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 Youssif Hemida Wins State Championship In Wrestling Mamaroneck's Youssif Hemida Wins State Championship In Wrestling
Mamaroneck's Youssif Hemida Wins State Championship In Wrestling MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Youssif Hemida of Mamaroneck High School won a state championship in wrestling on Saturday by defeating 220-pound wrestlers from Chappaqua and Long Island. The top-ranked Tiger defeated Brock Cvijanovich of Horace Greeley High School, 7-1, in the semifinals at the Times Union Center in Albany. Hemida then edged Vin Feola of Walt Whitman High School, 5-2, in the state title match to win a state wrestling title for the first time in Mamaroneck school history. Weekend attendance at the state wrestling championships was the largest since 2009 at 12,981.  
Bishop Asks Harrison To Recall Hochman Sisters' Goodness At Funeral Bishop Asks Harrison To Recall Hochman Sisters' Goodness At Funeral
Bishop Asks Harrison To Recall Hochman Sisters' Goodness At Funeral HARRISON, N.Y. -- Teenage sisters from Harrison, murdered by their father, a retired White Plains police officer who then killed himself on Saturday, were remembered at a funeral mass Friday for their love, strength and friendship. Father Christopher Monturo and Bishop Gerald Walsh asked more than 1,000 celebrants at St. Gregory the Great Church to carry memories of Alissa and Deana Hochman in the years to come. "As a human being, I must admit how much our hearts hurt,'' Monturo said. "Love hurts. They were and are the very soul and very spirit of this town of Harrison." "Alissa and …
Port Chester Students Celebrate Black History Month With Heartfelt Poetry Port Chester Students Celebrate Black History Month With Heartfelt Poetry
Port Chester Students Celebrate Black History Month With Heartfelt Poetry PORT CHESTER, N.Y. -- Port Chester High School students shared their pain, joy, heartaches and worries Thursday during the 10th annual Phillis Wheatley Poetry Slam. The competition gets larger and more competitive every year and is held in February to recognize Black History Month, according to Mattie Gooden, advisor to the school's African-American Club. High School Principal Mitchell Combs called the entries, which 15 students read aloud, "extremely authentic and heartfelt. The competition was very deep." This year's winner was Christopher Chino for "Legacy of the Eternal Fire." …
Hundreds Pay Respects To Hochman Sisters Of Harrison During Calling Hours Hundreds Pay Respects To Hochman Sisters Of Harrison During Calling Hours
Hundreds Pay Respects To Hochman Sisters Of Harrison During Calling Hours MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Hundreds of Harrison students, friends and relatives of Alissa and Deanna Hochman attended calling hours Thursday at Coxe & Graziano Funeral Home in Mamaroneck. The seven-hour wake was understandably sad and solemn, with groups of Harrison High School students hugging and crying outside the funeral home on East Boston Post Road.  Alissa, 17, and Deanna, 13, were murdered in their sleep on Saturday by their 52-year-old father, Glen. The recently retired White Plains police officer also killed three family dogs before shooting himself to death in the garage at 1 Ad…
Regional Task Force To Reduce Deer Population Proposed After Rye Meeting Regional Task Force To Reduce Deer Population Proposed After Rye Meeting
Regional Task Force To Reduce Deer Population Proposed After Rye Meeting RYE, N.Y. -- Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum said he plans to invite elected officials in neighboring towns to join a regional task force to devise ways to collectively control the rising deer population. After a Wednesday night public meeting with state Department of Environmental Conservation and Westchester County Parks officials at Rye City Hall, Rosenblum said he is proposing a task force of police, park and environmental officials from the towns and villages of Harrison, Mamaroneck and Rye as well as the village of Larchmont and city of White Plains. "It is a regional problem an…
Mourners Gather In Harrison, Seeking Solace After Hochman Shooting Deaths Mourners Gather In Harrison, Seeking Solace After Hochman Shooting Deaths
Mourners Gather In Harrison, Seeking Solace After Hochman Shooting Deaths HARRISON, N.Y. -- Nearly 200 people gathered in the heart of the village of Harrison Wednesday evening to remember Alissa and Deanna Hochman and pray that their family and the community can find peace. Alissa, 17, and Deanna, 13, were murdered in their sleep on Saturday by their father, Glen, who then shot himself to death.  Father Christopher Monturo of St. Anthony of Padua Church asked those attending the vigil at Veterans Memorial Building to "give ourselves permission to obey and listen to our emotions, to our bodies."  "Give permission to ourselves to cry and remember a nice sto…
Harrison Vigil To Remember Slain Hochman Sisters Harrison Vigil To Remember Slain Hochman Sisters
Harrison Vigil To Remember Slain Hochman Sisters HARRISON, N.Y. -- A community vigil for the Hochman girls is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Building at 210 Halstead Ave. in Harrison. Alissa, 17, and Deanna, 13, were murdered in their sleep early Saturday by their father, Glen, before he shot himself to death, police said. The family's three dogs also were killed at the home at 1 Adelphia Ave. in Harrison. Hochman retired from the White Plains Police Department last month after 20 years of service. He was apparently having marital problems with his wife, Anamarie, police said. She and their oldest daughter, Samantha,…
AT&T Store Known For Quality Service Now Anchors Harrison Shopping Center AT&T Store Known For Quality Service Now Anchors Harrison Shopping Center
AT&T Store Known For Quality Service Now Anchors Harrison Shopping Center HARRISON, N.Y. -- If you've shopped at the AT&T store in the Harrison Shopping Center during the past year, you're accustomed to a high level of customer service. Now, after moving two doors down, within the Harrison Shopping Center, the store has a bright new corner location. The store's bright lights and colorful displays of the latest cell phones, laptops and other communication gadgets catch motorists' attention at 341 Halstead Ave. To celebrate this month's local move to a larger, renovated space, AT&T store manager Oscar Cohn said new customers activating phones, or oth…
Hochman Sisters' Funeral Arrangements, Services Announced Hochman Sisters' Funeral Arrangements, Services Announced
Hochman Sisters' Funeral Arrangements, Services Announced HARRISON, N.Y. -- Funeral arrangements and services have been announced for Alissa Marie and Deanna Nicole Hochman, who Harrison police said were murdered Saturday by their father, Glen, before he killed himself. Alissa, 17, and Deanna, 13, will be remembered by family and friends during a funeral mass at 10 a.m., Friday at St. Gregory the Great Roman Catholic Church, 215 Halstead Ave., Harrison. Burial will be private. Arrangements are being handled by Coxe & Graziano Funeral Home, 767 East Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, where the family will receive visitors from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. o…
NTSB Says It Could Take Full Year To Complete Valhalla Crash Investigation NTSB Says It Could Take Full Year To Complete Valhalla Crash Investigation
NTSB Says It Could Take Full Year To Complete Valhalla Crash Investigation MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. -- The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Monday into the deadliest accident in Metro-North's history, in which six people were killed at a railroad crossing in Valhalla 20 days ago. The NTSB has said it could take a year to complete its full investigation of a train fire and explosion that followed a collision with a Mercedes SUV at Commerce Street. The SUV was on the track when it was struck by the northbound commuter train about 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 3. The SUV's driver, Ellen Brody, 49, of Edgemont, and five male passengers in the l…
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