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)

Dark and Stormy Night Continues: Sporadic Outages Cover City.

Posted on September 2, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. By John F. Bailey. September 2, 2006: Tropical Depression Ernesto continues to lash White Plains causing “sporadic” power outages throughout the city. As of 9 P.M., Westchester County Airport was reporting sustained winds out of the south at 30 knots, gusts to 40-45 knots with lashing rain. NOAA Weather Radio predicts the storm will abate by morning.

Meanwhile, as of 6 P.M., Con Edison was reporting 1,200 White Plains customers out. White Plains Police reported as of 9:30 P.M. most roads were open in the city, but that portions of Battle Hill, Gedney Farms, Rosedale were without power. As of 8:30 P.M. the Highlands Midchester Avenue was experiencing an outage. Police said that “not many” roads were closed within the White Plains city limits.

Elsewhere is another story. A CitizeNetReporter correspont driving in from Rye and Harrison reported those areas dark with traffic lights out along North Street. He reported a tree down on Bryant Avenue between North Street and Westchester Avenue in White Plains. Another WPCNR correspondent, making his way out for Chinese food in Scarsdale, reports that on Saxon Woods Road reported a downed tree had closed the road. Once making his way into Scarsdale through side streets, he said he encountered many downed trees.

Con Edison’s Media Relations department line to the media was busy, and could not be reached for an updated count of outages.

Ernesto Winds Create Widespread Power Outages in City: Police 1200 OUT

Posted on September 2, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR WEATHER SCOOP. September 2, 2006. UPDATED 6 P.M. E.D.T.: For the third time this year White Plains and the Westchester County area are suffering power outages due to unsual high velocity winds, this time the culprit is the “tropical depression,” Ernesto. White Plains Police reported to WPCNR as of 4:30 there were “widespread power outages” across White Plains, but did not have a listing, directing WPCNR to contact Con Edison.

Dan Lyons of Con Edison Media Relations reports to WPCNR as of 6 P.M., 1,200 customers are without power in White Plains. Mr. Lyons says repair work has begun, but has no information as to when power would be restored.

The police spokespersons said trees were down on wires and wires down “all over the place.” Pedestrians, motorists should be cautious and wary of downed power lines.

Two weeks ago Mayor Joseph Delfino held a meeting with Sandra Miller, Director of Public Affairs with Con Edison, who promised better communications in the future. Power outages have to be reported to Con Edision via 1-800-75CONED.

Winds were reported up to 45 Knots at mid afternoon and trees have been swaying precariously. Weather reports say winds will die down by midnight with clearing by Sunday at midday. Winds were reported by NOAA Weather Radio as of 5 P.M. as being 25 to 35 knots with gusts to 45 knots.

Algae Bloom Returns to Silver Lake. One Third of Surface Affected

Posted on August 31, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR East Side Story. By John F. Bailey. August 31, 2006. UPDATED SEPTEMBER 1, 2006, 9:45 P.M. E.D.T.: A sickly green stagnant algae bloom has returned to White Plains once pristine Silver Lake very similar to the algae bloom discovered in the lake 13 months ago.

WPCNR’s Mobile Unit was driving past Silver Lake Thursday afternoon when I noticed the massive green patch in the middle of the lake and a ring of green circling the lake at the shore for at least three quarters of the circumference. The White Plains end of Silver Lake where the West Harrison border commences was choked with green surface scum from where the lake empties into the Mamaroneck River North to the White Plains side dock. Water was still, had film on the surface in addition to the brilliant pea soup algae. On the Harrison side trash was observed floating on the scum, the surface was so thick with it.

The Mayor’s Executive Officer, Paul Wood, told WPCNR Friday evening this was the first time he had heard of the new algae slick, and said he had fired off an e-mail to the Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti, to look into the problem Tuesday morning. Wood said the Town of Harrison had assured White Plains it would repair the leaks in the sanitary sewer line which caused a comingling of raw sewage with storm water drain overflow that ran into the lake last July to which last summer’s algae stagnation was attributed.

Last year at this time a similar bloom erupted in the lake necessitating the discreet, unannounced closing of the lake by the City. The cause was found to be raw human waste resulting from an overflow of the West Harrison sewer during a rain event of July 18, 2005. WPCNR was informed at the time by the White Plains Department of Public Works that Harrison was going to fix the sewer, which overflowed into the storm water drains that enter the lake.

