NEWS ABOUT THE CRAZY LIVES OF POLICE WIVES 2018

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools -- in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

The Crazy Lives of Police Wives: Everything Croton is pleased to share the news that Carolyn Buchanan Blacking and  co-author Carolyn LaRoche have donated their latest quarterly book profit of $200 to www.concernsofpolicesurvivors.org/

They say:  We wrote our book with the help of Police Wives from around the Country with the goal of helping our fellow LEOWS. With this goal in mind, all authors' profits are donated to national police related charities. As long as you continue to buy the book, we will continue to donate our profits. To date, we have donated $6,533 to national police related charities. We sincerely thank all who have purchased our book. We hope it has helped you with your journey as a police wife. It's not always easy, but it's a life we would not trade for anything. The Crazy Lives of Police Wives makes a great holiday gift and it's a gift that would be appreciated any time of year.  AVAILABLE ON AMAZON 

EFSP: CLEOPATRA (1934)

The latest from our friends at European Film Star Postcards: CLEOPATRA (1934)

After his historical epic Sign of the Cross (1932), Cecil B. DeMille directed another ancient spectacle, Cleopatra (1934). His new star Claudette Colbert, fresh from her donkey milk bath in Sign of The Cross, played the politically shrewd, man-hungry queen of Egypt. In 48 BC, Cleopatra, facing palace revolt, welcomes the arrival of Julius Caesar (Warren William) as a way of solidifying her power under Rome. When Caesar, whom she has led astray, is killed, she transfers her affections to Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon) and dazzles him on a lavish barge. The film got five Oscar nominations.....TO READ AND SEE MORE, CLICK HERE.

2ND TIME'S A CHARM, ESCO, SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER, GREENBURGH, THE SCAM CONTINUES ETC.

FROM A BETTER GREENBURGH: Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Second Times A Charm: The Scam Continues - We wrote on July 6, 2015 that Mr Feiner and his Town Board were opting-in all residents and businesses in the Town to automatically be enrolled in an unproven, unverified and unvetted startup energy company. This was done by a group of attorneys looking to develop a model they could use throughout the country to sell utility transmission of their existing ConEd power. They came up with a catchy politically correct name and the scheme was hatched as, naturally, a not-for-profit company called Sustainable Westchester and they named numerous political leaders to their Board of Directors. What could go wrong?  READ AND SEE MUCH MORE HERE.

OPT OUT INFO AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE THERE.

PRISON TIME FOR FORMER CROTON COP, FIRE CHIEF

Prison Time For Former Croton Cop, Fire Chief, Treasurer Gerry Munson; read more at https://patch.com/new-york/ossining/prison-time-former-croton-cop-fire-chief-treasurer - this post is closed to all comments.

WESTCHESTER LOSES AAA RATING AFTER DRAWING DOWN RESERVES TO COVER RETROACTIVE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE RAISES

(Bloomberg) -- New York’s Westchester County, home to the wealthy suburbs of Scarsdale and Bronxville, lost its AAA grade from S&P Global Ratings Inc. and Fitch Ratings after drawing down its cash reserves to cover retroactive raises given to government employees.The county, which borders New York City to the north, had its grade cut one level by both companies Tuesday to AA+. S&P said there’s a one-in-three chance that it will downgrade the county’s bonds again in the next two years as the government contends with budget shortfalls, given how "narrow" its reserves were at the end of the 2017 budget year. MORE HERE.

NEW AT SUSAN KONIG'S WILLOWSTREET PRESS, STAND BY ME, CARING FOR YOUR AGING OR AILING DOG

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

PRESS RELEASE - NEW AT SUSAN KONIG'S WILLOWSTREET PRESS, STAND BY ME, CARING FOR YOUR AGING OR AILING DOG

Now an Amazon top 10 bestseller Hot New Releases Dog Care

Dog lovers everywhere need this breakthrough guide to caring for older and ailing dogs. Board-certified psychiatrist Ellen L. Bassuk, M.D., and veterinary experts Julie Santoes and Kate Pittman, D.V.M., weave narratives of personal experience with plainly written and easy-to-follow technical instructions for nurturing beloved pets. All dogs go to heaven, but before they get there, they need their human companions to help them have a happy and peaceful last chapter. Covering issues from cancer to arthritis and blindness to mobility, STAND BY ME offers a wealth of knowledge from the authors’ decades of experience in their fields. They provide the crucial information pet owners need to know when it comes to considering palliative and animal hospice care and preserving a dog’s quality of life for as long as possible. AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.

