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For Immediate Release: February 22, 2012

PJS Jazz Society to Present Bluesy Vocalist Antoinette Montague on March 11.

Mount Vernon, NY – The PJS Jazz Society will present the jazz vocalist Antoinette Montague, esteemed for her bluesy approach and winning interpretations of well-known songs, at its next Second Sunday Jazz Series concert on Sunday, March 11 at the First Presbyterian Church on
North Columbus Avenue here in Mount Vernon. Doors open at 5 PM, there is an opening set by younger jazz musicians at 5:15, and then Montague will perform from 6-9 PM.

Tickets are $18 for non-members; $10 for PJS members; and $12 for students. Concerts are held in a cabaret setting, with food and beverages available for purchase.

Montague is a Newark, NJ native who grew up listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Paul Robeson, Nat King Cole and the spectrum of Motown artists. While a student a Seton Hall University, she began to drop into jazz jams in East Orange to sing a few songs and found the audiences enjoyed her tuneful talents. After a stint in an R&B band, she began working for vocalist Carrie Smith as an assistant, and gradually learned the intricacies of the music business.

Later, Montague was also able to mentor with three other significant jazz vocalists—Etta Jones, Myrna Lake and Della Griffin.

In recent years, Montague has performed with a number of great jazz artists, including the late Dr. Billy Taylor, Frank Wess and Winard Harper. She has released two acclaimed CDs, Pretty Blues and Behind the Smile.

The PJS Jazz Society presents the best in jazz every Second Sunday at the First Presbyterian Church, September through April. Area music fans know well enough that the PJS offers one of the best jazz “hangs” in Westchester. Held in the parish hall of the First Presbyterian Church, there is a decent break in the proceedings after the headliner finishes the first set, and often during the second set, many of the jazz musicians in attendance make their way to the
bandstand for a jam session.

Each April the PJS Jazz Society honors a particular jazz artist or two at its special “Tribute to a Legend” concert, and the 2012 honoree will be famed pianist Barry Harris. Last month’s concert
featuring popular vocalist Lynette Washigton drew a large crowd despite icy road conditions.

Additional parking for the PJS Jazz Society concerts is available at the Holmes School adjacent to the First Presbyterian Church. PJS concerts are made possible, in part, by ArtsWestchester with support from Westchester County.

Who: Jazz Vocalist Antoinette Montague.

What: PJS Jazz Society’s Second Sunday Jazz Series concert.

Where: First Presbyterian Church
            199 North Columbus Ave.
            Mount Vernon, NY

When:  Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 5:15-9:00 PM

Tickets: $10 members; $18 non-members; $15 students

For more information call Greg at (914) 793-7179 or visit www.pjsjazz.org

(White Plains, NY)  The Westchester Children’s Association (WCA) Advocacy Dinner Committee recently met to begin planning for the May 8 event which will be held at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown. Peter Herrero, President of the NY Hospitality Group and owner of Sam’s of Gedney Way, will receive the Edith C. Macy Award for Distinguished Service at the dinner. 

The award will be presented by Dr. Joseph Hankin, President of Westchester Community College. “We are very excited about this year’s dinner because of the opportunity to recognize Peter. Many people don’t realize how much he does to benefit Westchester County.

So many of the ways he volunteers and contributes improves the lives of the children in our County, and we are thrilled to have him on our team,” said event Chair Jody Greenbaum of White Plains. Kathryn Wasserman Davis of Tarrytown is the Honorary Chair. The Advocacy Dinner, catered by Abigail Kirsch, will include cocktails, and a silent auction. 

The Dinner is held annually to raise funds that will allow WCA to continue being the leading voice for Westchester’s children. WCA believes that all young people need the same things, such as health care, adequate housing, appropriate education, and safe, nurturing families.  “There are many children living in Westchester who don’t have these basic building blocks, and who need the larger community to make sure their needs are addressed.

WCA keeps children at the top of the public agenda by finding out what they need, making those needs known to the public and policy makers, studying effective approaches to meet those needs, and then advocating for necessary changes in policies, programs and legislation,” explained Executive Director Cora Greenberg. 

Single tickets for the Advocacy Dinner are $175 and Sponsorships are $500 – $7,500.  Journal ads are also available for $75-$2,000.  For additional information and to purchase tickets and journal ads call 914.946.7676 x300. For information about the Westchester Children’s Association visit www.wc4kids.org.

About the Westchester Children’s AssociationSince 1914, WCA has remained steadfast in its mission: to improve the lives of Westchester’s children by shaping policies and programs to meet their needs, and by keeping the well-being of Westchester’s children at the top of the public agenda.WCA identifies the needs of Westchester’s children and youth, develops innovative responses to those needs and advocates for policies and programs that benefit children.

