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 WATER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. August 10, 1013:

Earlier this week, David Simms, spokesperson for the Westchester County Department of Communications, told  WPCNR  the lawsuit filed in Federal Court in White Plains by the U.S. Attorney’s Office  alleging the county of violating the was “ a complete surprise to the county,” and that White Plains and Scarsdale drinking water is safe because the EPA has never cited the water as being unsafe to drink (as a result of the ultraviolet testing failure to comply as of yet).

Simms added that the county had told the EPA they would be unable to meet the deadline of putting ultraviolet treatment into effect because the cost of running a line to the Mount Pleasant reservoir to bring White Plains and Scarsdale ultraviolet-treated water was approximately $100 Million and the county was seeking a less expensive solution. Simms said the county never heard back from the EPA.

Herbert Hadad, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told WPCNR  the law suit filed Tuesday   being a surprise  was not exactly true.

Hadad said the U.S. Attorney’s office had been in  discussions with the county on issues concerning the county’s being charged with violating the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The exact charge in the suit accuses the county that  “Westchester, through its Water District No. 1, has failed  to comply with an SDWA rule that requires municipal drinking water suppliers to treat all unfiltered surface water for Cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite. Cryptosporidium can cause cryptosporidiosis, a potentially fatal gastrointestinal illness in humans with symptoms that include diarrhea, nausea and abdominal cramps. There is no known treatment for cryptosporidiosis, and symptoms may persist for two weeks  or longer in otherwise healthy adults and can be life-threatening for more vulnerable individuals.”

Simms, confronted with this comment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, acknowledged that in December of 2012, eight months ago, the county was presented with a consent order by the Department of Justice that the County was asked to sign admitting they had failed to comply with the ultraviolet light treatment directive and had missed the deadline for compliance. Simms told WPCNR, the county refused to sign the consent order because the county attorneys objected to the county being described as a purveyor of  water, which is actually purchased from New York City, or a supplier, or seller of water.

Simms acknowledged that negotiations over what he described as  legal definitions and “standing”. Simms said the county also did not want to sign a consent order acknowledging non-compliance and opening itself up to massive fines, over

Last month, Simms said Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett went to the Environmental Protection Agency and explained the $5 Million solution the county has devised to run a spur line from the Kensico Dam Delaware Acqueduct to White Plains and Scarsdale to bring the county into compliance.

Simms said at that time Mr. Plunkett asked the EPA for an extension to implement the $5 Million plan, which Plunkett explained in detail. Simms told WPCNR the plan, if the County Board of Legislators passed the funding request (which Simms said the County Board has had since April), could be completed by next summer.

Simms said the EPA did not react one way or another to Plunkett’s request  for an extension. The county, Simms said had already made fixes to Yonkers and Mount Vernon the other two  communities in District 1.

The next thing that happened was the filing of the law suit August 7.

WPCNR asked Environmental   Protection Agency spokesman, John Martin why the EPA would not grant an extension for the county to implement the treatment, and why since the county has devised a solution, would it not withdraw its lawsuit, and set up a timetable for the compliance. Mr. Martin said the EPA would not comment because the suit is a Justice Department matter.

He referred me to Herbert Hadad, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  I asked Hadad if once a U.S. Suit was brought, whether it had to be decided by a Judge who manufactures a settlement , and brought to a conclusion, or whether the originating plaintiff could asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to drop the suit, or settle the suit by setting up a terms of compliance.

I also asked him if the EPA and the Justice Department would declare the White Plains water and Scarsdale water “safe” to drink  at this time.

Haddad said,  “The Office declines to comment.”

The suit has to be responded to by the county within 21 days (approximately August 28).

Simms said the county would be seeking a dismissal bec;ause the county feels it has no “standing” in the matter; is not a seller of water; and does not own the water, and would argue the suit “has no merit.”

Fines if imposed, on the county from April 2012, if the “fix” was completed by summer, 2014, would amount to 790 days which would equal $30 Million. (at $37.50 a day), still about $70 Million less expensive than the original running of pipe to Mt. Pleasnt solution,

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Sylvia Muccio
of Team Image. At the Synchronized Skating Championships, 2008 when she coached Team Image to 4th Place in the Intermediate National Championship. In 2009, Her team won the National Intermediate Championship
1958-2013

Sylvia J. Muccio, of Tarrytown, passed away with her family by her side on Wednesday August 7th, after a long battle with cancer.  She was 55 years old.

