Superintendent of Schools Thomas Manko was frank with more than 200 residents attending a special meeting of the Mahopac Board of Education Tuesday night: “The difference between our revised budget and a contingency plan will be hardship versus decimation!” Putnam’s largest school system finds itself in the unenviable position of passing a reduced budget June 21 or enacting a state-mandated […]
Mahopac Remembers Its Veterans
Robert Bensburg called Memorial Day his responsibility to “remember comrades lost in battle” during his three tours of duty in Iraq. Bensburg, a resident of Mahopac, joined his 14-year-old daughter Kathy, Monday at the annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony that attracted hundreds of men, women and children to the Mahopac business district. Bensburg served with the Army in Iraq […]
Court Fight Pits Patterson Homeowners Against Builder
The American dream of a house in a country neighborhood has deteriorated into broken water mains, crumbling infrastructure, soaring costs and a yearslong legal battle for 17 families in the Meadowbrook Farms area of Patterson. The matter is now playing out in Supreme Court in Putnam County, before Justice Francis A. Nicolai. The 17 belong to the Meadowbrook Farms Homeowners […]
Carmel Man Arrested for Leaving Dog in Stifling Car
The chief of the recently formed Putnam County SPCA is amazed that “people don’t get it!” Ken Ross was summoned to the Putnam Plaza Shopping Center in Carmel last week for a report of a German shepherd locked in a car with its windows tightly closed. The air temperature at the time last Thursday afternoon was 84 degrees, with the […]
An Enthusiastic Approach Works Best
From The ChamberHave you ever noticed that some of today’s most inspiring leaders have a supply of seemingly endless passion and enthusiasm for their work? As the great Ralph Waldo Emerson once opined, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” People who have a zest for living and for their occupation/vocation just naturally attract others to follow their cause – its infectious! […]
Lynne Eckardt Steps Down as Democratic Chair to Run for Southeast Town Board
There is a change in the ranks of the Putnam County Democratic Committee. Lynne Eckardt has stepped down as chair after announcing her candidacy to run on the Democratic line for Southeast Town Board in November. Eckardt, a 33-year resident of Southeast, who owns and manages a local garden center, told the Courier Tuesday afternoon that she resigned her post […]
NYSEG Rebate Program May Save County Tax Dollars
Putnam County will be taking advantage of a rebate program offered by the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation that will save taxpayer dollars. NYSEG representative Jason Malizia detailed his company’s initiative at a meeting of the legislature’s Economic Development Committee last week by explaining that the program was open to NYSEG’s non-residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers and […]
Carmel-Kent Area Gets Head Start On Memorial Day
Large crowds gathered at the Lake Carmel Veterans Monument and at the Carmel Veterans Hall in downtown Carmel Sunday for a pair of Memorial Day observances. Karl Rohde, past New York State VFW Commander, urged those attending to never forget the sacrifices made by Americans vets asking the audience: “Do you know why America is a free nation and the […]
Town and American Legion Host Humanitarian Effort
A huge 53-foot-long trailer arrived in Mahopac Wednesday and for the next two weeks residents are being asked to donate needed supplies to the tornado ravaged Joplin, Missouri, area where 149 people were killed last week. Carmel Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt announced the joint humanitarian effort between his town and the Mahopac American Legion Post 1080. The trailer will be parked […]