THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

Eliot Spitzer’s Albany: The First Step Forward– March Report

Posted on April 3, 2007 by John Bailey

WPCNR’S ELIOT SPITZER’S ALBANY. By Governor Eliot Spitzer. April 3, 2007: This weekend, the New York legislature passed a budget that achieves the goals we have all strived toward: health care funding to give all children in New York State health insurance; aid for the schools that most desperately need it; relief from the high property taxes that are burdening working families; and resources to help our communities continue to grow and prosper. While the battle was not won easily, it produced many great outcomes for the people of this state. Many newspapers across the state have been supportive, but most notable are today’s editorial pages of The New York Times and New York Daily News.

Both recognize that one of my top priorities as governor has been to expand health coverage for New Yorkers, while establishing smart financial practices that will ensure our health care system’s stability in years to come. The enacted budget expands the current Child Health Plus program to cover 400,000 uninsured children, growth the Times explains “expands health insurance in ways that could make New York a leader in the nation.” The budget also makes sure that Medicaid dollars follow Medicaid patients, while fulfilling my commitment to bring the growth in Medicaid costs under control.

The budget also provides an historic level of investment in our schools–an increase of $7 billion in education aid, hailed as an “education bonanza” by the Daily News. The new funding will be targeted to districts most in need, with all districts receiving an increase of at least 3 percent. This aid will be tied closely to accountability: school districts will have to show that the funds they receive are producing measurable improvements in the learning environments of students. Special attention and funding will be given to preschool and prekindergarten, and the cap on charter schools will be raised. I know that our parents, teachers and students will rise to the challenges set before them, and make the most of this historic investment.

We have also made great strides in easing the tax burden on the families of New York State, while providing funding for growth in our state’s hardest-hit communities. The budget provides $1.3 billion in property tax relief targeted toward middle-class homeowners, and is only the first phase of a three-year plan to provide over $5 billion in tax relief to New York’s families. Also, a greater number of distressed cities, towns, and villages will receive increases in aid to drive economic development or investments in technology. Businesses of all sizes will also be helped by substantial targeted tax relief, benefiting thousands of companies across industries throughout New York State. These changes will spur development, help our small businesses, and once again make New York a great place to live and work.

What we have accomplished here in New York–and that we’ve accomplished on time–is no small feat. Nothing we have done would have been possible without the empowerment of the people of our great state.

Bradley — Budget Fails Westchester County Students.

Posted on April 3, 2007 by John Bailey

WPCNR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. By New York State Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley, 89th A.D. April 3, 2007:Overall, the Legislature passed a budget that provided meaningful tax relief, restored funding to our hospitals and nursing homes and increased the Aid to Municipalities. While I am pleased that the White Plains City School District received an almost 15 percent increase in state aid, I am extremely disappointed that the new education formula failed to deliver adequate state funding to most Westchester schools.

Despite the tremendous advocacy efforts of me and my Westchester colleagues in the Assembly, the education budget was passed with the entire Westchester Assembly delegation voting NO. Westchester was shortchanged when it came to education funding and the last minute deal to provide more funds for select suburban districts that lost out under the new formula actually cheated our schools.

The new funding formula was meant to address the decade old CFE decision to provide high-needs schoolchildren with a sound, basic education. In the process though, Westchester was left with less than its fair share. During the past few months of budget negotiations, I fought for revisions to the formula to accurately reflect the high cost-of-living in Westchester. Under the governor’s proposal and accepted by the Legislature, Westchester was grouped into the Hudson Valley Regional Cost Index instead of the New York City/Long Island Index. This was the wrong classification for Westchester and it negatively impacted the amount of school aid we received.

Then there was a fund created that was supposed to help counties that saw less than expected school aid numbers but had contributed substantial income taxes to the state and were burdened by high property taxes, such as Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties. This supplemental aid, known as “high tax aid” was to be given out based on the high tax climate of each county. This is where politics came into play and Westchester was substantially shortchanged. According to a recent study by the Tax Foundation, Westchester pays the highest property taxes in the state[1]. However, it was Nassau and Suffolk Counties that received between $30 and $40 million each while Westchester only got $1.16 million! The only explanation I can find is that politics, not the actual needs of our schools, trumped. Especially when you look at what other counties received from this new fund:

Suffolk County	——-	$39.5 million
Nassau County	——-	$31 million
Orange County	——-	$10 million
Ulster County	——-	$4 million
Delaware County	——-	$1.4 million
Green County	——-	$1.2 million
Westchester County	——-	$1.16 million

The bottom line is that the state recognized that Westchester and a few other counties were at the losing end of the revamped school aid formula. In an attempt to be fair, what should have been an equitable distribution of state funds ended up as a political distribution and it is Westchester taxpayers, and schoolchildren, that lost. I have requested, along with some of my Westchester Assembly colleagues, a meeting with the governor so we can resolve this extremely unfair issue and advocate for Westchester to receive the state funds it deserves. I promise to continue fighting to make sure that budget determinations are policy based, not used as political pork to help members of a political party.

[1] www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1898.html

White Plains Performing Arts Center Appoints New Executive Producer

Posted on April 1, 2007 by John Bailey

WPNCR STAGE DOOR. By John F. Bailey. April 1, 2007: WPCNR has learned according to a highly reliable source, that the White Plains Performing Arts Center has hired a highly credentialed new Executive Producer, Jack Batman, a Tony-nominated associate producer (for Enchanted April for Best Play and 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards in 2003). He has also produced 12 professional ice show extravanganzas for Olympic and Figure Skating Champions as well as numerous New York City productions Mr. Batman is now scheduling the WPPAC’s 2007-2008 season. Mr. Batman has informed friends and associates that he has been appointed the new Executive Producer of the WPPAC.

The new appointment is a new direction for the troubled WPPAC which has been producing children’s shows the four months of the spring season, with no major production, in anticipation of a new $1,000,000 fundraising drive, recently announced, to right the WPPAC ship and send it in a new direction.

WPCNR is attempting to confirm this appointment.

Mr Batman is currently hard at work co-producing Gayfest NYC with Bruce Robert Harris to be staged at the TBG Arts Center in New York May 9 to June 2, described as the “premier festival of new works by LGBT authors and gay-friendly subject matter.” Sponsors of Gayfest include HSBC Bank, Bud Light, RockStar energy drink, Coughlin Insurance, DG Neary Real Estate, Sutter Home Vineyards, Theatermania.com, Where New York, IN New York magazine, Back Stage, HX, The New York Blade, Next magazine, MetroSource. Gayfest chose its works from more than 175 plays and musicals.

Illegal Housing Strike!

Posted on March 31, 2007 by John Bailey

WPCNR WEST SIDE STORY. From Battle Hill Association. March 31, 2007: The Battle Hill Association reports a success of the city Safe Housing Task Force Thursday evening. The evening survellance of a Building Code Enforcement Officer response resulted in the discovery of five men living illegal in a basement of a single family home on Chatterton Parkway. The Association urges residents to observe and report any housing situations which may indicate over-occupied housing by contacting the Association at 914-517-2350. There is no informationon the fate of the five illegal occupants.