Briarcliff Boy Is A Pokemon Whiz Kid Briarcliff Boy Is A Pokemon Whiz Kid
Briarcliff Boy Is A Pokemon Whiz Kid BRIARCLIFF, N.Y. -- When it comes to playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game, Sebastian Male-Diaz is a child prodigy.Male-Diaz,  a 10-year-old who lives in Briarcliff and is in 5th grade, is ranked 11th  in the country for his age group, regularly traveling across the country competing in tournaments.  He has been invited to compete in tournaments in Australia. He recently finished in 2nd at a tournament in Virginia and last weekend competed at a tournament in Toronto. In Pokemon, players use their Pokemon to battle their opponent with the goal of winning knocking out their opponents cards.  …
Ossining Soldier Deployed In East Africa Ossining Soldier Deployed In East Africa
Ossining Soldier Deployed In East Africa OSSINING, N.Y. -- Drew Young, who graduated from Ossining High School, has served his country in the Army for more than 30 years. Young is currently deployed in East Africa about 100 miles from Somalia. This is Young's sixth combat deployment. He was recently awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his service as a Senior Counterintelligence Officer in the Horn of Africa.  Young got commissioned into ROTC after graduating from Ossining. He served in the Persian Gulf War and has been to Iraq three times and Afghanistan twice. This is his second deployment to Africa.  "I was d…
Croton Actress Stars In New Short Film Croton Actress Stars In New Short Film
Croton Actress Stars In New Short Film Jennifer Jiles, a Croton-on-Hudson actress who grew up in Poughkeepsie, is ready for her closeup.  Jiles' stars in the new short film, "The Waiting Room." She plays Janet who is in purgatory waiting for her husband to join her. To Janet's surprise, when her husband joins her, he shows up with his new wife. The movie was written and directed by Debra Markowitz.  "Waiting Room is dramedy, which is new for me," Jiles said.  "It's really fun to make people cry. Last year at the Peekskill Film Festival, Jiles screened "Mother of the Week", a short film she wro…
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Westchester Singer Turns Life Into Music She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Westchester Singer Turns Life Into Music
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Westchester Singer Turns Life Into Music MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- College has turned out to be very fruitful for Larchmont resident Paul Thomas (aka PT) Prigoda. It's where the 20-old musician has found inspiration for his songs. The Mamaroneck High School grad, now studying at Connecticut College in New London Conn., just released his second single off his upcoming EP,  "The Adventures of Sophomore Year." His music, a combination of bubble gum pop with raps on top, is built around the themes of college (and high school) life. "A lot of it happens to be about girls and love though," he admitted. Still, there are s…
Mahopac Resident Wins 2017 Congressional Art Competition Mahopac Resident Wins 2017 Congressional Art Competition
Mahopac Resident Wins 2017 Congressional Art Competition MAHOPAC, N.Y. -- Alana Green, a Mahopac resident, will have her art hanging in the Capitol. Green was the winner of the Congressional Art Competition, hosted by Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Cold Spring). Green won for her painting, "Angel."  “I want to congratulate Alana and all the other students for their submissions and I look forward to showing off her work and celebrating the level of talent we have right here in the Hudson Valley,” said Rep. Maloney. “It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there like these kids did – and I’m proud of each one of them for submit…
Westchester Residents Bill Clinton, James Patterson Writing Spy Thriller Westchester Residents Bill Clinton, James Patterson Writing Spy Thriller
Westchester Residents Bill Clinton, James Patterson Writing Spy Thriller Bill Clinton can now add novelist to his resume. The Chappaqua resident and 42nd president of the U.S. announced he is working on a new novel with bestselling author James Patterson, who has a home in Scarborough, that involves the President of the United States. "The President Is Missing,"  a spy thriller is set to be released in June 2018. “Working on a book about a sitting President — drawing on what I know about the job, life in the White House, and the way Washington works — has been a lot of fun,” said Clinton in a statement. Clinton has written three nonfiction books, whi…
