Editor's Notebook: Week in Review

Rye Patch debuted this week and we did our best to cover the most interesting and relevant community news in the city and town of Rye.

On Tuesday, we had tons of stories. Our welcome video helped readers navigate the site, showing everything Rye Patch has to offer, from our comprehensive directory of local businesses to our coverage of sports and local government.

Our lead story was about outgoing mayor Steve Otis' last Rye City Council meeting. Otis' fellow council members and political rivals had kind words for the departing mayor, whose 12-year tenure as Rye mayor will end when Republican Doug French is sworn-in on Jan. 1 (***check out Rye Patch next week for coverage of Doug's swearing-in). We ran a story later in the week about the city's tight 2010 budget. No Rye City Hall employees will get raises next year. However, members of one of the city's collective bargaining units will get 4% raises as a condition of their contracts, which don't expire until 2010. The city said a tighter budget was necessary because 2010 won't be a business as usual year. 

We also did a story about the Village of Rye Brook considering a dog ban on active play fields.  Signs at certain parks say that dogs are prohibited, while the village's current code states that dogs are allowed in parks if they are on leashes. The village will unify its code at an upcoming meeting in early 2010.

Our business coverage included a profile of environmentally-friendly businesses in Rye.  Our reporter, Kristin Thorne, interviewed the owners of Rye Green Limo, an eco-conscious airport car service, and Rhythm in Rye, Too, a consignment shop on Purchase Street that encourages "green shopping." 

We also delved into how the economy is affecting local merchants. We interviewed business owners on Purchase Street and asked them about their hopes for the holiday shopping season. Luckily, some customers decided to support local businesses rather than big name retailers. 

The Rye High School Garnets had an interesting week in sports.  Rye Girls basketball coach, Mary Henwood, celebrated her 300th win days before her team placed second in the Rye Rotary Classic.

In a hectic game, the boys basketball team lost by one point to the Valhalla High Vikings.  Coach Chris DiCintio said his team was encountering a stretch of bad luck by narrowly losing several close games, but would rebound as the season continued.

Rye Patch also published some solid opinion pieces. Our reporter, Jaclyn Bruntfield wrote about how to teach your children to be charitable this holiday season ( those lessons can never start to early). Rye resident Jim Amico wrote a column that was a call to action for parents and their children. Amico, whose son Jarrid was hit and killed by car, has been campaigning for safety improvements in Rye for the last few years. His column outlined what areas in Rye need safety upgrades and he even gave parents tips on keeping their children safe on public streets.

We rounded out the week with a few lifestyle and entertainment pieces. We gave you 10 things to do for Christmas and winter break--and we even threw in a list of Christmas Eve religious services, so you could balance your fun with a bit of worship.

We've covered lots more, so feel free to search the site for other engaging stories from the past week. Rye Patch will be your source for everything that is happening in the city and town of Rye---from local government and school board meetings to sports and arts and entertainment. We'll be doing a "Week in Review" every Sunday, so if you missed anything during the week, we've got you covered.

Thanks for visiting!