Another year has come and gone and it’s time to look back at 2025 in Mahopac and Carmel and revisit some of the top stories of the last 12 months.
To name a few of the highlights, the GOP dominated the local elections again, the beloved Columbus Day Parade returned after a six-year hiatus, and the community lost some beloved figures.
So, in no particular order, here are the stories that made headlines in 2025:
In November, the Mahopac School District became the first district in New York State to make personal financial literacy a graduation requirement.
Tanner McCracken, the school board trustee who pushed for the initiative, said that “learning about money is the path to success for each and every student. Regardless of their path after high school, students should be learning about saving, spending, investing, balancing a checkbook, managing credit, buying a home, leasing a car, and building a life budget.”
The new graduation policy establishes a “Seal of Financial Literacy” for students who demonstrate mastery of core personal finance standards and complete a senior-year capstone project.
The Town of Carmel adopted long-awaited zoning code updates after the Town Board approved amendments to Chapter 156 in March. Officials said the changes will encourage downtown development and expand housing options while preserving the town’s character. Supervisor Mike Cazzari said the revisions reverse decades-old rules that made it difficult to do business or afford housing, including allowing mixed-use buildings that combine commercial and residential space. The code has had a few amendments since then as part of Carmel's Master Plan fine-tuning.
“It will increase the tax base via commercial development, so it’s not entirely on the backs of homeowners,” Cazzari said. “People are being driven out by high taxes. Allowing apartments above retail gives owners a chance to get a return on their investment.”
Carmel Hamlet residents showed up en masse at a public hearing in November to speak out about a proposed stabilization center in their neighborhood—a community crisis hub where adults and children can meet with professionals to address issues ranging from mental health to substance abuse.
The county seeks to place the agency at an unoccupied office building at 1071 Stoneleigh Ave., an idea that was first introduced in 2021 in cooperation with People USA when MaryEllen Odell was county executive.
Residents opposed to the facility said it would attract dangerous and undesirable individuals to an area already overrun by rehab and recovery agencies. Those in favor said the agency would primarily serve families and children who would not pose a threat, and argued that such a facility is direly needed.
Candidates running on the Republican/Conservative lines won each of the local races in the town of Carmel, with incumbent Supervisor Mike Cazzari winning a third term, incumbent Mike Lugo winning his first full term, and former Town Board member Robert Schanil returning to the board to fill a seat left open by the retirement of fellow Republican Suzi McDonough.
In county races with local implications, voters returned District 9 (Mahopac) legislator Erin Crowley to her seat for a second term and elected acting Sheriff Brian Hess to his first full term.
Local law enforcement began stepping up patrols on the Putnam Trailway bike path after a woman was assaulted on Oct. 19 while jogging in Carmel Hamlet.
Carmel Police Chief Anthony Hoffmann said the victim was jogging on the trail when she saw the male, turned around to avoid him, and then was knocked to the ground and attacked. She managed to get away and call 911. A suspect was eventually apprehended.
After the attack, County Executive Kevin Byrne issued an executive order to ramp up patrols on the Putnam County stretch of the Trailway, which runs from Mahopac near Baldwin Place to Brewster.
Byrne’s office said the executive was “directing immediate measures to improve safety and security across the county’s trail system and other public spaces.”
After a six-year hiatus, a Mahopac fall tradition that began in 1988 returned on Oct. 5, when the Putnam County Columbus Day Parade once again played a central role in the town’s annual Street Festival, with Councilman Frank Lombardi serving as grand marshal.
The story behind reviving the parade, which dropped off the calendar due to COVID, was one of persistence, commitment and community spirit.
The Italian American Club of Mahopac began sponsoring the Columbus Day Parade 37 years ago to celebrate Italian American culture. It began as a joint venture with St. John the Evangelist Church, on the occasion of the church’s centennial celebration. In the years that followed, the Columbus Day Parade grew as a fall tradition, attracting participants who went beyond people of Italian heritage.
Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville died on Aug. 22, after a long illness. He was 68.
McConville was elected sheriff in November 2021, defeating incumbent Sheriff Robert Langley, and took office in January 2022. He brought more than 30 years of law enforcement experience to the job, beginning with the Cold Spring Police Department before joining the MTA Police Department, where he rose to the rank of chief.
As chief, McConville created the Interagency Counter Terrorism Team, working with the FBI and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He also served on the governor’s Homeland Security Team and helped develop strategies to prevent bombings on commuter rail systems.
He was in New York City during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and assisted in the MTAPD response.
