Police in Bedford are urging residents to lock their cars and secure their valuables after more than a dozen vehicles were broken into last week in the area of Whitlockville Road, Meadow Lane and Croton Lake Road.

Each of the larcenies involved unlocked cars, according to Police. 

Officials say the thieves made off with wallets, purses, Ipods and GPS devices. Anyone who may have information is urged to call Bedford Police at (914) 241-3111.

The City of Peekskill and six other municipalities in Northern Westchester are taking steps to come up with new ways to reduce energy consumption in order to save money.

The municipalities, all members of the Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium (NWEAC), were awarded a grant earlier this year from NYSERDA to cover costs of the study. Two companies, Ecology and Environment Inc and Blue Springs Energy LLC were awarded a $280,000 contract to assist the communities by coming up with recommendations to reduce their energy consumption patterns.

NYSEG says power has been restored to an estimated 3,000 customers who were without power this morning after lightning struck a transformer near route 202 and Elizabeth Road.

Crews worked throughout the morning to restore power  following the lightning strike and fire reported around 5 a.m. Tuesday. The outage forced the closure of Yorktown's middle and high schools.

A spokeswoman for the utility says there are still 102 customers reported out in Southeast. They are expected to have power restored shortly.

The Westchester County Health Department announced today that it is lifting the boil water advisory issued for residents of Bedford Hills and Katonah in the Town of Bedford.

Water sampling by the Town of Bedford Water Department and the Westchester County Health Department determined that the water in the Bedford Consolidated Water District is safe to drink.

The boil water advisory had been put into effect August 30, following a major water main break that affected more than 2,100 customers.

Officials say they've now found the source of the water main leak that's caused major problems in the Bedford Consolidated Water District that covers Bedford, Bedford Hills and Katonah. The break was located late Monday night near the intersection of Route 117 and Harris Road in Katonah and repaired. More than 21-hundred customers were affected by the problem.

The emergency was first reported in Bedford around 7 p.m. Monday after a canoe carrying three men suddenly capsized on the Mianus River behind a home at 357 Greenwich Road.

Officials say two of the three men were able to swin to shore safely. A third did not and was submerged in up to 14 feet of water for more than an hour before he was brought to shore.

Westchester officials say 2009 was a record-breaking year with the County reaching its highest-ever recycling rate of 61%. The majority of the increase is said to be due to a number of large local construction jobs, specifically the Ridge Hill project in Yonkers, which recycled a huge amount of recyclable construction debris.
In addition, more and more residents continued to recycle material after the County in 2008 began enforcing its recycling laws.