Week in Review

Rye Patch started the week with a video on the Tour de Foliage Cycle race, an annual fundraiser for the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation. This week's piece was a follow-up to a story we did last month about Rebecca Newman, a Blind Brook middle school student who suffers from familial dysautonomia, a rare Jewish genetic disorder affecting the sensory and nervous systems. More than 100 people participated in the tour, including the "Rye Brook Riders," a group of the Newmans' Rye Brook neighbors who cycle together every weekend and have participated in the tour for years.

Happy, Rye's favorite golden retriever, was busy again this week giving his owner something else to fuss—and write—about. For Happy, the grass may literally be greener on the other side, given his latest addiction to eating the neighbor's lawn. Apparently, Happy's vice is causing Peter some angst: "Every month it's something! Now, he's taking bites out of peoples' lawns. The thing is, he swallows the grass before you can stop him. I told him it's unnecessary. That the possession laws are not as stiff as they used to be. But did he listen?" Hopefully, Happy will move on from this grass-eating phase and start eating things that are truly edible—Pedigree dog food, perhaps?

New York held its election primaries on Tuesday and Rye Patch not only provided voters with an election day primer, but also interviewed voters and poll workers about the new electronic voting machines. Some voters loved how easy it was to use the new ImageCast machines compared to the old lever machines, while others thought it was more cumbersome and time consuming. On the whole, poll workers said the new machines streamlined the voting process, but they also mentioned that they were anxious to see what would happen during the general election in November when there are more voters.

A lot of news came out of this week's Rye City Council meeting. After months of discussion, the council passed a resolution to amend its solicitor law. Solicitors in the city will now have to submit to a criminal background check and be licensed to go door to door in the city. Residents now also have the option to join Rye's "Do Not Knock" registry, which solicitors can download from the city's website every day so that they know which homes prohibit them from knocking.

The Rye City Council also doubled permit fees for commuter parking this week. It'll now cost $720 a year to park at the train station on Depot Plaza, an increase that will net the city six figures in additional revenue. Residents who want to renew their commuter permits—even with the price hike—can do so online beginning Oct. 1.

We also did a story on budget cuts at the Port Chester-Rye Brook public library. We've covered budget cuts at local libraries consistently during the last few months. If you're looking for Twilight or other new works of fiction, you won't find it at the Port Chester-Rye Brook public library because it can't afford to shelve newer books. From 2008 to 2009, the number of adult non-fiction books dropped from 33,000 to 30,000, and the library sometimes can't afford to re-shelve classic works like Catcher in the Rye.

We've 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 Rye area, 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.