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.

Hits: 1230

THE NEVER FORGOTTEN FALLEN, FRESH IN MEMORY EVER, RECOGNIZED WITH FEELING, SORROW AND COMMITMENT TO THE PROMISE THEY DIED FOR.

WPCNR AS IT HAPPENED. May 30, 2022:

The Memorial Day Parade returned to White Plains Monday and the traditional Memorial Day  Ceremony at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Plot at White Plains Rural Ceremony returned after a two year absence due to Covid, Monday. Here is the most moving ceremony of the year motivated by a spirit of mutual caring and eternal respect.

Mayor Thomas Roach accompanied by the mother and sister of Kevin A. Cumin,  Specialist, Army, Iraq began the ceremony recognizing Mr. Cumin’s sacrifice when he was killed in action in 2004 in Iraq.

This story of this young White Plains citizen who died serving America was followed by readings of the names of 2021-22 Deceased Veterans as their names rang out living in memory in the beautiful sunlight.

New York State Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado addressed the respectful audience with a message that carried home the legacy of the veterans’ sacrifices that we the citizens of today are charged with carrying on the veterans’ commitment.

Mayor Roach introduced Grand Marshall and Speaker, Brandon C. Gerring, Captain Army National Guard who tied in the message of Memorial Day to respect of what they fought for and his own personal honor in serving them.

There was a fifth Placement of a new Wreath of Remembrance. In addition to wreaths placed by the City, the White Plains Police and Fire Fighters Home Defense Wreath, White Plains Historical Society, Daughters of American Revolution Wreath, a new wreath was placed by The Daughters of Liberty’s Legacy dedicated to the 13 service members killed in the Afghanistan Withdrawal.

Cynthia Kauffman, President of Daughters of Liberty’s Legacy read the poem In Flanders Fields  followed by the Patriotic Medley performed by the White Plains High School Band (below)

In the quiet reverence of the sun’s rays on the American flags by the graves of the immortal veterans, a Rifle Salute by the American Legion Post # 135 closed the  Ceremony followed by Taps  played by Peter Gasiewicz, Marine Infantry Veteran Bugles Across America.

Hits: 515

WPCNR COVID DAILY. By John F. Bailey. May 31, 2022:

The New York State Covid Tracker suspended posting daily covid positive test results for the previous days testing Saturday, Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day Weekend. It is unclear why since to this reporter’s observation they have not suspended reporting daily results in the 2 years I have been observing the daily county-by-county reports.

Hopefully the results will resume today indicating the conglomerate of new positives over Friday Saturday and Sunday and I can resume my daily Covid totals to keep you abreast of the state of covid spread, or decline. Without the daily numbers, diminished as they may be by the decline in daily testing, or not, the citizens do not have adequate awareness of the presence of the disease.

Through last Thursday, in the 5 days of last week so far reported, The week previously was the first time Westchester new covid cases had decreased in 8 weeks.

In her packaged formatted Covid briefing last week, Governor Kathy Hochul said the statewide 7-Day average case rate was the lowest since May 5th–9 days of consecutive decline cases continue, she said to trend down across all regions the previous week. This was very hopeful. But, hospitalizations for covid in Westchester were up to 110 a week ago.

I suggest that the way the state reports daily infections by region in 100,000 population segments as hope-fulfilling it may be is misleading and presents a more positive upbeat analysis of the covid infections that seduce the casual observer who does not know an individual county or region total population to divide by 100,000 increments to get the single digit number to multiply the daily positives to figure the total volume of cases.

The Mid-Hudson Region in one grid had 44 cases a day per 100,000 last Wednesday, the 25th. Mid-Hudson has a total population of 2.4 Million . Divide that by 100,000 and you get 24 increments of 100,000, and multiply 24 times 44 daily cases for the region on one day and you get 1,056 cases across the 7 counties of Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Ulster, Sullivan and Putnam Counties–of which Westchester had 517 new positives that day May 25, less than 6 days ago. See what I mean? It is a lot easier to say, “Oh…44 a day that’s low.” But, but, it is not low it means 1,056 cases.