Sylvia was born on July 14,  1958 in Chicago to her beloved parents Eugene and Patricia (nee Zbikowski) Taglialavore. She arrived in New York in 1983 from Chicago and changed the skating community as we know it.

She introduced Synchronized Skating to the New York Metro Area.  She began her coaching career at the E.J. Murrays Skating Center, Yonkers, New York, where she collaborated with others to create elaborate skating shows which then began the introduction of the art of Synchronized Skating to young skaters and founded Team Image Synchronized Skating in 1987.

Sylvia is survived by her loving husband, Stephen M. Muccio, of 29 years, her children, Anthony and Nicole.  She is also survived by her beloved parents and siblings, Antoni &  Joseph Taglialavore and  her sister Stella Carmasine, as well as her 5 nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Sylvia J. Muccio Scholarship Fund to be established.

Funeral Mass Saturday 10 AM at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Elmsford, NY with cremation to follow at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale. The family will be present on Friday from 2-4 & 7-9 PM at F. Ruggiero & Sons, Inc.-732 Yonkers Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10704 (914)-375-1400 www.ruggieroandsonsfh.com

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From the New York State Education Department. August 7, 2013:

State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr. today released the results of the April 2013 grades 3-8 math and English Language Arts (ELA) assessments.

This year’s state assessments are the first for New York students to measure the Common Core Learning Standards that were adopted by the State Board of Regents in 2010.  King said that, as expected, the percentage of students deemed proficient is significantly lower than in 2011-12.

This change in scores – which will effectively create a new baseline of student learning – is largely the result of the shift in the assessments to measure the Common Core Standards, which more accurately reflect students’ progress toward college and career readiness.

King emphasized that the results do not reflect a decrease in performance for schools or students.  The new assessments are a better, more accurate tool for educators, students, and parents as they work together to address the rigorous demands of the Common Core and college and career readiness in the 21st century.

“The world has changed, the economy has changed, and what our students need to know has changed,” Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said.  “These scores reflect a new baseline and a new beginning. We have just finished the first year of a dramatic shift in teaching and learning.  Teachers, principals, superintendents and school boards have worked extraordinarily hard to implement the Common Core.  With the right tools, the right training, and continuous feedback and support, our teachers –the best teaching force in the country — will make sure all our students are prepared for college and career success in the 21st century.

“Our students face very real challenges.  But it’s better to have our students challenged now – when teachers and parents are there to help – than frustrated later when they start college or try to find a job and discover they are unprepared.”

“These proficiency scores do not reflect a drop in performance, but rather a raising of standards to reflect college and career readiness in the 21st century,” King said.  “I understand these scores are sobering for parents, teachers, and principals. It’s frustrating to see our children struggle.  But we can’t allow ourselves to be paralyzed by frustration; we must be energized by this opportunity.  The results we’ve announced today are not a critique of past efforts; they’re a new starting point on a roadmap to future success.

“We all share the same goal: to make sure all students in New York have the skills and knowledge to be successful in college and careers.  With the Common Core, we’re building a ladder toward that goal; the assessment scores are a measure of where our students are on that ladder and give us a clearer, more accurate picture of the climb ahead.”

King said these new results are consistent with other indicators of the college and career readiness of New York State students including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), New York State student performance on the SAT and PSAT, and college and career ready scores on New York State’s high school Regents exams.

King noted that the scores will not negatively impact district, school, principal, or teacher accountability. 

No new districts will be identified as Focus Districts and no new schools will be identified as Priority schools based on 2012-13 assessment results.  The student growth scores used in teacher and principal evaluation result in similar proportions of educators earning each rating category (Highly Effective, etc) for student growth in 2012-13 as 2011-12.  The State provided growth scores to be used in teacher and principal evaluations are based on year-to-year comparisons for similar students.

Earlier this month, King sent a memo to school district superintendents, urging them to recognize that this is the first year of the new assessments and recommending judicious and thoughtful use of each measure of the State’s multiple measures evaluation system.

2017 the Target for Meeting the Standard

In addition, the Department is providing guidance for districts to ensure that students are not negatively impacted by the new proficiency rates.  The first cohort of students required to pass Common Core-aligned Regents exams for high school graduation will be the class of 2017.    The Board of Regents has asked the Department to adjust its guidance on Academic Intervention Services (AIS) as well.

The “cut” scores used to rate students’ proficiency level on a scale of 1-4 were set by a panel of 95 teachers, principals and other educators from around the state at a five-day conference in June.

Tisch and King both expressed concern that the learning gap for low income students, African-American and Hispanic students, and English Language Learners remains unacceptable.

