Hepatitis A Alert for bartaco Diners
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We received this alert from the Westchester County Department of Health regarding exposure to Hepatitis A for anyone who recently at at bartaco in Port Chester. The restaurant has been temporarily closed. See below for instructions on getting treatment:
The Westchester County Department of Health is recommending that individuals who ate or drank at bartaco, a restaurant in Port Chester, between October 12th and October 23rd receive preventive treatment against Hepatitis A, a viral illness that affects the liver. The health department learned today that an employee with the illness worked at the restaurant while infectious.
Preventive treatment is only effective if given within two weeks of exposure. Therefore, those who dined on October 12th need to receive preventive treatment by tomorrow, October 26th. Those who dined on October 13th through October 23rd need to receive preventive treatment within two weeks of their exposure.
The health department will offer free preventive treatment at the County Center in White Plains for people who ate or drank at bartaco in Port Chester during this time period. Anyone with a prior history of Hepatitis A vaccination or Hepatitis A infection does not need to be treated. The health department will offer preventive treatment on the following dates and times:
• Thursday, October 26 from 4:00 – 7:45 p.m.
• Friday, October 27 from 12:00 – 4:45 p.m.
• Saturday, October 28 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Anyone under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent/guardian to provide consent.
Advance registration for the county preventive clinic is highly recommended. To register, go to www.health.ny.gov/gotoclinic/60. If you do not have internet access or need more information, call 211 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Restaurant patrons with exposure can also be treated by their own health care provider.
The Westchester County Department of Health is also informing people who ate or drank at bartaco in Port Chester between August 22nd and October 11th those they may also have been exposed to Hepatitis A. While these individuals are outside the window to receive preventive treatment, they should contact their health care provider immediately if they experience symptoms so that anyone they may have exposed can receive preventive treatment. Upon learning of the first cases, the Health Department immediately launched an investigation into the source of the infection.
"Hepatitis A is generally a mild illness whose symptoms include fatigue, fever, poor appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dark urine, light colored stool and jaundice, which is the yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes" said Dr. Sherlita Amler, Commissioner of Health. "There are no special medications used to treat a person once symptoms appear, but Hepatitis A transmission to others can be prevented through proper handwashing."
Not everyone infected with Hepatitis A will have all of its symptoms. Symptoms commonly appear within 28 days of exposure, with a range of 15 to 50 days. Preventive treatment is only effective within two weeks of exposure to the virus, but symptoms typically do not appear until a person has had the virus for a few weeks. The illness is rarely fatal and most people recover in a few weeks without any complications.
bartaco in Port Chester has fully cooperated with the investigation and voluntarily closed the restaurant today. The restaurant is also voluntarily vaccinating all employees with the Hepatitis A vaccine. The restaurant will reopen after it has been re-inspected and approved by the Westchester County Department of Health. An inspection is scheduled for tomorrow. bartaco in Port Chester has also made resources available to assist staff and patrons. "We are committed to food safety and the quality of our food," said Pam Ritz, a bartaco spokeswoman. "We have set-up a dedicated phone line for any guests who may wish to ask us questions directly and we encourage our guests to reach out at 844-617-8242, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week."
Hepatitis A is transmitted by consuming food or drinks that have been handled by an infected person. It may also be spread from person to person by ingesting something that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with Hepatitis A. Casual contact, such as sitting together, does not spread the virus.
Hepatitis A is reportable to the health department. In 2016, Westchester had six cases of Hepatitis A. Through September 2017, Westchester had five cases.
For more health information, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wchealthdept, follow us on Twitter @wchealthdept or visit us at www.westchestergov.com/health.
Photo Opps from the Football Field and the BRP
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SHS Principal Condemns Graffiti and "Hateful" Language
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- Written by Traci Dutton Ludwig
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On Sept. 17, graffiti was discovered on a Scarsdale High School platform tennis court and inside the school. The graffiti consisted of the letters "K.K.K.," a homophobic slur and images of genitalia – all rendered with spray paint. Police are investigating the incident, and school officials have publically addressed the matter.
On Monday afternoon, Sept. 18, Scarsdale High School Principal Kenneth Bonamo sent a letter to parents and other members of the school community. His position was clear: "While the images might be dismissed as the product of juvenile antics, the inclusion of hateful language must give us pause. Those terms carry significant weight because they have been used to intimidate members of various groups and because they undermine our efforts to build an inclusive, tolerant, and safe society."
Bonamo linked the tone of the graffiti to another incident allegedly perpetrated by a Scarsdale High School student approximately two weeks ago. In his letter, Bonamo reported that the White Plains High School Athletic Director informed SHS Athletic Director Ray Pappalardi that "an adolescent in a car covered with Scarsdale logo items used inappropriate language, including a racial epithet, and verbally harassed an African-American staff member" after a game at White Plains High School.
Bonamo said he apologized to the principal of White Plains High School and for the incident, and Pappalardi personally delivered a letter of apology to the staff member who was harassed.
Bonamo's letter, on Monday, explicitly condemned both acts. He wrote: "In both instances, it is very difficult to identify the individuals responsible for these actions; it would be unfair to cast blame widely on the school community, as we know that most of us abhor and condemn these acts of hatred. Yet the implications of these incidents are serious enough that I felt obligated to inform you of them, not to give attention to those who acted inappropriately, but to let them know that their actions have no place in our school community."