Subtract Westchester 517, you get 539 for the other 6 counties which is 90 new infections average per county per day. the 100,000 moving day average is making a high figure look smaller.

In Westchester County through the 5 days of last week so far reported, given the weekend absence of daily reports to close out the week, Westchester lead the 7 counties in the Mid-Hudson with 440 new cases a day since April 4 when only lab-certified positives would be counted in reporting new cases.

Hopefully this is not a permanent disappearance of daily tracker reports. The daily count should not have been stopped.

Since April 4, the testing universes of Westchester have dropped since only lab-certified results are being recorded as new cases.

With the lower testing, since May 8, Westchester positives per day average 10% of those tested Last week the average through 5 days was still 10%.

That 10% percentage of positives has to come down otherwise Westchester will continue to produce a steady 3,000 new covid infections a week.

Infections of covid rise sharply on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays when people after a weekend begin to feel possible infection symptoms. This has been a pattern over the last 3 weeks. Through Wednesday, May 25, Westchester had hit 2,280 new positives for last week, if the 440 per day new infections continued Friday and Saturday, Westchester we would have had 3, 160 for last week, a decrease from 3,550 the second straight week infections were lowered.

At this point, in the absence of the New York Covid Tracker figures on positives for the last three days, I provide this timely observance by Katelyn Jetelina , “Your Local Epidemologist” analyzing in lucid fashion the latest information on national and local covid trends.

COVID State of Affairs: May 31 Katelyn Jetelina May 31 The global average of reported cases and deaths continue to decline across the world. There are a few exceptions, most notably in Taiwan, Portugal, Australia, and the United States. It’s not entirely clear if we can continue to judge the global situation by comparing per capita case rates across countries. Many countries are winding down systematic testing efforts and enormous country-to-country variability exists regarding at-home antigen testing, like availability, usage, and official reporting. The true story will soon (if not already) be inaccurately reflected in the case graphs that we’ve become so accustomed to following. In South Africa, the BA.4/5 wave is receding quickly. Deaths continue to increase 19%, but as the Financial Times figure shows below, each successive wave since Beta is less severe. While this is great news, it’s reported that there is even less urgency than before to get vaccinated. Given that only 31% of the population has the primary series, a big challenge lies ahead for public health officials. Many eyes are on Portugal as BA.5 takes hold. Like South Africa, Portugal preceded their BA.4/5 wave with a huge BA.1 wave. So far, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all increasing and, in fact, are much higher than in South Africa. This only solidifies that a variant’s impact in one country will not necessarily be the same in another due to variability in demographics, environment, behaviors, and immunity. United States The “battle of Omicron” is currently taking place in the U.S. After our first massive BA.1 wave, BA.2 tried to take hold only to be overtaken by BA.2.12.1. Now, BA.4 and BA.5 are gaining traction very quickly and seem to be easily outcompeting the rest. Given recent lab studies, though, this isn’t a surprise. BA.4/5 are particularly good at escaping antibodies and reinfecting people previously infected with Omicron, as well as boosted individuals. Once BA.4/5 account for the majority of cases in the U.S., we should expect another (or extended) case surge. (It’s not entirely clear why BA.4/5 have not shown up on CDC’s variant tracker yet.)(Trevor Bedford Twitter Here) Currently, we (The United States) are in a massive case surge. We are averaging 110,000 cases per day, but we know cases are vastly underreported. Using my back-of-the-napkin calculations, the true wave looks something like the graph below. These rough calculations were confirmed more eloquently in a recent pre-print in which scientists estimated the true case counts in New York City from April to May 2022. They found true case counts were 31 times higher than the official reported numbers.While it looks like we may have peaked recently, this could be simply a reflection of the holiday weekend. We will need a few days to see if and how case reporting stabilizes. Regionally, cases are stabilizing in the Northeast, but new hot spots have taken hold in the West and mid-Atlantic. South Carolina is the acceleration leader (+113%) followed by Montana (+110%), Arizona (+109%), New Mexico (+106%), and Alabama (+97%). The changing hotspot dynamic is reflected in national wastewater trends below. Regional wastewater trends, past 6 weeks (panel 1) and entire pandemic (panel 2). Purple= Midwest; Orange= Northeast; Pink=South; Green=West. Source: Biobot Analytics Hospitalizations are certainly increasing and continue to lag case trends, but remain below all previous peaks. Nationwide, 26,804 people are hospitalized, and among these, 11% are in the ICU. (This is compared to the Omicron peak, in which 17% of reported cases were in the ICU.) Deaths have increased 22% in the past two weeks, which means 368 people are dying each day. With regard to vaccine effectiveness, a strange pattern is starting to emerge—one that we may see more and more often: case rates among the boosted are higher than case rates among the vaccinated but not boosted. This is clearly displayed on the CDC website below. Don’t be surprised if boosted cases even pass the rate of unvaccinated cases soon. (CDC)This is not because boosters increase the risk of infection. Instead, several other factors are coming into play: More at home antigen testing. We don’t have a good sense, at all, about at-home testing behaviors and subsequent biases. For example, those with a booster may be more likely get a PCR than those without a booster; Unvaccinated and not boosted people were more likely to get infected during the Omicron wave, so they may be more protected against infection than the boosted right now;We know vaccine protection against infection wanes over time, and the majority of Americans were boosted more than 6 months ago now; and,Boosted people may be getting more and more comfortable letting their guard down, while other groups may have passed this stage long ago. As a result, the boosted group may truly be getting infected more now than before. Regardless of the reason, vaccines continue to protect swimmingly well against severe disease and death. For example, unvaccinated people had 17 times higher risk of dying in March and April 2022 compared to vaccinated people.(CDC) Bottom line We are in the middle of our second largest case surge and our fifth largest hospitalization surge. If you don’t want to get sick and/or want to protect those around you, wear a good mask. If you do get sick, even the sniffles, test yourself. Trust the positive test; if you’re negative, retest in 24-48 hours. If you’re high risk, please consider getting a prescription of Paxlovid (find a test-to-treat place near you here or call your physician). Stay healthy out there and break those transmission chains. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is written by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, biostatistician, wife, and mom of two little girls. During the day she works at a nonpartisan health policy think tank, and at night she writes this newsletter. Her main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, please subscribe here:

Hits: 507

WPCNR STARS AND STRIPES. Contributed by Carlo Albanese. Originally published  by WPCNR May 30, 2011:

Editor’s Note: Memorial Day weekend is almost always distinguished by melancholy weather conditions, weather reflects the tenor of the occasion. Carl Albanese of White Plains wrote this for WPCNR 11 years ago. I publish it again with respect.)

Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” — General Logan – May 5, 1868

We need to remember with sincere respect those who paid the price for our freedoms; we need to keep in sacred remembrance those who died serving their country. We need to never let them be forgotten. However, over the years the original meaning and spirit of Memorial Day has faded from the public consciousness.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day.

There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead” (Source: Duke University’s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920).

While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868.

It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.

The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

Hits: 5

WILLIAM O’SHAUGHNESSY INTERVIEWING WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE GEORGE LATIMER AT HIS ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARTY ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY DURING HIS TRADITIONAL LIVE BROADCAST ON MARCH 17 5 WEEKS AGO –AN ANNUAL EVENT WHERE HE INTERVIEWED WESTCHESTER PERSONALITIES, FRIENDS, THE FAMOUS, EVERY YEAR WITH CORNBEEF AND CABBAGE AND UNFORGETTABLE ADLIB INTERVIEWS. HE WAS GOOD.

WPCNR MILESTONES. By John F. Bailey. May 28, 2022:

You had to listen to him when you heard his voice.

William O’Shaughnessy.

He commanded your attention like the greats, Murrow, Sevareid, Cronkite.

He had a smooth medium pitched delivery without excessive gravitas, that talked not at you but with you, as if he was talking with you in a conversation with a persuasion through reason that was Socratic in sequence. Interviewing Socrates will probably be first on his list on the Heavenly News Network.

