SHERMAN — Rumor has it that in 1802, the same year the town was incorporated, an 18-year-old built a colonial house in the middle of town.
Doctors successfully removed a benign tumor from Mayor Mark Boughton’s brain during a complex procedure Tuesday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Mayor Mark Boughton delivers remarks from the City of Danbury during Immaculate High Schools Graduation Excercises at Western Connecticut State Universities O'Neill Center on Wednesday May, 31, 2017.
For more than three decades, Lt. Albert Mion has driven to work at the Danbury Fire Department, aware that he could be tasked with saving someone’s life.
Summertime in the Greater Danbury area means lazy lake days for many. From boating to tubing, wakeboarding, swimming and general partying, Candlewood Lake is a playground for area residents in the summer.
Danbury native Oscar Bordoy scored a win in his second career boxing match, defeating Felip Nazario at Uptown Live in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday. Bordoy is now 2-0 as a lightweight fighter.
July 19 is National Hot Dog Day! If you're in the mood for a good dog tonight, seems you should head to Fairfield. Three of the top 10 most Yelp-reviewed hot dog spots in southwestern Connecticut are found in Fairfield.
The spirit of “buy local” is as strong as ever. It’s the practice that often falls short.
DANBURY — Hidden gems produced by local companies and grown on local farms lurk among the shelves of even the largest supermarkets in the area.
Millennials aren’t the only ones who want to live in downtowns, where restaurants, shops and other amenities are only a walking distance away. So do Baby Boomers.
New Milford football played its spring game, the Green and White game, Thursday, June 15, 2017.
Site names Newtown's Ferris Acres the best ice cream in Connecticut
DANBURY - The $50 million expansion of the state’s largest high school is in high gear, with only 70 more days of summer for workers to complete key upgrades before classes resume in September.
Homelessness in Danbury has dropped 12 percent since 2016
Kyle Lyra receives his diploma during Danbury High Schools Commencement Exercises that were held on Tuesday June 20, 2017.
DANBURY — Andrea Gartner has a lot of passions, and many of them are embodied in her new restaurant, Pour Me Coffee and Wine Café, which opened this month at 274 Main St.
Bob's Stores is closing at 114 Federal Rd. in Danbury, Conn., one of three locations in southwestern Connecticut getting the ax by bankrupt parent company Eastern Outfitters of Meriden.
"Batman" TV star Adam West has died
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| Kaehler, a 50-year member of Fairview Fire Company, drives a restored 1955 American La France ladder truck on Route 9 in Hyde Park. / Ryan Paraggio/for Poughkeepsie Journal |
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| Freedom Lake in Lagrange NY |
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Girls on the Gridiron: Area scholastic athletes blaze football trail
Coryne DeMattio has heard her opponents’ whispers.
The 11 boys on the other side of the field can see the long locks of brunette hair, twisted in pigtails and hanging out of her blue and black Millbrook High School football team helmet, as she takes her place on the defensive line.
Rosalind Bendell has received similar reactions. Lining up on the field as a New Paltz High School wide receiver, she recalls the exclamation coming from the opposing sideline, almost in chorus:
“It’s a girl!”
It’s a rare sight, but not unheard of.
Across the country, the number of girls participating on high school football teams is slowly growing. In 2015, more than 1,900 girls played the varsity sport, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, which receives data from most, but not all states. That's over 500 more than in 2010. According to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, 71 girls played football in New York last year.
Girls who choose to play the sport must overcome challenges, from passing physical tests to ensure safety, to committing to weight training and conditioning, to winning the respect of teammates of the opposite sex. For DeMattio and Bendell, their reasons for facing and overcoming these challenges, and their love of the sport, began with family relationships.
In many cases, girls have joined football teams as placekickers or punters — positions that don’t often require physical contact. But this past season, DeMattio and Bendell helped to break that mold in reserve roles for their teams.
At defensive tackle, DeMattio, a 5-foot-8, 180-pound sophomore, plays one of the most physically demanding positions on the field, wrestling for leverage on every play with offensive linemen who can be 100 pounds heavier.
And at receiver, Bendell, a 5-foot-7, 140-pound junior, must contend with tacklers, just like any other offensive player. She also is a blocker on kick returns and has had hard collisions.
"I think that's a good thing," New Paltz coach Tom Tegeler said. "If you love football, you want the sport to grow and interest to increase among all demographics."
