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 THE POWER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. July 16, 2007: Con Edison invested $1.4 Billion in the metropolitan area preparing for this summer’s energy demand and thanks to that investment, the utility was able to supply 12.5 Megawatts of electricity last Wednesday to the Metropolitan Area at the peak of last week’s 2-1/2 day heatwave. Westchester used 3,000 Megawatts of the total power output. A Con Edision attributed improved Westchester performance under heatwave demands to $700 Million of improvements in Westchester alone to infrastructure.

The heat moved in last Monday with temperatures hitting the low 90s rising to the mid 90s by Wednesday with high humidity. On Monday the 9^th, Con Ed delivered 12,135 megawatts in its metropolitan area, with 2,400 to 3,000 megawatts of that to Westchester County. On Tuesday the 10^th, Con Ed supplied 12,478 megawatts. The Tuesday juice level was some 600 megawatts short of the all-time record output of 13,141 megawatts produced last August 2.

The Reliability Factor

Asked the reason why Con Edison handled the first heat wave in stride, Chris Olert, Con Edison spokesman said “Reliability…we’re the most reliable utility in the nation.” He said that the heat wave was only two days in duration, and complimented the public’s cooperation by conserving as factors in the unwavering supply in the face of about as humid and hot as New York gets.

In Westchester County, Olert said the new reliability in the face of the demand was attributable, too to “investing 100s of millions of dollars in Westchester” to upgrade equipment, and aggressive tree trimming which prevented more outages due to storms on Wednesday that broke the heatwave.

Olert said that since last summer, Con Edision invested $700 million in Westchester County for new cable, new transformers, and monitoring equipment, and $400 Million for a new substation in Dunwoodie. Asked if the amount of equipment upgrading was an indication that Con Edison had allowed its Westchester infrastructure to become inadequate for the power demands, Olert denied that saying, “Not necessarily. This was the first test of the year and based on that , we’re going to do what we have to do to finetune it.” He said  the company evaluates their grid every year around September 1 and maps out maintenance and equipment upgrades.

Indian Point Supplies one third.

In light of renewed efforts of county officials to close Indian Point, WPCNR asked Olert how much Indian Point generated of the 3,000 megawatts supplied Westchester last week. Olert placed the Indian Point contribution at one-third.

Commenting on the possibility of Indian Point closure, Olert said “Any source of generation lost has to be met by an equal number of demand reduction or made up for in some way.” He noted that Indian Point generates far less emissions than possible alternate sources using fossil fuels. He said windmill power generation and solar power generation was not practical, pointing out that to replace the power generated by Indian Point by solar energy, you would have to have enough solar panels equal to 32 Central Parks.

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. July 13, 2007 UPDATED 5:16 PM EDT: City Chief Financial Officer, Gina Cuneo-Harwood, reported exclusively to WPCNR this morning that the city set a record for sales tax collections in the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

Harwood said the city collected $44,853,308 in sales tax, about $1.9 Million more than the projection of $43 Million. The city collected $10,729,188 in the final quarter of April, May and June to set the record.

Ms Harwood said the $1.9 Million would be used to offset the expected use of $7.6 Million in fund balance anticipated to be used in this fiscal year, 2007-2008.

At of the end of the third quarter, the city had collected $34 Million in sales taxes for 2006-2007.  The First Quarter clocked in at $10 Million; second quarter, 11.9 Million, and for the third, $12.1 Million, totalling $34 Million and change.  The city’s April-May-June “handle” of $10,729,188 Million closes the 2006-2007 “books”: at $44.8 Million plus

The best White Plains has ever done in a quarter was last December with $11.9 Million in the till, meaning the city may be turning the corner in their budget struggle. The final quarter finish is approximately $ 1.4 Million ahead of last year’s (2005-2006)  final quarter pace ($9.4 Million) a 15% increase in final stanza sales tax performance.

Increase Year to Year is 1.2% Ahead of New York Area inflation.

The total sales tax collection of $44.8 represents a 5.4% increase in the sales tax over the collection of $42.5 Million in 2005-2006 which did not have the benefit of Wal-Mart in the retail mix.