WCA is a valued resource for policy makers and the media on issues affecting children because we are independent, knowledgeable and effective.WCA is non-partisan and is not limited by ties to any political group, organization or funding source.

“This tragic death, which media reports state came after the teen consumed Four Loko, is a reminder of how dangerous this product is – especially in its original, caffeinated form.“While its makers said they would not sell Four Loko’s original formula in New York State, I remain concerned by reports that some stores have apparently ignored what is essentially a gentlemen’s agreement.

“My legislation (S3889A) to outright ban these types of high alcohol, highly caffeinated ‘alco-pops’ has already passed out of the Senate Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, which I chair, and is ready for a vote by the full Senate body.

“It is my hope that this legislation becomes law and that similar tragedies can be avoided in New York once and for all.”

New York State Senator – 34th District

Jeff Klein

2.21.12, NARAL, Eleanor’s Legacy

Mayer Receives Major Endorsements.

Police and Fire unions rally for Mayer
 
YONKERS, NY- Tomorrow, Shelley Mayer, a former Assistant Attorney General in Charge of Westchester, will receive the endorsement of the major Police and Fire unions in the City of Yonkers: Yonkers Fire Local 628, Yonkers Uniformed Fire Officers Association, the Yonkers Police Captains, Lieutenants, and Sergeants Association, and the Yonkers Police Benevolent Association.

Mayer is running in a special election on March 20th for the 93rd Assembly District, vacated by Mayor Mike Spano.

When: Wednesday, February 22nd -  11 A.M.
 
Where: Yonkers 4th Police Precinct/ Fire Station 9 - 53 Shonnard Place, Yonkers.

If anyone wants to get involved or organize around this issue.

Letter to the Editor: http://www.hercampus.com/school/purchase/letter-editor-concerning-alt-clinic

 The campaign is pleased to share praise from the U.S. Term Limits (USTL) Organization, a leader in the grass roots movement to enact term limits for Congress in order to restore citizen legislators and eliminate career politicians.

Regarding the UTSL announcement, Mark Rosen made the following statement:

“Term limits is a concept whose time has come. It is only fitting to underscore this message during this President’s Day weekend, when our greatest Presidents exemplified the concept of serving the public good over narrow, special interests. Over the years, we have seen an erosion of the concept of the citizen legislator, with career politicians now ensconced in Congress. The incentive structure has gotten all twisted with self-created incumbency advantage mixed with an obscene set of perks, including exorbitant pension and health care benefits not available to the average citizen, causing a condition where few are willing to take on the real and hard problems.

A dysfunctional Congress is the end result.

I publicly commit to achieving passage of a term limits amendment and put my personal reputation on the line to assisting in leading and seeing passage of that amendment. Passage of a term limit amendment is directly related to driving an effective, pro-growth agenda which is my top priority when I am elected to Congress. Career Congresspersons are so worried about reelection and so beholden to narrow special interests that they fail to lead and drive real, creative and effective solutions for the issues that matter–such as growth and prosperity for Americans.

That kind of work is hard and doesn’t grab the big headlines like various symbolic issues that career politicians glom onto to drive wedges between voters and grab a headline or two. Bottom line, governing for the public good is hard, unglamorous work and requires perseverance and moral courage. Sometimes doing the right thing for the public good requires taking political risk.

Many people enter Congress with good intentions of doing good works, but somehow many forget why they entered. The only lasting result from the continuous reelection politics and making of false, unsustainable promises is a mountain of debt to be passed onto our children.

Term limits will cut the incentive structure cord to a career in Congress so Congresspersons can focus on what matters, take risk, and do the right thing for our children and grandchildren.

While I believe Congresswoman Nita Lowey is a well-meaning public servant, she is also a career politician, currently in her 24th year in Congress, who has not provided leadership in delivering creative and effective solutions for the challenges of our time. We have significant challenges in economic growth, jobs, spending, debt, tax policy, regulatory overreach, education, energy and healthcare. More of the same, ever-expanding spending on current programs without structural changes and effective solutions can only lead to an unsustainable safety net, a continually anemic economy, and an unforgiveable debt load and less promising future for our children. We need leadership and solutions, not more of the same career maintenance.

While I support term limits, I have also made clear to USTL that I do not believe three terms per member of the House of Representatives is the correct number of terms. I believe four or five terms is a better time frame. Six years is not enough. But, if a Congressperson cannot contribute substantially within a time frame of eight to ten years, they never will.”

