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Jon Craig

Reporter

jon.craig@dailyvoice.com

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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

Politics
New Poll: Cuomo's Political Paradox New Poll: Cuomo's Political Paradox
New Poll: Cuomo's Political Paradox While Gov. Andrew Cuomo's popularity continues to tank, most New Yorkers think the Democrat has made the state a better place to live, according to a new poll. New Yorkers, by a 51 to 39 percent margin, say the governor from New Castle has made New York a better place to live in his nine years as governor, according to a new Siena College Poll of registered New York State voters released on Tuesday, Aug. 6. At least part of the credit goes to the General Assembly's Democratic majority: Poll respondents said the recent state legislative session put New York "on the right track." Among other…

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by Jon Craig
Schools
Westchester Library System Attacked By Ransomware Virus Westchester Library System Attacked By Ransomware Virus
Westchester Library System Attacked By Ransomware Virus A ransomware virus attack on the Westchester Library System is being investigated, an IT official said in July. Public access PCs were turned off temporarily as a precaution and restored to service on Friday, July 5 and Saturday, July 6. In a public statement to library system patrons, WLS announced that the "virus disabled servers that control services used by PCs such as network management, printing and authentication." "The server that contains patron data, the circulation system and online catalog was not impacted by this event and no data breach is suspected," the announceme…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Around The Towns: School Construction, Regionalization, Bottled Water Warning Around The Towns: School Construction, Regionalization, Bottled Water Warning
Around The Towns: School Construction, Regionalization, Bottled Water Warning Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff led passage of legislation to provide more than $1.4 million in state funding for construction at Norwalk High School as well as schools in Bridgeport and Fairfield. “State funding for school construction is critical to helping local taxpayers and our students,” Duff said. “By expanding the facilities for Norwalk’s highly successful and popular Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts program we are strengthening our schools and preparing our young people for jobs after high school." Senate Bill 1210 -- the 2019 school building project bonding bill - authoriz…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Around The Towns: Dealing With Heat, Vaping, Pot, Greenhouse Gases Around The Towns: Dealing With Heat, Vaping, Pot, Greenhouse Gases
Around The Towns: Dealing With Heat, Vaping, Pot, Greenhouse Gases A patient from White Plains received a special visit to her home from Westchester County Executive George Latimer and county Commissioner of Senior Programs and Services Mae Carpenter during the recent heat wave. While visiting Karen Tutnauer, both officials stressed the importance of checking in on elderly and ailing neighbors during times of excessive heat to ensure their safety.  Tim Leddy, president and CEO of Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester, explained that heat-related illnesses -- such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke -- are a threat to the e…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Bad News For Dems? If AOC Defines Her Party, House Majority Jeopardized Bad News For Dems? If AOC Defines Her Party, House Majority Jeopardized
Bad News For Dems? If AOC Defines Her Party, House Majority Jeopardized A new internal Democratic Party survey polling voter sentiment in crucial swing states revealed that U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents Queens and the Bronx, and Ilhan Omar, who represents Minnesota, are extremely unpopular and could cost Democrats both their House majority and the presidency in 2020. According to Axios, the poll discovered that: -- Ocasio-Cortez is recognized by 74 percent of voters, yet has an approval rating of 22 percent -- Omar is recognized by 53 percent of voters and has an approval rating of just 9 percent -- Voters understand what socialism is, an…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Connecticut Pension Fund Restructuring Continues To Fall Short Connecticut Pension Fund Restructuring Continues To Fall Short
Connecticut Pension Fund Restructuring Continues To Fall Short A state employee pension fact sheet released this week by the state Office of Fiscal Analysis found that -- despite efforts to fully fund Connecticut’s state employee retirement system -- the funding ratio has dropped from 48 to 38 percent since 2011. Connecticut’s unfunded pension liabilities for state employees totaled $21.2 billion as of 2018, according to the state’s valuation. The fact sheet listed the average active employee salary as $69,743 and the average pension as $38,284.  Required payments to fully fund the State Employee Retirement System have grown rapidly since 200…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Where Does Andrew Cuomo Rank Among Governors Nationwide? Where Does Andrew Cuomo Rank Among Governors Nationwide?
Where Does Andrew Cuomo Rank Among Governors Nationwide? Andrew Cuomo may not be the least popular governor in the United States. But in a recent nationwide ranking of the most popular and unpopular governors, the Democrat from New Castle finished among the bottom 10. Cuomo's neighboring leaders from the Northeast also fared poorly in the public opinion poll: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy ranked 40th and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont ranked 47th. Full results of the recent survey by research company Morning Consult can be viewed by clicking here.  The results appear to mirror a national trend, with Democrats showing higher disapproval ratings a…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Where Does Ned Lamont Rank Among Governors Nationwide? Where Does Ned Lamont Rank Among Governors Nationwide?
Where Does Ned Lamont Rank Among Governors Nationwide? Newly-elected officials typically enjoy a so-called "honeymoon" period of favorable public opinion. Not so for Gov. Ned Lamont.  In a nationwide ranking of most popular and unpopular governors, the Democrat from Greenwich ranked near the bottom.  The survey conducted by research company Morning Consult can be viewed by clicking here.  Even more discouraging news for the first-term governor: Lamont now ranks two spots worse than the survey taken during the first quarter of his term. The results appear to mirror a national trend -- with Democrats showing higher disapprov…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Cuomo-Con Edison Clash Over Outages Once Again Cuomo-Con Edison Clash Over Outages Once Again
Cuomo-Con Edison Clash Over Outages Once Again We've heard it before. But is Gov. Andrew Cuomo more serious this time? After Manhattan’s power outage that left nearly 73,000 customers on the West Side without electricity for about five hours, Cuomo declared that if Con Edison, the utility that provides most of New York City’s power, does not shape up, it "can be replaced." Last weekend's blackout knocked out digital displays in Times Square and forced the evacuation of Madison Square Garden during a Jennifer Lopez concert. On Sunday, July 21, the governor was steamed once again as a heat wave left nearly 53,000 New Yorkers without pow…

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by Jon Craig
Politics
Highway Tolls Back On The Table? Highway Tolls Back On The Table?
Highway Tolls Back On The Table? Every state east of the Mississippi -- except Vermont, Tennessee, Alabama and Connecticut -- collects tolls on their highways.  That's why it's inevitable that debt-ridden Connecticut, suffering from clogged and crumbling highways, will continue to consider restoring tolls. State transportation officials have said Connecticut should be spending more than $2 billion per year on its aging, crowded infrastructure. Gov. Ned Lamont and state legislators have returned to negotiations over when and how to collect tolls.  Lamont, a Democrat from Greenwich, favors tolls on  four maj…

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by Jon Craig
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