Editor's Notebook: Week in Review

Rye Patch began the week with breaking news and public safety stories.

On Monday, we did a story on Rye Brook Police alerting residents that a convicted sex offender had moved back into the community. Michael Vitarello, a 31-year-old Rye Brook native, was convicted in 2002 of assaulting and raping a 20-year-old woman in Bronxville. Vitarello was sentenced to 10 years, but was released early sometime around March 19. The conditions of his release state that he has to enroll in alcohol and sex offender treatment programs. He also cannot have a driver's license or be in the presence of any child under the age of 18.

On Tuesday, we had breaking news in Mount Vernon that affected all Metro-North commuters headed to Harrison, Rye, Larchmont and other locations. Twenty-one year old Stephanie Cacho crashed through an overpass in Mount Vernon Monday night, plunging off a 30 foot embankment and onto Metro-North train tracks. Cacho survived the incident, but commuters headed home that night experienced delays of up to 45 minutes. MTA spokesperson Dan Bucker said Cacho survived four or five possible catastrophes: "Her motor car somehow missed contact with four 600-volt direct-current rails. She survived the accident. Her car didn't explode and she was not immolated because of the (likely) fire," he said. "It's astounding the car didn't explode on contact with the third rail."

Readers who have continued to follow the exploits of Peter Gerstenzang and his dog, Happy, read about Peter's efforts to brush Happy's teeth this week. Peter searched far and wide for dog toothpaste, only to find the special brand his doctor recommended at Rye's Pet Pantry Warehouse. At the end of his search, Peter remembered that he would actually have to follow through with the thankless task of brushing Happy's teeth, something about which he was a bit hesitant: "Then, it hit me. All this time, I'd only been looking to buy a tube of this toothpaste (Brand name Withheld). Now, I was going to have to squeeze some of this stuff out. And do the hard part. I was going to have to actually brush my dog's teeth. As I walked inside, I felt like screaming. But I was afraid to. Because, I thought, if I ever start, I might never stop."

We also did an interesting feature on local citizens . We interviewed Sam Marcus and Dick Hubert, frequent critics of the Blind Brook Board of Education (Hubert is now running for a position on the board, by the way). We also included Henry King, who has attended nearly every Rye City Council meeting in the last four years, and Bertrand deFrondeville, a descendent of French nobility and a long-time Rye resident who studies school budgets and argues that the Rye City School District needs to adopt more fiscally conservative policies. Rye Mayor Doug French said the city welcomes input from concerned citizens, but that the comments have to be productive and not interfere with the city's business.

We also did a story about Rye Brook's budget cuts. The Village Board is asking each department head to cut five percent of their budgets. On Monday the board met with representatives from the library and police department to discuss potential cuts. The library will likely have to cut $67,000 from its budget, which could mean a reduction in summer hours, cuts to storytelling programs and fewer materials, such as books, newspapers and DVDs. The police department will have one less vehicle and is considering the elimination one school crossing guard position. We'll see how deep the cuts actually are when the village adopts its budget on April 27.

Our other stories this week included a discussion at the Rye City Council meeting about the city's flood mitigation efforts, with some residents arguing that the city should abandon the $2.2 million Bowman Avenue Sluice Gate project and raise the dam. We also had a story about NASA Astronaut and Rye native Nicholas Patrick's visit to Rye schools. 

We wrapped up the week with a follow-up from last week's story about a coyote attack that killed a dog at the Osborn Retirement Community. On Thursday, we did a video interview with Judith Steers, the dog's owner, who detailed what happened last Wednesday night. On Friday, we featured a story on the results of the "How Green is Your Town?" study. The Rye City School District, like the rest of Westchester County, could use some improvement. The district scored 69 percent, the equivalent of a D+.

We've also covered lots more this weekend, 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.