The State of New York calculates that the year to year inflation increase as of March 2007 from March 2006 was 3.8%, meaning that 3.8% of the 5% sales tax gain was inflation. The figure of 3.8% was what the city school budget was given by the state three months ago to compute their school contingency budget. The national year to year flation increase from May 2006 to May 2007 was 2.49%.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. July 12, 2007: A stateof-the-art high school football & track artificial turf facility seating 3,000 persons on the site of Glen D. Loucks Field at White Plains High School was promised to be ready in time for the staging of the 2008 Loucks Games at the high school at groundbreaking ceremony today at the high school. Parker Stadium at the Highlands Middle School was promised to be ready for kickoff for the annual White Plains-Stepinac Turkey Bowl this fall. The ceremony featured dignataries all who had a hand in convincing the community to approve a $66.7 Million bond for capital projects in the district last November. According to the School District the renovation of the two fields will cost $6.1 Million.

Community Leaders celebrate start of Loucks Field renovation: Left to right, Councilmen Glen Hockley, Benjamin Boykin, Harry Jefferson of the White Plains Athletic Committee, Mayor Joseph Delfino, who reminisced about his days playing on dirt on Ferris Avenue when he went to White Plains High School, Donna McLaughlin, Board of Education, Rose Marie Eller, Board of Education; Dan Woodward, who first conceived of the project to modernize the stadium,  and far right,  Dr. Anthony Morano of the Athletic Committee.

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WPCNR The Daily Bailey. News Comment By John F. Bailey. July 11, 2007: In the last seven days there have been three suicide attempts: two fatalities, one woman leaped off the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, another 40 year old man jumped off the roof of the Westchester Mall, and a teenager was pulled back from jumping off the Tappan Zee Bridge yesterday. 

There are a great number of resources available to the person who has gotten to the point where they feel they want to kill themselves in Westchester County.  The county operates a suicide hotline 24 hours a day, where you can talk to some one, that one last time to give you a tomorrow. That number is 914-347-6400. Write it down. And when the panic sets in call that number on your cellphone.

It is a Life Line, among the many services that exist to help persons who are driven to what drove those three persons in the last week to take their lives. Don’t feel guilty. They are the last person left for you and you need to give them and yourself a chance.

When this number is called, the person handling the call will try and determine what has the distraught person in distress and whether or not they are suicidal, according to Mary DeVivo, Coordinator of Community Education of the Department of County Mental Health. Ms. DeVivo said if the person appears to be in suicidal state of mind a Westchester County Crisis Team (of the Westchester County Medical Center) will be sent to them immediately, consisting of a psychiatrist, social worker and therapist to deal with their present anxiety, whether or not they need hospitalization immediately, for example, while attempting to set up an arrangement for future treatment of their sources of distress. DeVivo said questions of payment, aid and sources of potential treatment will be dealt with in the future in order that the person can be treated without increasing their anxiety or fear.

Ms. DeVivo told WPCNR that the County Department of  Mental Health website at www.westchestergov.commentalhealth maintains a series of resources, for persons undergoing stress in their life, or if they know of someone who is suffering from different sources  of depression, including post-partum depression and psychiatric disorders. The Psychiatric Emergency Number is 914-493-7075.

43,350 at risk of Depression

 The County Department of Mental Health estimates 43,350 persons will be effected by depression this year. The Department has formed a  Depression Support Network, which may be contacted at 914-995-5236 for advice and free referrals to help persons coping with depression brought about by death, a departure of a family member, job anxiety, or whatever may be causing that hopeless feeling. The Network can help a person decide if indeed they are suffering from depression.

Of course, the Mental Health website notes persons may be reluctant to ask for help, or admit they have a problem, for fear of embarrassing themselves. A national website www.suicide.com addresses this problem presenting arguments as to why if you’re feeling depressed or suicidal you should definitely call someone and share those feelings before taking your own life. There advice on why you should make the call is compelling. Please visit them.

The Suicide website maintains two hotlines operated nationwide by volunteers, state-by-state, the first is 1-800-273-TALK, and the second is 1-800-SUICIDE.

Suicide Rates down from twenty years ago.

According to Dr. Millard Hyland, the Westchester County Medical Examiner, suicides in Westchester County have declined in the county since he arrived in the 1980s in the Medical Examiner’s Office. Hyland told WPCNR today that the county averaged 80 suicides a year then, while averaging 55 to 60 a year in the first part of this decade. Dr. Hyland said the number of suicides for 2006 and 2007 have not been compiled yet. He said based on his analysis of the first six months of 2006, the suicide victims appear evenly divided among various age groups.

