Yorktown and Cortlandt region

A moving candlelight vigil was held for Katelyn Lonergan and Marc Napolitano, Yorktown residents who were killed on January 10th in a crash in upstate, New York, at the Yorktown Gazebo Feb. 28, 2010. Family and friends spoke about their lives and shared photos and sang in their memory.  ( Ricky Flores / The Journal News )

The Section 1 gymnastics team took home the state title today with a score of 181.450 at the NYSPHSAA girls gymnastics state championship at Cold Spring Harbor High School in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Also, Jillian Hudson of Tappan Zee High School won the state all-around title with the score of 37.850 as well as the vault, balance beam and floor exercise titles. Yorktown senior Danielle Bonner (pictured below) finished second on the beam.

Check back at LoHud to read more about the story and click here to see a gallery of photos from the event.

The final countdown is here! Tomorrow marks the start of our week-long “Unofficial Mayor” contest. Play every day Monday through Friday and you could win a mini laptop computer, a chance to guest blog here for three months, and a profile in our Sunday Express. Play any day and you could win a digital camera.

Most importantly, this contest is your chance to boast about, and show off your knowledge about your community. Don’t be afraid…this isn’t a test and there are no right or wrong answers.

Get the rules and details here so you’re prepared. See you back here tomorrow!

Things got back underway in the Section 1 basketball championships at the Westchester County Center following a winter storm that hit the Lower Hudson Valley last Thursday that post-poned Ossining’s Class AA semi-final game against Ursuline.

Ossining coach Dan Ricci dances along the sidelines, reacting with his players during their game against Ursuline. Ossining went on to defeat Ursuline 66-49, advancing to the championship game on Wednesday, March 3 at 8 p.m. against Mount Vernon. To see a gallery of photos from this game, click here.

Peekskill defeated Pearl River 69-62 in over-time in the Class A semi final at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on Saturday.

From left, Tasia Nolan, Sheridan Taylor, and Jazmin Garcia celebrate after Peekskill defeated Pearl River on Saturday. Click here to view more photos from the game.

Nobody likes to think about Monday just when the weekend’s starting, but you should if you want to enter the Express “Unofficial Mayor” contest. Here’s the deal: You’re not an elected official, but you’re the one who knows every important place, person and issue in your community; the person newcomers and neighbors go to when they have a question.

We’re going to give you the chance to show how much you know about your community by holding the Express “Unofficial Mayor” Contest, here on this blog from March 1 to 5.

This isn’t a quiz. There are no right or wrong answers. But we will be challenging you to answer questions that show how connected you are to your hometown.

The Grand Prize winner will receive a mini laptop computer, a profile published in a Sunday Express, and the chance to be a guest blogger here for three months. Two Second Prize winners will receive a digital camera.

We’ll post one question here each day from March 1 to 5, and give you two hours to post your response. The more fully-informed your answers, the better your chances of winning the Grand Prize!

We’re going to hold this contest three more times during the year, then ask you to vote on the ultimate “Unofficial Mayor” from among our Grand Prize winners — so enter now!

I’ll just leave you with these images  from a harrowing morning commute. The first is Quaker Church Road looking south toward Route 35 in Yorktown.

More after the break…

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Update:Mayor Hanauer called to say the task force is now completing the clean up of Route 9. Their second priority will be to clean up any live wires that are down and then the third priority will be to clean up snow emergency roads. Cars that are parked illegally are being towed, he said.

The village of Ossining has declared a state of emergency until 6 p.m. tomorrow night, said Mayor William Hanauer.

The emergency team is headquarted at the police station, including ambulance, fire, DPW and Parks & Recreation crews. The town and village have also opened up the Joseph G. Caputo Community Center, 95 Broadway, for anyone without heat or power. The building has a generator. There are cots and blankets and the pool will remain open, said Hanauer. There is no food though and Hanauer said he was uncertain if there will be any there later.

Hanauer recommended calling the community center before heading there to spend the night. The number is 941-3189.

There have been long stretches of power outages throughout the village though the majority have been fixed, Hanauer said. But there are still a lot of trees and cables down that are being worked on. He said the owner of Hudson Valley Motorcycles was on standby until 2 p.m. today in the event there was a need to use his ATVs to get patients or emergency personnel to Phelps hospital. Hanauer said  he was proud of how well staff was working on clearing roads and making sure people are safe.

This is a really terrible and hazardous storm.

If your power is out, Con Ed is coming, but it make take a couple of days. Almost 37,000 customers have no power in Westchester, and Con Ed officials just said in a conference call that it will take at least through the weekend, possibly longer, to get to them all. Hundreds of crews are out there, and Con Ed has called for help from utilities as far away as Ohio to help out. But the roads remain treacherous. They’re responding first to about 300 reports of downed wires because of the potential danger. Find a map with information on outages and estimates of when specific areas will be restored here.

Peekskill police are keeping busy today responding to minor auto accidents, downed trees and electrical wires, in addition to numerous calls related to impassable roadways due to illegal parking, said Lt. Eric Johansen. There was also a chimney fire on Depew Street early this morning, Johansen said.

Police have also responded to several medical calls related to the weather, including a man who collapsed while shoveling at a condominium complex off Bleakley Drive. Another Peekskill man, Jose Chimbo, 57, of 416 N.Division St., died in the middle of the night after shoveling snow. Johansen said he did not know if the cause of his death was related to shoveling.

Johansen said this type of snow is known to clog snow blowers and cautioned not to stick fingers inside the equipment to unclog it. He also reminded residents that it is illegal to push snow out onto the roads.

He commended the Department of Public Works for the hard work they’ve put it in since yesterday. He said the conditions are dangerous for everyone, both walking and driving.

It’s been a challenging day and we’ll probably have a busy night.

Meanwhile, Hudson Valley Hospital Center is reporting an increase in snow shoveling incidents, including hand and back injuries and a Peekskill resident who died of a heart attack. It was unclear whether that person was Jose Chimbo.

Hospital officials said about two dozen employees “camped in” last night, sleeping in the Wagner conference room. Hospital spokeswoman Dawn French said the sleep over was to ensure quality care for the patients. She said the hospital’s Engineering Department has been working through the night plowing the hospital to keep it safe for ambulances, visitors and staff.