Undersheriff Brian Hess was named interim sheriff and then won the permanent position during the general election in November.
Mahopac schools Superintendent Christine Tona announced her retirement effective Sept. 1 at the Board of Education's Aug. 5 meeting.
Tona, who noted that her contract was extended in the spring of 2024, effectively left her position on Aug. 7. After voting to accept Tona's retirement the school board appointed Frank Miele as acting superintendent by a vote of 5-3.
“I fully intended to continue through June of 2027—and perhaps beyond," Tona said. "But as life sometimes reminds us, plans change.”
Tona called stepping down after 33 years in education—including three as Mahopac superintendent—"a truly bittersweet moment."
Tona’s resignation wasn’t the only major change on the school board—or the first major upheaval of the year. In March, trustee and then-serving school board President Jonathon Schneider resigned. In a column published in the March 13 edition of Mahopac News, Schneider called for greater transparency on the BOE.
“The school administration must be held accountable when poor decisions are made that jeopardize student welfare,” Schneider wrote. “Trustees should act with integrity and independence, not accept favors in exchange for votes or serve as rubber stamps for an administration more focused on self-preservation than on student success.”
Patricia “Patty” Rathschmidt, a Mahopac philanthropist who co-founded the iconic local charity United for the Troops with her husband, Jim, died in July at the age of 69.
Rathschmidt had been battling ovarian cancer for several years and, after a brief remission, passed away on July 12.
Rathschmidt’s true life’s mission was working alongside her husband managing United for the Troops (UFT).
The idea for UFT came in 2007 when the Rathschmidts' son Luke was deployed overseas. They sent him a package of socks and toiletries and, of course, some snacks. But Luke reported that many of his fellow soldiers had no family at home to send them care packages, and he felt guilty about receiving them.
United for the Troops became an organization within weeks, collecting anything and everything from any source possible to send to the troops.
“I was the fundraiser and the spokesperson, but she did everything else,” her husband Jim said. “I did 10 percent, and she did 90 percent. Lots of logistics and behind-the-scenes stuff that people don’t know about. That was Patty.”
Since its inception, UFT has mailed thousands of care packages to troops overseas.
Just as plans for the municipal parking lot and pocket park for the long-awaited Swan Cove project were about to go out to bid, another obstacle was thrown in the town’s path—this time courtesy of the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
In June, town engineer Richard Franzetti said a representative from the DEC visited the property and declared it a “wetland.” That determination would have required the town to conduct a time-consuming environmental impact assessment and obtain additional permits.
“They came and visited the site and deemed it a wetland. They did a walk-through and said there was wetland vegetation in there,” Franzetti told the Town Board. “There were cattails and that’s considered wetlands.”
Supervisor Mike Cazzari expressed irritation over the state’s involvement.
“This is another example of what the state of New York keeps doing to us,” he said. “It’s just, again and again—unfunded mandates. It is just ridiculous that they decided in January, ‘Now we [the state] can decide if it’s a wetland or not.’ We have no control.”
However, after town officials argued the strip was, in fact, not a wetland, the state agreed in December, allowing the town to move forward with Swan Cove’s makeover.
Community members gathered outside the Putnam County Historic Courthouse on Sept. 13 to express grief over the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne called the vigil "another powerful example of how concerned citizens—not government—spontaneously joined together to defend ideas and lift up their community in a time of great loss.”
The Town of Carmel will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a sales tax-sharing plan approved by the County Legislature in May.
It all began when the County Legislature passed a measure to lower the sales tax rate from 4 percent to 3.75 percent. County Executive Kevin Byrne vetoed the legislation and instead teamed with the county’s six supervisors and three mayors on a plan that would keep the sales tax where it is and share some of that revenue with the municipalities. The clock was ticking for the two branches of county government to reach an agreement before state lawmakers closed up shop for the summer.
Byrne had estimated that cutting the sales tax by 0.25 percent, as the legislature proposed, would have cost the county roughly $5.3 million in annual revenue. Byrne’s plan will instead share a little more than $2 million of the $85 million in sales tax revenue the county typically collects annually. The shared funds must be used for public projects such as local infrastructure and capital needs, not for payroll or general operating expenses.
Each municipality’s share will be based on its population. Carmel, the largest town in the county, could receive as much as $900,000.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, came to Mahopac's St. John the Evangelist Church in April to bless food for the Easter table—an Eastern European tradition called Święconka (pronounced "swee-yon-ka") brought to Mahopac by the parish's Polish-born pastor, Fr. Szymon Kurpios. The parish invited families to “bring their lovingly prepared baskets to the church” for the blessing.
