Jon Craig

Reporter

jon.craig@dailyvoice.com

Pleasantville native Jon Craig is special editor for the Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange and Dutchess Daily Voice sites. He is also the primary reporter for Daily Voice Plus Politics in Westchester and Fairfield.

Jon graduated from Cornell University and received his master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. Across a 35-year career, he's worked as a reporter for daily newspapers in Chicago, New York, Ohio & Washington, D.C and as managing editor for weekly newspapers in Rye, White Plains and Harrison.

Jon also writes periodically for the Cornell Chronicle.

Career Highlights:

  • Covered Metro-North train wreck that killed a motorist and five commuters, 2015
  • Researched state investigative project for PublicIntegrity.org, 2011-12
  • National MADD award for database analysis of repeat drunk drivers in Ohio, 2008.
  • Henry F. Guggenheim Fellow, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2010.
  • Sentenced to jail for protecting confidential sources (won on appeal), 1999.
  • Broke 30th anniversary story about Kent State shootings — using FBI records, resurrecting theory a student informant triggered fatal National Guard volley, May 2000.
  • Covered Ground Zero after Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.
  • Uncovered voting problems before & during presidential recount in Ohio, 2004.
  • Witnessed botched Death Row execution of Romell Broom in 2009, one of more than a dozen I covered; Wrote about three inmates whose death sentences were commuted to life without parole.
  • Won IRE, SDX and multiple national & state awards for series led by Erik Kriss investigating New York General Assembly. 1994.
  • Guest lecturer at universities in NY & Ohio. Taught Syracuse high school journalism class.
  • Co-authored IRE-award winning series on illegal restraints/beatings at juvenile detention centers. Gov. Mario Cuomo had NY inspector general confirm what Hart Seely and I found at Division for Youth & fired top directors, 1993.
  • Survived Air Force Kool School training at North Pole, 1996.
  • Covered Persian Gulf wars, including 2002 bomb missions from Turkey and stateside Army/Air Guard training. 1991.
  • Supervised overnight coverage of Pan Am Flight 103 after Libyan bomb killed 35 Syracuse University students over Lockerbie, Scotland, 1988.
  • Covered aftermath of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s fatal plane crash from Cape Cod, 1999.
  • Greeted Kurt Vonnegut Jr. as Cornell Sun sports editor during daily's 100th anniversary dinner in May 1980. 

