What kind of trend is this? Two more mommies, both from Putnam County, were arrested in separate incidents for drunk driving and for endangering the welfare of their children who were car passengers.

One of them was driving an SUV, so one may presume that she was “safety” conscious, in a weird sort of way. After all, if she had cracked the car up in her alleged drunken state, she might not have killed her own precious cargo but maybe somebody else’s innoncent kids riding in a smaller, more thinly armored vehicle.

In any event, these two birds join “RoccerMom” in the parental Hall of Shame. You’ll remember that was the myspace.com handle for the mother who was arrested in September for driving while intoxicated on the Saw Mill River Parkway, going in the wrong direction. A teenage passenger was killed in the accident.

Call them WMD, or Wild Mommy Drunks.

Over the long holiday weekend a friend of mine who lives in a very nice house in a very nice Yonkers neighborhood told me a story of an audacious crime: The copper leaders and gutters on her very nice house were stripped clean from their bearings.

The thief performed this noisy operation while she and her husband were at home, asleep in bed. The racket woke them up, but they were unable to react quickly enough to catch the culprit who somehow managed to get away on a bicycle with the stolen metal in hand. They called 911, which was a waste of time.

When I heard about this, I figured the bad guy was a desperate drug addict whose aim was sell the copper to a scrap dealer. Apparently that’s what the cops told my astonished friends.

Stealing copper fixtures was a criminal trend back in the 80s when crack cocaine first came on the scene. Well, with the price of copper going up, largely due to an overwhelming demand for the metal from economically-surging nations like China, it appears that the trend has returned. According to some reports I’ve read, copper theft is a big law enforcement problem, but usually it’s a scavanging act carried out in abandoned buidlings or in houses under construction.

That it happened in an occupied model home while the owners were inside—as in the case of my friends—should tell us something about the current suburban crime index. It was brazen indeed, it indicates the lengths some miscreants will go when copper can be sold for scrap at two dollars a pound.

It’s just a matter of time before O.J. Simpson’s aborted “If I Did It” surfaces through the mysterious network of the underground. Personally, Im looking forward to looking at it.

I purposely said, “looking” and not “reading.” Screeds like this aren’t read. They can only be examined like specimans under a microscope.

Evil is worthy of a full examination. I have a little doubt that Simpson is a psychopath, and that this latest literary effort gives us more insight into the sick mind of a killer.

You might remember that this actually Simpson’s second book. HIs first was “I Want to Tell You,” which was a thin little wafer consisting mostly of fawning fan letters and rambling musings that Simpson wrote while he was in jail. Over and over again, Simpson says he loved Nicole, in the same obsessive way that Hitler’s prison memoir, “Mein Kampf,” went on and on about Russia and the Jews.

Some day, Simpson should write a third book to complete a bizarre kind of triology of madness. Maybe he could call it, “I Want To Tell You If I Did It, I’d Do It Again.”

Newly deposed state Sen, Nick Spano was close to his loyal constituents, but judging from his concession speech yesterday maybe he was, uh, a little too close. He slipped a couple of unintentional funnies at us.

Roll the tape!

FUNNY-ONE
“I have no disappointments at all. This was such a great campaign. I traveled all across Westchester County. I received nothing but encouragement from every person that would come up to me and give me a little bit of tongue and a kiss, saying, you know we resepct what you’re doing.”

Hmm, a “bit of tongue.” Did he really say that? We wonder if he didn’t get an ear nibble, too.

FUNNY-TWO
“Thanks to every person, from the senior that walks up to me once in a while and pats me on the butt.”

On the butt! Did he really say that? Those randy seniors…they’re shagadelic, baby!

Now that Andrea Stewart-Cousins has pretty much wrapped it up as the new state senator in the 35th District, who will run for her seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators?
The money here is on Ken Jenkins, the current chairman of the Yonkers Democratic Committee and a political commentator for a certain cable-TV network.
Jenkins is said to be “seriously considering” the idea of making a bid for the 16th legislative district.

Oops, I angered the Rotary Club.

I was only trying to describe the jolly Republican Chris Callaghan, who ran and lost the race for state comptroller…and in a recent column I came up with the thought that he reminded me of a Rotararian at an Oktoberfest.
This was not meant to besmirch the hard volunteer work performed by those in the organization. I also poked fun at Callaghan’s bow tie, but I didn’t hear from any bow tie lovers. I did hear from the Rotary. Here’s a letter that really lets me have it!

Phil Reisman
Journal News
1 Gannett Drive
White Plains, NY 10604

Dear Mr. Riesman (sic),

I write to you on behalf of members of the Brewster Rotary Club who were dismayed at your characterization of Rotarians in your recent political commentary on Chris Callaghan, candidate for NYS Comptroller, entitled “Bow tie can’t be beat as political fashion flaw�. Your comment that Mr. Callaghan has the “amiable, rumpled look of a Rotarian at an Oktoberfest� portrays Rotarians as disheveled “party boys�. On the contrary, Rotarians around the world are among the most respected members of their communities, leaders in business and civic affairs, who devote their personal time, money and energy to advancing Rotary’s mission of improving their local communities, providing service and support to people in need nationally and internationally and advancing international understanding, goodwill and peace through an ideal of “service above self�. Over 1 million men and women in 163 countries worldwide are members of Rotary. Your characterization of Rotarians, though meant to amuse I’m sure, actually trivialized the important volunteer work of these many community-minded men and woman and the serious goals of Rotary.

