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COVID-19: NY Duo Steals $8M From Company Seeking Surgical Masks, Feds Say COVID-19: NY Duo Steals $8M From Company Seeking Surgical Masks, Feds Say
Covid-19: NY Duo Steals $8M From Company Seeking Surgical Masks, Feds Say Two New York residents are accused of conning a medical supply company out of millions of dollars in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Long Island resident Jonathan Cannon, age 58, of Miller Place, and Erie County resident Julie Dotton, age 51, of Orchard Park, are both charged with wire fraud in a complaint unsealed in Central Islip federal court on Thursday, May 2. According to prosecutors, a Canadian company serving as an official provider of personal protective equipment paid Cannon and Dotton $8.2 million for surgical masks needed due to the pandemic. In exchange, Dotton agreed…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
New Update: I-95 Stretch Fully Reopens After Fiery Crash Causes Days-Long Closure New Update: I-95 Stretch Fully Reopens After Fiery Crash Causes Days-Long Closure
New Update: I-95 Stretch Fully Reopens After Fiery Crash Causes Days-Long Closure This story has been updated. A stretch of I-95 in Connecticut has now fully reopened three days after a fire involving a tanker with 8,500 gallons of gas days earlier. Northbound lanes on the stretch in Norwalk reopened Saturday evening, May 4. Lanes opened on the southbound side reopened late Sunday morning, May 5, earlier than had been expected. The first image above was taken around 11 a.m. Sunday. The blaze broke out after a crash on Thursday, May 2 near exits 14 and 15 between the truck and a passenger vehicle at around 6 a.m.  The tanker fire was raging for…

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by Joe Lombardi
Police & Fire
24-Year-Old Man Nabbed In Hudson Valley After Using Counterfeit Bills At Stop & Shop: Police 24-Year-Old Man Nabbed In Hudson Valley After Using Counterfeit Bills At Stop & Shop: Police
24-Year-Old Man Nabbed In Hudson Valley After Using Counterfeit Bills At Stop & Shop: Police A 24-year-old man was apprehended in New York after allegedly using counterfeit bills at a Connecticut Stop & Shop supermarket, police said. Brooklyn resident James Breland was processed on forgery and larceny charges on Wednesday, April 24 in connection with an incident in September 2022 at a Fairfield County Stop & Shop, Darien Police announced on Tuesday, April 30.  According to police, during the original incident on Sept. 25, 2022, three men allegedly used $80 in counterfeit bills at the Darien Stop & Shop at 25 Old Kings Hwy North. A Darien detective investigatin…

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by Ben Crnic
Police & Fire
Scammer Caught Red-Handed With $36K Taken From Woman From Region, Police Say Scammer Caught Red-Handed With $36K Taken From Woman From Region, Police Say
Scammer Caught Red-Handed With $36K Taken From Woman From Region, Police Say A man was captured in the region after allegedly scamming a woman out of $36,000. The incident occurred in Sullivan County on Wednesday, May 1 in the village of Liberty. According to Chief Steven D'Agata of the Liberty Police, the department received a call from a 76-year-old resident who said the money had been taken from her as part of an elaborate scam. The woman told officers that what appeared to be a virus appeared on her computer. Shortly after she received a phone call from a man claiming to be from an anti-virus company and he would help her. D'Agata said the man, identified as H…

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by Kathy Reakes
Business
Popular Apple Juice Brand Recalled Due To High Arsenic Levels Popular Apple Juice Brand Recalled Due To High Arsenic Levels
Popular Apple Juice Brand Recalled Due To High Arsenic Levels A recall has been issued for a popular brand of apple juice due to high levels of arsenic. S. Martinelli & Co. said the recall is for a single lot of Martinelli’s Apple Juice, one-liter (33.8-ounce) bottles.  The recalled product has a “Best By” date of “09MAR2026” or “10MAR2026” on the front of the bottle above the label.  The product was shipped between March 13, 2023, and September 27, 2023, with the majority of the product shipped before July 28, 2023. This recall results from a sampling by the State of Maryland that found samples from one produc…

