WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By Coach Mark Santa-Donato. June 15, 2005: Monday evening it was announced that the White Plains football coach for the last twelve years, Mark Santa-Donato would be assuming an Assistant Coach’s role this coming season with Skip Stevens taking over the helm. Coach Santa-Donato has written  this WPCNR exclusive on his decision, the future of White Plains football, and his feelings about the program:

A Tiger Legacy: White Plains own Mark Santa-Donato. August, 2004. Photo, WPCNR Sports Archive.

Dear John, 

Thanks for the kind words you said about me in your article on Michael “Skip” Stevens becoming the new head football coach at White Plains.  He is an excellent coach, a great friend and a wonderful person and I know he will do a fine job here.  He has been more than just an excellent coach as an assistant.  He has gone the extra mile for our players in so many ways.  I can’t tell you how many times he has taken kids out for dinner, driven them for college visits, and been there for them for just about anything they needed.

For me, It was a tough decision stepping down, but once my daughter Marlee’ decided on college (University of Maryland), I realized I needed to step back and make more time for my family.  I thought about it long and hard over the winter and early spring.  It seems as the girls (Marlee-17, Christa-15, & Brianne-13) are getting big so fast!  It also seems that as they get older they need you around even more.  When they were small it was easier, just bundle them up and take them with you.  Now, they are all involved with so many activities and sports (Their schoolwork – #1, Volleyball, Lacrosse, Softball, Field Hockey) that you have to find time to get to see them.  I read in your article that Mr. Panaro said I may not be able to put 7 days a week into football.  I hope to keep on a 7 day schedule, but just have a little more time to get to see the family. 

 As you know, I am staying on as an assistant.  I will be coaching the offensive and defensive backs (which is what I did as head coach) and also continue to help our players get into college, which is a big job in itself and a passion with me.  Getting our players into college has always been my #1 priority as Head Football Coach.  Hopefully by me staying on and helping Skip with the recruiting it will give him more time to spend on all the other things involved with being a head coach.  I will continue to manage our computerized player data base, our web page, and also continue to help get kids interested in playing football at Highlands MS where I teach.   So basically, I am going to stay pretty busy. 

I want to thank everyone here in the school system and community who have been so supportive over my 13 years as head coach for giving me the opportunity to stay on as an assistant.  I would also like to thank you, John, for all the great coverage and nice things you have always said about our program and our kids.  As I take my leave as Head Coach I guess the thing I am most proud of is that since 1992 close to 90% of our football graduates have gone on to higher education receiving almost $5 million in athletic and academic scholarship, financial aid and grant monies in that time.  To me, that is the most important thing I have ever been a part of as a coach.  Take care and hope to see you soon.

Most sincerely,

 Coach Santa-Donato

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WPCNR BROWNOUT REPORT. June 14, 2005: The considerably unreliable state of electric power in White Plains, though no brownouts were reported today  by police, and the reluctance apparently of Con Ed to report the cause of the Sunday-Monday fades and outs, prompts this request.

The CitizeNetReporter enourage our readers to drop us an e-mail reporting any brownouts and electrical power outages and the areas where you’re experiencing them. You do not have to necessarily live in White Plains. We want to hear where the hamsters are letting us down. How long you were out, and what Con Ed tells you about it when you ask the work crews on the scene. Let us know by e-mail, and we’ll get the news out.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-JOURNAL. From Westchester County Department of Communications. June 14, 2005: Westchester County will aggressively pursue a two-pronged policy, including voluntary retirement, to see that the Indian Point plants are not relicensed, County Executive Andy Spano said today as he released a year-long study of the options for closing the plants and replacing their energy.

At a community meeting where Levitan & Associates presented its report, Spano said that the potential costs to taxpayers and ratepayers of condemning the plants made that option unrealistic and unwise.