He was the Voice of Reason when he delivered smooth, clear-cut reasoned, splendid essays and opinions on his own radio station.

An announcement that a William O’Shaughnessy editorial was coming up next commanded your attention like a bulletin.

You would not miss it.

His opinions were heard on Radio 1460 WVOX RADIO when Westchester County was turning into “The Golden Apple,” the sobriquet “Mr. O.” coined to uplift the county image and his radio station. He observed commented and convinced with his unique voice.

You heard his voice on WVOX Radio for 50 years since he had acquired the station in the late 1950s.

He invented a radio format of programs of local experts, professionals, politicians, lawyers who talked about local issues, problems, who interviewed persons on their shows and took telephone calls from Westchester residents who expressed concerns. That format is still operating today 7 days a week, 24/7 with relevant local talk shows during the broadcast day and music through the night.

While I believe all commercial radio stations in the tri-state area generally use syndicated programs now specializing in national issues, WVOX is a throwback to radio stations that were “your friend” your companion, which gave you local news, and locally known personalities–who cared. Those days are gone.

Mr. O’Shaughnessy promoted his station as not a jukebox, but a Voice of the People (Vox Populi).

I was invited to do a news segment on WVOX’s Good Morning Westchester 8 years ago. It was only 10 minutes, but I was honored because I have always loved radio. I had been doing the slot, and one morning after I was hanging around after the broadcast on the program. Mr. O’Shaughnessy came into the studio. He shook my hand and told me You’re good. You are very good.”

It was a highlight of my life I will always remember.

Mr. O’Shaughnessy liked people and it showed in his interviews with them. He is the best interviewer I have ever listened to.

He was perhaps Westchester County’s best known person who got along with the rich, the powerful, the activist, the business tycoon, and in his criticisms and opinions and interactions he never hurt and always even if he did not know you, he had the instinct for asking the question that you the listener wanted to ask. He mastered the adlib interview and interviews with persons he knew personally and when he did his marathon St. Patrick’s Day broadcasts, they were fascinating how he drew out persons with exactly the subject that excited them, and the listener would get excited too.

He wrote books that chronicle the history of Westchester the last 70 years: Airwaves, It All Comes Back to Me Now, More Riffs, Rants and Raves, Vox Populi, and Mario Cuomo. They are collections of editorials, essays and interviews he originally voiced on the air.

For 50 years, WVOX has reflected what is happening in Westchester and its towns and cities and it still did this week.

Mr. O’Shaughnessy never changed his philosophy and in More Riffs, Rants and Raves he has this wisdom to share as he leaves, but through his writings. And hopefully the immortal WVOX Radio Westchester will always have.

Here is Mr. O’Shaughnessy’s philosophy:

“Even in this high-tech, speeded-up, cyber day and age, radio is still the medium closest to the people.

It thus has a very special and intimate relationship with the poor, the lonely, the hurting, the misunderstood, the disenfranchised in our society.

A radio station achieves its highest calling when it resembles a platform, a forum for the expression of many viewpoints. And when it aspires to be more than a jukebox, radio can make a community stronger, better, even sweeter than it is.”

William O’Shaughnessy did that.

Services at Lloyd Maxcy, 16 Shea Place, New Rochelle, NY. Tuesday, May 31^st from 3:00- 7:00PM. Funeral Mass on Wednesday, June 1^st, 11:30 AM at St. Anthony of Padua, 49 South Street, Litchfield, CT, Monsignor Tucker, presiding.

Bill and the O’Shaughnessy Family will be grateful for contributions to the Broadcasters Foundation of America, a national charity whose work and Noble Mission meant so much to WO and those hurting and almost forgotten colleagues in the broadcasting profession: The William O’Shaughnessy Memoriatiml Tribute Fund c/o Broadcasters Foundation of America, 125 West 55^th Street, New York, NY 10019 c/o Tim McCarthy and Jim Thompson, co-presidents, 212-373-8250. http://broadcastersfoundation.org/donate/

Hits: 245

WWW.WPCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG. ANY TIME