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 COUNTY CLARION LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of Communications. (EDITED) September 16, 2004:  County Executive Andy Spano today signed comprehensive legislation to regulate the preparer business.

            Initiated by Spano in 2003, the legislation was passed by the Board of Legislators Tuesday. It goes into effect in 60 days (Nov. 15).

            It does the following:

o       requires individuals engaged in the practice of income tax preparation to disclose their identity;

o       establishes and requires the distribution of a consumer bill of rights regarding tax preparers;

o       establishes notification requirements for the offering of refund anticipation loans;

o       creates a consumer alert registry to inform consumers about tax preparers who have engaged in unlawful practices.

 “This new law gives taxpayers important protections so they know who they are dealing with if they seek outside help in preparing their income taxes,” said Spano. “It protects people from fly-by-night preparers who prey on all segments of the population, particularly the elderly and uneducated. But even the more educated taxpayer can be misled by advertisements saying ‘instant tax refunds,’ not realizing that they are ending up with a interest-bearing loan.”

            He credited the Board of Legislators for acting on the legislation, particularly Martin Rogowsky, who chairs the Legislation Committee; Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the former chair of the Legislation Committee; and Jose Alvarado. 

Who Ya Gonna Call — Tax Busters

The law will be enforced by the Department of Consumer Protection’s Weights and Measures Division, which will also establish and maintain a consumer-alert registry of tax preparers that have violated the law. The registry will be available to consumers upon request and posted on the department’s web page.

First-time offenders will be given a warning. Second-time offenders can be fined $500. After that, violators may be fined $1,000 for each offense.

What Preparers Are Covered

The law would apply to anyone who charges a fee to assist with the preparation of tax returns EXCEPT employees of a  business enterprise who are preparing returns for that business; lawyers who assist in the preparation of income tax returns in the practice of law; fiduciary employees who advise or assist in the preparation of income tax returns on behalf of the fiduciary estate; certified public accountants and public  accountant licensed by the state; an employee of a government unit who is assisting in the preparation of income tax returns in the performance of his or her official duties; and IRS agents.

Consumer Bill of Rights Regarding Tax Preparers

Every individual seeking help from a tax preparer in Westchester County shall be provided with a free informational flier, the “Consumer Bill of Rights Regarding Tax Preparers”  to be produced by the preparer and available in both English and Spanish. It will include the following notice:

·        You are entitled to ask the individual tax preparer assisting or advising you on your tax returns or related matters what his or her qualifications are and he or she is required, upon request, to produce documentation to verify such qualifications.

·        You are entitled to know how fees and charges are computed, including minimum charges and any additional charges. You must be given a receipt which states the charges for each tax return.  The receipt must list the address and phone number at which the tax preparer may be contacted during the year.

·        You are entitled to know whether the tax preparer will represent you at a government audit.  Failure to make this disclosure means that the tax preparer agrees to represent the tax payer or to provide representation.

·        You are entitled to receive all personal papers you provided to the tax preparer upon request when the original tax return is given to you for filing, unless the tax preparer is specifically permitted to retain such papers under state or federal law.

·        You are entitled to know that any tax preparer who advertises the availability of a program by

            which a taxpayer may receive a loan against the taxpayer’s anticipated refund may not directly or   indirectly represent such loan as a refund.  Any advertisement for tax preparation services which mentions such a loan program must state conspicuously that a fee or interest will be charged by the lending institution for any loan, and must disclose the name of the lending institution.

·        You are entitled to receive a copy of every tax return that the tax preparer prepares on your behalf at the time the original tax return is given to the taxpayer for filing.

·        You are entitled to have the tax preparer sign every tax return that he prepares on your behalf.

·        You are entitled to know whether or not the tax preparer is a licensed accountant or attorney in New York State.

·        As the taxpayer you should:

o       Never sign an incomplete tax return or one that is filled out in pencil.

o       Never send cash to the government for payment of your taxes.  Always use a check or money order to pay your taxes.

o       Never allow your refund to be mailed to the tax preparer.  Keep a record of your tax preparer’s year-round address and phone number.

o       Review your complete tax return for accuracy before it is mailed and keep a copy in your files.  Make a list of the originals you have given your tax preparer and have the tax preparer sign it.

o       Check with the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection to determine if the individual or business preparing your taxes has ever been found to have violated the provisions of  Westchester County law related to the control and regulation of tax preparers.

o       Retain copies of your income tax return and supporting documentation for a period of three years.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VOICE. September 15, 2004: A union contact writes the CitizeNetReporter about the possibility of Wal-Mart coming into White Plains at the former Sears location on Main Street. Mayor Joseph Delfino is on record as opposing the location of Wal-Mart to White Plains as being too close a competitor to Target. Here is our correspondent’s critique of Wal-Mart:

Dear CitizeNetReporter

There seems all so much discussion on building height, sewer flow and athletic directors but not a peep about this 500 lb gorilla coming into White Plains at the old Sears location.

