Tom Walogorsky, editor of North Salem News and The Somers Record, and Brian Marschhauser, editor of Yorktown News and The Katonah Lewisboro Times, join host Brett Freeman for today’s weekly editorial roundup. Walogorsky begins by talking about Illuminate Somers, a tour of the town’s holiday lights and decorations, and then the guys discuss other local festive attractions. Elsewhere, Somers’ library is appealing for funds for upgrades, and Walogorsky highlights The Friends of Karen, a North Salem organization that supports children facing life-threatening illnesses. They also discuss the news that North Salem and Yorktown have been working on their budgets, with North Salem approving a 2% tax increase and some of Yorktown’s residents questioning the town’s spending on communications.

Next, Marschhauser discusses Bedford’s resolution against gas-powered leaf blowers and their public hearings on whether or not to opt out of marijuana dispensaries, both of which result in lively discussions. There’s then a brief diversion on the subject of Taco Bell vs. Chipotle, before Marschhauser brings up his love-hate relationship with PR people and whether their value outweighs their potential to create propaganda. Finally, things wrap up with some lighter news, with profiles of local residents who have had recent successes, from clean beauty expert Indie Lee to several locals who have won roles in touring productions of Broadway shows (and a brief discussion of the guys’ Broadway faves!).

Episode Highlights:

●  Two editors from the Halston Media team join today's roundup - Tom Walogorsky, editor of North Salem News and The Somers Record, and Brian Marschhauser, editor of Yorktown News and The Katonah Lewisboro Times.

●  Our main pack editor, Bob Dumars, is out this week, having spent some time in hospital (good news, he’s on his way home as of December 9).

●  Walogorsky starts us off with the news that Illuminate Somers, a tour of the town’s holiday lights and decorations, is back on Friday, December 17, with prizes and awards!

●  Other recommendations for festive community fun include light displays in Carmel and Walnut Hill Church in Bethel, Connecticut.

●  Somers’ library is appealing for funds for upgrades, including a generator that would allow them to take in people in the event of a disaster.

●  Walogorsky also gives a shout-out to The Friends of Karen, a North Salem organization founded in 1978, which is devoted to helping children and their families who are facing life-threatening illnesses, providing support for around 600 children a year.

●  The Friends of Karen covers a large area, including Connecticut, New Jersey, Long Island, and all throughout the Hudson Valley, and they never turn anybody away.

●  They have two important programs running over the holidays – first, “Adopt-A-Family,” where you can buy gifts for children from their wish lists; and second, the Year End Appeal, their big fundraising program which takes donations as small as a gift card and as big as sponsoring a program.

●  North Salem approved an $11.5 million budget for next year, with a 2% tax increase for everybody but a 10% bump in pay for the town’s police officers and half a million dollars for the School House Theater, which will house the new senior and activity center and some local theater.

●  Bedford is about to pass a resolution that will ban gas-powered leaf blowers town-wide for residential and commercial uses, taking effect on January 1, 2024. So if you need a new leaf blower, don’t buy gas.

●  The guys discuss whether laws like this actually have a beneficial impact on the environment, or is it picking on the little guy instead of dealing with the real issues?

●  Bedford’s been holding a public hearing on whether or not they should opt out of marijuana dispensaries (having already rejected consumption lounges). The turnout was apparently overwhelmingly against marijuana, but the issue is subject to a permissive referendum, which means if enough people in the municipality decide they want to make it a ballot issue, they can.

●  Lewisboro also had a permissive referendum recently on the sale of a vacant piece of land, which got enough signatures to make it a ballot issue, but instead of validating the ballot, the town decided to walk back their original decision.

●  Marschhauser makes the point that the communities voting against marijuana tend to be predominantly white, whereas the ones considering it are not.

●  Taco Bell vs. Chipotle.

●  Yorktown’s also been working on its budget, with some people questioning the town’s spending of $60,000 on communications firm Thompson & Bender.

●  Marschhauser’s love-hate relationship with press secretaries and PR people.

●  The Katana-Lewisboro Times profiled clean beauty entrepreneur Indie Lee this week, who created her own range of clean beauty products after being diagnosed with cancer and advised by her doctors that it might be the result of the products she was putting on her skin.

●  Also profiled are some local residents who have won parts in the touring productions of major musicals Hadestown and Fiddler on the Roof (and the guys discuss their favorite Broadway shows).

Quotes:

“I had a great conversation last week with the executive director and one of the board members for The Friends of Karen. Which, if anybody’s not familiar, it’s been around since 1978, it’s based out in North Salem, and the whole organization is devoted to helping children and their families who are facing life-threatening illnesses.”

“My first question was, well, do people who own gas-powered leaf blowers, will they be grandfathered in? And he said, nope, just a total ban. You can’t use it. If you use it, it’s an offense. It’s a town code violation.”

“If you use a battery-powered leaf blower, you know, you have to plug that thing in. And you know that energy’s coming from somewhere when you charge a battery.”

“Bedford can’t just shut itself off from the rest of the planet. And the United States can’t shut itself off from the rest of the planet either.”

“I mean, in certain cases like that, you got to have a little common sense. You’ve got to understand how things look. And I think that’s a big part of governing.”

“I can really imagine a really tasteful marijuana dispensary, right? That’s upscale and could attract people to other shopping in Daytona and other parts of Bedford.”

“You have to address the elephant in the room is that the communities that are voting against it seem to be very predominantly white, and the communities that are considering it or are allowing it are more urban communities.”

“That Taco Bell was eventually approved, by the way, so this undesirable will be eating a spicy potato taco.”

“Well, I love salsa fresca, I’m a salsa fresca guy.”

“Unfortunately for the town, it doesn’t get a lot of headlines when they hold the line on spending. It gets a lot of headlines when they shoot up 10%.”

“We put in the sweat equity, and they’re sitting at home and they get, unfortunately, they get the story too. That has happened to me a couple of times, and that never gets any less annoying.”

“There is something to be said about building a brand. And you can do that through kind of relentless positivity, which is kind of these press releases, and it makes your town seem like this wonderful place.”

“Sometimes you feel compelled to always have a hard news story on the front page. But every once in a while, you know, a nice feature is really what a hometown newspaper is all about.”

“I will never stop using Old Spice.”

“It’s like all of our towns have a little Broadway love here.”

“The Greatest Showman, my family, we probably watch that movie like once a month.”

Links:

Halston Media Group website