Latest news with #Fazio
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
The day after: Crews clean up after floodwaters recede in Westchester, Rockland
Crews performed numerous water rescues, vehicles were submerged and sections of parkways were shut down after thunderstorms brought flooding Monday, July 14, that rapidly walloped areas of Westchester and Rockland counties. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state had been "closely monitoring" the situation in Rockland and Westchester on Monday night, noting that road conditions were especially serious and that several rescues had been conducted. Many road closures appeared to end overnight, but parts of the Bronx River and Saw Mill River parkways — major commuter thoroughfares — were closed into Tuesday morning. A New York State Department of Transportation spokesperson said that, as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, closures included: the Saw Mill River Parkway north and south, between Exits 9 and 16; Bronx River Parkway north, between the New York City line in Yonkers and Exit 11W; Bronx River Parkway south, between the New York City line in Yonkers and Oak Street; and, in Rockland County, Route 59 east at Palisades Center Mall. See the inch counts: Rockland, Westchester, Putnam rainfall totals for July 14 storm Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said Monday that Hochul offered support toward recovery efforts in the days after the flooding. He was also in communication with state Division of Homeland Security Commissioner Jackie Bray, as well as local municipalities, to 'provide assistance where needed.' Westchester County Airport remained open and flights resumed Monday night. Bee-Line Bus service in southern Westchester had been restored. The Westchester County Department of Public Works teams were plenty busy in White Plains on Tuesday, as they cleared debris from the Bronx River Parkway. Nick Fazio was working with the crew to keep drains clear and help floodwaters recede. What we know the day after: Flash flooding July 14 in Rockland, Westchester prompt water rescues "There's really not much we can do about it, even if the basins are clear," Fazio told reporters. "The river's right there. If it comes up over the wall, there's just too much. Then we wouldn't be able to stop it." The National Weather Service said runoff from the rains caused the Bronx River to rise to a moderate flood stage of around 3.7 feet early Tuesday morning, but the river was expected to drop below flood stage Tuesday afternoon. Fazio expected the waters on the BRP to recede and be cleared within the same day, "hopefully." Not far from the clean up crew sits the Dog Den, a hot dog restaurant with views of the Bronx River. Owner Dennis Rubich lamented on Instagram Tuesday that, through years of the area weathering storms and hurricanes, he'd never seen so much water— and so quickly. "The highway [Bronx River Parkway] was completely covered, 30 inches-plus, but much higher around the Den," he said. Rubich was at his restaurant Monday night while the floodwaters rose. 'I knew we'd have flooding and I know where the water tends to come in, so I was trying to move everything I could and be proactive,' he told The Journal News/lohud. 'This was the worst I've seen for sure; I thought we'd have six feet of water.' At a certain point, he left for his home in Irvington, as he kept getting flood warnings on his phone. 'I probably should have stayed because everything was flooded and getting home was crazy. You can't sleep. You worry. So I got up early this morning to come back and see what had happened overnight.' Luckily, the Dog Den sustained little damage. 'I have to count my blessings. I can't complain,' he said. 'Especially when I know how bad it was. Thankfully, the old building held her own yet again and we have minimal damage and some clean up.' He was closed Tuesday, but plans to open again for National Hot Dog Day on Wednesday, July 16. Of interest: Video shows subways in New York City, streets in NJ inundated by flash flooding According to the National Weather Service, Rockland County received the most rain of any area in the Lower Hudson Valley. Workers were spotted sweeping away floodwaters from Route 59 near the Palisades Center in West Nyack. Nanuet had numerous road closures between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Monday. By 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, total rainfall measured 5.03 inches, the highest reading of any municipality in the downstate New York region. In comparison, Westchester, Putnam and New York City received as much as 3 to 4 inches of rain in some areas, with severe flooding on public transit tracks, major roadways near rivers and streams, and low-lying parking lots. Piermont Fire Department's dive team carried out water rescues Monday night, responding to six emergencies in the county. In Clarkstown, Town Supervisor George Hoehmann said in a 7:30 p.m. Monday update that the town was experiencing flooding in low areas. Old Mill Road at Strawtown Road was closed at the time because of a downed tree. A large tree went down on Branchville and hit a house but there were no injuries, his post said. There was flooding at Germonds and Bardonia roads and at Fisher Avenue and Prospect Street, which were closed at the time. Contributing: lohud's Seth Harrison and John Meore. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY flooding: Westchester, Rockland clean up as waters recede
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