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Major Mall-Based Chain To Close 543 Stores After Filing For Bankruptcy Major Mall-Based Chain To Close 543 Stores After Filing For Bankruptcy
Major Mall-Based Chain To Close 543 Stores After Filing For Bankruptcy A retailer primarily located in malls is set to close all 543 of its stores following its third Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Closures for all rue21 locations are expected to be completed within the next two months with going-out-of-business sales coming soon. Founded in 1970, rue21 specializes in women's & men's casual apparel and accessories. In its filing on Thursday, May 2, the company said, "It became clear that offers to buy the debtors' assets at their current worth could not exceed the expected profits from selling off the closing stores and assets.  "As a result, the deb…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
Hudson Valley Veteran Lies About Earning Purple Heart To Defraud Gov't, Charity Donors: Feds Hudson Valley Veteran Lies About Earning Purple Heart To Defraud Gov't, Charity Donors: Feds
Hudson Valley Veteran Lies About Earning Purple Heart To Defraud Gov't, Charity Donors: Feds An Army veteran from New York is accused of lying about earning one of the nation's highest military honors in order to rake in six figures from the government and donors to her charity. Orange County resident Sharon Toney-Finch, of Newburgh, was arrested by the FBI’s White Collar Crime Task Force on Wednesday, May 1, following a two-year investigation. According to federal prosecutors, Toney-Finch falsely claimed that she suffered combat-related injuries during a mortar attack and a separate vehicle rollover while serving in Iraq in 2010. Those claims reportedly led to her receiving hundr…

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by Michael Mashburn
Police & Fire
Man Shot On Hudson Valley Basketball Court, Police Searching For Suspects Man Shot On Hudson Valley Basketball Court, Police Searching For Suspects
Man Shot On Hudson Valley Basketball Court, Police Searching For Suspects Police in the Hudson Valley are investigating after a man was shot on a popular basketball court. The incident occurred in Dutchess County around 11 p.m., Thursday, May 2, on South Park Avenue in Beacon. According to Det. Sgt. Jason Johnson of the Beacon Police officers responded to South Davies Terrace for a report of shots fired. Johnson said officers located a 20-year-old man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.  The victim, who has not been identified, was transported to an area hospital via ambulance, where he was treated and later released, Johnson said. "This agenc…

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by Kathy Reakes
Police & Fire
Around 70 Protesting Students, Faculty Members Arrested At College In Hudson Valley Around 70 Protesting Students, Faculty Members Arrested At College In Hudson Valley
Around 70 Protesting Students, Faculty Members Arrested At College In Hudson Valley Around 70 students and faculty members were taken into custody during pro-Palestine protests at a college in Westchester. New, updated report - Update: Arrested Protesters To Face No Disciplinary Consequences At College In Westchester The arrests were made at Purchase College on Thursday night, May 2 after protesters refused to leave the campus once quiet hours began, according to the school's Assistant Director of Public Relations Betsy Aldredge.  According to Aldredge, the events leading up to the arrests began earlier on Thursday, when students peacefully protested for se…

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by Ben Crnic
News
Former Police Officer In Hudson Valley Sentenced For Extorting Prostitution Rings For Sex Former Police Officer In Hudson Valley Sentenced For Extorting Prostitution Rings For Sex
Former Police Officer In Hudson Valley Sentenced For Extorting Prostitution Rings For Sex A former Hudson Valley police officer will spend time in prison for protecting prostitution businesses from law enforcement activity in exchange for free sexual services, federal officials announced. Ulster County resident Wayne Peiffer of Highland, a former officer in Putnam County who worked for the Village of Brewster Police Department, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for protecting two Queens-based prostitution rings, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on Thursday, May 2.  According to federal officials, between 2010 and October 2018, …

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by Ben Crnic
Police & Fire
22-Year-Old Emergency Responder Dies In Tuxedo Crash 22-Year-Old Emergency Responder Dies In Tuxedo Crash
22-Year-Old Emergency Responder Dies In Tuxedo Crash Services have been finalized for Marcin Bednarz, a 22-year-old paramedic from Bergen County who died in a New York crash on Sunday, April 28. Marcin, a paramedic with the Wallington Fire Department, was killed in a single-vehicle crash on Arden Valley Road in Tuxedo, N.Y. at 3:18 p.m., according to a New York State Police report. His obituary on the Warner-Wozniak Funeral Service website says he had "just begun his journey of his part of the American dream." Marcin became an EMT in high school and graduated at the top of his class for paramedic school at Bergen Community College, his …

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
7 Hospitalized After Route 9 Crash In Region 7 Hospitalized After Route 9 Crash In Region
7 Hospitalized After Route 9 Crash In Region Seven people were hospitalized after a two-vehicle crash in the region. It happened in Columbia County at about 6:10 a.m. Tuesday, April 30 on Route 9 in the town of Kinderhook, just north of Maple Lane South. A 2011 Chevrolet Silverado, driven by a 28-year-old man from the village of Valatie in Columbia County, was traveling southbound when a 2004 Honda Accord, driven by an 18-year-old Bronx woman, exited a parking lot and made a left-hand turn in front of the Silverado, causing the collision, New York State Police said. The driver of the Accord was taken out of her car by the …

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by Joe Lombardi