CONGRATULATIONS PUSATERE AND SARGEANT

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools --in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

Congratulations to Croton Fire Dept. members Frank Pusatere of Washington Engine Co. #2 and Carlton Sargeant, Captain of Columbian Hook & Ladder. Read more here.

2018 PHOTOS, UNLOADING THE TREES AT THE CROTON LIONS ANNUAL TREE SALE

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON. 

It was all hands on deck for the annual Croton Lions Christmas Tree Sale--after a cold, wet, and very rainy night, a sunrise rainbow smiled on the volunteers....with over six hundred trees to be unloaded, tagged and sorted at 7 am this morning....it takes a village---yes, it's always about more than lawn signs and postcards.....let it suffice to say that Croton's young people were well-represented at the crack of dawn, among many other village notables.....thank you all...trees go on sale at noon just above the entrance to the ShopRite Shopping Center ...click on the photos, all rights reserved.

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE LIONS FB PAGE HERE

 

REMEMBERING FLIP WILSON

Who died this date in 1998, an American comedian and actor best known for his television appearances during the late 1960s and the 1970s. From 1970 to 1974, Wilson hosted his own weekly variety series, The Flip Wilson Show, and introduced viewers to his recurring character Geraldine.

Click on the photo to see Wilson "with' Geraldine on the 1970 cover of Ebony Magazine, courtesy of our Flickr friend Classic Film.

To read more, click here--and just scroll down the page. 

  

NEW FROM EFSP; PHOTO BY RKO

New from our friends at European Film Star Postcards: PHOTO BY RKO

RKO Pictures was, in its original incarnation as RKO Radio Pictures Inc., one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. It was the last of the major studios to be created and the first (and only) studio to expire. Much of its 25 years’ existence, Radio-Keith-Orpheum spent struggling for financial stability, but despite this it produced many classic films including King Kong (1933), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Citizen Kane (1941), and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). RKO has long been renowned for its cycle of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid- to late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first major successes at the studio. Cary Grant was a mainstay for years.  READ & SEE MUCH MORE HERE.

EVERYTHING CROTON'S ANNUAL CATALOG OF CHRISTMAS SERVICES, TIPS, SHOPPING, EVENTS & MUCH MORE

12/28 UPDATE--THE CATALOG IS NOW DOWN.  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and hope to do it again in 2019.

NEW FROM EFSP: THE SIGN OF THE CROSS 1932

New from our friends at European Film Star Postcards: THE SIGN OF THE CROSS 1932

In Cecil B. De Mille's lavish historical epic The Sign of the Cross (1932), a Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero. The outstanding cast is one of the film's strongest points. Fredric March is stalwart as the Roman official who falls in love with a sweet Christian girl, played by Elissa Landi. But they are upstaged by the villains, Charles Laughton and Claudette Colbert playing Emperor Nero and his wife Empress Empress Poppaea. SEE AND READ MORE HERE.

BY SPECIAL REQUEST: BRIAN'S DOUBLE BLUE LARGE COCO HOUSE PATTERN

For those who craft their putz houses from scratch--and try to emulate the made in Japan originals as much as possible---Brian has made a pattern for the DOUBLE BLUE! (Click on the photo.)

See it and much more here http://bit.ly/2lOv5Hb

WANT MORE PUTZ HOUSE PATTERNS/TEMPLATES? GO HERE http://bit.ly/2kwMfXG

NEW FROM OUR FRIENDS AT EFSP: NEW FINDS AT THE FAIR

Ah the thrill of the hunt! New from our friends at European Film Star Postcards....

New Finds at the Fair: Last Saturday, I was at the International Collector's Fair in the city of Utrecht. In the enormous halls of the Jaarbeurs full of vintage memorabilia, I went to hunt for postcards for our collection. (Click on the photo to see a fab vintage postcard featuring Kirk Douglas, Footprint Ceremony Grauman's Chinese Theatre.) SEE MORE FINDS FROM THE FAIR HERE! 

Note: All content on this blog is Copyright (c) by Maria Cudequest and by the posters who have contributed specific content. All material is for your personal use only. No content or photos may be republished or sold, without prior written consent from your editor and the individual who contributed the content in question. For permissions or questions about this policy, please contact the editor.  

