Sound Shore

Westchester County’s own Lou Del Bianco, actor and storyteller, or, as he puts it, “storymaker,” will perform Thursday night at Jefferson Elementary School as part of the school’s month-long Spring Book Fair. The show begins at 7 p.m.

Del Bianco, who lives in Port Chester, has been touring the Northeast performing for children for 25 years. Check out his website here.

The event, billed as Family Night, is sponsored by the school and its PTA.

The Westchester County Department of Health will hold a blood drive at 45 Huguenot St. in New Rochelle on Tuesday, March 20, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The county’s Blood Mobile (that’s a name, for you) will be parked on Huguenot Street and open to anyone in the public who is between the ages of 16 and 76 years and weighs at least 110 pounds.

To make an appointment, contact Maria Palumbo at MTP1@westchestergov.com and (914) 813-5012.

The New Rochelle Police Department released its annual crime report. We’ll get into all the details in a full story shortly. For now, here are the big numbers:

Total arrests climbed by 5 percent over the past year. Part 1 Crimes (which include aggravated assault, murder, robbery, burglary and several other weighty offenses) increased 21 percent from 2010 to 2011. The Police Department reported 1,589 Part 1 crimes in 2011, up from 1,311 in 2010. The 2011 tally is below the 2008 level of 1,758 and, according to police, 18 percent below the total in 2002.

City Manager Charles Strome said the rise in crimes could, in part, be attributed to changes in the way certain crimes, like aggravated assault, for example, are recorded.

But, he said, “There’s no question the numbers in our Police Department have been reduced and we still have a bad economy. And these things sometimes add up to these situations.”

Strome said despite the reductions, due to budgetary restrictions, “our core function of patrol has not been compromised by any of the recent budget stuff.”

Based on 2010 numbers, New Rochelle’s crime rate of 19.45 per 1,000 residents is lower than Yonkers, White Plains and Mount Vernon.

More on this to come shortly.

Temple Israel of New Rochelle will hold the third installment of a four-part lecture series about the historical and political complexities of surrounding Jerusalem on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.

The lecture, “The Palestinian Vision for the Future of Jerusalem,” will be given by Helga Tawil-Scouri, a professor at New York University’s Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Temple Israel at (914) 235-1800.

It’s almost boating season. Westchester County’s public boat launches are slated to open Saturday, March 31. The county operates launches at George’s Island Park in Montrose; Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson; and Glen Island Park in New Rochelle. Fees vary according to the site. Only the launch at Glen Island Park requires a County Park Pass. Call (914) 813-7000 or visit westchestergov.com/parks for more information.

New Rochelle, already home to a major hospital, is getting a new clinic. WESTMED Medical Group will open an office at 171 Huguenot St. on Wednesday, March 7. The clinic will be home to 20 doctors providing care in areas ranging from pediatrics to cardiology to bariatric surgery.

WESTMED Medical Group is based in Purchase and has more than 220 doctors on its roster. It has 11 locations in central and lower Westchester County.

And so it begins. The years-in-the-making, years-to-conclude project to replace the bridge carrying North Avenue over Interstate 95 in New Rochelle is officially underway. Crews began positioning barricades on Burling Lane this morning, right on schedule. (Work on North Avenue itself, with all the ensuing traffic snarls, won’t begin till mid-April.)

The first phase of the project, expected to last till May of next year, is dedicated to relocating utility lines. It’s not until 2015 that the Thruway Authority, which is overseeing the work, that the bridge itself will be demolished and replaced.

For commuters, drivers and just about everyone else trying to make their way through the center of the city, the work will be disruptive, to say the least. City officials plan to keep residents apprised of lane closures and traffic detours through email and text messages. New Rochelle’s website now has detailed descriptions of the work, schedules, closures, etc.

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson has been named a delegate in support of President Barack Obama.

Other prominent Democrats from the area who will join Bramson as delegates to the national convention, to be held Sept. 3 in Charlotte, N.C., are former New Castle Supervisor Barbara Gerrard; State Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson; Reginald Lafayette, chairman of the Westchester County Democratic Committee; and Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence.

The Republicans will open their convention Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla. Are Republicans named delegates to the convention included Vincent D. Reda, chairman of the Rockland County Republican Committee; John P. Cahill, former aide to Gov. George Pataki and, like Reda; and State Sen. Gregory Ball. All three are pledged to support Mitt Romney.

Salesian Missions, whose branch in the United States is based in New Rochelle, has created a fund to help victims of Cyclone Thane, which devastated parts of India on Dec. 31, 2011. According to the organization, the cyclone destroyed homes and crops and killed dozens of people in the districts of Cuddalore, Villupuram and Puducherry. The money the Salesians raise will be used to assist the effected communities in their rebuilding efforts. For more information and to donate, go to SalesianMissions.org.

Planning to watch a little TV tonight? Turn your dial to ABC and watch Kevin Kiernan, who works in New Rochelle and grew up in Congers, pitch his invention to a phalanx of investors on “Shark Tank.” Kiernan’s big idea is a one-size-fits-all, indestructible garbage lid. It’s clever. I wrote about the man and his madness in this article. If you can’t tune in, wish him luck.