Akiko Matsuda
Akiko Matsuda has been a reporter with The Journal News since August 2005, covering the communities of North Rockland — Haverstraw town and village, Pomona, West Haverstraw, Stony Point. Before that, she covered local governments in upstate New York and Connecticut. A Japanese native, she was a reporter and news anchor for a TV station in Sapporo, covering various beats, including courts, politics and the environment.
E-mail Akiko Matsuda at amatsuda@lohud.com
Entries written by Akiko Matsuda
- May
- 3
Neighborhood Cruisers, a Stony Point-based nonprofit group, found a new home for its Monday Cruise Nights.
The weekly event that runs through May to September had been based at Annie's Snack Shack on Route 9W until last year. But the landmark restaurant was sold to a developer and a pharmacy and bank are under construction on [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on May 3rd, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- April
- 28
When I was on the phone with Stony Point Town Board member Geoffrey Finn on Friday, he told me about his frustrations related to the James A. Farley Memorial Bridge's replacement project.
First of all, he did not like the fact that the recent two meetings, where a state Department of Transportation engineer explained the agency's [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on April 28th, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- April
- 23
Haverstraw Village Clerk Emma Velez told me yesterday that she wanted to remind residents that Village Hall at 40 New Main St., has been offering extended business hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. the first and third Mondays every month. The Building Department will be open until 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on April 23rd, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- April
- 15
A caller alerted me this morning that Haverstraw town's highway trucks migrated to the town's Philip Rotella Memorial Golf Course.
To see what's going on, I drove by the golf course on Thiells-Mount Ivy Road this afternoon, and saw a total of 13 trucks, some of them with snowplows, neatly lined up in the parking lot [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on April 15th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
- April
- 10
It was about five minutes before the Stony Point Town Board meeting at Rho building at Letchworth Village on Tuesday. As I was looking for a seat to sit down, Supervisor Phil Marino came up to me and told me that he needed to talk to me.
We went to the back of the meeting room.
There, [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on April 10th, 2008 | 8 Comments »
- April
- 2
Haverstraw town announced this week its plan to improve court security, using the grant the town recently received from the state Office of Court Administration.
Towns and villages in the county have been awarded the state grants ranging from $2,000 to $29,000. Haverstraw town got the second highest amount, $24,826.
Haverstraw town Supervisor Howard Phillips said part [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on April 2nd, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- March
- 27
I started taking a Spanish class at Rockland Community College so that I can better communicate with people who feel more comfortable with speaking in Spanish rather than in English.
The first class was last night. Guess who was in my class?
When I was going through my datebook in the classroom, while waiting for the teacher [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on March 27th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
- February
- 29
Two supervisors in North Rockland want to meet the public this Saturday.
Haverstraw town Supervisor Howard Phillips will hold a “meet the supervisor and town elected officials� event from 10 a.m. to noon at the ShopRite store on Route 202 in Garnerville. Residents can bring their questions and concerns related to the town government.
Stony Point Supervisor [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on February 29th, 2008 | 2 Comments »
- February
- 23
I stopped by Haverstraw Center this week, where the Haverstraw Collaborative — a group of local agencies serving the village youth and families — was hosting a week-long event for children during the school break.
When I was visiting, multiple programs — including a knitting class, a group discussion, and exercises — were ongoing, and participating [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on February 23rd, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- February
- 8
This podcast features highlight's from last week's North Rockland tax forum. The North Rockland Business Alliance hosted the forum, check out what the president of the group and what one resident had to say.
Download:
Link to related article:
North Rockland taxpayers raise their concerns at tax forum
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on February 8th, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- February
- 4
Burt Singer of Pomona always thought that more parking spaces should be available at Pomona Village Hall when it serves as a polling site. He thought many residents might shy away from casting their votes because of the difficult parking situation there.
Through his observation, Singer realized that on an election day, election workers seemed to [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on February 4th, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- January
- 24
I’ve been receiving so many calls and e-mails about the Hudson Pines Condominiums, an affordable housing complex I wrote about in Wednesday’s paper, I figured I'd share all the information I have:
The condominiums are on Dowd Street in Haverstraw village. That’s off Route 202, not too far away from the Route 9W intersection.
There will be [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on January 24th, 2008 | Post a Comment »
- January
- 23
I drove by Benson Street in West Haverstraw yesterday to check if Raines and Welsh and Sons, a construction company on Railroad Avenue, was clearing up its backyard, following an order from the state Department or Environmental Conservation.
The work was in progress: a piece of heavy machinery was loading piles of dirt onto a truck.