MORE COMMUNITY ADVOCACY FROM SHOPRITE: NEWS FROM SHOPRITE'S SHOWCASE 2018, EXPO & SEMINAR

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

NEWS FROM SHOPRITE: More than 1 million residents in New Jersey alone are food insecure, so ShopRite donates TONS of fresh, safe and edible food -- rather than sending it to landfills. At our recent “ShopRite Showcase,” a product-design and seminar expo, over 33,000 pounds of meat, fresh produce, dairy and other nutritious items were collected and sent directly to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey! For more information on ShopRites overall waste diversion and food donation programs, visit ShopRite.com/Sustainability.

YOU MAY ALSO HAVE AN INTEREST IN:
--MORE SUSTAINABILITY FROM SHOPRITE; CLICK HERE
--For additional Shoprite assorted community advocacy endeavors, click here and here. And here.
--We have set a dangerous precedent in Croton; more here.

EMERGENCY ESCAPE SYSTEM REFRESHER TRAINING AT WASHINGTON ENGINE

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

AND TODAY AT WASHINGTON ENGINE FIREHOUSE: Today, 15 members - from all 5 of our Fire Companies - are completing their annual Emergency Escape System refresher training at Washington Engine Firehouse. This training, and the equipment carried by each of these members, is required of all Structural Firefighters in our Department. It provides each of these members with a 50’ piece of rope and a mechanical control device so they can safely descend out of a window in the event fire conditions in a building become too dangerous and no other way out is feasible. As we regularly do, this training is being provided by our friends and instructional experts from AAA Emergency Supply. SEE MORE HERE.

FOR MORE ABOUT AAA EMERGENCY SERVICE, CLICK HERE.

CROTON'S 3RD UNIVERSE AND BRYAN DEYO, NEWS 12, ON THE DEATH OF STAN LEE

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

As many of you know, Stan Lee recently died.  News 12 did an homage piece which also features Croton's own 3rd Universe and Bryan Deyo--see the video at http://westchester.news12.com/clip/14686404/stan-lee-creator-of-a-galaxy-of-marvel-superheroes-dies

FOR MORE ABOUT 3RD UNIVERSE COMICS, https://www.facebook.com/3rdUniverse/

1/12/19 CELEBRATION OF A NEW MINISTRY AT ST. AUGUSTINE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

A WORD FROM THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF NEW YORK - SAVE THE DATE -  1/12/19 - Celebration of a New Ministry at St. Augustine’s Church, Croton-on-Hudson - The Rev. Jennifer Owen will be instituted and inducted as rector. The Rt. Rev. Andrew ML Dietsche will preside. The Rev. James Lemler will preach.

More at https://www.dioceseny.org/venue/st-augustines-church-croton-on-hudson-2/

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
--1973: ST. A'S 125TH ANNIVERSARY http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2013/05/from-1973-st-augustines-125th.html 

--A LOOK BACK @ ST. AUGUSTINE'S IN 1960, 1967, 1970 & 1978; MORE HERE

--IN MEMORY OF KIM WESTPHAL; more here

NEW FROM OUR FRIENDS AT EFSP: PHOTO BY PARAMOUNT

NEW FROM OUR FRIENDS at European Film Star Postcards: PHOTO Y PARAMOUNT

Paramount Pictures is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company (1895) and Pathé (1896), followed by the Nordisk Film company (1906), and Universal Studios (1912). Paramount Pictures was created in 1916 through the merger of two prominent film production companies, the Famous Players Film Company and the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, and a nationwide film distributor, Paramount. Film producer Adolph Zukor put 22 actors and actresses under contract and honoured each with a star on the logo. TO READ AND SEE MORE, including Croton's Gloria Swanson, a very young Gary Cooper, Victor Mature (click on the photo), Veronica Lake, and many others, click here.

Note: All content on this blog is Copyright (c) by Maria Cudequest and by the posters who have contributed specific content. All material is for your personal use only. No content or photos may be republished or sold, without prior written from your editor and the individual who contributed the content in question. For permissions or questions about this policy, please contact the editor.  

CROTON'S VILLAGE BOARD, PLASTIC BAGS, DISCRIMINATORY LAWS AND MUCH MORE

The following letter appears in the 11/15/18 edition of THE GAZETTE and is re-printed here with permission:

To the editor:

Recent questions by Joel Gingold (The Gazette, Oct. 25/31) and Brian Powers (The Gazette, Nov 8/14) remain unanswered by our Croton Board of Trustees and Village Manager. That is unfortunate, because they both raise an issue which is at the heart of what makes us a community.

Human institutions are governed by human beings, and that necessarily introduces human flaws into our institutions. But we should aspire to create laws that are an expression of our better nature.

