Yorktown and Cortlandt region

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says he will not be employing the security detail used by his predecessor Andy Spano. That detail included three bodyguards who shadowed Spano, even for travel, and racked up hotel and meal expenses beyond the thousands in payroll and benefits.

Find out how much he proposes to save taxpayers in a special report from Jorge Fitz-Gibbon exclusively in print editions of The Journal News on Sunday.

Scholarships available for area high school seniors from the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce. Read release below:

PEEKSKILL – The Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce announced today that graduating high school seniors from Croton-Harmon, Hendrick Hudson, Lakeland, Peekskill, Putnam Valley and Walter Panas High Schools are eligible to apply for the Chamber’s Annual Scholarship program staring immediately.

The Chamber’s $1,000 annual scholarships are awarded to one high school student in attendance at each of the six high schools who are pursuing advanced level education.  Recipients are selected on the basis of academic record, leadership, participation in school and community activities, honors/awards/recognition received, and work experience. Scholarships are awarded without regard to race, color, creed, religion, gender, disability, or ethnic origin.

“We are pleased to offer these scholarships to deserving high school students in the communities served by the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce.  Even as we see signs of improvement in the economy, a little extra financial help to students can go a long way,” said Bill Powers, Acting President and CEO of the Chamber.

Application forms are available on the chamber’s website for download at www.hudsonvalleygatewaychamber.com, at the chamber office at One South Division Street for pick up between 10am and 4pm, Monday through Friday, or at any of the high school guidance offices.  Applications must be returned to the HVGCC office no later than May 28, 2010. Applicants must also submit a personal statement of their educational and professional goals (250-300 words), official high school transcript and a letter of recommendation from a community and a school sponsor.

The winners will be introduced and announced to the press at the June 3, 2010 Chamber Business Council Breakfast, planned for Hollow Brook Golf Club. Attendance at this breakfast is mandatory for the students in order to receive the award.

If you have questions please contact the Chamber office at (914) 737-3600 or email the chamber at info@hudsonvalleygatewaychamber.com.

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State Education Commissioner David Steiner met with parents and educators in Cortlandt on Thursday night. Giving his perspective on the educational scene, Steiner cast a critical eye on the use of multiple-choice questions used on exams and said he would like to see a more unified curriculum across the state. Avoiding the jargon frequently used by state bureaucrats and taking an expansive view of education, Steiner quoted Shakespeare and discussed educational practices used in France. His speech at Cortlandt Town Hall was sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandra Galef (D-Ossining).

Yorktown Councilman Nick Bianco has received the endorsement of the Yorktown Republican Town Committee in his run for the 99th Assembly District seat run.

A formal announcement took place at noon Friday in Yorktown Heights. He hopes to succeed Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, who is running for state Senate in the 40th district.

“Nick has been here as a councilman for 14 years,” Yorktown Republican Chairwoman Serafina Mastro said. “He would be a good candidate to fill in Greg Ball’s seat. He’s aggressive like Greg. He knows the laws.”

School board interviews
Candidates in select contested school board races are invited to discuss the issues in interviews webcast LIVE on LoHud.com. The schedule follows. Because of the vast number of races — and the impossibility of crafting a schedule that meets everyone’s family, work and campaign needs — we appreciate efforts by candidates to make their scheduled hour. Westchester candidates are asked to confirm their attendance by contacting editorial assistant Brenda Ross, 914-694-5030 or bross@lohud.com; Rockland candidates are asked to contact Rockland Opinion editor Nancy Cutler, 845-578-2403 or ncutler@lohud.com.

Candidate questionnaires
If you are running for school board in Westchester, Rockland or Putnam, we want to hear from you. Please send your full name, home address, daytime phone numbers and e-mail address to elections@lohud.com. In both the subject line and body of the e-mail, be sure to indicate your school district. The information will be used by our news and editorial staffs to contact and correspond with candidates. Additionally, the e-mail address will be used to send candidates a username and password for a questionnaire; responses will form the basis of our online election guide for voters.

How voters can participate
Watch the interviews at www.Lo­Hud.com/editorialspotlight; to ask a question during a live session, engage the “cover it live” feature. Video of completed interviews — including Eastchester, Chappaqua, Scarsdale and East Ramapo — may be found in the “on demand” menu at www.LoHud.com/editorialspotlight. Only candidates may attend interviews.

Westchester
May 3
Bedford, 1:30 p.m.
Katonah-Lewisboro, 2:30 p.m.