Westchester Resident Is Sanitation Worker By Day, Singer By Night Westchester Resident Is Sanitation Worker By Day, Singer By Night
Westchester Resident Is Sanitation Worker By Day, Singer By Night MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- By day, you'll find Michael Rivers working the sanitation shift in Larchmont/Mamaroneck, but by night -- and even on his shift -- you can find him humming or singing a tune. That's because his real love is music, primarily soul and R & B. In fact, the Mamaroneck resident is in the midst of recording his second album at Warehouse Music in Mount Vernon. His goal is to get The Rivers of Truth, which contains a variety of styles, released by October or November. (His first album, Try To Work It Out, was released in 2014.) Rivers, who plays a little keyboard and guitar bu…
Westchester's Mika Brzezinski Gets Engaged To Co-Host Joe Scarborough Westchester's Mika Brzezinski Gets Engaged To Co-Host Joe Scarborough
Westchester's Mika Brzezinski Gets Engaged To Co-Host Joe Scarborough It's a match made in morning TV heaven. "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough, a New Canaan resident, and Mika Brzezinski, a Bronxville resident, announced Thursday they are engaged. Scarborough proposed to her while they were in Paris to celebrate Brezinski's 50th birthday. In February, Brzezinski put her Bronxville home on the market. The mother of two announced she was separating from her husband in December 2015. Scarborough, a former Congressman, split from his second wife in 2013. According to an interview in Vanity Fair, the couple does not yet live together.  Between the…
Boys, Girls Scouts Moving On Up In Somers Boys, Girls Scouts Moving On Up In Somers
Boys, Girls Scouts Moving On Up In Somers SOMERS, N.Y. -- Pack 11 has a new group of cub scouts and bear scouts in Somers. Den 7 members (shown above) have all received the arrow of light for moving on to boy scouts. Pack 11 Den 2 (also pictured above) moved up from wolf to bear scouts. 
Westchester Filmmaker Relives High School With New GoFundMe Film Westchester Filmmaker Relives High School With New GoFundMe Film
Westchester Filmmaker Relives High School With New GoFundMe Film BRONXVILLE, N.Y. -- "Don't Panic," a new movie by a Sarah Lawrence student, is in the process of both raising funds and looking for college students who want to participate. Filming for this production team's first feature film begins directly after the semester ends (May) and goes into the remainder of the summer (August).  With the donations collected via GoFundMe, the production team will acquire equipment for filming and props for the shoot. All funds raised will be applied directly to the cost of producing the best quality film, writes Filmmaker and current Bronxville residen…
Somers Fourth-Grader Wins Earth Day Poster Contest Somers Fourth-Grader Wins Earth Day Poster Contest
Somers Fourth-Grader Wins Earth Day Poster Contest SOMERS, N.Y. --  You can't change the past, but you can change the future.  Such is the mantra of Julia Schmidberger, a fourth grader at Somers Intermediate School who came up with the slogan and put it to paper, entering her project in Senator Terrence Murphy's 2017 Earth Day Poster Contest for grades K-6.  Schmidberger's entry, which also encompassed the contest's theme, "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle," was chosen as this year's winner. "Congratulations, Julia, for creating a poster that truly captured the message of this year's contest," said Senator Murphy. "All of…
Westchester Teen Puts One Foot Forward With School-Spirited Sneakers Westchester Teen Puts One Foot Forward With School-Spirited Sneakers
Westchester Teen Puts One Foot Forward With School-Spirited Sneakers NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Rebecca Feldman is really excited about pursuing a BFA degree at Temple University's Tyler School of Art in the fall. The New Rochelle high school senior is also excited about her friends' decisions to go to Yale, Tufts, Boston College and University of Wisconsin and so, to help get them off on the right foot --- pun intended -- she started creating custom designs for sneakers in the colors, logos and mascots of their soon-to-be-schools. Each shoe is covered from the top, sides and back with different patterns and details including the graduation year and school slogan…