Fairfield, CT
Schools
With Schools Opening, Police Warn Motorists Of $465 Bus Violation Penalties With Schools Opening, Police Warn Motorists Of $465 Bus Violation Penalties
With Schools Opening, Police Warn Motorists Of $465 Bus Violation Penalties With schools set to open up for the year in the coming days, police departments in Fairfield County are cautioning motorists to be safe around school buses, or else they may face a hefty fine. “School buses will be hitting the roads again, and we urge you to drive with caution and never drive distracted,” police said, noting that violations will be “strictly enforced” and carry penalties that include fines of no less than $465.  According to AAA, every day, about 500,000 school buses transport more than 23 million students to and from school. However, each year, nationally, about 24 school-…

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by Zak Failla
Mahwah-Ramsey, NJ
Police & Fire
Cool, Calm Mahwah Boy, 11, Smells Smoke Before School Bus Goes Up In Flames Cool, Calm Mahwah Boy, 11, Smells Smoke Before School Bus Goes Up In Flames
Cool, Calm Mahwah Boy, 11, Smells Smoke Before School Bus Goes Up In Flames Nothing rattles 11-year-old Rocco Arcese of Mahwah – the kid’s an award-winning downhill racer. So when the school bus he’d just gotten on caught fire Tuesday morning, he calmly told the driver he’d better pull over. Rocco was the Durham Bus Company driver’s first pickup on the way to Joyce Kilmer Middle School. They’d gone barely 300 yards on Chapel Road in Fardale when the fifth-grader smelled smoke. So they quickly got off. SEE: Flames Consume Mahwah School Bus Police officers were there instantly and members of Mahwah Fire Co. 4 quickly doused the Durham Bus Company engine fire. Whi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Mahopac, NY
Schools
Brewster Voters Reject School Budget; All Other Putnam Spending Plans OK'd Brewster Voters Reject School Budget; All Other Putnam Spending Plans OK'd
Brewster Voters Reject School Budget; All Other Putnam Spending Plans OK'd By just 119 votes, Brewster taxpayers defeated a proposed $99 million school budget on Tuesday. The vote was 808 against to 689 supporting next year's spending plan.  The school district and Board of Education will now have to come up with a revised budget for a second vote before resorting to a contingency spending plan.  Brewster voters, meanwhile, passed a ballot issue to borrow $754,000 and buy new school buses, by a vote of 835 to 660. In addition to passing their school budget, Mahopac voters gave the OK to borrow up to $1 million for new school buses Putnam Valley Schools were seek…

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by Jon Craig
Mount Pleasant, NY
Police & Fire
Two School Buses Involved In Area Crash Two School Buses Involved In Area Crash
Two School Buses Involved In Area Crash About 20 students and a couple of adults are being evaluated following a crash between two school buses at the intersection of Route 311 and North Terry Hill Road in the Hamlet of Lake Carmel in the Town of Kent. No injuries were reported in the crash that occurred around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, officials said. Check back to Daily Voice for updates. 

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by Kathy Reakes
Newburgh, NY
Business
Bus Company To Lay Off More Than 160 In Orange County Bus Company To Lay Off More Than 160 In Orange County
Bus Company To Lay Off More Than 160 In Orange County More than 160 jobs face elimination at the end of June following the announcement that First Student Bus Company had lost its contract with the Pine Bush School District. The company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification on April 3, which notified the state that 166 employees would be laid off as of June 29. The notice also said the Depot Street plant would close. First Student listed the “loss of Pine Bush School District contract to Birnie Bus” as the reason for the elimination of jobs. A media spokesperson for neither First Student or Birnie Bus were not available for co…

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by Kathy Reakes
Cresskill-Closter, NJ
Police & Fire
Hero Driver Gets Students Off Burning Cresskill School Bus Hero Driver Gets Students Off Burning Cresskill School Bus
Hero Driver Gets Students Off Burning Cresskill School Bus CRESSKILL, N.J. — A bus driver got two students out of the vehicle before it erupted in flames Wednesday morning, authorities said. The Valley Transportation driver said he was traveling north on Knickerbocker Road when he observed smoke coming from the engine around 8:50 a.m., Cresskill Police Detective Charles Franke said. No injuries were reported, police said. He pulled over and exited the bus with two students, and all took shelter in the vehicle of a driver who had pulled to the side of the road, according to Creskill police. Police did not know which school the bus was headed to, Fr…

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by Cecilia Levine