That Old Barbershop Sound Comes Back with The Chordsmen Reunion at The Highlands

Posted on by

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. From Ann Nieves. April 9, 2003:On Saturday, April 26th, the Westchester Chordsmen Chorus, a 60 member a cappella singing group in the barbershop tradition, will reunite with hundreds of past members for a 50th anniversary concert to raise funds for the group’s many charitable services. Since the 1950’s, the Chordsmen have supported the events of many local charitable and government organizations and regularly perform for nursing homes, hospitals and hospices. The one night only performance will be performed at Highlands Middle School April 26.
Led by 26-year-old director Dusty Schleier, the Chordsmen will perform a repertoire of favorites including The Impossible Dream and It’s Almost Like Being in Love; and will feature favorite barbershop quartets the Notewits, and the Racquet Squad.

“This concert will be an historic event, reuniting past and present quartets, members and directors for an all-star event,” said Alan Ferris, Chordsmen president.

The Chordsmen are the Westchester County Chapter of The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, the largest male singing society in the world. The Westchester Chapter, one of the largest on the East Coast, includes residents from the tri-state area who have entertained thousands world-wide. Members range in ages from 13 – 80.

Past performances include Christmas at the White House in 1995; the Barbershop Harmony Festival in St. Petersburg; and the Millennium Celebration in Sulmona, Italy. Members of the group have also made several appearances on the Letterman Showand performed a Valentine’s Day serenade for the ladies of The View.
The Best of the Chordsmen golden anniversary performance will be held on April 26th at 7:30 p.m. at the Highlands Middle School in White Plains. Call 914-241-0208 for tickets and additional information.

Posted in Uncategorized

You Can Fly Over Indian Point, But Not DisneyWorld.

Posted on by

WPCNR INDIAN POINT INDEPENDENCE TIMES. From Kim Spahn of Riverkeeper. April 9, 2003: The Homeland Security Department and the Federal Aviation Administration refuse to declare a no-fly zone around the plant which is feared to be a terrorist target. Meanwhile the entertainment giant Disney successfully lobbied and received no-fly zones over its two U.S. theme parks Disney World and Disneyland from the feds.
“How can New Yorkers be expected to feel safe when our government does more to protect Mickey Mouse than the 20 million citizens who live next door to Indian Point,” Riverkeeper’s executive director Alex Matthiessen said in a written statement. “What additional evidence is required before the Homeland Security Department and FAA put appropriate measures in place to defend this obvious and vulnerable terrorist target?”

In the weeks following September 11, 2001, the FAA issued a no-fly zone over all the country’s nuclear plants. But now it’s legal for planes (both private and commercial) to fly over the plants, including the Indian Point facility, as long as the plane maintains an altitude of 2,000 feet.

In an investigation conducted by the New York Observer last year, it was discovered that no single entity – neither Entergy, Indian Point’s owner, nor any government agency including the Pentagon – claims responsibility for protecting Indian Point from an aerial attack.

Many industry experts and residents fear that a small private plane loaded with explosives could easily be used to attack targets at the plant such as the spent fuel rod pools which contain 1500 tons of high-level radioactive waste.

New York politicians, including Governor Pataki and U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, have requested the Homeland Security Department and FAA restrict the airspace over the nuclear plant.

Posted in Uncategorized

Capital Punishment Murder Trial of Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez: Week One

Posted on by

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By S. Richard Blassberg, Legal Affairs Correspondent. April 8, 2003:
The capital punishment murder trial which got under way last week in the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains, before Judge Kenneth Lange, is the first in the county in more than twenty-five years.



WPCNR LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
S. RICHARD BLASSBERG
Photo by WPCNR News

The Defendant, Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez, has the ignoble distinction of being the sole individual chosen amongst ten defendants in the past nine years whose crimes were eligible to be designated for such treatment by District Attorney Jeanine Pirro. If convicted of First Degree Murder, he will face the possibility of being sentenced to Death by Lethal Injection.