Last [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on January 23rd, 2008 | 1 Comment »
- January
- 10
In my recent story on Papo Cancel’s quick comeback to the Haverstraw Town Board, Supervisor Howard Phillips was quoted, saying that two people â€" Cancel and Salvatore Greco of West Haverstraw â€" notified the Democratic Committee of their interest in the Town Board seat vacated by John Ramundo. He also said because Greco later withdrew [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on January 10th, 2008 | 14 Comments »
- December
- 27
Since John Ramundo left the Haverstraw Town Board to become West Haverstraw mayor earlier this month, the Town Board has been missing one board member.
Supervisor Howard Phillips said he was planning to appoint someone to fill the vacancy at the reorganization meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 3.
Rumors have been circulated that Town Board member Isidro [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on December 27th, 2007 | 8 Comments »
- November
- 27
Right after the regular Town Board meeting last night, Haverstraw town Supervisor Howard Phillips casually asked Hector Soto, Haverstraw Town Board member-elect, if he wanted to join him and others at Dunkin’ Donuts.
Soto politely declined, saying that he was watching his weight.
Phillips insisted and said, “I’m going to drink water. That’s what I’m going to [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on November 27th, 2007 | 4 Comments »
- November
- 21
A long-awaited bridge-replacement project at the former Letchworth Village finally started this week.
The bridge on American Legion Way, formerly known as Underpass Road, was condemned in fall 2005 because of structural problems.
The condemnation left the North Rockland school district's Fieldstone Secondary School and Willow Grove Middle School without an emergency route in or out of [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on November 21st, 2007 | Post a Comment »
- October
- 30
Carl Gilpatrick, president of the Civil Service Employees Association’s Stony Point unit, said yesterday that the union had endorsed Democratic candidates for November’s local election.
Those candidates endorsed by the union were incumbent Supervisor Phil Marino; Town Board candidates Luanne Konopko and Tom Brown; and Patrick Kennell, who is running against Republican incumbent Highway Superintendent Larry [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on October 30th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
- October
- 18
Angelo Cintron and Ricky Sanchez, both Democrats and former Haverstraw village trustees, will be formally endorsing two Republican candidates, not their fellow Democrats, in November.
According to a statement released yesterday, Cintron and Sanchez support incumbents District Attorney Michael Bongiorno and Haverstraw village Mayor Francis "Bud" Wassmer.
Democrat Tom Zugibe, former West Haverstraw village justice, is challenging [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on October 18th, 2007 | 4 Comments »
- October
- 2
Ricky Sanchez, who finished second in the Haverstraw mayoral race in the Democratic primary, recently said he had not decided if he would support the winner, Mike Kohut.
Kohut, who got 385 votes in the primary, will run against Republican incumbent Francis "Bud" Wassmer in November.
To Kohut, getting support from Sanchez, who got 349 votes in [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on October 2nd, 2007 | 1 Comment »
- September
- 12
As the election nears, it appears that more calls come in to point out a possible abuse of governments' money or a conspiracy.
Today's call was about Haverstraw Highway Department's dump trucks transporting dirt from a construction site on Railroad Avenue to the highway garage.
The caller, Louis "Butch" Babcock, a Republican who is running for town [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on September 12th, 2007 | 10 Comments »
- September
- 5
Haverstraw police have reported to the county Board of Elections that Haverstraw village mayoral candidate Craig Jackson does not live at the address that he reported for his voter registration. The same address0 also was listed as his residence on his petitions to run for mayor.
The police report became available under a Freedom of Information [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on September 5th, 2007 | 4 Comments »
- August
- 24
The Town of Haverstraw Democratic Committee will sponsor a picnic for residents 55 and older at Bowline Point Park at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 8.
Food and beverages will be served and there will be entertainment.
Transportation will be available about 11 a.m. at Haverstraw Place, about 11:10 a.m. at Warren Knolls and about 11:20 a.m. at Walnut [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on August 24th, 2007 | Post a Comment »
- August
- 21
Late yesterday afternoon, I was covering a welcome-home reception for the Haverstraw Little League softball team, which advanced in the Little League Softball Junior Division World Series all the way to the semifinals. They finished fourth in the series.
The girls were tired because on Sunday, they flew back to Syracuse from Washington State, where the [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on August 21st, 2007 | Post a Comment »
- August
- 13
Former Haverstraw village trustee Ricky Sanchez, who is running for mayor, said most of his election signs were either vandalized or disappeared over the weekend.
Sanchez said he put up about 30 signs around noon Saturday.
On Sunday morning, his supporters called him up and told him that his signs were spray-painted. He drove around the village [...]
Posted by Akiko Matsuda on August 13th, 2007 | 6 Comments »