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Love, Greed & Dictatorship Are Headlined In New Novel By Westchester Author Love, Greed & Dictatorship Are Headlined In New Novel By Westchester Author
Love, Greed & Dictatorship Are Headlined In New Novel By Westchester Author SCARSDALE, N.Y. -- What happens in the land of samba, Carnival and Bossa Nova when a brutal dictatorship takes over?  If you're looking for a summer read, look no further than "Days of Bossa Nova," a family saga about love, music and greed, set in São Paulo. Scarsdale Author Ines Rodrigues grew up in the South American city and worked as a journalist there before landing in New York years ago. Now, her first novel, inspired by her native home, is being published Saturday, May 27 by Black Opal Books. Rodrigues teaches Creative Writing at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence Co…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
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Yorktown Student Overcomes Cancer, Gets College Degree Yorktown Student Overcomes Cancer, Gets College Degree
Yorktown Student Overcomes Cancer, Gets College Degree YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- A Yorktown Heights student who battled cancer recently received her college diploma.Diana Pernicano was one of 618 students who received their diplomas at the Mount Saint Mary College Commencement in Newburgh on Saturday almost four years after she was diagnosed with cancer. Pernicano found a lump in her neck during a hands-on lesson in a nursing class that she credits with saving her life. She began treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma and is now cancer free.  “They say it takes a village, and it took the help of a lot of people to get me well enough to continue at th…

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by Sam Barron
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Hudson Valley Girl Busts A Move On 'Ellen' Hudson Valley Girl Busts A Move On 'Ellen'
Hudson Valley Girl Busts A Move On 'Ellen' Bianca Busa, an 8-year-old Hudson Valley resident, loves to dance, no matter what the stage. Busa, of Putnam Valley, performed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Monday, dancing to Kendrick Lamar's song "Humble." "I started dancing since I was two and I remember when my sister was four years old, I used to always watch her dance and I used to always do her dance on the side with her," Busa said. Busa told DeGeneres that she dances six days a week and thinks of happy things when she dances...except for when she gets into her "fierce" mode. "When I ge…

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by Sam Barron
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Briarcliff Boy Is A Pokemon Whiz Kid Briarcliff Boy Is A Pokemon Whiz Kid
Briarcliff Boy Is A Pokemon Whiz Kid BRIARCLIFF, N.Y. -- When it comes to playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game, Sebastian Male-Diaz is a child prodigy.Male-Diaz,  a 10-year-old who lives in Briarcliff and is in 5th grade, is ranked 11th  in the country for his age group, regularly traveling across the country competing in tournaments.  He has been invited to compete in tournaments in Australia. He recently finished in 2nd at a tournament in Virginia and last weekend competed at a tournament in Toronto. In Pokemon, players use their Pokemon to battle their opponent with the goal of winning knocking out their opponents cards.  …

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by Sam Barron
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Westchester Soldier Deployed In East Africa Westchester Soldier Deployed In East Africa
Westchester Soldier Deployed In East Africa OSSINING, N.Y. -- Drew Young, who graduated from Ossining High School, has served his country in the Army for more than 30 years. Young is currently deployed in East Africa about 100 miles from Somalia. This is Young's sixth combat deployment. He was recently awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his service as a Senior Counterintelligence Officer in the Horn of Africa.  Young got commissioned into ROTC after graduating from Ossining. He served in the Persian Gulf War and has been to Iraq three times and Afghanistan twice. This is his second deployment to Africa.  "I was d…

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by Sam Barron
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Croton Actress Stars In New Short Film Croton Actress Stars In New Short Film
Croton Actress Stars In New Short Film Jennifer Jiles, a Croton-on-Hudson actress who grew up in Poughkeepsie, is ready for her closeup.  Jiles' stars in the new short film, "The Waiting Room." She plays Janet who is in purgatory waiting for her husband to join her. To Janet's surprise, when her husband joins her, he shows up with his new wife. The movie was written and directed by Debra Markowitz.  "Waiting Room is dramedy, which is new for me," Jiles said.  "It's really fun to make people cry. Last year at the Peekskill Film Festival, Jiles screened "Mother of the Week", a short film she wro…

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by Sam Barron
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Injured Boston Terrier Found In Ridgefield Injured Boston Terrier Found In Ridgefield
Injured Boston Terrier Found In Ridgefield RIDGEFIELD, Conn. – Ridgefield Police are looking for the owner of a Boston Terrier-type dog that was found injured at the intersection of Danbury and Tanton Hill roads on Monday. The Dog is black and white with a small white patch of fur on the back of the neck, weighing approximately 20-30 pounds. It was not wearing any collar or tags.  The dog was transported by the RPD to the Veterinary Emergency Center in Norwalk for treatment.