Cardinal Dolan praised Fr. Szymon's inclusive approach, which includes Masses in multiple languages and outreach to Catholics of different backgrounds and national origins.
“You talk about a microcosm of the Church universal,” Dolan said. “He's got a Mass in Italian, he's got a Mass in Polish, he's got a Mass in Tagalog for Filipinos, obviously a Mass in English, and a Mass in Spanish. Now we're here to bless the food, a beautiful Polish custom on Holy Saturday morning.”
More than 750 worshippers came to St. John's for the blessing and prayer service with the Cardinal.
After a relentless protest by residents from both Mahopac and Somers, East Point Energy, the company that planned to build a 116-megawatt battery energy storage system in Mahopac, pulled its application from the Planning Board.
East Point had promoted the project as one that would support the state’s plan for a “cleaner, more efficient, and resilient electric grid.”
At “peak output,” East Point said, the Mahopac battery energy storage system (BESS) would be positioned to “discharge the electricity necessary to power tens of thousands of homes.”
However, a series of battery farm fires throughout the region sparked concern among homeowners near the proposed site, as well as residents throughout the communities. Battery farm fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish, and residents feared toxic chemicals polluting the air and ground should fire break out. They began a relentless campaign against the project and celebrated a victory in March when East Point pulled its application.
A boisterous but ultimately peaceful crowd packed the Mahopac High School auditorium for Congressman Mike Lawler’s Putnam County town hall in early June, where the second-term representative of New York’s purple 17th District discussed Social Security, Medicaid, taxes, the controversial “Big Beautiful Bill,” immigration and ICE, federal defunding of universities, SALT and more.
After a protester was carried out by state troopers at Lawler’s May 4 town hall in Somers, Mahopac attendees faced heightened security. A handful of sign-holding protesters assembled in the parking lot opposite the high school gym, but people remained orderly—though sometimes loud—throughout the session.
Questioners, chosen at random, expressed a mix of positions—some thanking Lawler for his work, more pressing him on his support for ICE, work requirements for Medicaid, tax breaks for the wealthy, the administration’s attacks on universities and his uncritical support of Israel.
“Whether you agree with me or not, whether you like me or not, whether you voted for me or not, doesn't really matter,” Lawler said near the end of the event. “The fact is, I am your representative in Washington."
In August, it was revealed that one Mahopac family is trying to turn an unspeakable tragedy into something helpful and positive as they face unbearable grief.
Jennifer and Tim Cashion’s 4-year-old daughter Isabella (Izzy) was diagnosed earlier this summer with DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), a type of rare but aggressive terminal brain tumor that primarily affects young children. Only about 300 children are diagnosed with DIPG annually.
Ironically, Jennifer Cashion, Izzy’s mom, has spent most of her professional career as a pediatric oncology nurse, treating patients just like Izzy, and is now a nurse practitioner. Tim Cashion, her dad, is a lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department.
“I am looking to turn this tragedy into a purpose,” said Lindsay Rush, Jennifer’s sister. “I am hoping that we can raise awareness about this deadly diagnosis for future research funding, as well as rally behind my sister and her family for community support. Our family is in shambles, and we are looking for all outlets to provide any glimmer of hope. If there is ever a need for media and social outlets, this is a time.”
Rush started a GoFundMe page that she hopes will raise money to not only help the Cashions with medical costs but also spread awareness.
Since Izzy’s illness came to light, the Mahopac community has rallied around the family, holding fundraisers and making her the grand marshal of the town’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
A family with Mahopac connections expressed bittersweet relief after the January release of a relative taken hostage by Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. Gadi Mozes, 80, the brother-in-law of Mahopac resident Shaul Naor, was freed Jan. 30, though the family continued to mourn Naor’s sister, Efrat Katz, who was killed in the attack on Nir Oz kibbutz.
“We certainly feel that closure [and] less worry,” Shaul Naor told Mahopac News at the time. “Maybe we can sleep a little better.”
Two Mahopac men were among around 1,500 people to be pardoned or have their sentences commuted by President Trump on Jan. 20 for entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Robert Ballesteros pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading in the Capitol and was sentenced in April 2022 to probation, community service, restitution and a special assessment. Anthony Vuksanaj was sentenced in April 2022 to jail time, probation, home detention, fines and community service after being identified by the FBI as having been inside the Capitol during the riot.
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