May 4
Lakeland, 1:30 p.m.
Port Chester, 2:30 p.m.

May 5
Ossining, 1:30 p.m.
Briarcliff Manor, 2:30 p.m.

May 6
Byram Hills, 1:30 p.m.
Hendrick Hudson, 2:30 p.m.

May 10
Peekskill, 2:30 p.m.
Harrison, 4 p.m.

May 11
New Rochelle, 2:30 p.m.
Mount Vernon, 3:30 p.m.

Rockland
May 1
Nanuet, 10 a.m.
Clarkstown, 11 a.m.

May 4
Nyack, 10 a.m.
May 5
Pearl River, 10 a.m.

Directions are available here.

The city of Peekskill is hosting a “Give Your Stuff Away Day,” an event that will take place in neighborhoods throughout the country on May 15.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., that day, Peekskill “residents can bring bicycles, sports equipment, household items, tools, building materials, furniture, books, clothing, shoes and other valuables to their curbs for others to take for FREE.”

The endeavor was started by Mike Morone, of Chili NY, who is hoping to spark a worldwide “Give Your Stuff Away Day” twice annually. For more information on it, check out the website www.giveyourstuffaway.com

A benefit screening of “Who Does She Think She Is?” a documentary about being a mom and an artist, followed by a panel discussion featuring Dar Williams, will take place Saturday at the Peekskill Hat Factory, 1000 N. Division St, Peekskill.

The screening benefits the Garden Road School in Crompond. Read their press release below for more detailed information:

The Garden Road School presents a benefit screening of the documentary “Who Does She Think She Is?” by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll on May 1, 2010, 6:30PM, at the Peekskill Hat Factory. The film, which follows five fierce women who refuse to choose between their families and their art, examines problematic intersections of our time: mothering and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art.

A wine reception and panel discussion featuring renowned New York artists Dar Williams, Maria Colaco, Leslie Fields-Cruz, Sarah Haviland, Kathleen Pemble and Lowry Reinaur will follow the screening.

Tickets are $30. To purchase tickets, visit www.thegardenroad.org or call 914-526-4033. The screening will take place at the Peekskill Hat Factory, 1000 North Division Street, Peekskill, NY.

Proceeds benefit the Arts in Education programs of The Garden Road School, an independent Pre-K through Elementary school in Crompond, NY. The Garden Road School’s fully arts-integrated curriculum is focused on the education of the whole child. (more…)

Member school districts voted 17-1 to approve the 2010-2011 administrative budget for Putnam/Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services BOCES, with Peekskill casting the sole dissenting vote.

The total 2010-2011 BOCES Administrative budget is $8,365,684, a 1.40% increase over 2009-10.

Districts also elected Joan Austin of Briarcliff and Thomas Knight of Ossining to three-year terms as trustees on the BOCES Board. Austin is currently BOCES’ Vice President. She served on the Briarcliff school board for 18 years and has been with BOCES since fall 2000.

“Our BOCES is a dynamic, creative organization,” she said. “We constantly seek out ways to assist our component districts and to improve educational services to our highly diverse student body. BOCES has an excellent professional staff and it is our job to enable them to use their talents effectively to achieve these goals.”

A former trustee and president of the Ossining Board of Education, Knight has been a BOCES Board member since 2001. He has been very active in lobbying efforts in Albany on behalf of public schools in Putnam, Westchester and Rockland counties.

James Allan and Jack Tartaglia look for macroinvertebrates taken from the water as they study the ecosystem of a stream at Teatown Lake Reservation earlier today.

Students in Christina Connors Family and Consumer Science class from Lakeland-Copper Beech Middle School in Yorktown spent the day at the reservation learning about stream ecology and releasing trout that they had raised in their classroom. Look for the story in an upcoming edition of the Northern Westchester Express. To view additional photos, click here.

A reminder from the Croton-Harmon School District:
Registration for voting on the Croton-Harmon School District proposed 2010-2011 school budget and election of two members to the Board of Education on May 18, 2010, can be done at the District Office, 10 Gerstein Street, on any business day between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., up to and including
Tuesday, May 11, 2010. A Special registration will be held at the District Office on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

If a voter has registered pursuant to Section 2014 of the Education Law and has voted at an annual or special district meeting within the last four (4) calendar years, he/she is eligible to vote at this election; if a voter is registered and eligible to vote in General Elections under Article 5 of the Election Law, he/she is also eligible to vote at this election. All other persons who wish to vote must register.

Questions concerning registration should be directed to the District Clerk, 271-4713, extension 4206.