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Westchester Mom 'Rocks' It With Inspirational Messages On Stones Westchester Mom 'Rocks' It With Inspirational Messages On Stones
Westchester Mom 'Rocks' It With Inspirational Messages On Stones Tara Unger is hoping to bring more kindness and inspiration into the world -- or at least into her small part of Northern Westchester. Two days after the riots in Charlottesville, VA in August, the Katonah mom felt she had to do something to both help make sense of the world -- and teach her kids they are responsible for how their future will look. And so, she started painting inspirational messages on stones and leaving them around town.   "The hope was that someone having a hard day/time, walking with their head down, would spot one and smile.  "The idea was that the message o…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
Iona Prep Junior Organizes Hurricane Relief Efforts For Florida, Texas Iona Prep Junior Organizes Hurricane Relief Efforts For Florida, Texas
Iona Prep Junior Organizes Hurricane Relief Efforts For Florida, Texas WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. - While thousands in Texas and Florida are dealing with the fallout of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, an Iona Preparatory student is coordinating efforts to help some of the neediest residents who have lost everything. Bedford resident Conor Lane, a junior at Iona Prep, has organized relief efforts with the school’s Leadership Program to provide basic necessities to the residents of Texas and Florida who are still busy cleaning up from the recent rash of hearty hurricanes. Since the hurricanes hit land, students at Iona Prep, led by Lane, have been collecting items tha…

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by Zak Failla
Neighbors
Westchester Professor Wins Emmy Award For Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Show Westchester Professor Wins Emmy Award For Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Show
Westchester Professor Wins Emmy Award For Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Show The Emmy Awards are Sunday, Sept. 17 but one local resident already got his gold statue. Purchase College Professor Dave Grill just received his fourth Emmy Award for lighting Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Halftime Show in the category of "Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Special." The associate professor of theatre design/technology, a Mahwah, N.J. resident, won three prior Emmy awards for lighting design in 2002, 2013, and 2015. Megan Seibel, a Purchase student, had the opportunity of a lifetime assisting him at the halftime show. You can read her blog post…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
Westchester Singer Once Embarrassed By Disease Aims To Connect Women Westchester Singer Once Embarrassed By Disease Aims To Connect Women
Westchester Singer Once Embarrassed By Disease Aims To Connect Women SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. --  It's not every day an 11-year-old is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. But even more incredible when that woman  -- now 22 -- gets breast cancer. But instead of wallowing in her illness, Bianca Muñiz is singing about it -- and raising awareness about the travails of cancer.  The Sleepy Hollow resident, who took voice lessons at Lagond Music School in Elmsford (and has been singing since second grade) started talking/blogging about her experiences as a way to help others. "The first time I was diagnosed I was embarrassed and wanted to pretend like it wasn't happeni…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
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Westchester Author Unravels Tale Of Little Known Holocaust Story Westchester Author Unravels Tale Of Little Known Holocaust Story
Westchester Author Unravels Tale Of Little Known Holocaust Story WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y.-- Yvette Manessis Corporon is a three-time Emmy Award–winning writer, author, and producer at NBC's EXTRA who tells other people's stories for a living. But when it came time to tell her own, it took a while. The Yonkers resident, who lives on the Bronxville border, grew up listening to her grandmother’s stories about how the people of Erikousa, a small Greek island, hid a Jewish family—a tailor named Savvas and his daughters—from the Nazis during World War II. Nearly 2,000 Jews from that area died in the concentration camps but even though everyone on Erikousa knew…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
Westchester's David Letterman Returns To TV With New Netflix Show Westchester's David Letterman Returns To TV With New Netflix Show
Westchester's David Letterman Returns To TV With New Netflix Show David Letterman, the original host of "Late Night" (NBC) and "The Late Show" (CBS) will be back broadcasting for a new series on Netflix. The yet-to-be-named, six-episode series has the longtime North Salem resident combining two interests for which he is renowned: in-depth conversations with extraordinary people, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humor. In each hour-long episode, Letterman will conduct a long-form conversation with a singular guest -- and will also explore topics on his own, away from the studio. The series is set to premiere in 201…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
Got Mail? This Is Only Hudson Valley Post Office Open Labor Day Got Mail? This Is Only Hudson Valley Post Office Open Labor Day
Got Mail? This Is Only Hudson Valley Post Office Open Labor Day Believe it or not, you can send a letter on Labor Day, Hudson Valley residents. In some cases, you may need to travel a bit to do it, and even cross a bridge. Hint: Make that the new bridge. The Postal Service’s Palisades Postal Store at the mall in West Nyack is the only post office in the Greater Hudson Valley that is open on Labor Day.  Full postal retail services are available from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with U.S. Passport application acceptance hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Although there will be no regular mail service on Monday, Sept. 4, Priority Mail Express will be delivered on Labor Da…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
Westchester Girl Hopes To Stop Bullying With New Musical Westchester Girl Hopes To Stop Bullying With New Musical
Westchester Girl Hopes To Stop Bullying With New Musical When it comes to bullying, Ariel Pennington-Reyes is teaching people the importance of being an upstander rather than a bystander. Pennington-Reyes, a Yonkers resident, is one of the stars of "It's Easy," which debuts Saturday, Sept. 16 for a 10-show run through Sunday, Oct. 8 at the Irvington Town Hall Theater. The musical, geared toward kids in grades 4-8, takes place in one day in the life of 6th-grade classmates, where bullies make life miserable and bystanders stay quiet.  Pennington-Reyes, who is about to start 7th grade at Pearls Hawthorne, plays Joy Montgomery, the school…