Both players were required to pass a physical examination to ensure they wouldn’t be putting themselves in danger, or have an adverse effect on others. DeMattio and Bendell have use of the girls locker rooms or a private restroom for games on the road. Opposing coaches are informed of their presence before games.
Who was watching Tubman Terrace finances?
Carl Immich is sitting in Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix in New Jersey today.
The former property manager at the Harriet Tubman Terrace Apartments started serving his 18-month-sentence for embezzlement on April 13.
His arrest in February 2016 stunned residents of the City of Poughkeepise-based federally subsidized public housing complex he managed. It also raised questions about oversight by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Tubman's board of directors.
Immich was able to embezzle at least $150,000 in HUD funds from Tubman by "taking advantage of his unique position at the housing project, operating essentially with free reign," said the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors said it was greed that drove Immich to abuse the trust of taxpayers and support a lavish lifestyle — with the money he stole, Immich paid for dental, phone, retail, dining and other personal expenses; he was also accused of keeping some as cash.
Immich's defense attorney George Fufidio portrayed his client as a hard-working manager who made mistakes and owned up to them. Fufidio has suggested Tubman's board was aware of Immich's conduct. And during his years at Tubman, the defense said, Immich led an effort that significantly reduced crime at the complex, helped refinance debt and reduced the property tax bill.
HUD and the Tubman board, the AME Zion Trinity Housing Development Fund Co. Inc., have maintained that proper oversight was exercised to ensure the financial well-being of the complex. David Wise, an attorney for the board, said that Tubman has implemented new financial checks and balances since Immich's arrest.
After more than a year of silence and headed to prison, Immich decided he wanted to talk about his case. So the 54-year-old former Rhinebeck resident called the Poughkeepsie Journal twice before he turned himself in. He placed one of those calls while he was on the way to prison.
Despite pleading guilty to two counts of embezzling more than $5,000, Immich said there was more to the story.
"I'm not saying I was perfect," Immich said. "I made mistakes ... I found (financial) errors in the past and there are things that got mixed up on those credit cards. And obviously I'm paying for it. But they (the board) sat there and they enabled it. I did what they (the board) told me and instructed me to do. They were saying, 'do whatever you've got to do to get the property in shape.'"
During his phone calls with the Journal, Immich discussed his family, his lack of an education — he said he never advanced past the ninth grade and has trouble reading and writing — his work at Tubman and more.
Immich said the board was given detailed financial reports and "not one thing was ever hidden. I'm saying the board of directors approved everything. If there was something (an expense) that was not eligible, they should have said."
Wise dismissed that claim, saying any financial reports provided to the board contained broad information and no specific details about transactions.
Immich had "significant leeway to incur expenses for the improvement of the property," Wise said. And while the board regularly reviewed financial reports, there was not "a line-by-line of every expense that went out the door. This form of financial reporting and budgeting is typical of most organizations and is not at all unique to the AME Zion Board."
Joseph Olah, a former Tubman treasurer, indicated (according to court records) that Immich communicated regularly with Tubman's board about finances.
But some of Immich's transactions were "shrouded in misrepresentation," Wise said.
A Journal review of court records shows that Immich used funds in Tubman Terrace’s bank account to bail himself out of jail — twice.
In August 2010, after Immich was arrested related to a domestic violence incident, he "used funds in Tubman Terrace’s bank account to post bail, by writing a check for $50,000 to his girlfriend, who then bailed him out," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
In October 2010, when he was charged with violating an order of protection that arose from the alleged August 2010 domestic violence incident, Immich posted the "required additional bail by writing a check for $25,000 to cash."
After Tubman Terrace’s bookkeeper "refused to hide the checks, Immich reported the expenditures to the board and repaid the money," according to the office.
However, Immich "did not report the expenses as bail to the board," Wise said.
It's unclear if the U.S. Attorney's Office was referring to the board as a whole or a specific board member. The office did not respond to the Journal's request for clarification.
Wise confirmed Immich repaid the funds, but declined to comment further on the matter, citing attorney-client privilege.
Management
Immich, along with his then-business partner Roland Traudt, started managing the 200-unit Tubman Terrace more than a decade ago under a company called Northeast Development & Management Company LLC, according to court records.
Traudt has told the Journal that he severed ties with Immich around 2008 and the business dissolved. When Northeast disbanded, Immich formed his own company — New York Property Management & Development — and the board contracted with him.
