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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From The Westchester County Department of Communications. August 15, 2019:

County Executive George Latimer and Ron Tocci (right) join veterans at Community Outreach Program kickoff event. (Photo, Westchester Department of Communications)

On Wednesday, Legislator Kitley Covill (D –  Bedford, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Somers), County Executive George Latimer and the County Veterans Service Agency welcomed veterans and family members to Westchester’s first Community Outreach Day, held at the Mount Kisco American Legion.

In the coming months, the County will hold additional such days as it continues its efforts to provide opportunities to veterans, in addition to the ongoing services available at the Veterans Service Agency’s main office in White Plains. 

These events not only celebrate our veterans, but also offer meaningful assistance.  Veterans, or a spouse or caretaker for a veteran, can learn what services and resources are available, and take advantage of County and VA personnel who are on site to facilitate applying for and getting the benefits that have been earned.

For veterans unable to attend these events due to a disability, Legislator Covill has worked with the Bedford Veterans Advisory Committee to reach veterans in need of assistance with their benefit applications. 

In a new initiative, annual letters are being sent to veterans who are long-term Medicaid  recipients, letting them know that if they are having difficulty accessing their VA benefits, accredited representatives will fight for them — helping them understand their options, expediting applications and filing appeals.  This new initiative will help the County in supporting our veterans. 

Examples of benefits veterans may be eligible for include: healthcare counseling, including mental health; employment assistance; disability compensation for veterans disabled by injury or disease incurred by or aggravated during military service; and additional pension support for permanently disabled or low-income veterans.

Legislator Covill said, “The veterans in Westchester County served on our behalf, and it is important for us to have resources available in District 2 to help them obtain the benefits they earned. The staff present on Wednesday know how the systems at the VA work and can navigate the application process, helping our veterans efficiently and on the spot.  In addition, this letter campaign will help us to better assist those of our veterans who are unable to attend events such as this. I look forward to meeting our veterans at the event.” 

David Zapsky, Chair of the Bedford Veterans Advisory Committe, said, “As Chair of the Bedford Veterans Advisory Committee, I want to thank Westchester County for its outreach efforts. Veterans who served our country have earned benefits, but sometimes, either through process frustrations or unawareness, do not receive those benefits. One of our members, Mark Sindeband, worked tirelessly with other veterans and County Legislator Covill to renew efforts and give all veterans an opportunity to obtain VA benefits in an efficient manner with the professional help available at the Westchester County Veterans Service Agency.”

County Executive George Latimer said, “In Westchester County, many veterans are eligible for services they may not even know exist. While veterans are always welcome to the main office in White Plains, we know that logistically this may not always be possible. That is why our Veterans Service Agency is committed to going out into the community to meet vets where they are.”

WPCNR MILESTONES August 13, 2019:

Last night, the call went out. The call for the last combo.

Angelo Magnotta picked it up with his trademark “Magnotta”s and I said, “This is Bailey here.”

“Hi John what can I do for you.”

” I’d like a large pizza, two slices plain, 2 slices mushrooms, two slices pepperoni and two slices, sausage, onions and peppers.”

Though in the old days (when Brenda Starr was not a vegannette), I’d order the CitizeNetReporter special “Sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers and onions,” the “New York Philharmonic of pizza” where every piece was elegantly cooked, not overdone, the onions succulent, the pepperoni not blasted or burned, and just right and played their parts perfectly to the mouth’s audience.

And Angelo answers as always, “You got it, John 10 Minutes.” Magnotta’s is that place everyone knows your flavor, and your name.

So I vaulted to the CitizeNetReporter Red Rider I went to pick up the last combo I’ll get from the Maestro Angelo Magnotta, conductor of the ultimate pizza concerto.

The combo in a hurry.

Hot and piping, perfectly separated by Angelos signature clean cut with an authority Roll-o-Chop, and not one unspecified ingredient out of place on a piece where it is not supposed to be! You could get it delivered or pick it up.

The cardboard carrier is secure, the pizza beneath just the right fit, with no curl-up edges or melt on the inside top of the carton. On the way back in the dispatch car, the aroma of the sizzling ingredients simmering for you to anticipate taste buds’ delight.

It became a tradition in our family on Friday nights. A tradition that waned in the days after the children left home. But Monday evening we made it a must to have the children back for one last combo. I opened it to the glory within:

Good God almight which way do I steer? Brenda Starr lifted out the pieces one by one, impressed by the master conductor’s touch! Each piece lifted out clean and structurally secure. The combo pieces high piled with just the right even layers not top heavy and descending luxuriously into the mozarella, mushrooms thinly sliced vying for your attention (“Eat me! Eat me!). Peppers mingling with the peppers like a party you’re late to and you’re in a hurry to mingle and score. My God.

Angelo is retiring this week after 47 years of service to the pizza aficianados of White Plains and he and the whole Magnotta’s atmosphere will be missed. Fred the Postman, who always was there on Friday’s when I picked. Angelo’s wife and then his own son. And Angelo would greet you and say “Hi John, How are you? What’s happening?”

You should stop on by tonight and pick up you own last combo.