2020-11-24 E-Edition

Layoffs at Putnam Hospital Center


In the midst of a pandemic and with the holidays days away, more than two dozen employees of Putnam Hospital Center have received pink slips advising their jobs are being terminated. While the hospital would not confirm which departments were being affected by the layoffs, sources told the Courier twelve bedside registered nurses were being terminated along with 15 support […]

Atlanta Man Wanted For Kidnapping And Assault Arrested In Kent; Case Draws Nationwide Notoriety & Highlights Dangers of Dating Apps


A resident of Atlanta, Georgia wanted by authorities there for assault, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment was arrested in Kent last Tuesday as a fugitive from justice. Kent Police received a tip that Benjamin Fancher, 31, was temporarily residing in the Hill and Dale Country Club with relatives and at 8 am, Tuesday (Nov. 17), patrols converged on the home and […]

Ledley Family Thanksgiving Tradition Continues


Dan, Brian and Gerard Ledley won’t be getting much rest in the next 48 hours as they prepare for what has become quite a family tradition: Feeding hundreds of workers in New York City as they prepare and deflate balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Despite the pandemic, the show in the Big Apple will go on—differently than in […]

Judge James Rooney: A Life Fulfilled


When Putnam County Judge James Rooney sits down with his wife for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, the lifelong Brewster resident will have a lot to be thankful for as he ends his career next month as a county magistrate. Rooney, who recently turned 70, will be hanging up his gavel and retiring from the bench on December 31. The soft-spoken and […]

Additional COVID Alerts Issued by Health Department


As coronavirus continues to spread more and more commercial venues have been exposed to the potentially deadly virus. Putnam Health officials Friday announced four locations where individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 had visited in recent days. A member of the public tested positive who was at Home Depot in Southeast on November 7 between 10 am and 11 am. A report […]

Construction Continues to Replace Route 6 Bridge in Brewster


Traffic is slower than usual these days in the Village of Brewster as New York State DOT crews continue to prepare for the installation of a railroad bridge on Route 6 that will replace the span that carries Carmel Avenue over the Harlem Division’s Metro- North Railroad tracks. NYS DOT Commissioner Marie Dominguez said the $10.9 project will “enhance safety […]

Early Thanksgiving Dinner Provided to Area Senior Citizens


The Thursday before Thanksgiving is usually a festive time in the Carmel School District as hundreds of seniors visit each of the district’s five school buildings and are treated to a home-cooked turkey dinner with all the trimmings courtesy of the district’s cafeteria staff and funded by the Carmel Teachers Association. With COVID, the in-school luncheon was not possible this […]

CUNNINGHAM’S CORNER

FREE Common Sense & the Holidays 2020

Somehow, I think the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, with its scraggly, bedraggled appearance, is something of a metaphor for 2020. A capstone, perhaps. What a year. But, as is usually the case, there is some optimism to be had. An adult male Northern saw-whet owl was found in the tree, apparently, there since the tree had been cut in upstate Oneonta. […]

398 New COVID Cases Across Putnam


The numbers are grim: Three hundredninety-eight new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Putnam County during the past two weeks. Last Friday evening, the Putnam Health Department noted the alarming number, indicating COVID-19 confirmed cases since the pandemic began in Putnam’s six towns now stand at 2,465. According to the latest data, four COVID-19 patients are hospitalized at Putnam […]