Summary of Statewide 3-8 Exam Results:

• 31.1% of grade 3-8 students across the State met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 31% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• The ELA proficiency results for race/ethnicity groups across grades 3-8 reveal the persistence of the achievement gap: only 16.1% of African-American students and 17.7% of Hispanic students met or exceeded the proficiency standard
• 3.2% of English Language Learners (ELLs) in grades 3-8 met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 9.8% of ELLs met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• 5% of students with disabilities met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 7% of students with disabilities met or exceeded the math proficiency standard

Across the Big 5 city school districts, a smaller percentage of students met or exceeded the ELA and math proficiency standards than in the rest of the state:

• In Buffalo, 11.5% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 9.6% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• In Yonkers, 16.4% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 14.5% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• In New York City, 26.4% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 29.6% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• In Rochester, 5.4% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 5% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard
• In Syracuse, 8.7% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 6.9% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard

A summary of the test results, as well as individual school and district results, are available at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20130807/home.html.

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WPCNR MILESTONES. August 6, 2013:

Sixty-seven years ago, the Enola Gay, a single American bomber dropped an Atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The terrible effects of that single bomb are a horror that has never been repeated

A second bomber, Bock’s Car on August 9, dropped a similar bomb on Nagasaki. Unknown thousands of Japanese citizens’ lives were vaporized, burned,  and maimed and two cities leveled to the ground in an instant in both bombings.

To grasp what one atomic bomb did to Nagasaki. Readers may see the photographs Japanese photographer Yosuki Yamato took of the aftermath of Nagasaki the day it happened at http://www.exploratorium.edu/nagasaki/photos.html#journey/63.jpg

The decision to drop the bombs was made after the United States, Great Britain and the Republic of China demanded Japan  surrender in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26 or face  “prompt and utter destruction”. The Japanese government did not.

The United States deployed two nuclear weapons  dropping one on Hiroshimi today, 68 years ago and one on Nagasaki on August 9.

Over four months the bombs resulted in the deaths of   90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, half dying the day the bombs fell.

The Hiroshima prefecture health department estimated that, of the people who died on the day of the explosion, 60% died from flash or flame burns, 30% from falling debris and 10% from other causes. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness. In a US estimate of the total immediate and short term cause of death, 15–20% died from radiation sickness, 20–30% from burns, and 50–60% from other injuries, compounded by illness. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizeable garrison.

The horror of those two bombings and the aftermath, the injuries have created  an effort and reluctance on the part of nuclear-armed powers to avoid any nuclear attacks since that date.

Within a few days of those bombings, Japan surrendered unconditionally, officially ending World War II.

The decision to use the bombs by the United States has long been debated. A dialogue on what the bombs did, why the decision was made was collected in 1995, the fiftieth year since the bombings. It is available at http://www.exploratorium.edu/nagasaki/commentary/decision.html

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL-CHRONICLE EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey  August 5, 2013 UPDATED AUGUST 6, 2013:

Unless a law firm and traffic engineering firm can complete their analysis of the French American School of New York consolidated campus plan for the defunct Ridgeway Country  Club property with weeks, it appears the Common Council will not make a decision on the FASNY project, or even take up the FASNY proposal for the Gedney Farms neightbor property until after the November city elections.

At the Common Council monthly meeting Monday evening, the council voted to extend the contracts the city has with Silverberg Zalantis and TRC Engineering to continue to review the project this fiscal year.

The contract with Silverberg Zalantis  is being being  extended to a maximum cost of $85,000 for the purpose of reviewing the FASNY Draft and Final Environmental Impact statements.

The Council will also extended the contract of  TRC Engineers, Inc., to continue to review traffic and transportation, noise and air quality issues that may be raised by the Final Environmental Impact Statement the school presented last April. TRC Engineer extended contract will be to a maximum of $90,000.

The French American School will pay the cost of both contracts.

Silverberg and Zalantis is the law firm that devised the proposed Recreation District Ordinance restricting setbacks on recreation properties (Westchester Hills Country Club, the Ridgeway property, Fenway Golf Club and areas adjacent the Hutchison River Parkway) in the city last year. The Recreation Ordinance has not been reintroduced after the draft ordinance was presented last fall. There has been no comment from the city whether or not a revised such ordinance will be reintroduced,  just that it was being “tweaked.” That recreation ordinance received strong objections from Westchester Hills Country Club which threatened to take the city to  court over the ordinance because the club felt it compromised the future value of their property.