All Entries in the "The Putnam Examiner" Category
Putnam Voters Approve School Budgets
School Districts in Putnam County had no trouble passing their 2013-2014 budgets Tuesday night, as all six passed with votes to spare. Brewster The Brewster Central School District’s 2013-2014 budget easily passed, 1336 votes to 595. The $85,999,723 budget will raise the tax levy 1.94 percent. A proposition to borrow $430,000 to purchase four busses [...]
Golf Vendor Suing County
The former operator of the Putnam National Golf Course is suing the county, accusing it of breach of contract among other complaints in a federal lawsuit filed this month. RDC Golf Group, which entered into a lease to run the Mahopac golf course in April 2008, claims the county sought to force RDC into paying [...]
Putnam Sheriff’s Office Investigating Armed Robbery
A gas station in Southeast was reportedly robbed last week, and sheriff’s investigators are investigating the crime, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office stated in a press release. The department, along with state troopers, responded to reports of an armed robbery at the BP on Route 22 at around 4:30 a.m. on May 21, the sheriff’s [...]
York Drops Out of Sheriff Race, DeStefano Enters
A heated Putnam County Sheriff’s race was shaken up this week, as Christopher York, an assistant district attorney in the Putnam County DA’s office, dropped out while Andrew DeStefano, a retired NYPD captain, announced his candidacy. Now vying for the Republican line are Sheriff Don Smith, first elected in 2001, DeStefano and former MTA Police [...]
Carmel Gives Capital Projects Another Shot
The Carmel Board of Education will try again to pass a bond referendum to fund several capital projects, eight months after a standalone referendum was soundly defeated by the district’s voters. The referendum, which voters in the Carmel school district will decide the fate of on May 21, is broken into two parts. Proposition 1 [...]
Residents Debate Legislators’ Opposition to NY SAFE Act
After the Putnam County Legislature unanimously passed a February 6 resolution calling on the state to annul the NY SAFE Act, supporters of the gun control legislation blasted the county for rushing through the memorializing legislation without any public debate. They got their debate Wednesday, as hundreds crammed into the Historic Courthouse in Carmel to [...]
Carmel Friends Share Boys Scouts’ Honor Together
Milestones are even better when they can be shared with a friend. Salvatore (“Torey”) Caruso and Declan Cunningham were honored by Boy Scout Troop 14 of Carmel as it held its Eagle Scout Court of Honor at the Carmel VFW Post 1374 Hall in Carmel on Saturday, April 27. “It was fitting that that these [...]
Carmel Incumbents Get GOP Nod Including McDonough
All of the incumbents holding office in the Town of Carmel received the endorsement of the Carmel Republican Committee on Monday, April 29. This despite the fact that Councilwoman Suzanne McDonough was first elected to office four years ago on the Democratic Party line. McDonough, along with Town Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt and Councilman Frank Lombardi [...]
Wright Gets Republican Nomination Over Incumbent DiCarlo
Kevin Wright, a former legislator and district attorney, won Putnam Republicans’ designation last Monday to be the District 9 representative on the County Legislature on the GOP ticket. Wright received more than 62 percent of the votes, beating out the incumbent Leg. Anthony DiCarlo at the Carmel Republican Committee meeting. After the vote, Wright in [...]
Putnam Appropriates Funds to Keep PARC Preschool Open
Putnam has helped PARC keep its preschool program open another year. The Putnam County Legislature voted at its regular monthly meeting 8-0 to have County Executive Mary Ellen Odell appropriate $150,000 to help fund PARC Preschool in Mahopac. Since the county is in the middle of its fiscal year, the county charter states that only [...]
Odell, Antoci Take HV Honor Flight to WWII Memorial in D.C.
Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell accompanied 87-year-old Carmel resident Mario Antoci, a World War II Army veteran and former POW, on a Hudson Valley Honor Flight (HVHF) to Washington, DC on Saturday, April 20. The pair joined approximately 88 other vets along with their guardians and several HVHF staff members. “It was a long day [...]
Putnam Cycling Classic Draws International Participants
This Sunday’s Ridge Hill Putnam Cycling Classic, in only its second year of existence, has attracted competitors from across the America’s and Europe. With 24 different states represented, Canadians hailing from Newfoundland to British Columbia, a contingent of Costa Ricans and one, but very famous, star from Belgium, the event is confirming the hopes that [...]
Putnam Valley School Superintendent Announces Resignation
The superintendent of the Putnam Valley Central School District, Dr. Barbara Nuzzi, has announced she will be stepping down at the end of the school year to become the next superintendent of the Tuckahoe Union Free School District starting on August 1. Nuzzi issued a statement to parents at teachers, which read in part, “I [...]
York’s Choice for Undersheriff Attached to Deskovic Case
When Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher York announced his bid against incumbent Don Smith for sheriff recently, he mentioned that Eugene Tumolo would be his choice for undersheriff. Tumolo, a Mahopac resident who retired from the Peekskill Police Force in December, is a defendant in the Jeffery Deskovic v. City of Peekskill case, which pertains [...]
