Sound Shore

Mamaroneck, Pelham, Harrison and New Rochelle have all had reports of armed robberies in recent weeks near local train stations. Rye police sent out an alert today telling residents to be on the lookout, though no such incident has been reported there.

Theresa Juva-Brown reports on LoHud.com today:

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Police are warning commuters to watch out for an armed mugger who robbed two men, injuring one of them, in separate incidents as they walked from the Mamaroneck and Harrison train stations on Thursday.

A 59-year-old Mamaroneck village man told police he was walking from the Metro-North train station at 8 p.m. near Stanley Avenue when a man came up behind him with a gun and demanded his property. The robber fled on foot with undisclosed property.

An hour later, as a man walked from the train station near South Road and the Interstate 95 bridge in Harrison, he was struck in the head with a blunt object. The mugger then took his cell phone at gunpoint. The victim was taken to White Plains Hospital with a head injury.

Investigators believe the two incidents are connected and said the robber may have taken the train between robberies.

The suspect is approximately 5 feet 10 and weighs 180 to 200 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and a light-colored bandanna or mask. He was carrying a silver or black handgun, police said.

Anyone with information should call Harrison police at 914-967-5111, Ext. 1, or Mamaroneck village police at 914-825-8541.

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Crime Stoppers had an alert earlier this month:

Timeless Treasures, in Pelham, is hosting a retrospective and sale of jewelry designed by the late Pelham resident Jack (Jacques) LiBuono on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. LiBuono, according to a press release from the store, was a master of costume jewelry and worked from the 1940s through the 1980s. His son James, who lives in Pelham, will give a presentation on Saturday. The store is at 200 Sparks Ave. in Pelham.

State Sen. Jeff Klein will hold three anti-cyberbullying forums for students Thursday at schools in Pelham and Mount Vernon. He will be joined by Miss New York Kaitlin Monte, who is an anti-bullying advocate, and several others. The first meeting will be held at Pelham Middle School at 12:30 p.m. The second will be at Pelham High School at 1:15 p.m. The third will be at the A.B. Davis Middle School in Mount Vernon at 2 p.m.

Klein has been raising awareness about the repercussions of cyberbullying. He is helping to develop a census aimed at understanding how widespread cyberbullying is in New York.

Pelham goalie Josh Borofsky, far right, grabs the puck as Suffern’s Robert Clark is taken down in front of the goal during their game at The Ice Hutch. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

See  more photos from Suffern at Pelham hockey

here’s a video of Willie Sanchez’s last-minute tying goal

UPDATE: I’ll be on the 8:43 from White Plains, due in Grand Central at 9:23. If you’re on the same train and going to the parade, let’s talk Giants!

Looks like I’ll be riding a train into NYC tomorrow morning to cover the Giants parade. If you’re among the Giants fanatics who will be doing the same, let me know what train you plan to take (I’m not sure yet whether I’ll take the Harlem or New Haven line) and where you plan to watch the parade. I’ll be looking to talk with folks from the area.

Write me at erauch@lohud.com if you’re interested in connecting. You can follow me on Twitter, too: @NPRauch.

Pelham’s Will Cullen scores on Rye goalie Aidan Talgo during their game at Playland. Pelham won 5-0.

See more photos of Pelham vs Rye hockey

The Pelham Math Committee, a group of parents advocating the overhaul of the Pelham School District’s elementary math program, has taken its cause to the Internet and developed a pretty deep website on the subject. This reporter isn’t picking sides in this fight, but I thought people who have been following the story (I wrote this article about it at the end of the year; an Iona College professor wrote this letter to the editor) as well as educators and parents of students in other communities would be interested in the group’s positions and, therefore, interested in the site. If you do take a look, drop a line in the comments section of this blog and let me know what you think. I’ll be following this story closely and I’m eager to hear and read as many opinions about it as possible.

Katie Costantini, a senior at Pelham Memorial High School, has spent the last two summers growing and studying small groups of cells at Rockefeller University, in New York City. Now she’s a semi-finalist for the Intel Science Talent Search, one of 14 from Westchester County. (Read more about the contest here.)

Intel’s description of her project, “Investigating the Efficiency of Growth and Incorporation of Small Intestinal Mucosal Organoids Grown from Single Stem Cells and Isolated Crypts,” makes it sound like arcane work. But, Costantini said, “I think it has such immediate, practical applications.”

She said her research could eventually lead to cures for intestinal conditions like celiac disease, which afflicts 1 in every 133 people and, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation, goes largely undiagnosed.

That pragmatic aspect of her work likely appealed to Intel’s judges, she said. Still, Costantini said she was “totally surprised” to find out she’d made the semi-final round in what she described as a “world-renowned competition.”

Asked what she would do until the finalists are announced, the 18-year-old paused and offered, “Be anxious?” Costantini plans to attend Williams College in the fall. She said she’ll “definitely” study some kind of science, perhaps biology or neuroscience, and is considering taking pre-med courses.

Suffern’s Willie Sanchez scores the team’s fifth goal against Pelham during the first period at Sport-O-Rama in Monsey on Jan. 6, 2012. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

See more photos from the Suffern win over Pelham in a gallery, and go to LoHud.com for the game story.

The Picture House in Pelham will launch its Family Flicks series on Jan. 6, 2012. Every Friday through Sunday, plus whenever school is closed, the theater will show family-friendly films ranging from classics to cult favorites.

The series opens with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” which will run Jan. 6 through Jan. 8. After that, “A Town Called Panic.” Later in the month, the Picture House will show Jim Henson’s “The Dark Crystal.”

For more information and a full schedule, go online to thepicturehouse.org.