Bronxville and Scarsdale region

I stopped by the William E. Cottle school in Tuckahoe this morning to check out any “pre-school” activity.  I found a bunch of teachers starting to set up their classrooms. Photo above: Rebecca Cioffi a fourth year teacher at the William E. Cottle elementary school in Tuckahoe gets her kindergarten through second grade self contained class in order as she set up her room at the school, Aug. 31, 2010.  At right: Maria Bietsch, a second grade teacher readies her classroom at the school, Aug. 31, 2010.( Mark Vergari / The Journal News ) See more in an upcoming Review Press Express publication and click the link here for an online photo gallery from the Cottle School on LoHud.com.

Five Scarsdale residents reported seeing a large, healthy coyote scampering around several residential neighborhoods in the village Monday.

Scarsdale village police were called to Catherine Road twice, where they spotted the coyote which appeared non-aggressive. Both times it scurried away, police said.

Scarsdale coyote sightings

View Scarsdale coyote sightings in a larger map

Scarsdale Detective Lt. Bryant G. Clark believes that the five residents all saw the same animal, although some of the homes are miles apart.

The first sighting was at 180 Brewster Road at 7:11 a.m., where the coyote was spotted heading toward Post Road. The second was at 1:41 p.m. on Wynmore Road where a resident said he saw a large coyote in his back yard. At 2:32 p.m. a Farragut Road woman called police to say a coyote ran through her back yard toward Carthage Road. At 4:36 p.m. the coyote was spotted at 99 Catherine Road and the last reported sighting was at 7:31 p.m. at 87 Catherine Road.

Clark said as long as the animal is not sick or aggressive, police action is not necessary.

Kim Meyers said her husband, Evan, saw the coyote in the back yard of their 99 Catherine Road home. She said she worries about their dog.
Meyers’ dog is confined to their property by an electronic fence, like her neighhbors’ pets, she said.

When Scarsdale police arrived at Meyers’ home, the officer flushed out the coyote from the back yard and it ran through the woods. The officer believed the coyote was on Meyers’ property trying to catch small rodents.

Jonathan Carter, 22, spotted the coyote after returning to his Catherine Road home at 7:31 p.m. after going out to dinner.
“It was pretty casual,” said Carter, of the animal’s attitude. “It was large. It looked like a big fox or dog.”

Carter called the police on his cell phone. He also notified his neighbor whose property the coyote “gallivanted” onto, because the family has a small dog, Carter said.

“It is pretty worrisome,” Carter said. “It is clearly looking for food. (Officials) don’t need to kill it, but they can put it in a remote area.”

Message from Westchester County…

Construction will begin in mid-September for a new garden that will capture stormwater runoff from downspouts and pavement around the clubhouse and pro shop at Saxon Woods Golf Course in Scarsdale.

The construction, scheduled to last about a week, is not expected to disrupt golf play or activities at the clubhouse and pro shop.

The infiltration of stormwater through the garden’s soil will reduce the amount of runoff entering nearby drainage systems and streams, helping to reduce flooding. Plants and soil in this rain garden will filter out many of the pollutants commonly found in runoff before they enter water supplies.

The Department of Planning worked in collaboration with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation to develop the project. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets funded $17,600 to the county and the Soil and Water Conservation District for the project.

An early heads-up:

Annual Town Yard Sale – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 3, Lake Isle Country Club on White Plains Road.

Antique Vendors, yard sale items, new items, crafts, gently used. The will be something for  everyone!

The festival includes an Antique mini road show.  Appraisers will be on hand to give general appraisals of your family heirlooms.

Spaces are available. To apply for one, email townyardsale@yahoo.com for more information or for a contract, or call Village hall at 914-231-0221. All proceeds to benefit Eastchester & Tuckahoe Beautification Committees.

Tuckahoe resident Christopher McGrath was “whiffing on marijuana” from a ceramic bong in his 2005 Nissan Altima when he was stopped at a Tuckahoe police DWI checkpoint on Friday night, police said.