The day after: Crews clean up after floodwaters recede in Westchester, Rockland
Crews performed numerous water rescues, vehicles were submerged and sections of parkways were shut down after thunderstorms brought flooding Monday, July 14, that rapidly walloped areas of Westchester and Rockland counties. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state had been "closely monitoring" the situation in Rockland and Westchester on Monday night, noting that road conditions were especially serious and that several rescues had been conducted. Many road closures appeared to end overnight, but parts of the Bronx River and Saw Mill River parkways — major commuter thoroughfares — were closed into Tuesday morning. A New York State Department of Transportation spokesperson said that, as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, closures included: the Saw Mill River Parkway north and south, between Exits 9 and 16; Bronx River Parkway north, between the New York City line in Yonkers and Exit 11W; Bronx River Parkway south, between the New York City line in Yonkers and Oak Street; and, in Rockland County, Route 59 east at Palisades Center Mall. See the inch counts: Rockland, Westchester, Putnam rainfall totals for July 14 storm Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said Monday that Hochul offered support toward recovery efforts in the days after the flooding. He was also in communication with state Division of Homeland Security Commissioner Jackie Bray, as well as local municipalities, to 'provide assistance where needed.' Westchester County Airport remained open and flights resumed Monday night. Bee-Line Bus service in southern Westchester had been restored. The Westchester County Department of Public Works teams were plenty busy in White Plains on Tuesday, as they cleared debris from the Bronx River Parkway. Nick Fazio was working with the crew to keep drains clear and help floodwaters recede. What we know the day after: Flash flooding July 14 in Rockland, Westchester prompt water rescues "There's really not much we can do about it, even if the basins are clear," Fazio told reporters. "The river's right there. If it comes up over the wall, there's just too much. Then we wouldn't be able to stop it." The National Weather Service said runoff from the rains caused the Bronx River to rise to a moderate flood stage of around 3.7 feet early Tuesday morning, but the river was expected to drop below flood stage Tuesday afternoon. Fazio expected the waters on the BRP to recede and be cleared within the same day, "hopefully." Not far from the clean up crew sits the Dog Den, a hot dog restaurant with views of the Bronx River. Owner Dennis Rubich lamented on Instagram Tuesday that, through years of the area weathering storms and hurricanes, he'd never seen so much water— and so quickly. "The highway [Bronx River Parkway] was completely covered, 30 inches-plus, but much higher around the Den," he said. Rubich was at his restaurant Monday night while the floodwaters rose. 'I knew we'd have flooding and I know where the water tends to come in, so I was trying to move everything I could and be proactive,' he told The Journal News/lohud. 'This was the worst I've seen for sure; I thought we'd have six feet of water.' At a certain point, he left for his home in Irvington, as he kept getting flood warnings on his phone. 'I probably should have stayed because everything was flooded and getting home was crazy. You can't sleep. You worry. So I got up early this morning to come back and see what had happened overnight.' Luckily, the Dog Den sustained little damage. 'I have to count my blessings. I can't complain,' he said. 'Especially when I know how bad it was. Thankfully, the old building held her own yet again and we have minimal damage and some clean up.' He was closed Tuesday, but plans to open again for National Hot Dog Day on Wednesday, July 16. Of interest: Video shows subways in New York City, streets in NJ inundated by flash flooding According to the National Weather Service, Rockland County received the most rain of any area in the Lower Hudson Valley. Workers were spotted sweeping away floodwaters from Route 59 near the Palisades Center in West Nyack. Nanuet had numerous road closures between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Monday. By 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, total rainfall measured 5.03 inches, the highest reading of any municipality in the downstate New York region. In comparison, Westchester, Putnam and New York City received as much as 3 to 4 inches of rain in some areas, with severe flooding on public transit tracks, major roadways near rivers and streams, and low-lying parking lots. Piermont Fire Department's dive team carried out water rescues Monday night, responding to six emergencies in the county. In Clarkstown, Town Supervisor George Hoehmann said in a 7:30 p.m. Monday update that the town was experiencing flooding in low areas. Old Mill Road at Strawtown Road was closed at the time because of a downed tree. A large tree went down on Branchville and hit a house but there were no injuries, his post said. There was flooding at Germonds and Bardonia roads and at Fisher Avenue and Prospect Street, which were closed at the time. Contributing: lohud's Seth Harrison and John Meore. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY flooding: Westchester, Rockland clean up as waters recede
USA Today
20-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Seven architects (and teams) dominate the ranking of best modern courses in the U.S.