A fundamental tenet of our civic community is that all are equal before the law. When I was growing up, the eighth grade social studies curriculum in New York State included discussion of bills of attainder and why these were prohibited in the Constitution. Apart from the narrow issue, there was a broad principle being taught: the right of every citizen to be treated the same as every other citizen. 

When we discriminate against our neighbors, that is wrong. When our government passes laws that discriminate, that is an affront to our core values as a community. 

Reasonable people in Croton can (and do) differ on the substantive issue of how to reduce plastic use in our community. But I have yet to see anyone explain why a law should be drafted so as to only apply to 2 businesses out of more than a hundred.

At the outset, I was supportive of the efforts to reduce bag usage because I did not realize that the movement was discriminatory. It is one thing for the Croton Climate Initiative to now support passing a law that singles out 2 specific businesses to the exclusion of all others. The CCI is not an instrument of the municipality, and it is free to petition our elected officials to go after 2 specific businesses. I disagree with the CCI on this, but I respect their right to express their view.

I also understand that CCI may be taking the “half a loaf is better than none” course of action. Normally this would be a reasonable path, and one which we all take in our daily lives. But in this particular instance, the outcome is discriminatory. We have been assured that the scope of the law may be expanded in the future, but that does not change the fact that we are today passing a law designed to affect only 2 Croton businesses. 

Our municipal employees and elected officials are not acting in their private capacity, and as such they should be conscious of more than mere political concerns. No matter what law is passed, there is going to be a segment of the Croton electorate which is unhappy. I don’t minimize the desire by politicians for adulation, but there are times when even a politician must take a firm stand. Telling your constituents that everyone must live by the same law is one of those times. 

Throughout the process of passing this bag ordinance, we have been told that it is a law to eliminate plastic bag use in Croton. That is not true. It is a law to eliminate plastic bag use at 2 particular locations, and nowhere else. At no time has the Board of Trustees considered a bag law which would apply equally to every resident and business owner in Croton.

 I regret that our Board of Trustees chose not to do outreach and education, and I find much in Mr. Gingold’s list of suggestions that would have made sense from both a pragmatic and communitarian perspective. I hope in the future that our village officials work on building consensus before drafting major legislation.

Regrettably, I think that Mr. Powers may be correct in speculating that this is another feelgood initiative by our Board of Trustees. As a political strategy, creating an “us-against-them” framework is a well-worn (and usually successful) path. Having just 2 targets is a smart tactical move; proof of which is the elevation of Shoprite’s attorney Jay Peltz into the position of Croton Scrooge.

The downside to the bete-noire approach is a lack of logical coherence: if all plastic bags are bad, why is a plastic bag from Shoprite or CVS so uniquely bad that it alone must be the target of the full force of the municipal power?

I understand that achieving tangible improvement in the environment is not nearly as satisfactory as a raw demonstration of power. And what is more raw than ramming down a law which proves that some are more equal than others in Croton, with the Board of Trustees picking which are favored and which are disfavored?

Engaging in a lengthy public process which has been discriminatory throughout, culminating in a law which is specifically written to target 2 businesses not in favor with the Board of Trustees, we have set a dangerous precedent in Croton.

Croton’s Board of Trustees has chosen to use its legislative power in a discriminatory fashion. Regardless of what your position is on the underlying issue, we all should be troubled by the actions of our village lawmakers.

--Paul Steinberg, Croton-on-Hudson

YOU MAY ALSO HAVE AN INTEREST IN BRIAN POWERS' RECENT LETTER AND OTHER LETTERS ON THIS ISSUE HERE.

IN THE NEWS: CLIMATE CONTRARIAN UNCOVERS ERROR, UPENDS MAJOR OCEAN WARMING STUDY FROM PRINCETON, SCRIPPS

THE SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE: Researchers with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Princeton University recently walked back scientific findings published last month that showed oceans have been heating up dramatically faster than previously thought as a result of climate change.  In a paper published Oct. 31 in the journal Nature, researchers found that ocean temperatures had warmed 60 percent more than outlined by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

However, the conclusion came under scrutiny after mathematician Nic Lewis, a critic of the scientific consensus around human-induced warming, posted a critique of the paper on the blog of Judith Curry, another well-known critic....“The findings of the ... paper were peer reviewed and published in the world’s premier scientific journal and were given wide coverage in the English-speaking media,” Lewis wrote. “Despite this, a quick review of the first page of the paper was sufficient to raise doubts as to the accuracy of its results.” 

