The Land of Opportunities

The City of Newburgh Civil Service Commission has the following open competitive examinations accepting applications through April 30, 2007.

Examination # 61976 Firefighter, exam date will be June 2, 2007. The starting salary is $38,192.

The requirements for the exam are a high school diploma or equivalent U.S. Citizenship, Orange county residency, NYS driver's license and no felony convictions.

The filing fee is $40.00 and a waiver of the fee is available for those who qualify.

Examination # 61979 Firefighter Spanish Speaking, exam date will be June 2, 2007. The starting salary is $38,192.

The requirements for the exam are a high school diploma or equivalent U.S. Citizenship, Orange county residency, NYS driver's license and no felony convictions. A Spanish language proficiency test will also be given.

The filing fee is $40.00 and a waiver of the fee is available for those who qualify.

The application packet can be picked up at City Hall 83 Broadway, Newburgh, N.Y. or on the internet: newburgh civil service.

And Fragrant Zone...

Woodsy Owl the USDA Forest Service mascot used to say "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute!" He's now got a new message "Lend a Hand - Care for the Land!"

Apparently that's falling on deaf ears here in Newburgh.

We do have regulations on garbage and we do have enforcement officers. The problem is that we have too much garbage.



Newburgh seems to have a disproportionate amount of ambient trash. It blows on the roadways and into yards, it gets tangled in fencing and stuck on the curbs.

But there are also the televisions, sofas, tables, mattresses, tires and chairs that the city charges to remove and no one wants to pay for.

Obviously a clean environment is healthier and more pleasant to live in.

There are rules for construction debris. It must be put in a dumpster and it will not be picked up by the city. Perhaps the city should ensure that the fines for construction debris are daily at least twice the cost of a dumpster rental.

Garbage must be placed in clear trash bags in the City of Newburgh. Paper, plastic, glass and cans must set apart for recycling.

Yesterday I needed to buy trash bags for home. My corner store offered to sell me a single clear bag for 50 cents or three for one dollar. They do have black bags on the shelf ten for one dollar. I went to Kmart, which does not sell clear bags. I went to Eckard pharmacy, I went to Rite Aid. I went to Target. None of these stores stock clear trash bags. I finally did find clear bags at Associated Supermarket.

On Church and State

Yesterday I went to the City of Newburgh's City Hall. While conducting my business I noticed, on a radiator next to the Tax Assessor's window a Watch Tower and an Awake magazine. These magazines are published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society which according to their website " is a legal organization in use by Jehovah’s Witnesses." This religious organization's members perform a service called tracting in which they distribute their books, magazines and other publications to the community.

I have no issue with tracting in public or private. I do feel that the distribution of their literature at City Hall is wrong.

I went to the Tax Assessor's window and was greeted by a city employee whom I informed of the magazines on display in the building. She said "I didn't put them there and it's not my job to pick them up." She informed me that if I had a problem I could go upstairs to the executive offices.

I did go upstairs and let them know that I felt that it was an improper display whether authorized by the city or not. The people there agreed and stated that any employee who sees them should remove them.

A Note on "A Bucket of Blood"

Tito is back with the family. I saw him leave this morning from their apartment.

The Dog Fight

P. tied his pit bull to a store's fence by its leash. The dog was muzzled and the leash gave the dog about four feet of wandering space. He did this because he wanted to purchase an item at the store. The dog was on the sidewalk with a reach that would let it move less than half way across the sidewalk.

A woman ran into the store screaming that the dog had chased her into the street and tried to bite her. P. went out of the store and saw that the dog was still tied to the fence and he and the store owner say that the dog had not barked.

P. accused the woman of lying. She threatened to shoot the dog. P. left the store and took the dog home. When he returned to the store the woman, a child and another woman began throwing rocks and bricks at him. The child threatened P. with a knife, so P. and the store owner called the police.

The store owner and P. told the officers what had happened. P. said that when the police department responded they refused to take his complaint because they wanted to defuse the situation. An officer told him that they had not had any complaints like that about these people before.

P. says he will go to the district attorney today and attempt to swear out a complaint.

A Bucket of Blood

This section
contains graphic photos.




This material may be upsetting to some readers.




This section
contains graphic photos.




Please
use your
discretion
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a decision
to view
these images.




I have blacked out the victim's face for his privacy.




This section
contains graphic photos.

On Friday March 30, 2007 a neighbor was crying in the street for someone to call the police. I stepped out side and found this young man in the road. His injury is a deep, ragged cut to the top of his head.

I brought him into my home. I am familiar with him and his family. His mother, his mother's boyfriend and his brothers live together. For more than a year, nearly every Friday night that is associated with an SSI disabilty payment there has been drinking and fighting in their home. Everytime that the police have come to their home, they have refused to tell what happened to them. Each time they have told neighbors and friends that "Tito", the boyfriend had hit one or the other. They have said that "Tito" had drugs in the house. That "Tito" drinks too much. Prior to this no one seems to have been seriously injured. They never told the police these things. The boys admitted many times that they are afraid of "Tito".

Having never seen "Tito" injure anyone, but having seen the aftermath of "Tito", having heard the yelling and screaming from their home I decided "I have had enough". The young man was refusing medical treatment from the ambulance personnel and he was saying nothing to the police officers. I told him to get out of my house, to never ask me for help again unless he was going to tell the truth about what happened and then go the hospital in the ambulance. He told the officers that "Tito" hit him in the head with a CD player. He finally gave the police enough information for "Tito" to be arrested.

This time it seems that the demon had gotten the best of "Tito".

He had written on the wall of the bathroom in his victim's blood.

This is the area where the attack took place. It looked like a bucket of blood had been poured on the bedding.

On a prior occassion another neighbor told me that he had seen "Tito" hit the mother with a stick. Her friends that were with her also stated to me that they were witnesses too. I asked her to tell the police what she had seen. Her reply was "I don't talk to police."

I believe if you see something, you have to speak up. This monster has terrorized a family for more than a year. He has done so with impunity because other people have refused to help them.

The police can not arrest a person unless there is a witness. Sometimes a victim is too afraid to speak up.

I do not at this time know the extent of the young man's injuries, but I know he did not return home from the hospital with his mother on Saturday morning.

I hope "Tito" will remain in jail a good long time.