The jury which consists of twelve jurors and ten alternates was selected over six months from a pool of 2,656 individuals. They have been advised by Judge Lange that the bifurcated, or two-part, trial will likely last for two months. The first phase is to determine the Defendant’s guilt or innocence, particularly as relates to First Degree Murder. The second phase will occur only in the event of such a conviction, and will be for the purpose of determining whether the punishment will be Life Imprisonment Without Possibility of Parole, or Death By Lethal Injection.

The Defendant is charged with the killing of Patricia Torres, his girlfriend, and two of her four young children, Ashley 4, and William 7, as well as the attempted murder of a third child, Vincent, then nine. Vincent managed to escape although seriously injured. The defense has acknowledged that Alvarez-Hernandez, in fact, committed the acts charged, but maintains that he did not possess the necessary intent to be guilty of Murder in the First Degree, because he was under the influence of alcohol with a blood-alcohol reading of .25, two and one-half times the legal limit. As with all criminal proceedings, under our federal and state constitutions, the prosecution has the burden of proof.

Mrs. Pirro’s assistants, George Bolen and Patricia Murphy, seasoned prosecutors, share the unenviable task of convincing the jury not only that Dennis Alvarez-Hernandez is guilty of Murder One, but also that they should condemn him to Death By Lethal Injection. To obtain such a conviction, they must establish to the jury’s satisfaction that he intended to produce the results his actions produced. They have wasted no time in the first week, bringing to the stand a witness who testified that the Defendant told her before the tragic incident, “If he couldn’t have Patricia, no one would.”

Additionally, Bolen and Murphy have attempted to counter the defense contention that the Defendant’s extreme intoxication and incapacity at the time of the killings rendered him incapable of forming the intent necessary under the statute to find Murder In The First Degree. For this purpose, they brought to the stand witnesses, police officers and emergency personnel, who testified that the Defendant was not nearly as intoxicated as his blood-alcohol reading would indicate he clearly was.

With the conclusion of the first week, the dye has been cast. The pivotal issue has been identified, and defence and prosecuting attorneys have each promised to prove their position.

Posted in Uncategorized

Great American II Catches up With Sea Witch Report from the Indian Ocean

Posted on by

WPCNR ADVENTURER’S LOG. By Cynthia Goss. Special to WPCNR. April 8, 2003:John, all is going well on GAII. We moved last week’s report up to mark the boat’s passing into the Indian Ocean. We’ll have another update later this week…Once they got into the Indian Ocean, GAII left the light, frustrating winds of the S. China Sea behind and quickly got into the tradewind belt. They’ve been making good time and are now neck and neck with Sea Witch’s position.

Here is a report from Rich Wilson aboard the GAII received just this morning:
I got this from the boat this morning, from Rich Wilson, imagining what it must have been like to be sailing in 154 years ago, right next to the legendary clipper ship…

“Last night I could see her on the horizon, a sliver of moon barely lit the sky behind the heavy overcast, but there she was, where you wouldn’t see a star, right on the horizon, it had to be her, Sea Witch all sails set and reflecting the glimmer of moonlight, charging hard in the SE trades. These were her conditions, she had been coming on strong for the last several days, GAII’s lead captured immediately out of Sunda Strait had been evaporating in the last days, and now here she was.

Captain Waterman, (Sea Witch Captain). surely on the windward deck, inspecting the set of every sail, and feeling every puff on his cheek,advising the helmsman nearly wave by wave. He would stand there for hours, making sure his ship was driving hard toward the Cape of Good Hope, making sure that these trades would not be wasted.

GAII was gamely hanging on, but she was also saving herself for the lighter breezes in which she excelled. This was a race of strategy more than machismo, to go hard when you could make the easy miles, and to back off, when the sea state got up and rattled her three hulls.

Captain Waterman, hard driver that he was, also knew when to back off. Upon approaching Sunda Strait, he hove to for a night, saying it was “too dark” to proceed in the confined waters. We’re neck and neck now, at noon time, only miles apart after 23 days, isn’t it amazing!”

Posted in Uncategorized