Instead, he said, the county would expand its effort to see that the two nuclear reactors are not relicensed —  a “carrot and stick” approach where Entergy, the plants’ owner, would be offered incentives to build replacement power on-site instead of applying for license extensions, and where simultaneously the county would press the federal government to deny Entergy’s relicensing application.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By John F. Bailey. June 13, 2005: White Plains High School Athletic Director Nick Panero announced Monday night at the Board of Education meeting that Mike Stevens, longtime Assistant White Plains Football Coach would be taking over as Head Coach of Tiger football for the 2005 season.

Mike Stevens, left, was named new Head Coach of the White Plains Football Tigers Monday Evening, replacing Head Coach, Mark Santa-Donato, right. The two are shown with Penn State’s legendary Coach Joe Paterno in 2003, celebrating Spencer Ridenhour’s joining the Penn State Program. WPCNR Photo Capture from White Plains Football Website.

Mr. Panero told WPCNR that Mark Santa-Donato, Tiger mentor since 1992 would continue to coach the football team in an assistant’s role. Mr. Panero said Coach Santa-Donato was stepping down to a supporting role because with his daughter Marlee in college he felt he could not devote a full seven days to football during the season.

Coach Santa-Donato, a fixture in White Plains was named Head Football Coach in 1992.  He was Section I Football Coach-Of-The-Year in 1995 and League AA-South Coach-Of-The-Year in 1993 & 1995. Coach Santa-Donato gained his 75th victory as Head Coach at White Plains High School on Thanksgiving Day 2003. He led his 2003 team to their 3rd straight Secton I Bowl appearance (School Record) and 2nd straight Section I Bowl victory (School Record). The 2003 team’s 10-1 record was only the 2nd time in White Plains Varsity Football History that a team won 10 games.  

What has impressed this reporter most about Coach Santa-Donato’s teams is their discipline, poise, and sportsmanship. They respond with maturity and  respond to adversity well. They are never really out of a football game and are always a threat to rally and pull one out at the last moment. Santa-Donato has developed some great players, most recently: Ike Nduka, Spencer Ridenhour, Marcus Walton, Tommy Lee, John Corretti, Evan McGuire, Ryan Smalls,  Gary Morello, just two name a handful of the greats this reporter has seen play and in the process turned them into great young men.

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WPCNR SOUTHEND TIMES. By John F. Bailey. June 13, 2005: Brownouts hit about 200 Con Edison customers in the Highlands area Sunday evening at 10 P.M., and were restored within two hours according to Chris Olert, a spokesperson for Con Edison today. Brownouts continued to be reported during Monday morning to WPCNR in the Copper Beech Circle area, Old Mamaroneck Road and Gedney Way. Mr. Olert said he had no explanation for the brownouts and that he would have to check. The tenuousness of power reliability continued the Con Ed trend in White Plains established last summer and earlier this spring of power troubles on over 85 degree days. Today’s high (in the shade), was only 88 degrees at 2 PM. The power wavering can cause damage to your high tech equipment.

WPCNR asked Aaron Wordin, the WPCNR staff technologist what he recommends to cope with the Con Ed power unreliability that is happening with more and more regularity. Here is his report:

In service to your readers, here are some tips re: PCs and power:

1. Most so-called “Surge Protectors” just give you extra outlets.  To really
protect your equipment from brownouts and power spikes, purchase something
called a UPS unit – Uninterruptible Power Supply.  It’s essentially a quality
surge protector and high-tech battery rolled into one.  In addition to
smoothing out power nasties, it can provide up to twenty minutes’ worth of
steady juice to your PC and monitor (don’t connect your printer, especially a
laser printer – it will drain really fast, then!), giving you enough time to
save your current documents and do an orderly shutdown.

2. Don’t put your air conditioner in the same outlet as your computer – each
time it turns on, the sudden uptick in current draw can hurt the PC.

3. If you feel comfortable opening up your PC, pop the cover and use one of
those dusting cans to remove buildups of dust – too much of it can act as an
insulator, causing your computer to overheat inside, damaging the components.

4. If there’s an impending thunderstorm, give your PC some real protection and
simply unplug it from the wall, and disconnect your phoneline (if you use
dialup) and your cable or DSL modem if you have high-speed access.

—- Aaron