To read the USTL announcement,  Link To: http://www.termlimits.org/files/USTL%20Mark%20Rosen%2012_14_11.pdf
Sincerely,

Mark Rosen

Meet the new Boss – zany as the old Boss

By Phil Reisman
The Journal News

LOHUD.COM

February 19, 2012

We’ve been remiss for too long. Ever since Bill Ryan lost his chairmanship on the Westchester County Board of Legislators a couple of years ago, the unofficial position of Boss has been left vacant.

The job of Boss does not come with perks or stipends. It is purely a ceremonial honor, akin to being named grand marshal of the annual Hartsdale Dog Parade. (Full disclosure: I myself was made grand marshal and wept with joy when I heard the news.)

To be appointed Boss, an individual must have an aptitude for comic overreach. Greed is a winner. So is hubris.

But a sure-fire way to win the Boss appointment is by tirelessly engaging in partisan politics to the point where your zaniness can be quantifiably measured by an independent panel of professors at the esteemed Ohio College of Clowns.

Well, we’ve finally reached critical mass. The verdict is in. Ken Jenkins, come on down!
You are the undisputed heavyweight Boss.

Hmm, Boss Jenkins. Has a nice ring to it.

The Yonkers Democrat deserves to fill the Boss vacancy because over and over again he has demonstrated an ability to drive his Republican adversaries into a frenzy. It’s not just plain old pettifoggery that Jenkins practices, it’s pettifoggery raised to an art form.

Make no mistake. It’s not that the board chairman is doing anything unethical per se. His peculiar talent is to quibble with just about anything served up by County Executive Rob Astorino and his GOP allies. Nothing is too trivial to block, defy and deny.

Not that Astorino isn’t capable of playing tit for tat. Indeed, there is enough credible evidence to suggest that Astorino believes that the Board of Legislators doesn’t even exist — especially the 10 Democrats who make up the majority.

But last week, Jenkins once again asserted that he, Jenkins, is the Boss.

The Democrats effectively stamped “dead on arrival” seven appointments Astorino made to fill several citizen-advisory boards and commissions. They were voted down 9-8.

Mike Kaplowitz of Chappaqua was the only Democrat who summoned the courage to oppose the Boss by joining the Republicans. Kaplowitz can now expect to see his office desk sawed in half.

In a two-page press release peppered with key words raised in upper case to indicate apoplexy, Jim Maisano, the Republican minority leader, claimed that the Democrats didn’t even bother to go through a review process to vet the appointees. This was apparently an unprecedented snub, one that puts Jenkins in the all-time Boss Hall of Fame.

By all accounts, Maisano went bananas and challenged the Democrats at a public meeting to come up with one good reason why the appointments were turned down. All he got back was the sound of crickets chirping.

Maisano said their silence proved that the rejections were “based solely on the Democrats’ desire to obstruct the county executive’s effort to provide these committees with the talent and expertise they need to function.”

The Republicans are still smarting over the way Jenkins aced them out of any committee chairmanships, claiming that was unprecedented, too. That was a classic Boss move — one that Maisano said was “an abuse of power” while acknowledging that as elected officials “we will sometimes have to deal with this type of nonsense.”

Rejecting Astorino’s appointments was a new low, he said, because they were going to PRIVATE CITIZENS, who would serve free of charge.

Note that the boards in question included the Human Rights Commission and the Housing Opportunity Commission. Those are not agencies normally associated with the GOP agenda, so it’s conceivable that Jenkins suspected Astorino was attempting to infiltrate the Democratic domain with spies.

Paranoia and espionage are two major product lines in county government. That’s why they get free cellphones.

Anyway, Maisano has a point. The professionals can bang each over the head with crowbars like the Three Stooges all they want. But when citizen volunteers are discouraged from serving, it does not look good.

The Democrats rubbed it in, too with a counter press release chiding the Republicans as whiny cry babies who should “accentuate the positive.”

Are there any grownups left?

Well, at least we have one vacancy filled and it’s unanimous. We have appointed a Boss.

When Jenkins announces he’s running for county executive sometime in 2013, it will not be front page news. Put it next to the crossword puzzle. It’s already an old story.
LINKS:

FACEBOOK:  www.facebook.com/jim.maisano

TWITTER:        www.twitter.com/jimmaisano

LINKEDIN:      www.linkedin.com/in/jimmaisano

BLOG:           www.jimmaisano.wordpress.com

County Legislator Jim Maisano is pleased to announce that he was re-elected by his colleagues as the Republican Minority Leader for the 2012-2013 term. Jim also served as Minority Leader during 2010-2011. He looks forward to continue serving in the leadership of the Board of Legislators and working with his Democrat colleagues and the County Executive in a positive manner to bring real change and reform to Westchester. Jim will continue his advocacy for fiscal responsibility to control county property taxes, protection of our neighborhoods and preservation of our environment.