You did get one thing right- we Rotarians are “amiable�. In that spirit, I would like to extend an invitation to you to join the Brewster Rotary at one of our lunchtime meetings so that you can become more informed about how a “typical� Rotarian looks and behaves. We meet each Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Southeast Grille House on Route 6 in Brewster, NY. We would enjoy the opportunity for you to get to know the members of our club, who are professional men and women leaders in education, law, medicine, government and business. We’d also like to inform you about our local charitable activities including our college scholarship program, international student exchange program, Rotary International’s polio eradication program, and other local charitable initiatives.

Please contact me at my office at the Putnam County Planning Department at 845-878-3480, ext. 109 to arrange a time to be our guest at an upcoming Rotary meeting. Or, you may contact our Brewster Rotary Club President, Paul Fucito, at 845-279-6541. We look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,

Michelle Powers
On behalf of Brewster Rotary

cc. Reader Services Editor

Nick Spano is calling a news conference for 12 noon, about an hour from now…and that can only mean one thing: He’s conceding defeat in the 35th state Senate race against Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

Spano challenged the results of the Nov. 7, but the recount still has him 1,800 votes behind the Democrat Stewart-Cousins. A load of paper ballots has yet to be counted. Forget about it.

The odds are longer than Cher’s hair that Spano will prevail when the last vote is counted.

When it comes to votes, Spano seems to have a Houdini-like power to pull elections out of the hat, as proved by his last run against Stewart-Cousins in 2004. After four months of court haggling, he was declared the victor by 18 votes in that one.

He’s cooked this time, though. Even his merry band of scali-wags and hangers-on (some of whom should have been indicted for their past election misdeeds) won’t be able to pull any fast ones to save his bacon this time.

Today’s announcement in Yonkers is obviously timed to cut off the Democrats at the publicity pass; they’re holding their own celebratory announcement at 3 p.m. in White Plains.

ONE MORE NOTE: Today’s HIgh Noon program on WVOX radio, 1460 AM, with Assemblyman-elect Mike Spano (Nick’s younger brother) is canceled. Mike will be at his brother’s press conference, no doubt…and so will I.

Today’s guest on my “High Noon” radio program will be Mike Spano, who recently won election to the 93rd Assembly District in Yonkers.
Spano, a Republican, will talk about the race just past, his future plans in Albany and the future of the GOP. He’ll also take your calls at 914-636-0110.
So tune in at 12 noon and turn the dial to 1460 AM, or listen online at www.wvox.com.

The election post mortem continues…

Ever since the advent of live cable TV news, candidates on nearly every level of government get to go on camera to deliver victory and concession speeaches. Wasn’t this a privilege once reserved only for people running for president?

Well, now it seems that even the winning and losing candidate for municipal dog catcher goes on the air to bravely, defiantly or tearfully talk about what a tough campaign it was and to thank all his/her loyal supporters. This year’s elections featured a proliferation of these increasingly annoying moments. Everyone’s in show business.

Some obserevations:

JOHN HALL: The fomer frontman for the gooey-soft rock band Orleans pulled off an upset victory over Sue Kelly in the 19th Congressional District. He gave a nice speech before a throng of well-wishers and then…he sang. It’s as if he couldn’t help himself. Worse, he was off key. This made me cringe.

ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS: She pulled off an upset, too, in the 35th state Senate against the forever-incumbent Nick Spano, who has to concede. Nevertheless, Stewart-Cousins declared victory, which was perfectly appropriate. The weird part was that she thanked just about everyone she ever met in her life, a long list. This bordered on the ludricous, but it also served to give ridiculous exposure to the people standing behind her, e.g. Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick, who seemed inordinately anxious to jockey for position so his face stayed in the TV picture, and County Legislator Jose Alvarado, who seemed mentally challenged and kept trying to lead a chant of “Andrea.”
Candidates should limit the people who stand by them to spouses, children and one or two party leaders.

ALAN HEVESI: This one really cracked me up. Hevesi won back the comptroller’s job, despite allegations he used state employees to chauffeur around his wife. It’s the hubris of power. So, guess who was standing behind him during his victory speech? Why, it was our own county executive Andy Spano, Westchester’s imperial leader who knows well the trappings of office—limo drivers, reserved golf tee times, etc.

OH YEAH: I need to point out a dumb error I made in today’s column about the nasty mailings that underscored the state office elections in Yonkers. I had Mike Spano and Shelley Mayer running in the wrong Assembly district. It’s the 93rd AD.

Word has it today that a significant number of Yonkers voters were stunned when they went to vote at School 13 on McLean Avenue and discovered that the candidates they thought were on the ballot for the 88th Assembly race were gerrymandered out of their district.
Instead of having a choice between Republican Mike Spano and Democrat Shelley Mayer, the names on the ballot were Mount Vernon Assembly incumbent Gary Pretlow and Barbara Snyder, a Republican and 21-year-old college senior.
The problem is that even the most politically savvy voters in the district never knew that the district lines has been redrawn in 2002. Evidently, no one bothered to tell them that for four years they’ve been part of the 87 AD.
But that’s the way the system works, or rather, doesn’t work. The crazy quilt method of gerrymandering is done for only one reason: to insure that incumbents keep getting re-elected.
That’ bad enough. But failing to adequately inform the voters is a crime.
Another example of how democracy is in critical condition.