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Community Rallies Around Westchester Family After New Father Dies Community Rallies Around Westchester Family After New Father Dies
Community Rallies Around Westchester Family After New Father Dies Paulie Packes was only 9 days old when his father, Anthony, a Stamford resident who grew up in Hawthorne, died of a brain tumor at the age of 36. A GoFundMe page has been launched for the Packes family. As of Friday morning, the page has raised $51,565 in four days from 325 people. Anthony was diagnosed with a brain tumor in March 2015. The tumor was surgically removed, and he was given a clean bill of health. He married Toni in October 2016, but his brain tumor returned last June. While the tumor was surgically removed, it eventually resurfaced and was deemed inoperable.  "Anthony n…

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by Sam Barron
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Hudson Valley Resident's New Album Pays Tribute To Famed Folk Musician Hudson Valley Resident's New Album Pays Tribute To Famed Folk Musician
Hudson Valley Resident's New Album Pays Tribute To Famed Folk Musician Andy Biskin is hoping people love the music of Alan Lomax as much as he does.Biskin and his band, 16 Tons, have launched a Kickstarter to help fund the recording of his band's new record, which features a collection of American folk songs previously collected by Lomax.  The campaign, which runs through Feb. 1, is hoping to raise $8,000 to help cover fees for musicians recording, editing, mixing, mastering and producing the CDs. As of Saturday morning, 51 people have already pledged $4,521. Biskin must raise the full amount or he receives nothing. The album will begin recording in January an…

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by Sam Barron
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Westchester Family Welcomes First Baby Of 2018 At Greenwich Hospital Westchester Family Welcomes First Baby Of 2018 At Greenwich Hospital
Westchester Family Welcomes First Baby Of 2018 At Greenwich Hospital GREENWICH, Conn. – It's a boy! Greenwich Hospital welcomed its first baby of 2018 just after midnight on Monday. Baby boy Mason Raphael Mederos made his debut Jan. 1 at 12:08 a.m., weighing in at 7 pound and 14 ounces. This is the second baby for parents Emily and TJ Mederos of Port Chester, N.Y., who were high school sweethearts at Port Chester High School. Mason joins big brother Matthew Aidan, who is 1 years old.  His dad, TJ Mederos, is a New York City police officer based in the Bronx, and Emily Mederos plans to be a stay-at-home mom. The family received a gift basket from the hospi…

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by Daily Voice
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Mamaroneck Rallies Around Families Displaced By Fire Mamaroneck Rallies Around Families Displaced By Fire
Mamaroneck Rallies Around Families Displaced By Fire MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- It has been the season of giving in Mamaroneck. The community has come together to help 25 people, eight families, who were forced out of their homes Friday after a fire broke out in an apartment building on Mount Pleasant Avenue. No one was hurt in the blaze but residents will not be able to return home until sometime next year Mayor Tom Murphy put out a plea on his Facebook page, seeking necessities like clothing and toiletries as the families stay at the Community Resource Center. Residents quickly responded. By Saturday morning, Murphy marveled at how quickly the co…

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by Sam Barron
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Westchester Soldier Receives Purple Heart From President Trump Westchester Soldier Receives Purple Heart From President Trump
Westchester Soldier Receives Purple Heart From President Trump A soldier from Northern Westchester who was wounded in Afghanistan last month was awarded a Purple Heart from President Donald Trump at Walter Reed Medical Center on Thursday. Victor Prato, a 25-year-old who graduated from Somers High School in 2011 and played football at Somers, has served in the Army for two years. He was injured by a car bomb. "One of the most powerful moments of my life watching @POTUS give the Purple Heart to this American Hero," Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted. "Amazed by the strength and resilience of the men and women in our Armed Force…

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by Sam Barron
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Community Rallies Around White Plains Family After Father's Death Community Rallies Around White Plains Family After Father's Death
Community Rallies Around White Plains Family After Father's Death WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A GoFundMe page has been launched for the family of Miguel Gil, a White Plains resident, who took his own life last week. As of Saturday morning, the page has raised nearly $5,000 by 80 people over three days.  "It was so unexpected," his daughter Angie said. " We couldn't understand why he would do something like this to us. We never thought we would have to imagine a life without our father." Angie said they are hoping to raise enough money to send him back to his native Dominican Republican where he can be buried with his parents and siblings and…