Who are the masters of modern golf architecture? Judging by the recently released Golfweek's Best ranking of the top modern courses in the United States, just seven architects or teams have combined to design 62 percent of the top 200 layouts. Each of those seven designers or teams have placed at least 10 courses on the list. Judging by number of courses on the new Golfweek's Best list, Tom Fazio leads that group of architects with 40 of the top 200 modern courses built in the U.S. since 1960. His highest-ranked course is Wade Hampton Club in North Carolina, which ties for No. 7. Following Fazio with the most courses on the list is Pete Dye (18), the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (16), Tom Doak (15), Jack Nicklaus (15), Gil Hanse (10, usually working with partner Jim Wagner) and Robert Trent Jones Sr. (10). Most of these courses feature just one architect in the credits, but several times these seven architects or teams share credit with others in either building a new course or renovating an existing layout. Judging only the most elite courses that rank inside the top 20 modern courses in the U.S., Doak leads the list of architects with five layouts. His Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon tops the list for him at No. 3, just a couple spots ahead of his Ballyneal in Colorado. Fazio, Dye and the team of Coore and Crenshaw each have three layouts among the elite top 20 modern courses. And looking only at the top spots, it's Coore and Crenshaw at Nos. 1 and 2, with Sand Hills in Nebraska and Friar's Head in New York claiming the top two spots this year.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Adair County: Driver more than triple the legal limit arrested
Jun. 4—Osvaldo Moran-Salas, 22, of Des Moines, was taken into custody 12:50 a.m. May 25, in Adair on the charge of driving while barred. According to an Adair Police report, at approximately 11:54 p.m May 24, Moran-Salas was observed driving a John Deere Gator UTV with no headlights or taillights on Delta Ave/Fifth Street. The UTV pulled into the Casey's General Store in Adair and Moran-Salas exited from the driver's position. His information was ran and he was found to have a barred license. Moran-Salas was transported to the Adair County Jail where he was released from after posting $2,000 cash or surety bond. — — — — — Tracey M. Fazio, 57, of Des Moines, was taken into custody 9:45 p.m. May 26, at the westbound rest area of Interstate 80 in Adair on the charge of OWI, first offense and issued a citation for open container. According to an Iowa State Patrol report, at approximately 6:45 p.m. a 2009 Pontiac G6 pulled into the the rest area and hit a semi-trailer. The Pontiac had been previously reported for erratic driving. When troopers arrived at the rest area, the Pontiac was still making contact with the semi, but neither had reportable damage. Contact was made with the driver of the Pontiac, identified as Fazio, who had slurred, thick-tongued speech and required assistance when walking to the patrol car. The odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected coming from the vehicle. Fazio handed troopers an open bottle of Southern Comfort that was approximately two-thirds empty. She admitted the bottle was full when she started drinking. Fazio consented to field sobriety testing during which clues of impairment were observed. She consented to a PBT, which indicated her BrAC to be .286%. Fazio was transported to the Adair County Jail where she consented to provide a breath sample for testing. The test indicated her BAC to be .272%. Fazio was released from the Adair County Jail after posting $1,000 cash or surety bond. — — — — — Jason E. Caldwell, 53, of Stuart, was taken into custody 10:56 p.m. May 27, in the 1700 block of Sheldon Avenue in Stuart on a Guthrie County warrant for the charge of failure to appear. He was released directly to the custody of Guthrie County Sheriff's Office. — — — — — Silas J. Foster, 18, of Fontanelle, was taken into custody 3:23 a.m. May 30, at East Iowa and Northeast Fourth Street in Greenfield on the charges of OWI, first offense and possession of alcohol under age 21. According to an Adair County report, at approximately 2:39 a.m. a 2005 Buick LeSabre was observed in a parking lot of the northwest corner of the intersection with its lights on and the driver's side door open. Deputies did not believe it was occupied initially from a distance. After approaching the vehicle, a male was observed lying in the driver's seat. The keys of the car were still in the ignition and an open bottle of alcohol was observed in the front passenger's seat. The male, later identified as Foster by an ID found in a wallet in the door of the vehicle, appeared to have vomited on himself. He initially resisted instruction to exit the vehicle, but finally did and was sat on the ground near the back of his car. Foster was dry-heaving, very unsteady on his feet and unable to answer questions in a manner that made sense, including being able to say where he was. EMS was called to assist. A probable cause search was conducted of the vehicle. Open alcohol containers and a used vape cartridge were located, which Foster is not of age to possess After being checked by medics, Foster consented to field sobriety testing and showed indicators of impairment. He refused a PBT. Foster was transported to the Adair County Jail for further testing. He consented to provide a breath sample for chemical testing, the result of which indicated his BAC to be .143%. Foster was cited and released on a summons to appear.