The suicides in 2003, 2004 and 2005, according to statistics provided by Dr. Hyland to WPCNR show
they are evenly divided among all age groups.

SUICIDES 2003, 2004, 2005

2005                       2004                  2003

By Age                  By Age               By Age

10-19 —-4                  4                       3

20-29 —-13               7                       8                      

 30-39—- 7               10                         9

40-49—-  9                16                      9

50-59—– 8                15                     8

60-69 —- 6                 4                      7

70-79 —-  6               2                       5

80+ ——   4               3                      5

TOTAL      57             61                 54  

Source, Westchester County Medical Examiner, 2007

A Story….

I knew one person at a young age who contemplated suicide in college. That person had dug himself into a very embarrassing position on an academic assignment, which if they did not complete it would prevent him from graduating college and cause them considerable grief with his parents and family.  He had five weeks before graduating and owed a 150-page paper he had not started to graduate.

He told me that he, in contemplating ending his life, considered that as soon as he did so, he would regret it. He had considered throwing himself in front of a train. There were no suicide hotlines in those days.

When he thougt hard about his end beside the New York Central Tracks in Central Ohio, waiting for the Express to Cleveland, which he loved to watch  he felt that as soon as he had thrown himself in front of the train he would want to get out of the way and it would hurt very much.  The person told me he resolved to be tough and write the paper in three weeks.

He did.

This did not seem worthwhile killing oneself over a term paper being due. However, the crises that drive a person – young or old — to contemplate suicide seem very overwhelming at the time. That person I spoke of did not feel he had anyone to talk to about it. Felt he could not talk to his parents about it, and did not want to disappoint them. He was able to work it out mentally for himself that he had to make a go of it, because he thought his death would hurt his parents more than his failing to graduate. He taught himself that looking at the railroad track that dark night 45 years ago.

Unfortunately not all can work through these crises themselves. No matter how old we are.

WPCNR seriously recommends reaching out to some of these hotlines if you know of someone you are worried about, and want advice on how you can help them.  Or if you are someone in trouble, please call one of these county hotlines, before the mental panic takes over.

A life is a terrible thing to take.  It is also a wonderful thing you should not throw away.

Many of us make mistakes, get into trouble, and feels at times there is no way out except to end life.

But that’s when you have reach out and pick up a phone and just talk and kill the panic, not someone else, and not yourself. It’s dispair that makes you fling yourself into oblivion, pull the trigger, slip the noose, overdose.

Make the call.

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WPCNR SCREEN GEMS. July 11, 2007: The City of White Plains went live worldwide with its new website Tuesday afternoon at a news conference where Mayor Joseph Delfino and Director of Economic Development  Melissa Lopez introduced a throng of media to the city’s new internet ambassador: www.cityofwhiteplains.com.

 Ms. Lopez said the new site now had a self-contained search engine which by the typing a single word like building, zoning, would whisk the internetter to the page for that department, eliminating one of the handicaps of the previous design. Lopez said that the city is planning to integrate the ability for residents to pay property taxes through the website, then parking fines (pending compatibility and integration of police and parking department computer systems, and eventually registration for Department of Recreation & Parks events. However, those convenience services are an unspecified number of months away.

 The city would not provide a daily updating of city hall and city news even in limited capusle form, the Mayor said due to limited staff,  telling this reporter the city already had a website that performed that service. (WPCNR thanks the Mayor for the compliment). Ms. Lopez said the city television show, Live and Local will be streamed on the website. The Mayor added that city meetings would be announced on the site.

The Mayor said massive documents such as the new Zoning Code and City Charter would now be available through the website, as well as a Community Calendar. Citizens can also e-mail comments to the city through the site.

Adrienne Harrison of PGMS, Melissa Lopez, Public Information Officer & Economic Development Coordinator with Mayor Joseph Delfino at yesterday’s news conference.

Melissa Lopez, taking the media through the site as Mayor Delfino observes. Ms. Lopez was credited by the Mayor for developing the concept for the site. Mayor Delfino said the site makeover was to provide more information for the public. His administration has been criticised for not keeping the public abreast of administration plans.

Ms. Lopez said the redesign came about when Adrienne Harrison, of White Plains, an employee of PGMS, a web design firm in Tarrytown, approached the city about the possibility of PGMS redesigning the site as a promotional vehicle for PGMS at no charge to the city. The Mayor emphasized the site was redesigned at no cost to the city taxpayer.