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PELHAM MANOR, N.Y. - The Daily Pelham is reflecting on which news stories mattered most this year. Here's a look at how the top 10 headlines of 2011 continue to affect Pelham residents:
Pelham Manor police officer Michael Tillistrand, who was injured during a November traffic stop, is recovering well according to the police department. He is talking and walking, with some assistance, just weeks after being awoken from a medically induced coma.
The 28 year old officer was hit by a car on November 15 while assisting another officer with a ticket on Boston Post Road. The incident caused severe injuries to the Yorktown native's head and doctors even had to drill a hole into his skull to relieve the immense pressure on his brain. He spent many weeks in the intensive care unit at Bronx's Jacobi Medical Center.
Jill Ruggiero, the daughter of Pelham Manor's fire chief, was driving the car that hit the Yorktown High School graduate. No charges have been filed as Westchester County police are still investigating the crash.
Recently, the Committee on Publc Integrity, asked that a special prosecutor be brought in to oversee the investigation.
Tillistrand had only been on the Pelham Manor force for four months, but hopes to return when fully healthy again. He had worked for the New York City Police Department's 48th precinct for the prior five years. After graduating from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in History, Tillistrand deployed to Afghanistan and came back home as a captain.
Another significant Pelham news story in 2011 was the dispute between the Village of Pelham Board of Trustees and residents of Hillside and Brookside Avenues over whether those streets are public or private.
Residents of those avenues have argued that for 80 years, those streets were private. The board has disputed that opinion, stating that they always saw those streets as public.
Members of the community came to several village board meetings over the past year, which became heated, to voice their disdain and oppose the board's decision. However, the board made an agreement with the Clovelly Homeowners Association and passed a resolution at their December 20 meeting acknowledging that Hillside and Brookside Avenues are public streets.
Many residents have argued that since the Picture House wants to add a second theater and must install a pipe to do so, the board is helping out that business. The pipe would run off any excess rainwater that would fall on the building's roof and the Picture House planned to run the pipe onto Brookside Avenue. However, they cannot do that if it is a private street.
Mayor Ed Hotchkiss has stated that the board is not making Hillside and Brookside Avenues public in order to help the Picture House.
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