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CT energy fight takes circuitous route. At risk is lower electric bills, any relief for ratepayers
A year after record heat drove up electric bills and touched off ratepayer protests, legislators are racing against an end-of-session deadline to deliver relief. With less than two weeks remaining before the legislature closes shop, what has emerged is long, complex and evolving draft legislation that would cut consumer costs modestly in the short term while attempting to control some future costs by tweaking the way the state's highly regulated utilities operate. Political and industry analysts said the evolving legislation — as it stood last week — could save customers 5 percent on electric bills. While the projected savings are not inconsequential, there have been other proposals with greater projected savings. An energy package introduced in April by Sen. John Fonfara, a Hartford Democrat, promised to lower bills 25 percent or more. It fell to legislative rivalries and opposition from environmentalists. But some of its most significant proposals were preserved — watered down in some cases — and transferred to the pending draft legislation. Minority Republicans have called for deeper cuts by removing what are known as public benefits from customer bills. The state bills about $1 billion a year in public benefit costs to electric customers, using utility bills as a hidden tax to cover costs of state programs such as those that promote energy efficiency, subsidize new clean energy generation and pay the electric bills of low income or medically disabled utility customers. Sen. Ryan Fazio, a Greenwich Republican, said his caucus was pushing late last week for draft language that would eliminate as much as $200 million in state-mandated public benefits. Fazio said there is bipartisan support for a compromise that would cut consumer electric bills, describing the work as the 'most important' the legislature will do this year. 'The measure of success will be whether we can get meaningful savings for taxpayers and ratepayers, which I believe we will,' Fazio said. One of the draft proposals borrowed from Fonfara's bill permits the state and its two electric utilities to borrow nearly $3 billion to cover costs running from decarbonization programs to storm damage by issuing long-term, low-interest government bonds. Customers and taxpayers would still be stuck with the costs, but bonding means smaller incremental payments over a far longer period. As it stood last week, the plan uses the state government bonds to cover the cost of $580 million of public benefits costs — $150 million for energy conservation programs, $300 million to pay the bills of those unable to do so and $80 million for an incentive program to promote installation of electric vehicle charging stations. Those costs would disappear from electric bills but resurface as taxes. The draft also authorizes the issuance of up to $2.2 billion in what would be called rate reduction bonds. Those bonds pay for the $1 billion it has cost Eversource since 2018 to repair storm damage. Utilities customarily recover storm damage costs from customers over six years or so. With rate reduction bonding, the expense would remain on customer bills, but could shrink as much as $3 a month by stretching payments out for as many as 15 years. Rate reduction bonds also would finance the $800 million it is projected to cost to install high-tech electric meters, known as AMI, primarily in the homes of Eversource customers, another cost that was to have been billed to customers over a relatively short term. In addition to notifying utilities of outages, so-called programmable smart meters help customers save money by informing them to use off peak hours when it is cheaper to operate high-energy appliances. The draft legislation expands on off-peak usage by requiring Eversource and United Illuminating to establish a variable rate system and pricing scheme that creates an incentive to use appliances during periods of low electricity demand. It requires the utilities 'to design a comprehensive customer education and engagement program to inform customers of the benefits of time-varying rates.' Legislative staff and lawmakers, aides to Gov. Ned Lamont, officials across the