Sound Shore

Reginald Lafayette, the Democratic elections commissioner and party leader, said he won’t call for any investigation into allegations of elections fraud by Republicans in the District 7 Board of Legislators race.

“I’m not calling for an investigation on myself or the board (of elections),” he told Politics on the Hudson. “It’s over with. The two parties agree.”

Even though Legislator Judy Myers, D-Mamaroneck, won the Independence line over her Republican challenger Suzanna Keith, Democrats called for an investigation into elections fraud after a Republican deputy commissioner and party boss “mysteriously found” three votes.

In a statement issued Thursday, Doug Forand said ballots “don’t just appear from impounded machines.”

“There are only a few plausible ways this can happen, none of which are good,” he said. “And if someone knowingly planted false ballots in a scheme to steal this election, it’s election fraud.”

Lafayette distanced himself from that charge — even though the release was on party letterhead — and later called it an “overzealous action.”

“If they are being paid by the party, they will be terminated,” he said. “Those who sent this without my knowledge won’t be affiliated with the party. … I’m getting to the bottom of this.”

Myers won the line with 75 votes to Keith’s 62. Eleven votes were challenged, though Keith has since conceded.

The friends of the Mamaroneck Library will present a talk by Mark and Joanna Heathcote about their illustrious ancestor Caleb Heathcote at The Mamaroneck Library at 5 p.m. on Sat, Oct. 22.

Here’s the description: “Come for wine and conversation and travel back in time to 17th- and 18th-century Westchester. Jilted by his fiancée for an older brother, Caleb arrived in New York in 1692 at age 26. Within a year of his arrival he was named a member of the Governor’s Council, which ran the colony. His special responsibility was the County of Westchester. He made large purchases of land, which included modern day Scarsdale, Mamaroneck and Harrison. He built a substantial manor house, Heathcote Hill, overlooking Long Island Sound just a few blocks from the Mamaroneck Library. Caleb was Lord of the Manor of Scarsdale as well as the Mayor of both the Borough of Westchester and New York City in 1711. His elder brother was Lord Mayor of London in the same year. He died in 1721 one of the richest men in America and was buried at Trinity Church in New York. His great grandaughter Susan De Lancey, who married James Fenimore Cooper in Mamoroneck, inherited Heathcote Hill and raised her family there. Pictures of their marriage, the house and Caleb being sworn in as Mayor of New York hang in the Library. Find out with Joanna and her brother, Mark, what life was like in Westchester and New York in Caleb’s and Fenimore Cooper’s time. ”

There’s a free mosaic workshop at the Pelham Art Center this Saturday, Oct. 1. People of all ages are invited to participate in what the Art Center describes as “an underwater-themed group mosaic.” It’s intended to celebrate the organization’s current exhibition, “The Ocean Reglitterized.”

Mosaic-ers will use tiles and bits of broken ceramics to help bring to fruition a large mural designed by artist and Pelham Art Center faculty member Lisa Vassolatti.

No need to register; tools and protective wear will be provided. Bring in old pottery to break up and use in the mural if you like.

For more information, contact the Pelham Art Center at info@pelhamcenter.org or 914.738.2525.

Back in July we told you about the nightmare-level construction set to hit the heart of New Rochelle: the replacement of the North Avenue bridge over Interstate 95. While the timing of the main portion of the work was not yet certain, preliminary work was expected to begin at the end of this year.

Well, breathe easy; even the prep-work has been pushed back. City Manager Charles Strome III said earlier this week that the relocation of utility lines to a secondary pedestrian bridge would be put off till spring. Some time after that, work on the bridge will begin, though Strome said that could be at the end of 2012 or later.

When it does happen, “That’ll be a disaster,” Strome said. “Long periods of time where North Avenue will be shut down near the train station.”

But again, nothing to worry about now.

The Journal News/LoHud.com Editorial Board holds endorsement interviews with candidates in key contests on the Nov. 8 ballot. Voters may watch LIVE online at www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; questions can be submitted via our CoverItLive live-blogging feature.

