Winners
– Stew Leonard’s. The family-owned grocery chain’s wine shops (with a Westchester location adjacent to its food store in Yonkers), was named Wine Retailer of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
– Dillon Bardhi. The third-grader at Seely Place Elementary School in Scarsdale was the winner for his age of the annual Red Bulls Skills Challenge—a series of tests performed by New York’s professional soccer team at the conclusion of its summer soccer camp. Bardhi was one of 50 youths selected to compete in the grand final from among the 6,000 children who participated in the summer camp in 2011.
– Ernest Davis. The three-term Mount Vernon mayor returns for a fourth term this month, after losing a bid for reelection in 2007 and making a successful comeback in November’s elections.
– Michael Levine. The Scarsdale resident was named 2011 Taxicab Operator of the Year by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, an international trade group. Levine—who owns and operates Long Island–based Arthur Cab Leasing, founded by his grandfather—was lauded by the association for his contributions to the industry, including the pioneering of onboard credit-card payments.
Losers
– Iona College. After an internal investigation, school officials admitted that several key pieces of data reported to outside entities had been inflated, including graduation rates and incoming freshmen’s SAT scores.
– Angela K. DeRossi. The 35-year-old Dobbs Ferry resident was arrested by village police for allegedly making phony bomb threats against the Dobbs Ferry branch of Chase Bank on Ashford Avenue.
– Metro-North Commuters. According to an audit performed by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, riders footed the bill for more than $1 million in “avoidable” overtime and “rest shifts” for signal-construction work performed along the Hudson and Harlem lines.
– Fernando Hernandez. The 23-year-old Yonkers resident was arrested by Westchester County police after leading them on a high-speed chase on the Hutchinson River and Cross County Parkways. Hernandez topped out at 106 mph(!) until he lost control of his vehicle near Midland Avenue.