state energy bureaucracy and the electric utilities have been shaping the draft legislation for weeks. They are expected to finish this week. If it is held up, a culprit is likely to be the session-long disagreement over the operation of the Public Utility Regulatory Authority. Under the leadership of Chairman Marissa Gillett, PURA has been in an increasingly bitter fight with the utilities. Eversource and United Illuminating claim in a lawsuit that PURA has shown an anti-utility bias under Gillett, who they say has pushed aside fellow commissioners in order to issue unilateral — and therefore illegal — decisions. The result, the utilities claim, has been erosion of their financial conditions and repeated reductions in their credit ratings. PURA denies any irregularities and has said the utilities are complaining about being held to account for their spending and earnings. The fight about a once-obscure state agency spilled into the legislature, which opened its current session with promises to address the state's second highest in the nation electric rates. The body was paralyzed when an 11th hour deal was needed to confirm Lamont's nomination of Gillett to a second term. Among her loudest supporters are Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, and Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chairmen of the Energy and Technology committee. Among her critics are Fonfara, a legislative expert on energy and utility questions, and House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford, who has been given an unusually strong voice in the energy legislation by the House Democratic majority. The deal to preserve Gillett's confirmation involved appointing Fonfara, a former Energy and Technology chairman, to an expanded PURA. Gillett and Needleman fought Fonfara's appointment, which was eventually abandoned. Needleman later worked to block Fonfara's energy bill, parts of which are contained in the draft legislation that, normally, should have been produced by Needleman's committee. Candelora has proposed language in the draft that addresses the question of unilateral decision making by Gillett with a law requiring all commissioners to vote on significant matters. Candelora wants the votes recorded and made available for public review, something all other government bodies are required to do under open government law. When Candelora's proposal was reduced to draft form and sent to PURA for review by the House speaker's office, the version that came back replaced Candelora's language with a version that supported PURA in its fight with the utilities. Someone also, at some point, inserted a sentence in the 126-page draft legislation that would have retroactively undermined the joint Eversource and United Illuminating suit accusing PURA of illegal decision making, according to people involved in the process. Speaker Matt Ritter, a Hartford Democrat, said that Candlelora's language will be reinserted in the legislation and that a final version will not move forward without Candelora's support. 'Look at it this way,' Ritter said. 'I'm not calling the bill unless Vinnie is voting for it. I'm sorry. I will amend it and send it back down if Vinnie is not happy about it. I have been very very clear about that.' There is also expected to be opposition from conservation and environmental groups that oppose changes to public benefits that would require favored programs to compete for money at the legislature with all government programs. About 70,000 people have signed a petition demanding that the public benefits be removed from utility bills. Public benefits probably won't be at much risk under a draft proposal that requires the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to lead a year-long study of the scores of line items the legislature has added to public benefits over more than a dozen years. Among other things DEEP is required under the study requirement to determine the purpose of each line item, how it was authorized and who it benefits. Another study required by the draft would examine a proposal from Fonfara's earlier bill to establish a more aggressive means by which the state contracts for the power that Eversource and United Illuminating distribute. Under the current procurement model, the state participates in about a half dozen pre-scheduled energy auctions a year. The study will examine possible savings from a system in which professional energy traders would search markets continuously for favorable price fluctuations. The bill also proposes some savings through changes in the way medical and financial hardship cases receive assistance on electric bills. It also would increase the amount of energy purchased from Dominion Energy's Millstone Nuclear Power station in Waterford, presumably at a savings, and orders advance planning for the construction of a new nuclear plant, as well as planning for offshore wind and geothermal energy energy projects.