Levy: Smith is ‘Delusional,’ ‘Paranoid’
The recently exposed letter from Carmel attorney William Sayegh to Sheriff Don Smith describes how the man who has served as the county’s top law enforcement officer since 2002 is allegedly consumed with thoughts of conspiracy and corruption. “You are haunted with ideas of criminality all around you,” the letter, which Sayegh sent in late [...]
Putnam County Gears Up For Cycling Classic
Hundreds of cyclists and thousands of spectators are expected to be on hand for the second annual Ridge Hill Putnam Cycling Classic on Sunday May 5. Organizers of the event held a news conference and residents’ forum on April 23 to detail specifics and allay people’s concerns regarding street closures and the influx of some 400 [...]
Putnam Leg. Proposes County Subsidy for PARC Preschool
Members of the Putnam County Legislature’s Health, Social, Educational, and Environmental Committee may have come up with a way to keep the PARC (Putnam ARC) Preschool open for another year. The legislature made a motion at a special meeting of the Health, Social, Educational and Environmental Committee Meeting on April 26, 2013 to ask County [...]
Smokey Hollow Cell Phone Tower Approved 3-2
The Kent Town Board voted on Tuesday, April 16, 3-to-2 to approve Homeland Towers’ proposal to build a cell phone town at its highway garage on the corner of Route 301 and Smokey Hollow Court. Councilmen John Greene and Louis Tartaro voted against the resolutions. The cell tower on Smokey Hollow Court is part of [...]
Putnam Transportation Task Force Seeks Resident Input
Putnam County Transportation Task Force is looking to revise the mass transportation system in Putnam County for the first time in 30 years, but it need the input of the community. “We want to know the needs of the community,” said the task force chairman Vincent Tamagna. “There is no need for us to be [...]
Bucci Named New Executive Director for Mahopac Chamber
The Board of Directors has hired Michael Bucci as the new executive director for the Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce. He was hired unanimously and will start on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 24. “This was the perfect way to cap off a productive year for the chamber board,” said chairwoman Laurie Lee Ford. “The [...]
Participants Needed for Putnam CAP’s ‘Walk in My Shoes’
Putnam Community Action Program, which is more commonly known as Putnam CAP, is conducting a poverty simulation exercise in an effort to sensitize the community to the realities faced by low-income people. The half-day session will be held on Tuesday, May 7 from 9 a.m. to noon at Temple Beth Shalom, which is located at [...]
Students Add Insight to School Security
No matter how much of an expert one is, something can be learned from those who are living through it. Over two dozen people participated in the School Security Roundtable hosted by State Senator Greg Ball and Putnam County Sheriff Don Smith on Saturday, April 20 at Carmel Town Hall. Each was an expert in their field. Yet, it [...]
Brewster School Board Passes ‘Miracle’ Budget
The outlook during Brewster school district’s proposed budget season was bleak. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jane Sandbank had previously said it was the worst in her seven years as head of the district. Large cuts were looming across the board leaving the district with minimal hope and parents mightily concerned. But as the Brewster Board [...]
Brewster Student Awarded for Excellence in Nontraditional Career Path
Taylor Turnure finds working in a car paint booth “calming.” As she prepared to enter the booth in her class this week at The Tech Center at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES, donning full paint-proof suit and goggles, she methodically checked to see that everything was perfect. “I love the paint booth,” she said, “because I can [...]
Southeast Town Board to Adopt Revised Ethics Code
The Southeast Town Board is poised to revise the town ethics code when it meets on May 9. The town board held its final discussions on the code during its April 18 meeting. The board rejected a call by town activist Ann Fanizzi to bar residents working in the real estate industry or active with [...]
Putnam County Gardens Needed for Fundraiser; Secret Garden Tour Set for June
Partners with PARC, a non-profit dedicated to securing the financial future of people with disabilities, will host its annual Putnam County Secret Garden Tour on Saturday, June 8, 2013 and gardens are needed for this year’s fundraiser. This annual garden tour fundraiser, which supports programs and services for children and adults with autism, disabilities, and [...]
Wright Challenges DiCarlo for Putnam Legislative Seat
Former Legislator Kevin Wright wants his job back. Wright has thrown his hat into the Putnam County legislative race for District 9 against incumbent Leg. Anthony DiCarlo. Wright, who represented District 9 in the legislature from 1980- 1987 then as the county’s district attorney from 1998- 2007, said it was the public that made him [...]
‘Revolutionary’ Teacher Contract Settlement Reached in Brewster
In an agreement described by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jane Sandbank as “revolutionary,” the Brewster School District and its teachers union have reached agreement on a three-year contract that will save the district of about $1 million and preserve the jobs of some district staff and allow for the creation of full-day kindergarten next year. [...]
Mahopac Student Lives Her Dream, Wins Award to Boot
Breanne McCarthy, a Mahopac resident, is on the road to realizing a dream she has had since she was only three years old – to become a fashion designer. “I’m going to FIT in the fall!” the Mahopac senior who attends the BOCES Tech Center said, “and it’s thanks to my Tech teachers for giving [...]
Energy Conservation Discussed at Mahopac’s Climate Change Forum
Energy conservation not only can help protect the environment, is can also result in big savings for individuals, businesses and governments, a group of about 20 residents were told at the Mahopac Public Library on April 8. Energy conservation was discussed during the “Climate Change Forum Part II,” which was presented by the Putnam County [...]