[I’m told they’ve not penned the deal]

Wal-Mart threatens the wages, health-care, benefits, and livelihoods of workers across the country and around the world. Wal-Mart leads the race to the bottom in wages and health-care.

There is no questioning the company¹s incredible efficiency and shrewd market sense.  The innovative business strategy of Sam Walton has transformed the retail industry.  But along the way his successors have lost track of the community and worker focused values on which Walton built his success.

As the largest corporation in the world, Wal-Mart has a responsibility to the people who built it.  Wal-Mart jobs offer low pay, inadequate and unaffordable healthcare, and off the clock work.  Having a job at Wal-Mart means relying on family, the community, or the government to pay the bills and provide health care.  Wal-Mart¹s growth actually depresses natural wage increases. In areas where Wal-Mart increased its share of the retail food market by 20% or more 1998-2002, cashiers¹ wages fell 40%-31% below the national average increase.

Wal-Mart¹s disregard for its workers encourages other employers to do the same.  The company pressures its extensive network of vendors to cut labor costs and lower prices every year.  The demands force clothing, toy, plumbing, and grocery suppliers to layoff workers, lower wages and benefits, and take their factories overseas or move from one low cost country to another.  As one Honduran manufacturer, worried that his business will soon lose out to Chinese factories, told the LA Times, ³We¹re earning less and producing more.²

But even in Wal-Mart¹s shadow, every business must take responsibility for its own choices.  In the current contract dispute in Southern California, resulting in 70,000 grocery workers on strike and locked out, three of the most profitable companies in the industry are hiding behind Wal-Mart while effectively eliminating health care for their employees.  Safeway, Kroger, and Albertsons¹ combined profit rose 91 percent over the last five years and they control 61 percent of the grocery market in Southern California; yet, they are asking their workers to sacrifice their health to increase those profits even more. 

At the heart of this fight is a question of values — the values of the hard-working, middle class American worker or the underlying greed of the largest company in the world.  Every person working hard for a living earns the right to a decent wage, affordable health-care, and a voice on the job.  But Wal-Mart¹s greed provides other companies a license to chip away at the rights of working America, influencing everything from wages to working conditions.  Wal-Mart is transforming America from a secure middle class country to one of extremes: those struggling to survive at the bottom and the rich getting richer at the top.

Wal-Mart is bad news.

Have a survey on that.

*Target is no prize either, but they are not the biggest company in the
world.

A Union Executive

Anonymous

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WPCNR MEN WORKING. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. September 15, 2004: Roadwork by the county on Westchester Avenue began today by refurbishing the potholed, pockmarked stretch of Westchester Avenue, the only Eastbound exit out of the city off the downtown. The stretch of road which has ridden like the Appian Way for six months since it emerged from the winter of 03-04 in hideous shape, was reduced to one lane while crews repaired the North Street exit.

 The only problem with this long overdue repair was it did not permit automobiles bound into the North Street area  to make a right around the work crew onto North Street, and the North Street cut right turn (illegal). slightly farther down Eastbound was not reopened to relieve the congestion. Traffic was backed up westward past the Stop N Shop as of 2:30 P.M. There was also no alternative routing being practiced or monitored. Road work was supposed to stop by 3:30 P.M., which may ease the congestion. The torture is supposed to be completed by September 24.

