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

Mecca, Slack Elected To Complete Terms on Rye City Council Mecca, Slack Elected To Complete Terms on Rye City Council
Mecca, Slack Elected To Complete Terms on Rye City Council RYE, N.Y. -- Voters in Rye elected Richard Mecca and Richard Slack to complete a year left on two unexpired terms on the Rye City Council, according to unofficial returns in a special election. Mecca and Slack ran unopposed for two seats left open earlier this year. Mecca received 3,580 votes and Slack received 3,492 votes, according to Tuesday's unofficial returns from the county Board of Elections.  They both were appointed to the City Council vacancies in January by then-newly inaugurated Mayor Joe Sack.  The seats were left open by Sack, who was elected mayor last November 2013, …
Mamaroneck Cleans Up 'Hate Crime' Street Graffiti Mamaroneck Cleans Up 'Hate Crime' Street Graffiti
Mamaroneck Cleans Up 'Hate Crime' Street Graffiti MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Village officials said Monday, Nov. 3, that Department of Public Works crews are cleaning up graffiti from Halloween that includes vulgarity and a symbol of hate. The village emailed this message to its residents on Monday: "On Friday, Halloween night, some person, or persons, sprayed graffiti on one of our local streets, including a symbol that is known to invoke hatred and emotional hurt, as well as crude depictions of body parts. The village of Mamaroneck police responded to the scene, and an investigation is ongoing at this time. While this matter may have been i…
Police Ask For Public's Help In Pleasantville's First Murder In 20 Years Police Ask For Public's Help In Pleasantville's First Murder In 20 Years
Police Ask For Public's Help In Pleasantville's First Murder In 20 Years The story has been updated. PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. -- Police are asking for the public's help in finding whoever murdered a 76-year-old woman in her Pleasantville home. At least six days before Halloween, Linda Misek-Falkoff, 76, a widow living alone at 79 Grandview Ave., a few blocks from the heart of the village, was stabbed to death. The Westchester County Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide on Saturday -- the first murder involving a Pleasantville resident since 1996, which also was an unsolved murder by stabbing. Police have no suspects and have been unable to l…
Driver Was Checking Google Maps When Truck Hit Bridge Near Greenwich Driver Was Checking Google Maps When Truck Hit Bridge Near Greenwich
Driver Was Checking Google Maps When Truck Hit Bridge Near Greenwich RYE BROOK, N.Y. -- A Florida truck driver was using his cell phone to get directions just before he slammed into the Hutchinson River Parkway King Street overpass in Rye Brook at the Connecticut-New York border on Tuesday, according to Westchester County police. “He told us he relied on Google maps on his cell phone,'' Westchester County police spokesman Kieran O'Leary said Thursday. The fiery crash, spilling margarine along the parkway, resulted in closing the northbound Merritt and Hutchinson River parkways for about eight hours Tuesday. Ishad Knight, 29, of Miami, Fla., should hav…
Mamaroneck Field Hockey Tops Ossining, Advances In Sectionals Mamaroneck Field Hockey Tops Ossining, Advances In Sectionals
Mamaroneck Field Hockey Tops Ossining, Advances In Sectionals MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- The Tigers' field hockey team advanced to the Section I semifinals on Thursday, Oct. 30, by shutting out Ossining, 6-0. Mamaroneck, the defending Class A champion, was led by the Seid sisters -- Ellie and Karen -- star seniors who scored two goals apiece on their home field. The Tigers were in control throughout, leading 4-0 at halftime. Players said they're looking forward to the Tuesday, Nov. 4, playoff matchup against Suffern, tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m. at home, 1000 W. Boston Post Road.  
Rye Playland Rink Opens Two Years After Superstorm Sandy Rye Playland Rink Opens Two Years After Superstorm Sandy
Rye Playland Rink Opens Two Years After Superstorm Sandy RYE, N.Y. -- Two years ago, the winds and tides of Superstorm Sandy destroyed the boardwalk along Playland Amusement Park and blew the roof off its historic Ice Casino. On Thursday, Oct. 30, County Executive Rob Astorino marked that dark second anniversary with bright news: After nearly $5 million in repairs -- including replacement of boilers destroyed by saltwater from Long Island Sound -- the popular ice skating rink has reopened. It took skilled craftsmen to piece together the high-vaulted roof with crisscrossing wooden beams to preserve the integrity of the 85-year-old art deco struct…
Mamaroneck Boys Soccer Beats Port Chester To Advance To Sectional Final Mamaroneck Boys Soccer Beats Port Chester To Advance To Sectional Final
Mamaroneck Boys Soccer Beats Port Chester To Advance To Sectional Final PURCHASE, N.Y. -- Mamaroneck and Port Chester battled to a scoreless tie Wednesday after two overtimes. So it required penalty kicks to decide which boys soccer team advanced to the Section 1 Class AA championship game. As wind, rain and darkness descended upon Purchase College, where the Port Chester Rams hosted the Tigers, Mamaroneck ultimately won, 5-3. The Tigers face John Jay-East Fishkill on Saturday in Arlington for the Class AA title game. The winner advances to the state tournament. Mamaroneck, the third seed, was outshot throughout the game by Port Chester, which was seeded se…
Chief Judge Praises 'Raise The Age' Bill On Visit To Rye's John Jay Estate Chief Judge Praises 'Raise The Age' Bill On Visit To Rye's John Jay Estate
Chief Judge Praises 'Raise The Age' Bill On Visit To Rye's John Jay Estate RYE, N.Y. -- The first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court may have been whistling past his own graveyard near Boston Post Road on Tuesday. In this case, it was due to the historic visit by the chief judge of New York who roused the activist bones of more than 200 guests at the site of John Jay's childhood farmhouse in Rye. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman drew a standing ovation after saying "it is a national embarrassment for our state to be so out of step" as one of two states nationwide that automatically charges 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. The other state is North Carolina, a f…
Flu Will Kill Many More Than Ebola, Montefiore CEO Says Flu Will Kill Many More Than Ebola, Montefiore CEO Says
Flu Will Kill Many More Than Ebola, Montefiore CEO Says PURCHASE, N.Y. -- An American's odds of dying from a gunshot wound or the flu this year are astronomically higher than from contracting Ebola, the president of Montefiore Health System told a gathering of business executives Monday. Dr. Steven M. Safyer, guest speaker at The Business Council of Westchester's Leadership Conversations Series, asked the audience at Manhattanville College how many people had received a flu shot. About half the 150 people in the room raised their hands.  Because the seasonal flu can spread through the air, one ill person in the audience could infect 30 other…
Business Champion Awards Announced At Manhattanville College Business Champion Awards Announced At Manhattanville College
Business Champion Awards Announced At Manhattanville College PURCHASE, N.Y. -- Pace University, Kawasaki Rail Car and First Niagara Bank are recipients of The Business Council of Westchester's Business Champion Awards. The awards, made quarterly to businesses making a significant positive impact on the county's economy, were presented Monday, Oct. 27, at The Business Council’s Leadership Conversation Series at Manhattanville College. Dr. Marsha Gordon, president and chief executive officer of The Business Council, presented awards to Pace University for its expansion on its Pleasantville campus; Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. for its success in manufacturing…
11,001 - 11,010 of 11,069 articles