High school deans and youth outreach workers were made available to speak with students and families who wanted to talk about the incidents. Bonamo invited anyone who had information about either of the incidents to contact him directly.
Meanwhile, Scarsdale police are investigating the graffiti. Captain Thomas Altizio said detectives were reviewing video surveillance as part of their fact-finding process; however, he could not comment on the content of that surveillance at press time. Based on investigation, police have classified the graffiti as an act of criminal mischief.
Altizio explained the potential charge of criminal mischief, in light of graffiti's content. "Incidents of graffiti are investigated on an individual basis, based upon the totality of all the circumstances, to determine if the incident is in fact bias or hate related," he said. "The mere presence of what may appear to be a symbol of bias or hate in graffiti does not necessarily mean that the motivation behind the act was bias related. In this particular case, the KKK that was painted had periods after every letter, which is not how that organization's name is normally displayed. In addition, the graffiti was accentuated with a smiley face and a large drawing of [male genitalia], which is generally not consistent with genuine messages of bias or hate."
The police department's comprehensive policy on bias related incidents and hate crimes guides officers in determining appropriate legal charges. Based on detectives' investigation, including information obtained from video surveillance, Altizio said, "We are confident that this was an act of vandalism and mischief by a group of juveniles, and not a true bias motivated act of hate." The police investigation remains ongoing.
Nevertheless, regardless of the perpetrators' motives, the school community is taking the matter seriously. School officials are aware of the sensitive historical and cultural implications that such graffiti may invoke. Bonamo's letter took the opportunity to invite discussion, assert clear positions of respect and urge the entire school community to stand up for equality and mutuality. "If even one member of our community feels unwelcome or distressed by these incidents, that is one person too many," Bonamo wrote. "All students, families, and staff members must feel equally included and respected by each of us. Hate speech and scare tactics will not be tolerated and do not represent what we stand for. I ask each of you today to recommit to the belief that all of us deserve the opportunity to participate fully in our school community and our society at large and to join together in denouncing acts of hatred and bigotry."
Call for Candidates for the Citizens Nominating Committee
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There is still time for eligible Scarsdale residents to run for election to the Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) in all neighborhoods except Heathcote. The extended deadline is Monday, Oct 9. Those who are elected will join 20 current CNC members to choose candidates to run for Village Mayor, Trustee and/or Justice under the banner of the Scarsdale Citizens Non- Partisan Party in the March general election. This year, the CNC will meet 4 or 5 times on Tuesday or Wednesday nights in December and January to select candidates for three Trustee positions.
CNC members are expected to attend all CNC meetings for three years and to serve the following year on the Procedure Committee. The meeting dates for 2017-2018 are: Tuesday, December 5 (organizational meeting); Tuesday December 19; Wednesday, January 10; Wednesday, January 22; and, if necessary, Wednesday, January 24.
A candidate for the CNC must be a qualified voter and a resident of Scarsdale for at least two years. A CNC candidate may not be a member of the Procedure Committee, the School Board Nominating Committee, the School Board Administrative Committee, the Scarsdale School Board or the Village Board. For more details on qualifications, see the Non-Partisan Resolution, which defines the rules for CNC candidacy, on the Procedure Committee website www.scarsdaleprocedurecommittee.org.
Residents in each of the five elementary school districts (Edgewood, Greenacres, Fox Meadow, Heathcote and Quaker Ridge) may run for one of two open positions in their district. Candidates must file with the Procedure Committee a short biographical sketch. After Sept 30, no petition is necessary. Forms and filing instructions for the bio form may be downloaded from the Procedure committee website www.scarsdaleprocedurecommittee.org. Hard copies may be obtained at Village Hall and the Scarsdale Library as well.
The final deadline for filing the bio forms is Monday Oct 9. The CNC election will be held at Village Hall on Wednesday November 15 (Wed).
For help in filing or more information, potential candidates are welcome to contact the Chair of the Procedure Committee Jim Pullman, jpullman@verizon.net, the Vice Chair Robert Schechter, schecter.robert@gmail.com, or one of the current committee members. They are: from Edgewood, Elissa M. Bookner, David Irwin, Eli Mattioli, Ed Morgan, and Elaine Lamb Moreno; from Fox Meadow, Brian Nottage, and Bruce Wells; from Greenacres, John Baer, Mary Blumenthal-Lane, and Neil Kanner; from Heathcote, Leonard Benowich, Lauren Mintzer, B.K. Munguia, and Myra Saul; and from Quaker Ridge, Michael Gorelick, Howard Nadel and Anna Paternoster.
National Merit Semifinalists Announced
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On September 13, 2017 National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These semi-finalists can compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships of $2,500 each that will be offered next spring.
13 students from Scarsdale High School and two from Edgemont High School were among the semifinalists.
The winners were selected based on their performance on PSAT tests taken in 2016. The semifinalists represent less than 1% of US high school seniors and are the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
Here are the names of the local semifinalists:
Edgemont High School:
Jeffrey Z. Ma
Grace S. Wang
Scarsdale High School:
Ariel P. Goldman
Matthew H. Greenberg
Eric D. Hansen
Ryan K. Jacobowitz
Lauren R. Jacoby
Ryan Lee
Hudson Lin
Jason T. Lipsay
Arjun Ravi
Charles G. Simonds
Perri L. Thaler
Emily Wang
Richard A. Xu
