down on traffic scofflaws. To install the controversial traffic control devices the city would need state legislative approval...

For the second school board meeting in a row, a group of outraged East Ramapo students will take to the sidewalk outside of the administrative building Tuesday night to give board members and the community something to think about.

Last month, about 100 students held up English and Hebrew signs calling for the restoration of graduation day on a Sunday rather than Monday and at their schools...

Teams of sandhogs toiling 160 feet below Grand Central Terminal have finished blasting through 500 million-year-old rock bed to build the massive caverns that will house a brand-new Long Island Rail Road terminal, MTA officials announced Tuesday.

The East Side Access Project reached a major milestone this week when the last of the subterranean caverns were carved out after six years of blasting...

Westchester County’s political circles are still buzzing about the state’s decision last week to nix a plan to let Ferncliff, the Yonkers school for developmentally disabled children, move to county-owned land in Greenburgh.

“I was as shocked as all involved,” said Assemb. Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale), who had been lobbying state officials to support the plan. “I was really shocked.”

A host...

They say more is better, and that's likely true at Metro-North, the nation's busiest commuter rail, which this week is rolling out 187 trains as it continues the largest service expansion in its 30-year history.

Most of the trains will be added to weekend and off-peak weekday hours as Metro-North tries to top the 83 million riders it tallied last year.

"By adding off-peak and weekend...

Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Cold Spring) raised more than $500,000 in the first quarter of 2013, an eye-popping haul for a freshman lawmaker.

Maloney, 46, defeated Republican incumbent Nan Hayworth last November. He was one of 82 freshmen joining the 435-seat House, where Republicans continue to hold a 233-200 advantage despite losing a net eight seats in November.

“I’m overwhelmed...