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by Sam Barron
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29-Year-Old Westchester Composer Is Behind New Off-Broadway Musical 29-Year-Old Westchester Composer Is Behind New Off-Broadway Musical
29-Year-Old Westchester Composer Is Behind New Off-Broadway Musical Bonnie Gleicher is all about celebrating one's differences. And now, thanks to her show "Addy & Uno," her passion for showcasing what makes us each special is being recognized -- off-Broadway.  The musical, just signed for an extended run at Theatre Row -- it had been at the 14th Street Y Theater in New York City for most of September -- uses puppets and upbeat music to highlight the struggles of a child with autism as he competes in his school's math competition.  It also focuses on other children with (and without) varying disabilities (such as ADHD, visual, hearing and phy…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
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Yonkers Names Street For Prominent Immigrant, African American Advocate Yonkers Names Street For Prominent Immigrant, African American Advocate
Yonkers Names Street For Prominent Immigrant, African American Advocate YONKERS, N.Y. - A prominent immigrant and advocate for African Americans from Yonkers has been immortalized in the adopted city he came to call home. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano and City Councilman Christopher Johnson posthumously recognized Winston K. David, who was a city philanthropist for decades, naming a stretch of Gold Street in his honor. Gold Street, between Warburton and Woodworth Avenue, is officially now known as “Winston K. David Place.” David immigrated to America in 1960 and was a longtime resident and business owner in Yonkers, working at the Brooks Memorial Home. According to…

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by Zak Failla
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Not So 'Anonymous' Anymore: Westchester Professor Wins National Arts Award Not So 'Anonymous' Anymore: Westchester Professor Wins National Arts Award
Not So 'Anonymous' Anymore: Westchester Professor Wins National Arts Award A SUNY Purchase Associate Professor of Art+Design is one of ten recipients of a 2017 award by Anonymous Was A Woman. Nancy Bowen is in good company; among the other recipients is Amy Sherald, commissioned to paint the portrait of Michelle Obama for the National Portrait Gallery. Each year, the Award recognizes women over 40 who have made significant contributions in their fields to date, while continuing to create new work.  Winners are chosen from among a competitive pool of applicants recommended by a group of distinguished art historians, curators, writers, and artists who serve as anon…

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by Daily Voice
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Westchester $5M Lottery Winning Couple Identified Westchester $5M Lottery Winning Couple Identified
Westchester $5M Lottery Winning Couple Identified It was easy for four Hudson Valley residents to offer up huge smiles when handed giant checks from the New Lottery making them the area's newest millionaires. The winners, Paul and Norma Fox of Cortlandt won $5 million playing the Mega Millions megaplier, and Katherine Lukin of West Nyack won $1 million on a Cashword scratch-off game, received their winnings during a ceremony Wednesday. Along with them was Anthony Vitolo of Wallkill in Orange County, who picked up his $10 million winnings from a luck $350 million Cash Spectacular scratch-off tickets. Lukin, who said she likes to play her f…

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by Kathy Reakes
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Oh Deer: Buck Forges Westchester Waterway In Time For The Holidays Oh Deer: Buck Forges Westchester Waterway In Time For The Holidays
Oh Deer: Buck Forges Westchester Waterway In Time For The Holidays Deer are on their annual mating runs through Westchester, and a channel in Mamaroneck Harbor near Long Island Sound is no exception. Diane Eglauf of Mamaroneck captured a photo of one buck forging the channel at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21. She lives in a building on the Sound. "Evidently the deer haven’t been seen doing this in quite awhile," Eglauf told Daily Voice. "Although we did see two deer a few months back waiting to cross the channel one night when we were out on our boat." "Unfortunately, I had to zoom the picture in order to see him and not the…

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by Jon Craig
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Westchester Resident Makes Year-Round Giving Her Priority Westchester Resident Makes Year-Round Giving Her Priority
Westchester Resident Makes Year-Round Giving Her Priority At Thanksgiving, many take time to be grateful for their family, friends, and what they have. For Yorktown Heights resident Paula Miritello, Thanksgiving – and every day – is all about giving. Miritello has always been about helping others. She took care of her brother Vinny who had cerebral palsy until his death in 2000 at age 21 and then continued with charity work in her brother’s memory, raising funds for various causes from the Special Olympics to mental health groups to charities that help those with special needs.  "Although, he could not walk or talk he had the most beautiful p…

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by Vira Mamchur Schwartz