McGrath encountered the checkpoint at Elm Street and Yonkers Avenue as he was headed back to Tuckahoe after drinking in a bar in New York City that night, Lt. Ray Stabile said. When Tuckahoe Officer Vincent Pinto walked up to the car and McGrath rolled down the window, the smell of marijuana smoke hit the officer in his face, Stabile said.

Police took the bong and McGrath submitted to an alcohol test which showed he was high and drunk, Stabile said. McGrath, 23, of 78 Wallace St. in Tuckahoe, had a blood alcohol level at .12, one and one half times the legal limit of .08, police said. He was arrested for driving while ability impaired and driving while intoxicated, both misdemeanors.

McGrath was among numerous people caught in DWI checkpoints by the Bronxville, Eastchester, Scarsdale, Tuckahoe Alcohol and Drug Enforcement Task Force in Tuckahoe, Eastchester and Bronxville Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday night each police department conducted their own checkpoints and on Saturday they worked together.

In Tuckahoe, one other person received a DWAI summons. In Bronxville, one person was arrested for DWAI and another for unlawful possession of marijuana, police said. In Eastchester, police made one arrest for DWI, five for traffic misdemeanors, one for possession of a forged driver’s license, and one for obstruction of governmental administration.

The Village of Bronxville just sent this over:

The Village will mill and pave Pondfield Road (from Tanglewylde to Midland) and Tanglewylde Ave (from Pondfield to Garden) during the night (7 pm thru 3 am) on Tue, 8/31 & Wed, 9/1. Portions of Midland Ave in the vicinity of Masterton Rd will also be affected.  During this period there will be no street parking and the roads will be intermittingly closed.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience during this period.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., discussed the economy, unemployment, dysfunction in Albany and Washington, health care, war, housing and the proposed cultural center and mosque in lower Manhattan, in an Editorial Spotlight interview Thursday. You’ll find the entire interview at www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; click “on demand” and select the video from the menu.

Here are some selected highlights from our interview.

Gillibrand on government transparency:

Concordia College sent this to us:

The Rev. Roy William Minnix III has been named the new campus pastor at Concordia College-New York in Bronxville.  He has also been called to serve as Associate Pastor of the Village Lutheran Church, across the street from the College.

Born in Springville, N.Y., Rev. Minnix is an ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  He graduated from Concordia College in 2001 with a degree in Judeo-Christian Heritage and completed his Master of Divinity at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 2006.

His vicarage year was spent working closely with youth and families at Peace With Christ Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. There, Pastor Minnix also created a college-age ministry group.

His first call was to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Hudson, NY where he served as Pastor for the past four years. Pastor Minnix and his wife Jennifer (Waller) have three children, Emily, 6, Rachel, 3, and Roy, 2.

Pastor Minnix will be installed as Associate Pastor of Village Lutheran Church at 4 p.m.  Sept. 12.

This came in over the weekend.

The movement for non-motorized transportation is taking hold in the lower Hudson Valley, with the Bike Walk Alliance of Westchester & Putnam working with state and local officials to make our communities friendlier for cyclists and pedestrians.

Mark your calendars for Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Bronxville Women’s Club, 135 Midland Ave., where we will be honoring Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins for sponsoring Merrill’s Law, the safe-biking law recently signed by the governor.

The event, which includes light fare and drinks and ends about 10 p.m., includes Captain Lawrence ale and features The Tara O’Grady Trio.

Tickets are $50 per person.

The event benefits the Bike Walk Alliance, an affiliate of the East Coast Greenway, so your donation is tax-deductible. Register at http://www.firstgiving.com/merrillslaw

Checks can be made to “East Coast Greenway” and mailed to BWAWP c/o Dave Wilson, 104 Topland Road, Mahopac, NY, 10541

The Journal News and LoHud.com wish to hear from candidates vying in local Westchester, Rockland and Putnam races in September and November — including for the state Legislature but excluding statewide and federal offices.

Please send us an e-mail including your full name, home address, daytime phone number and an active e-mail address to elections@lohud.com. In both the subject line and body of the e-mail, be sure to indicate which office you are vying for. The information will be used by our news and opinion staffs to contact and correspond with candidates. Additionally, the e-mail address will be used to send candidates a questionnaire that will form the basis of an online guide for voters.