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 the Office of the Westchester County Clerk. January 7, 2014:

“Foreclosure actions filed in Westchester County this year (2013) represent a forty eight percent increase over last year,” reported Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni who serves as Clerk of the Westchester County Supreme Court where foreclosure actions are heard.

The Office of the Westchester County Clerk reported two thousand six hundred and ninety four (2,694) foreclosure actions started between January 1^st and December 31^st of this year, as compared with one thousand eight hundred and thirteen (1,813) last year.  Three hundred and sixty nine (369) foreclosure judgments have been entered in 2013, in comparison to two hundred and eight (208) entered during 2012.  A month-by-month breakdown of foreclosure filings follows:

“Later this month, stricter mortgage financing rules go into effect which will no doubt curb foreclosures down the road,” shared Idoni.  “But it is hard to predict the immediate impact these rules will have on the Westchester housing market and the current foreclosure burden”.  Westchester Residential Opportunities (WRO), a non-profit housing agency with offices in White Plains and Mount Vernon, conducts Mortgage Default Orientation sessions most Wednesdays in their White Plains Office.  Trained counselors are available to help at (914) 428-4507 or by visiting www.wroinc.org.

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WPCNR WEATHER SCOOP. From the Westchester County Department of Health. January 6, 2013:

With dangerously cold temperatures forecast until Wednesday morning, the Westchester County Department of Health reminds residents to take precautions against hypothermia and frostbite and to take care when heating their homes using alternate heating sources.

“If you have an elderly or ailing neighbor who lives alone, please check on them when the weather is so cold,” said Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino. “With the weather so cold, people should be very cautious when traveling outdoors. Wear lots of layers, do not leave skin exposed and limit your time outside.”

If a safe temperature cannot be maintained inside your home, make temporary arrangements to stay elsewhere. Libraries, municipal buildings and malls are good places to warm up and the Department of Social Services can provide emergency shelter around the clock at 995-2099.

“Low temperatures can be life-threatening, especially for seniors, infants and people who are at increased risk for hypothermia,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler. “I urge residents, especially those households with seniors or infants to keep their thermostats set at no less than 68 degrees during the daytime to avoid accidental hypothermia.”

Seniors and infants less than one year of age should never sleep in a cold room and should be dressed warmly to maintain body heat.

Warning signs of hypothermia in adults include stumbling, mumbling, fumbling and grumbling, shivering, slurred speech and confusion. Infants with hypothermia may appear sluggish, with very low energy and bright red, cold skin. If you think that someone is suffering from hypothermia or frostbite, call a medical provider immediately. Frostbite is another cold weather concern and is especially dangerous because it often happens with little warning. Numbness can occur so quickly that the individual, unaware of being frostbitten, may remain outside, increasing the chance of permanent damage. Older people, and those with diabetes, are especially vulnerable to frostbite due to impaired circulation.

Tips to prevent frostbite and hypothermia:

• Start with synthetic or silk thermal underwear to wick moisture away.
• Add fleece or wool sweaters or sweatshirts to trap heat and keep cold out.
• Top it off with a waterproof or water-repellent jacket and pants.
• Add gloves, scarf, a hat that covers the ears and sturdy shoes or boots with good traction.
• Go indoors when you begin to feel cold.

Heating your home with a generator, space heater or stove can pose risks. Never use a generator inside your house or in partly enclosed areas such as garages, basements, porches, crawlspaces, sheds, carports or breezeways, even if your windows are open. Generators should only be operated outdoors, away from open windows. Using a generator indoors can kill you in minutes. Carbon monoxide in the generator’s fumes can build up and cause carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be fatal. Also remember that barbeque grills and camp stoves produce carbon monoxide and should only be used outdoors. Ovens also produce carbon monoxide and should never be used to heat your home.

• Use fireplaces, wood stoves, or other combustion heaters only if they are properly vented to the outside and do not leak flue gas into the indoor air space.
• Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using space heaters and wood burning stoves.
• Ensure adequate ventilation if you must use a kerosene heater.
• Use only the type of fuel your heater is designed to use – don’t substitute.
• Do not place a space heater within three feet of anything that may catch on fire, such as drapes, furniture, or bedding, and never cover your space heater.
• Never place a space heater on top of furniture or near water.
• Never leave children or pets unattended near a space heater, fireplace or wood burning stove.

If you lose power, call your utility company. Con Edison can be reached at 1-800-75-CONED; NYS Electric and Gas can be reached at 1-800-572-1131 for electrical outages and 1-800- 572-1121 for gas.

For more information on cold weather safety, contact the Westchester County Department of Health at (914) 813-5000 or visit our website at www.westchestergov.com/health. You can also follow us on Twitter @wchealthdept or like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/wchealthdept.

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As of mid morning, the 4 inches of snow with mini drifts that fell over night was over, but the garbage had to go out . Temperature as of noon was 18 degrees with a 5 to 10 knot breeze and clear cold weather with dazzling sunshine was in control. High pressure was moving in, creating severe clear cold conditions. Ebersole Rink was scheduled to open for public session at 3 P.M.

Snow on New York’s Upper East Side created virtually impassable side streets. The scene on East 90th Street.

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WPCNR HEALTH NEWS. From the Business Council of Westchester. (Edited) January 1, 2014:

On the phasing in of the 2014 Affordable Health Care Act, the vast majority of responding Westchester companies responding to a Business Council of Westchester Survey,  report that they are already offering insurance to their employees.

However, just 4% of Westchester companies with less than 50 employees report that their company has already enrolled in the NY State of Health Exchange, and only 13% are planning to do so in 2014.

How is the NY State of Health Exchange website to navigate?

• Of the people who visited the NY State of Health Exchange website, about two-thirds claimed it was relatively easy to navigate the site, but most were not fully satisfied with the healthcare offerings.
• Of the people who visited the Federal Affordable Care Act website, just 15% responded that it was easy to extremely easy to navigate the site.
• More than 30% of the respondents had attended a free The BCW healthcare workshop, and nearly 7 out of 10 attendees found the workshops to be very informative and well-organized to extremely informative and well-organized.

The findings came from a section of a survey conducted by the Westchester Business Council Survey dealing with federal and state health care issues.