Jon Craig's Contributions

Mamaroneck's North Barry Avenue Bridge Closed For Emergency Water Repairs Mamaroneck's North Barry Avenue Bridge Closed For Emergency Water Repairs
Mamaroneck's North Barry Avenue Bridge Closed For Emergency Water Repairs This story has been updated. MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Due to deteriorating conditions of a 12-inch water main that crosses above the Metro-North Railroad tracks, the North Barry Avenue Bridge was closed to traffic on Thursday and Friday for emergency water main repairs. Public works crews replaced a failing section of water main that was originally installed in 1921, Village Manager Richard Slingerland said. Slingerland told Daily Voice, "The emergency repair was prompted by gradual wear through the water main, which started out as a slow-dripping leak over the past two months, which acce…
Elmsford School Board Member Quits Amid CBS Investigation Of His Residency Elmsford School Board Member Quits Amid CBS Investigation Of His Residency
Elmsford School Board Member Quits Amid CBS Investigation Of His Residency ELMSFORD, N.Y. -- The president of the Elmsford School Board resigned Tuesday night and withdrew his name for reelection in next Tuesday's election after CBS New York discovered he moved to Yorktown in 2013. Michael Colasuonno claimed to live on Woodlands Avenue in Elmsford, a home owned by his sister, but voted in Yorktown Heights last fall, CBS reported here. Colasuonno's biography has been removed from the Elmsford Union Free School District's web site, but Colasuonno still appeared in a group photo of the Board of Education on Thursday. State law requires school board members to …
Westchester Avenue Welcomes First New Office Building In Quarter-Century Westchester Avenue Welcomes First New Office Building In Quarter-Century
Westchester Avenue Welcomes First New Office Building In Quarter-Century PURCHASE, N.Y. -- Westchester County's "Platinum Mile" -- now commonly referred to as the "Medical Mile" -- welcomed its first new office building in more than 25 years on Wednesday at 3030 Westchester Ave. The grand opening of an 85,000-square-foot facility by WESTMED Medical Group included a major facelift to three adjoining offices built in the late 1960s. They once headquartered the Melville Group -- a large retail holding corporation that changed its name to CVS Corp. in 1996 during a massive reorganization.  The complex, formerly known as Harrison Professional Park, has been renam…
Public Works Crews On A Mission, Potholes Filled In Parts Of Harrison Public Works Crews On A Mission, Potholes Filled In Parts Of Harrison
Public Works Crews On A Mission, Potholes Filled In Parts Of Harrison WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- Shortly after Daily Voice's survey of Westchester County roadway conditions, Harrison Department of Public Works' crews filled some nasty potholes along Park Avenue in that village. (See "before" photo from May 1 to the right.) The same good news cannot be reported about pitted roadways identified in Bedford, Briarcliff, Mount Pleasant, New Rochelle, North Castle, Pleasantville or White Plains -- where public pavement remains bumpy along Route 117, Route 172, Pinebrook Boulevard, Pleasantville Road, Marble Avenue and other busy thoroughfares like Interstate 684 …
White Plains Juneteenth Heritage Committee Holds Awards Gala In Tarrytown White Plains Juneteenth Heritage Committee Holds Awards Gala In Tarrytown
White Plains Juneteenth Heritage Committee Holds Awards Gala In Tarrytown WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The White Plains Juneteenth Heritage Committee holds its Third Annual Awards Gala Thursday night, honoring outstanding individuals and a prominent business in the African-American community. The Juneteenth Awards Gala will begin at 6 p.m at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Tarrytown, and tickets are still available, organizers said on Wednesday. Distinguished honorees include Eon S. Nichols, Rosa Boone-Morgan, the Rev. Earlene Davis, William Brown, Jr., James Bason, Jr., Bishop Wilbur Preston, Abdul Tubman, and Lee’s Funeral Home, which will receive a "Legacy Awa…
Rye Neck High's Spedafino Is Winningest Coach In Section 1 Sports History Rye Neck High's Spedafino Is Winningest Coach In Section 1 Sports History
Rye Neck High's Spedafino Is Winningest Coach In Section 1 Sports History This story has been updated. MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Joan Spedafino, who has coached at Rye Neck High School for 30 years, became the winningest coach in Section 1 softball history this month. Spedafino earned her 447th career win with the Panthers' 11-1 victory over Hastings on May 1, surpassing former Eastchester High School varsity coach Thomas "Skip" Walsh as the softball coach with the most career wins in Section 1 history. Walsh coached at EHS from 1978-2008. Spedafino is a fourth-grade teacher at Bellows Elementary School in Mamaroneck. "I love it,'' she said of teaching younger p…
Rye's Jake Meyerson Burns Up The Bases During Rochester's Baseball Season Rye's Jake Meyerson Burns Up The Bases During Rochester's Baseball Season
Rye's Jake Meyerson Burns Up The Bases During Rochester's Baseball Season RYE, N.Y. -- Former Rye High School baseball star Jake Meyerson is leading his team in hits this season as a junior at the University of Rochester. Going into the playoffs, Meyerson was named a first-team All-University Athletic Association (UAA) player as well as a first-team All-Liberty League player. Through early May, Meyerson led Rochester with a .361 batting average (43 hits during 119 at-bats), bringing in 29 runs. The Rye High graduate hit 10 doubles, two triples and three home runs for 14 runs batted in. Meyerson slammed his home runs during three consecutive games at Union …
Common Core Panelists In Rye Share Views On State Testing Common Core Panelists In Rye Share Views On State Testing
Common Core Panelists In Rye Share Views On State Testing RYE, N.Y. -- Two school superintendents, a college professor and two local school teachers who are parents shared their views of state-testing trends on Thursday night. Despite mostly tempered, politically-correct remarks, four of the five said New York state is regressing -- not progressing -- in getting the most out of its students, teachers and taxpayer dollars. During a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Rye, Rye Brook & Port Chester at Rye Middle School, all five agreed that education reform is a decades-old concept and that some public schools began using standar…
North Street Neighbors Awakened By Bulldozers, Treecutting In White Plains North Street Neighbors Awakened By Bulldozers, Treecutting In White Plains
North Street Neighbors Awakened By Bulldozers, Treecutting In White Plains This story has been updated. WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- For years, residents near White Plains High School have succeeded in delaying plans by the French American School of New York to build a new campus near Route 127. But in less than a week, a half-mile stretch of the route, also known as North Street, looked like a construction battle zone to clear way for a new parking lot and four homes near the German International School, which has no ties to the FASNY school proposal. Bulldozers are leveling nearly five acres of once tree-bordered land for an entrance and 38-car parking lot near the…
Body Cameras Gaining Popularity After White Plains Police Pilot Program Body Cameras Gaining Popularity After White Plains Police Pilot Program
Body Cameras Gaining Popularity After White Plains Police Pilot Program WESTCHESTER, N.Y. -- After successful pilot programs in Ossining and White Plains, a half dozen Westchester County police departments are now using body cameras or plan to buy them for their patrol officers this year. The Westchester County Public Safety Department, which has coverage areas throughout the county, is among the local agencies planning to equip its officers with cameras.  Advocates including the U.S. Justice Department believe the cameras can help in reducing threats to police, as well as keep rogue officers from using excessive force on suspects. The New York State Pol…
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