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by Sam Barron
Neighbors
Westchester 13-Year-Old To Sing At US Open Westchester 13-Year-Old To Sing At US Open
Westchester 13-Year-Old To Sing At US Open WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- Twelve vocalists age 14 and under will perform patriotic-themed songs during the night sessions of the 2017 US Open and- - and one Yonkers resident is among them. Thirteen-year-old Brandon Hernandez will be returning for his second consecutive year to sing "America the Beautiful." Other performers include talent from throughout the New York metropolitan area, as well as from Arizona, Florida, and Hawaii. The US Open runs from Monday, Aug. 28 to Sunday, Sept 10; Hernandez will sing on Thursday, Aug. 31 prior to the night session, which starts at 7 p.m. …

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
Westchester Actor Selected For North American Tour Of 'Les Miz' Westchester Actor Selected For North American Tour Of 'Les Miz'
Westchester Actor Selected For North American Tour Of 'Les Miz' NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Jordan Cole saw "Les Miserables" when it was on Broadway when he was 7-years-old and walked out of the theater telling his parents that one day, he wanted to be the street urchin, Gavroche.  Now, at 10, the New Rochelle resident, whose real name is Jordan Feigenbaum, is getting his wish. After touring as Michael Llewelyn Davies in "Finding Neverland" -- his first big role outside of local theater -- he 's now set to play his dream role in the upcoming Broadway tour of Les Miz. He and another boy will alternate in the role. The adventure, according…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
15-Year-Old Westchester Student Inspires Girls To Think Big 15-Year-Old Westchester Student Inspires Girls To Think Big
15-Year-Old Westchester Student Inspires Girls To Think Big MOHEGAN LAKE, N.Y. --  Raina Ghosh, a Lakeland Copper Beech Middle School student was one of nine awardees from across the country who took part in the nationwide ThinkBIG Challenge, a nonprofit organization established two years ago by then 13-year old Jothi Ramaswamy. ThinkSTEAM, her 501(c) 3 Mohegan Lake-based group, profiled in an earlier Daily Voice story, operates with financial backing from organizations including Ardsley-based Acorda Therapeutics, Purchase-based PepsiCo, IBM in Armonk, Wal-Mart and PepsiCo. The organization is built around recognizing female talent in the math, tech…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
Neighbors
Westchester Native Earns Prestigious Promotion From United States Navy Westchester Native Earns Prestigious Promotion From United States Navy
Westchester Native Earns Prestigious Promotion From United States Navy TUCKAHOE, N.Y. - A Tuckahoe High School graduate has received a prestigious promotion from the U.S. Navy. David Fillis, a Tuckahoe native and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy College graduate has been promoted to a U.S. Navy Captain serving with the Military Sealift Command Navy Reserve Ship Support Unit based out of Navy Operational Support Center in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Fillis - whose parents still live in Eastchester - was promoted at a ceremony conducted at the Corporal Jedh C. Baker American Legion Auxiliary Unit 153 in New Jersey. According to Navy officials, Fillis joined the armed ser…

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by Zak Failla