Editor's Notebook: The Week in Review

This week brought the start of a new school year, a big football win and another new development area's coyote issue.

Harrison Central School District opened its doors for another year on Tuesday, and several students entered the classroom with the necessary supplies thanks to a group of charitable teachers. The Harrison Association of Teachers, working with the town community services office, supplied students in need with backpacks filled with the supplies they will need to get through the year.

The program is in its seventh year and is certainly appreciated by students, parents and teachers alike.

As school started, so did the fall sports schedule. The girls soccer team defeated Nanuet on Tuesday. Meanwhile the football team upset defending Class A Section I champion Roosevelt at home on Saturday. 

There was another development in the area's coyote issue this week. Authorities in Rye Brook shot and killed a coyote that they believe was responsible for two attacks in the area. Tests would later reveal that the coyote was rabid and suffering from mange. 

A fire took out several trees and shrubbery in Veterans Park on Wednesday. The Harrison Fire Department responded to smoke in the area during the afternoon and found two brush fires in the woods behind the park. It took authorities several hours to completely put out the fire. A can of lighter fluid at the scene and the fact that both fires were along a trail led authorities to call it suspicious.

Harrison police arrested two out-of-state men over Labor Day weekend after they say they found a loaded hand gun inside their vehicle. Michael Stratford, 23, and Demark Bond, 32, were arrested at a DWI checkpoint. The men will face charges of second and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon—both felonies. Stratford was also charged with unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

Police also arrested two teens who were allegedly taking valuables from unoccupied vehicles in West Harrison. 

This week we also took a look at how local merchants are responding to a bagel tax that some people in the area have called unfair, and featured a new media school now being offered at SUNY Purchase.