WPCNR placed calls to the Mayor’s Office, the Department of Public Works and the Department of Recreation and Parks to ascertain what the cause of the algae bloom could be, whether or not it is again overflow from the Harrison sewer, from last weekend’s heavy rains, and whether the lake is now closed to visitors. WPCNR awaits the city explanation for the algae bloom and when it developed. The Silver Lake Liberty Park was created by the city at the cost of approximately $600,000, but was closed for half the summer last year, and now appears again to be in a condition not suitable for the public.

6 White Plains Students Complete First White Plains Hospital Nurse Internship

Posted on August 30, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR MARCH OF TIME. From White Plains Hospital Center (Edited). August 30, 2006: Candace Foster and Katherine Palecio of the College of New Rochelle, and Nathalie Gonzalez, Anesha Hines, Katherine Palecio, Alexandra Sarmiento and Patty Swayne of White Plains High School have completed the first class of a summer nursing program with four other area high school and college students — the new White Plains Hospital Medical Center Nurse Apprentice Program. The nurses-to-be received Certificates of Completion for the 9-week internship and each apprentice had the opportunity to share her experiences with those in attendance, and to hear some words of praise about her work at the Hospital. Two students each received a $5,000 scholarship, to be used toward an education in nursing.

Nurses of Tomorrow: (L to R), Anesha Hines, Nathalie Gonzalez, Candace Foster, Alexandra Sarmiento, Katherine Palacio and Patty Swayne, all of White Plains, are honored for completing their Nurse Apprentice Program internship as (L to R) Mayor Joseph Delfino; Pat Keegan, District Director, Representative Nita M. Lowey’s office (D-NY 18); Timothy Connors, Superintendent of the White Plains School District; Deborah Correnti, RN, Student Liaison, Healthcare Careers, White Plains Hospital Center; Ivan Toper, Principal, White Plains High School; Annie Norris, Program Counselor, Healthcare Careers, White Plains High School; Henry Cafaro, Director of Guidance, White Plains School District, beam. Photo, Courtesy White Plains Hospital Center.

The White Plains young women completed four rotations during the summer, gaining experience in a number of clinical areas, including pediatrics, bariatrics, labor and delivery, stroke, oncology and neonatal intensive care.

The 10 students who successfully completed the program are

* Jennifer Colon, Bronx, College of Mt. St. Vincent*

Samantha Farmer, Bronx, Binghamton University
Candace Foster, White Plains, College of New Rochelle
Yicele Garces, Brooklyn, SUNY Stony Brook*
Nathalie Gonzalez, White Plains, White Plains High School
Anesha Hines, White Plains, White Plains High School
Katherine Palacio, White Plains, College of New Rochelle
Alexandra Sarmiento, White Plains, White Plains High School
Jennifer Susana, Bronx, College of Mt. St. Vincent
Patty Swayne, White Plains, White Plains High School

“The Nurse Apprentice Program has had a huge impact on these 10 students and many others,” said Deborah Correnti, RN, Student Liaison, Healthcare Careers, White Plains Hospital Center, who, along with Annie Norris, Program Counselor, Healthcare Careers, White Plains High School, coordinated the program. “The hands-on experience of dealing with patients helps to build confidence and enables these students to have more successful work experiences. It is obvious that these apprentices not only learned about the nursing profession, they learned about the healthcare industry in general, and the ways it works today.”

The Nurse Apprentice Program was designed to actively address the shortage in the nursing profession by reaching out to area high school students and youth-oriented social services agencies, teaching interested students about pursuing a nursing career and shepherding them through the education process.

“We wanted to ensure that we have a steady stream of registered nurses at White Plains Hospital Center now and in the future,” said Jon B. Schandler, the Hospital’s President and CEO. “The Nurse Apprentice Program was the most intensive of several elements of a comprehensive plan that we have instituted to address the nursing shortage. It shows young people in our area that in order to get their help in the future, we want to help them now. Hopefully, we’ll have a cadre of nurses whose first choice of practice will be White Plains Hospital Center.”

The Nurse Apprentice Program was made possible by a $343,723 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Health Resources and Services Administration, and $123,835 in program funding from WPHC. Representative Nita M. Lowey (D-NY18) was instrumental in securing the grant, which expires in November. WPHC will hold a fundraiser on September 18 to raise new financial support for the program.

White Plains CitizeNetReporter especially salutes one of the White Plains graduates: Nathalie Gonzalez, former Church Street Challenger reporter, (The Challenger is the Church Street Elementary School Newspaper). WPCNR Executive Editor John Bailey had the pleasure of working with her seven years ago when your editor had the privilege of having her as one of the Church Street Challenger “News Dogs.” Congratulations, Nathalie! Photo, Courtesy, White Plains Hospital Center.

* received $5,000 Nursing Educational Award scholarship