Immich was employed by the Tubman board as an office manager and hired as a contracted property manager. As management agent, he was responsible for renting the apartments and collecting rents. As property manager, he oversaw operations such as repairs, hiring and firing.
Immich had control over the Tubman Terrace bank account and was authorized to write checks for less than $5,000 alone, but he needed a second signature for checks $5,000 and above.
"All that was required for Immich to pull it (embezzlement) off was to claim, without supporting documentation, that expenditures he made of Tubman Terrace funds were business expenses," said the U.S. Attorney's Office in a government sentencing memorandum. "Thus, on credit card statements Immich simply handwrote 'Tubman,' or 'gas' or 'food,' and those credit card expenditures were paid for out of Tubman Terrace’s operating account, even when those expenditures had no apparent business purpose."
In October, Immich entered guilty pleas to two counts of embezzling more than $5,000 between 2010 and 2015. In February, he was sentenced to 18-month terms on both counts to run concurrently; he was also sentenced to three years post-release supervision and ordered to pay back the money he stole.
Oversight?
Records from 2009 to 2014, obtained through Freedom of Information Law requests, showed a recurring history of unauthorized expenditures and improperly documented payments. Six independent audits of Tubman bore warning signs of financial improprieties.
Fufidio, the defense lawyer, said there was "a lack of understanding (of) HUD rules and regulations" both by Immich and the board, according to court records.
HUD officials contended there was proper federal oversight over Tubman Terrace, but noted in hindsight that Tubman board members should have paid more attention to the audits’ earlier findings.
In a character reference letter submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel said prior to sentencing, Olah, the former Tubman treasurer, said he and Immich worked closely together on a regular basis.
"I would sign checks prepared by the bookkeeper, who issued checked based on receipts and vouchers," Olah wrote. "Each month the board would get copies of the Income Statements and the Balance Sheets directly from Quickbooks that were printed out by the bookkeeper. If board members thought an amount looked high or low, it was discussed at the meeting. The annual budget was prepared by Carl and submitted to the board for discussion and review. The board would modify it and then vote to approve the budget."
Immich told the Journal: "They (the board) say they didn’t get details. They did get details."
The U.S. Attorney's Office took issue with Olah's letter.
"Olah, under whose nose much of the defendant’s fraud was committed, omits from his letter of support certain matters he described to HUD (Office of Inspector General) investigators, such as that his review of Tubman Terrace’s bank statements was cursory, and that the Board did not get involved in day-to-day operations of Tubman Terrace, which were left to Immich and his company," the office said in the sentencing memorandum.
Olah could not be reached for comment.
As board treasurer, Olah "was regularly involved in the disbursing of numerous checks related to discrete expenses related to operation of the apartment complex," said Wise, the board attorney. But financial reports the board received were "not a recitation of each individual check that was disbursed by the treasurer or the property manager. Likewise, the annual budget was comprised of categories of expense and not individual transactions."
New management
Since Immich's arrest, "quite a bit has changed" when it comes to Tubman's financial checks and balances, Wise said.
In January, the board contracted with Innovative Property Management Services, LLC, a Rhinebeck-based company, to manage the complex for one year. The company is run by Traudt, Immich's former business partner.
Unlike Immich, Traudt does not have a Tubman Terrace credit card in his name, access to a Tubman credit card or signing authority on any of its bank accounts, Wise said. Meanwhile, any business expense that requires reimbursement now must be “pre-approved by the board," rather than after the fact.
"These checks and balances are in place because of what happened with Immich," Wise said. They are "absolutely not a reflection" of Traudt.
Immich told the Journal he is proud of the work he conducted at Tubman.
"I put them (the property) on the right track," Immich said. "The gangs and trouble ... we were getting the crime and the bad people out. The ability to turn something like that around ... I'm proud of that."
Court records show that more than 70 tenants signed a petition of support for Immich.
But the improvements at Tubman Terrace show, at most, that while Immich "was corrupt, he was not simultaneously incompetent," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The company’s website says it will reduce New York power prices by $650 million per year and create thousands of jobs.
The power line has won the backing of upstate labor groups and chambers of commerce. Transmission Developers said it has the support of the Empire State Economic Development Corporation and 20 members of New York’s congressional delegation, among other elected officials.
Just don’t count Rockland County Executive Ed Day among them.