Co-author Ralph Keeling, climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, took full blame and thanked Lewis for alerting him to the mistake.  MORE HERE.

NEW FROM EFSP: CLINT WALKER

New from our friends at European Film Star Postcards: 

CLINT WALKER

Heavy set, athletic Clint Walker (1927- 2018)--CLICK ON THE PHOTO POSTCARD--was an American actor and singer. In the 1950s, Walker with his broad shoulders and slim waist almost single-handedly started the Western craze on TV in his role as Cheyenne Bodie in Cheyenne (1955-1962).

TO READ AND SEE MORE, CLICK HERE.

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY: VINTAGE TV, THE VIRGINIAN AND MORE; click here.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CROTON'S SEAN GARDINER

CROTON HARMON ATHLETICS on Twitter: Sean Gardiner finishes in the State! Congrats Sean! You’re the perfect example of what dedication and perseverance is all about! More here.

FROM EFSP - MARY MILES MINTER

From our friends at European Film Star Postcards: MARY MILES MINTER - Young Mary Miles Minter (1902-1984) was an American silent screen actress. Between 1912 to 1923, she appeared in over 50 silent films. The popular, innocent looking Miles Minter was the main rival of Mary Pickford. In 1922, she was involved in the major scandal surrounding the murder of director William Desmond Taylor. Her reputation was tarnished, and she gave up her film career at the age of 21.  READ AND SEE MUCH MORE HERE.

Note: All content on this blog is Copyright (c) by Maria Cudequest and by the posters who have contributed specific content. All material is for your personal use only. No content or photos may be republished or sold, without prior written from your editor and the individual who contributed the content in question. For permissions or questions about this policy, please contact the editor.  

MORE PLASTIC BAG ALCHEMY, A LETTER FROM BRIAN POWERS

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

The following letter appeared in The Gazette and is re-printed here with permission regarding the proposed plastic bag "ban".

To the Editor:

I have been following the discussions concerning the Reusable Bag Initiative proposed by our Village Board.  I fully agree that the use of reusable bags is something that should be embraced by all.

In the proposed legislation adding Section 183 to the Village Code, the Village states as part of its proposed findings that “the use of single-use carryout bags (plastic, paper, and biodegradable) has negative environmental impacts”.

Notwithstanding the stated “negative environmental impacts” that the use of single-use carry out bags has on our community, our elected officials have limited the application of this proposed law to a “COVERED STORE” which is then defined as follows: “An establishment with over 5,000 square feet of first floor retail floor space…”

In effect, this ban applies only to two specific entities in this Village, namely Shop-Rite and CVS.

If, as our elected officials say in the proposed legislation, our “Village Board therefore wants to encourage consumers in the Village to use their own reusable bags for shopping”, then the Board should have the political courage and enact an outright ban on the use of those bags.

While you’re at it, why not ban the use of all plastic bags in the Village if these bags are so pernicious?  Let’s include a ban on the plastic bags of the newspapers are delivered to our homes and the plastics bags people use to clean up while walking their pets.  I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people drop the plastic bag of dog droppings into the closest storm sewer.

What do you say Board of Trustees?  Do you have the political fortitude to enact a total ban on these plastic and other bags that you find are so deplorable?  Or is the proposed legislation just another thing to make people feel good because they believe they have done something in response to an issue?

Brian Powers, Croton-on-Hudson

YOU MAY ALSO HAVE AN INTEREST IN: 

--PLASTIC BAG ALCHEMY AND THE CROTON BOARD, A LETTER FROM PAUL STEINBERG; MORE HERE 

--MORE PLASTIC BAG ALCHEMY, LETTERS FROM CAROLYN WHITING HERE AND HERE.  

--THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, FRANKI'S GRILLE; MORE HERE

--PLASTIC BAG HYPOCRISY; more here 

1933, THE CROTON AND HARMON "NRA" PARADE

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

Here's an interesting item one of the elves found from the 1933 Citizen Register--an ad for a Croton and Harmon NRA Parade--not to be confused with the National Rifle Association.

The NRA in this case stands for the National (Industrial) Recovery Act. The National Industrial Recovery Act is widely considered a policy failure, both in the 1930s and by historians today. You can read more about it here. 

But in the meantime, click on the ad--divided into three parts for more detailed viewing--to see assorted Croton and "Harmon" businesses of the day. And since the Harmon Sweet Shop is mentioned, you may also have an interest in reading more about them here.