BRAINDEAD! COUNTY TORTURES WHITE PLAINS East End Exiters 9 A.M. TO 3:30 P.M. : Six months after the Westchester Avenue and North Street exits were pockmarked by potholes over the winter, the County began fixing them today by closing off the North Street Exit and not allowing right turns onto North Street. BRAINDEAD!  As of 2:30 P.M. Wednesday Afternoon. There was only one lane Eastbound out of the city, and Southend Patricians had to motor down to Bryant Avenue to access North Street. Photo by WPCNR FreewayFlyerCam

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS ART NEWS. By John F. Bailey. September 15, 2004: A scuplture garden, Sculpture on the Plaza,  five years in the making, the brainchild of Norman Adler, formerly creator of the sculpture display on the Schulman Properties, that he suggested to Eli Schonberger, as a memorial to Mr. Schonberger’s wife, Lois, was dedicated today by Mayor Joseph Delfino and a host of who’s who in the White Plains arts community. Calling Sculpture on the Plaza, “The Gem of the Gem (White Plains)” Mayor Delfino said the exhibition would appeal to senior citizens and children alike. Sandy Miranda, Director of the White Plains Public Library noted the sculptures caught persons’ eyes and enabled passersby to reflect on “life’s grace” for a moment in their busy lives.

THE ARTFUL MAYOR JOSEPH DELFINO Welcomes Patrons of the Arts to Sculpture on the Plaza at the White Plains Public Library Wednesday morning. Left to Right are, Norman Adler, The Mayor, Eli Schonberger, Robert Michael Smith of the Sculptor’s Guild, Sculptor Judith Steinberg, and Commission of Recreation and Parks, Arne Abramowitz. The Mayor is seen through WPCNR’s favorite Mother Playing by Chaim Gross. To the left of Mr. Adler is Tightrope Acrobats, also by Mr. Gross, and to the far left is  Miguel Castillo’s Mother and Child. Photo by WPCNR ArtCam.

The exhibition features 13 sculptures donated for one year by The Sculptors Guild of New York City, at no cost to the city. A total of $20,000 was contributed by 66 indivduals and corporate sponsors through the Sculpture on the Plaza Committee to pay for the cost of transporting the works to the library and constructing the pedestals displaying them. The works are for sale, and fully insured at no cost to the city.

PATRONS OF THE ARTS: Norman Adler, left, creator of the Schulman sculpture gardens that received a national award from The Reagan Administration, and Eli Schonberger, right. Looking on is Judith Steinberg, Sulptoress. Photo by WPCNR ArtCam.

Included among the famous artists whose works catch the eye of all who pass with their dignity, emotion and integrity of line and intrigue of insouciance, are Bill Barrett, Miguel Castillo, Leonde Finke, Chaim Gross, Richard Heinrich, Bruno Lucchesi, Clement Meadmore, Richard McDermott Miller, George Rickey, Robert Michael Smith, Judith Steinberg and Hans Van de Bovenkamp.

Mr. Smith of the Sculptors Guild which has arranged for the lend of the sculptures  in a brief but effective talk said that the mission of art and of sculpture is to “share that celebration of life,” to take its viewers on a “spiritual evolution,” saying that the creation of art was a religous calling that “takes us to a higher place.” Judith Steinberg, a sculptoress from Connecticut whose 42nd Street and Palatine is displayed at the entrance on Martine Avenue, said Sculpture on the Plaza is unique in that no other city in the area has such an extensive exhibition. She said she hoped her home state, Connecticut would follow White Plains’s example.

Mayor Delfino said Eli Schonberger was a driving force behind putting the exhibition together. Norman Adler, an amateur sculptor for twenty-five years, formerly with the Schulman real estate organization, said he got the idea from his sculptor display that he developed for the Schulman properties on Westchester Avenue, and that he suggested to Mr. Schonberger it would be a great memorial to Mr. Schonberger’s wife, Lois, and that was how the sculpture plaza came to be.

The Mayor thanked the White Plains Beautification Foundation, the Schonberger Family Foundation, Mr. Adler, the Sculptors Guild, and members of the Sculpture on the Plaza Committee. He thanked Merrill Lynch for their contribution, The New York Power Authority for printing the exhibition catalog and the Bank of New York

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WPCNR STOP AND GO. From Westchester County Department of Communications. September 15, 2004:

As part of a county construction project to improve the Playland Parkway Bridge over Blind Brook, lane closures on Playland Parkway in the city of Rye will begin on Wednesday, September 15.  Playland Parkway between Route 1 (Boston Post Road) overpass and Milton Road, will be reduced to two lanes, with one lane of traffic maintained in either direction. 

This project is scheduled to continue until May 2005.   Motorists are advised to expect delays when approaching the area.  For additional information on this project, contact Westchester County Department of Public Works at 995-2555 or log on to www.westchestgov.com/dpw.