Four seasons limousine in Lagrange
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The company’s website says it will reduce New York power prices by $650 million per year and create thousands of jobs.
The power line has won the backing of upstate labor groups and chambers of commerce. Transmission Developers said it has the support of the Empire State Economic Development Corporation and 20 members of New York’s congressional delegation, among other elected officials.
Just don’t count Rockland County Executive Ed Day among them.
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New Patch Program Teaches Girl Scouts about New York History and Encourages Girls to be Advocates New Patch Program Teaches Girl Scouts about New York History and Encourages Girls to be Advocates Lt. Governor Hochul Unveils Patch at Event Joined by Girl Scouts Leaders from Across New York at National Museum of the American Indian Governor Andrew Cuomo and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a new Girl Scouts patch
Precision Medicine At NYP Is Transforming Cancer Care
Precision medicine is transforming cancer care, from “one size fits all” medicine to a personalized approach based on a patient’s genetic profile, features of their cancer cells and medical history.
Thanks to advances in technology, including the mapping of the human genome, medical oncologists are able to identify specific gene alterations, or mutations, in a patient’s tumor. As a result, they can target therapy that will most effectively treat the tumor with fewer and less-harmful side effects. Combined with other factors including overall patient health, environment and lifestyle, precision medicine is fine-tuned to the patient’s needs and provides a greater chance of survival than ever before.
Precision therapies offered by medical oncologists include small molecule drugs, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines or a combination of therapies that target a specific gene, pathway or process in a tumor. The treatments impair the tumor's ability to grow, divide and spread without detrimental effects to normal, non-cancerous cells. These targeted therapies are used to treat a range of cancers including breast, lung, prostate, ovarian, bladder and colorectal cancers, as well as melanomas and leukemias.
For instance, scientists now know that breast cancer can be divided into three distinct cancer types based on the type of protein “markers” on the breast cancer cells. The marker types are either estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 -- or HER-2. Depending on the type of breast cancer, precision treatment may involve hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy or a combination of these, and can be administered before or after surgery or radiation.
Precision medicine also enables patients with advanced disease and no current treatment options to find beneficial therapies. Such was the case for a 76-year woman with advanced bladder cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes and liver. After years of unsuccessful treatment that included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, the patient’s physicians sent a sample of her tumor to the Institute of Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Genetic sequencing revealed that the patient had HER2 amplification, a mutation that is more commonly associated with breast cancer. Based on this information, her physicians recommended she try an unconventional therapy, Herceptin, a drug that targets the HER2 mutation. Since taking the drug, the patient has no evidence of cancer.
At NewYork-Presbyterian, precision medicine is fast becoming one of the mainstays of cancer treatment. Oncologists link cutting-edge research and next-generation genetic analysis to help patients receive the latest innovative treatment approaches. The board certified medical oncologists collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of cancer specialists to provide each patient with an individualized plan of care. The team frequently collaborates with the faculty at the academic medical centers, many of whom are world-class experts in their respective fields, to discuss the most complicated cases. To find a cancer specialist at the NewYork-Presbyterian location most convenient for you, please visitnyp.org/cancerlocations.
NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the largest and most comprehensive hospitals in the nation, ranked New York’s No. 1 hospital for the 16th consecutive year, and No. 6 in the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report. Affiliated with two academic medical colleges --Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medicine , NewYork-Presbyterian brings together internationally recognized researchers and clinicians to develop and implement the latest approaches for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center is one of only three NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in New York State. NewYork-Presbyterian provides comprehensive cancer care at all of our locations across the New York Metro area including Westchester County and the Hudson Valley. Learn more at nyp.org/cancer.
Navy parachutist dies during demonstration over Hudson River In the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, a Navy Seal team member fell to his death Sunday after his parachute failed to open during a Fleet Week demonstration over the Hudson River.
The accident occurred a few minutes after noon near Liberty State Park, a large New Jersey park across from Manhattan where thousands of people a year catch ferries to the nearby national treasure.
The parachutist, whose identity was not immediately released, was a member of an elite Navy parachute team called the Leap Frogs, a Navy spokesman said. The cause of the parachute malfunction is under investigation.
"I'm terribly saddened," said Nancy Malinowski, a Cranford, New Jersey, resident who was in Liberty State Park and knew something had gone wrong when she saw a parachute with nobody attached to it descend behind a building.
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