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Kathy Reakes
Reporter
kreakes@dailyvoice.com
Kathy Reaks has worked as a reporter in the local news business since 1984, starting as a news clerk and working her way up. She spent 17 years at Florida Today in Melbourne, Florida as a general assignment reporter, crime reporter, entertainment reporter and restaurant critic. She worked four years at Hometown News as a general assignment reporter, then another two years at Spacecoast Daily in Cocoa Beach, Florida. She attended Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Florida.
Two Area Residents Accused Of Selling Tainted Heroin
Two Highland residents are behind bars after being popped for allegedly selling heroin laced with Fentanyl.
Casey A. Kurtz, 27, and Kyla Knowlton-Romanelli, 30, were arrested Friday, Oct. 11, following a long-term investigation by the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team into sales of heroin laced with Fentanyl in the Town of Lloyd, said the Ulster County Sheriff's Office.
Lloyd Police assisted the team with a search of Knowlton-Romanelli's motel room in Highland, where they found more than a half-ounce of Fentanyl laced heroin, known on the street as "Grey Death", offi…
Retired Long Island Cop Shoots Man During Roadway 'Altercation,' Police Say
This story has been updated.
One man was shot and another beaten with a flashlight following an "altercation" while driving on Long Island.
The incident, which police say they have not classified as road-rage, took place around 11:15 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the intersection of Bellmore and Magnolia roads, in Bellmore, Nassau County Police said.
According to detectives, a 62-year-old man was driving northbound on Bellmore Road when he became involved in a dispute with the driver of another vehilce in the area of Magnolia, police said.
Once both drivers exited their vehicles they got int…
Ex-Area Teacher Accused Of Sexually Abusing Student Found Dead
A Hudson Valley teacher who was recently accused of the alleged sexual abuse of an elementary student years ago was found dead at his Orange County home.
Shawn Memmelaar, a retired Newburgh physical education teacher, was found dead Sunday, Oct. 13, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Town of Goshen Police said.
Memmelaar, who was a gym teacher at the now-closed Union Grove Elementary School in Newburgh, had denied the allegations after a recently filed lawsuit claimed he abused student Sandra Burke, 55, from 1969 through 1975.
Burke's attorney, Evan Foulke, told News 12, that Memmelaar wou…
Norwalk Woman Missing Since Sunday Has Been Found
Update:
A Norwalk woman who went missing on Sunday, Oct. 13 has been found.
Hyacinth McNichol, 80, was located in Norwalk, Norwalk Police announced on Wednesday morning, Oct. 16.
Original report:
Police are asking the public for help locating a woman who has been missing since Sunday, Oct. 13.
A Silver Alert has been issued for 80-year-old Hyacinth McNichol who was last seen in Norwalk on Sunday, said Norwalk Police Lt. Terrence Blake.
Described as being 5-foot-4, 150 pounds with brown eyes, and graying hair, McNichol suffers from medical conditions and has ties to Bridgeport. …
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