Police Dog Falco, Loyal to the End, Remembered by 200


There wasn’t a dry eye at the Wells Park in Brewster Sunday when Brewster Police Chief John DelGado presented the ashes of the department’s beloved canine, Falco, to the dog’s handler, Sgt. Paul Italiano, during a memorial service that attracted some 200 mourners on a chilly morning. The five-year-old German shepherd – named in memory of Carmel resident and former […]

Veterans Day Celebrated Across Putnam County


Arctic cold along with golden sunshine and glorious blue skies greeted scores of veterans Saturday when Putnam County observed Veterans Day. At the Lake Carmel monument with the temperature at a bone chilling 22 degrees and winds blowing off the lake, Director of Veterans Affairs Karl Rohde thanked the hearty two dozen attendees for “remembering our vets.” In Mahopac, some […]

Langley takes sheriff race!

elections 2017

UPDATED STORY, 11:35 pm Tuesday: It’s now official: Robert Langley is the new sheriff in town. Langley bested Sheriff Donald Smith by 342 votes to wrestle the county’s top law enforcement position from the four-term incumbent. On Tuesday night, 1,204 absentee ballots were counted at the Board of Elections office in Carmel and Langley received 571 votes to the sheriff’s […]

Brewster High School Salutes Veterans


The Brewster High School Performing Arts Center was a site to behold when the school family joined community members by saluting America’s veterans. ‘A Salute to Veterans’ attracted more than 700 men, women and children to the school’s campus last Wednesday evening for song and speeches that rekindled a feeling of good old-fashioned patriotism. Veterans from World War II, Korea, […]

Raises Out of Line for Putnam

To the Editor: The 2018 Putnam County Budget was adopted on October 26, 2017, and yet Letters to the Editor and opinions are being written in its defense. Specifically, about the 13.9 salary increases for the County Legislators. Monday night, October 16, a group of residents attended a legislative personnel budget meeting to question the size of the raises. At […]

Cunningham’s Corner

FREE The Landscape Shifts

My goodness. Sometimes the obvious isn’t really obvious until boom! There it is. I think that’s the case with the election last week. Who thought Don Smith, sheriff, retired brigadier general and tank commander, might get beat? His opponent, obviously, but among the rest of Putnam County, especially those who follow politics? Not many, I’ll tell you that. Four years […]

Beacon Line Rail Trail Public Hearing This Evening

A public informational meeting is planned for this evening (Tuesday) to seek input regarding the creation of the Beacon Line Rail Trail– part of the new Empire State Trail–consisting of a 750 mile bike and walking path–from the Big Apple to Canada and from Albany to Buffalo. The local 23-mile rail will revitalize the Maybrook Branch running from east to […]

Hydrant Flushing In Brewster Tomorrow


Residents served by the Brewster Water District are being urged not to wash clothing while keeping the use of hot water to a minimum tomorrow (Wednesday) as municipal workers flush hydrants throughout the half-square mile village. The work will get underway at 7:30 am and according to Village Clerk Peter Hansen will continue throughout the day until completed. Hansen noted […]

Traffic and Revenue Up On Bear Mountain Bridge


Nearly six million vehicles have crossed the Bear Mountain Bridge during the first nine months of the year. The NYS Bridge Authority released its monthly statistics last week indicating 692,000 vehicles crossed the bridge from Putnam into Orange County during September upping the total for the first three quarters of 2017 to 5,969,042 vehicles. The number has increased by 12.4 […]

Rebate Checks Hit The Mailboxes


Area residents will be receiving an early Christmas present from New York State now that Albany’s property tax relief credit checks are being mailed this week. A spokeswoman for the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance told the Courier and PCNR the average check will total $179 per household. Checks which are in larger amounts for homeowners with lower incomes […]