The following endorsement hearings are scheduled:
Oct. 4: 1 p.m. Stony Point supervisor
Oct. 4: 3 p.m. Rockland Legislature, Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8
Oct. 5: 1 p.m. Putnam County executive
Oct. 5: 3 p.m. New Rochelle mayor
Oct. 11: 1 p.m. Rockland Legislature, Districts 9, 10 and 11
Oct. 11: 3 p.m. Rockland Legislature, Districts 13, 14, 16 and 17
Oct. 12: 1 p.m. Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 1, 2 and 3
Oct. 12: 3 p.m. Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 4, 5, 6 and 7
Oct. 18: 1 p.m. Clarkstown supervisor
Oct. 18: 3 p.m. Orangetown supervisor
Oct. 19: 1 p.m., Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 9, 10, 12 and 13
Oct. 19: 3 p.m., Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 14, 15 and 17
Oct. 25: 1 p.m. Rockland County Sheriff
Oct. 25: 3 p.m. Ramapo supervisor
Oct. 26: 1 p.m. Yonkers mayor
Oct. 26: 3 p.m. Mount Vernon mayor

Interviews for Westchester and Putnam candidates take place in our White Plains office, 1 Gannett Drive. Interviews for Rockland candidates take place in our West Nyack office, 1 Crosfield Ave. Candidates needing more information can contact Nancy Cutler at ncutler@lohud.com or 845-578-2403.

Voters guide
The 2011 local elections determine who represents you on the county, town and village level. Visit www.lohud.com/candidates to find out who’s running, and where the candidates stand on the issues.

Calling all candidates
The Journal News and LoHud.com wish to hear from candidates vying in local Westchester, Rockland and Putnam elections.

Please send us an email including your full name, home address, daytime phone number and an active email address to elections@lohud.com. In both the subject line and body of the email, be sure to indicate which office you are vying for. The information will be used by our news and opinion staffs to contact and correspond with candidates. Additionally, the email address will be used to send candidates a questionnaire that will form the basis of an online guide for voters.

The League of Women Voters of Harrison will host “Meet the Candidates” event on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Building, 216 Halstead Ave. The event moderator will be Nate Levin of the League of Women Voters of Rye.

The League of Women Voters of Larchmont/Mamaroneck will hold a discussion Tuesday titled “Why Natural Gas Drilling Upstate Affects Westchester County residents.” Speakers are Elizabeth Radow, chair of the League of Women Voters of New York State’s hydraulic fracturing committee, on “Taxpayers at Risk to Foot the Bill for Damage Caused by Gas Companies” and Al Appleton, former commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, on “why Westchester’s drinking water is still at risk from fracking.” The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Mamaroneck library, 136 Prospect Ave., Mamaroneck.

The Solomon Katz Breast Center at Sound Shore Medical Center in New Rochelle is sponsoring free Mammogram Days to mark October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

The screenings will be offered Oct. 8 and 22 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to women 40 years of age and older who are without health insurance and have no history of breast cancer. 

The appointment can be for an initial or baseline screening; if a mammogram has occurred previously, the appointment must be a year since the last one. The screenings are available on a first come/first served basis.  To make an appointment for a free mammogram, call 914.365.4619.

Here’s a glance at today’s opinion content:

PEF’s rejection: Editorial
We comment on news that the Public Employees Federation, the second largest union of state employees, rejected a package of give-backs negotiated with the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. We write:

… The rejected deal, apropos of these post-recessionary times, largely mirrored the no-layoffs pact easily ratified by the Civil Service Employees Association last month: It provided for a three-year freeze on wages, followed by 2 percent raises in the fourth and fifth years; nine days of furloughs, four of which would be repaid at the end of the contract term; and increased employee health care costs.

Broad protections against layoffs would have been in force the next two years.

(more…)

From the Friends of the Larchmont Public Library:

“How did Margaret Marcus, born a Jew in Larchmont, New York become ‘reborn’ as Maryam Jameelah a radical Islamist? Deborah Baker will read from and discuss ‘The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism’ her riveting biography of a most passionate woman who rejected her upper middle class mores, abandoned her country and faith, and accepted a life of exile in Pakistan.
Sunday, October 16th. 4:00 p.m. Larchmont Village Center, 121 Larchmont Avenue. Free and open to the public. Complimentary wine and snacks at 3.30. Sponsored by the Friends of the Larchmont Public Library. 914-834-4388 http://www.larchmontlibrary.org/friends.html.”