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by Joe Jenkins
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She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Westchester Singer Turns Life Into Music She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Westchester Singer Turns Life Into Music
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Westchester Singer Turns Life Into Music MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- College has turned out to be very fruitful for Larchmont resident Paul Thomas (aka PT) Prigoda. It's where the 20-old musician has found inspiration for his songs. The Mamaroneck High School grad, now studying at Connecticut College in New London Conn., just released his second single off his upcoming EP,  "The Adventures of Sophomore Year." His music, a combination of bubble gum pop with raps on top, is built around the themes of college (and high school) life. "A lot of it happens to be about girls and love though," he admitted. Still, there are s…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
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Westchester Residents Bill Clinton, James Patterson Writing Spy Thriller Westchester Residents Bill Clinton, James Patterson Writing Spy Thriller
Westchester Residents Bill Clinton, James Patterson Writing Spy Thriller Bill Clinton can now add novelist to his resume. The Chappaqua resident and 42nd president of the U.S. announced he is working on a new novel with bestselling author James Patterson, who has a home in Scarborough, that involves the President of the United States. "The President Is Missing,"  a spy thriller is set to be released in June 2018. “Working on a book about a sitting President — drawing on what I know about the job, life in the White House, and the way Washington works — has been a lot of fun,” said Clinton in a statement. Clinton has written three nonfiction books, whi…

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by Sam Barron
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Westchester Resident Is Sanitation Worker By Day, Singer By Night Westchester Resident Is Sanitation Worker By Day, Singer By Night
Westchester Resident Is Sanitation Worker By Day, Singer By Night MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- By day, you'll find Michael Rivers working the sanitation shift in Larchmont/Mamaroneck, but by night -- and even on his shift -- you can find him humming or singing a tune. That's because his real love is music, primarily soul and R & B. In fact, the Mamaroneck resident is in the midst of recording his second album at Warehouse Music in Mount Vernon. His goal is to get The Rivers of Truth, which contains a variety of styles, released by October or November. (His first album, Try To Work It Out, was released in 2014.) Rivers, who plays a little keyboard and guitar bu…

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by Jeanne Muchnick
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Former Westchester Priest Beatified By Vatican Former Westchester Priest Beatified By Vatican
Former Westchester Priest Beatified By Vatican A priest who served in the Hudson Valley is on the track to sainthood. Rev. Solanus Casey was beatified by Pope Francis on Thursday, with the church attributing a miracle to him. Beatification is the next step on the road to becoming a saint. Casey, who died in 1957 at age 86, would be the first American-born male Catholic saint. Casey's first assignment was at Sacred Heart Church in Yonkers. He served as sacristan, director of altar servers and then a porter, answering the bell at the monastery door, according to his website. He was later transferred to New York City before being sent to …

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by Sam Barron
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Westchester's Mika Brzezinski Gets Engaged To Co-Host Joe Scarborough Westchester's Mika Brzezinski Gets Engaged To Co-Host Joe Scarborough
Westchester's Mika Brzezinski Gets Engaged To Co-Host Joe Scarborough It's a match made in morning TV heaven. "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough, a New Canaan resident, and Mika Brzezinski, a Bronxville resident, announced Thursday they are engaged. Scarborough proposed to her while they were in Paris to celebrate Brezinski's 50th birthday. In February, Brzezinski put her Bronxville home on the market. The mother of two announced she was separating from her husband in December 2015. Scarborough, a former Congressman, split from his second wife in 2013. According to an interview in Vanity Fair, the couple does not yet live together.  Between the…

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by Sam Barron