The Wallkill Wire

Lance Booth, Staff Writer Former Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Machado has signed a 10- year deal worth $300 million with the San Diego Padres. This is the biggest free-agent contract in American sports history. The only other team that offered Machado a deal was the Chicago White Sox; the Sox offered $250 million over 8 years. People believed he would sign with the White Sox because his brother-in-law, Yonder Alonso, and Machado’s good friend, Jon Jay, play for the Sox. According to Ken Rosenthal, the total offer from the White Sox could have reached $350 million if all options were vested and every incentive was reached, but the $350 million wasn’t guaranteed from the Sox; that’s why Machado went with the $300 million guaranteed from San Diego. Other teams like the Yankees and the Phillies were in talks this off-season to make a deal for the gold-gloved third baseman (he also plays shortstop, but won his two Golden-Glove awards at third base...

Cass Sozio, Staff Writer The Wallkill Fire District has proposed a 17,500 square foot site across from John G. Borden Middle School to be used as a more efficient fire service. At the Shawangunk Town Board meeting on December 6, commissioners Michael Croce and Rich Freer explained the tentative plan of the fire house project that may only be implemented if the public vote is concordant with the arrangement. The projected two-story building will add character to the hamlet in accordance from the request of former property owners, the Donner family. It is expected to cost $5,582,469 in borrowed funds to construct. It will be a much needed five-bay firehouse and provide additional overflow parking for events at the middle school. The council voted to extend water and sewer service to the site if it’s eventually built in March. Croce continued to disclose information about the current outdated facility. He described the inadequate truck bays, tight spaces, wate...

Mikayla Bonner, Staff Writer Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...Yes it’s that time of the year again; time for the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The lighting of the tree is an annual tradition that brings people from all around the world to see it, and even more travel to see it once it’s already lit. This year, the tree picked was close to home...right down the road on Route 32! While it may not have been right in our backyard, it is still cool that a tree we’ve all driven past is now on display for the whole world to see. The trees used are typically Norway spruces that are at least 75 feet tall and 45 feet wide. Norway spruces that naturally grow in the forest usually don’t grow this big, so most trees end up being from the yards of people who planted the tree ornamentally. No compensation is given to the family when their tree is chosen, except the pride in knowing their tree will be seen by millions. Once Rockefeller Center is done with the tree,...

Cass Sozio, Staff Writer We all know the facts; juuls are molesting insides of teens across the nation. There is no doubt that a significant  number of teenagers in the United States  is hooked on nicotine. Unfortunately, this epidemic  reaches every high school throughout the nation; everyone is at risk no matter what. Take a  minute and educate yourself. For the ones who are aware of the harm that juuls bring, but continue to take bathroom breaks for a sweet puff, here’s your wake up call. It’s understood why the juul has become a popular option. It was designed to target the youth , and many have walked straight into the trap. If you wouldn’t  smoke a cigarette, then you might want to take another look at the flavored glycerol in your pod. Making the effort to quit may not be what you want, but it surely doesn’t hurt to try. Even if  you couldn’t care less about the effects, know that others are concerned. Some students who aren...

Sophia Soler, Editor-in-Chief The music department has a new  teacher  this year. Ms. Lestrange is Wallkill’s newest orchestra teacher. She has been teaching for three years, making this her fourth.  She originally went to Ballston Spa High School around Saratoga Springs.  Although she plays many  instruments,  her original instrument is the violin and she has been playing it for fifteen years. She was always surrounded by music, as her father played music and she had always loved it. Although she originally considered becoming an artist, her orchestra teacher and private teacher inspired her to pursue a future in music education. Her favorite part of teaching orchestra is getting to teach something she loves and watching her students become successful with it. For her postsecondary education, she went to the Crane School of Music  in  SUNY Potsdam , and  is finishing her  M aster's  degree there over the summer. She loves Wall...

Mikayla Bonner, Staff Writer 6 years; that’s how long Wallkill Girls Soccer has waited to beat Red Hook, and beat Red Hook is they did in the semi-final round of the MHAL Championship. Earlier this season Red Hook beat the girls 7-1. This time, the Wallkill girls went in ready to fight for the title, which had never been won by the Wallkill girls' team. Leading the way for Wallkill with two goals was Roe Miller. The third goal, scored by Glynis Craner and assisted by Katie Bordone, sealed the deal for Wallkill to win and move onto the finals. The finals game on Thursday October 18th had spectators on the edge of their cold bleacher seats. The game was 0-0 to end the first half and was looking like it was going to stay that way; that was until Katie Bordone took a shot and scored with 8 minutes left of playing time. The crowd went wild, and that goal fired the girls up to keep playing despite the freezing cold conditions. Had Bordone not taken the shot, who knows how long...

Below, you will find the three options for the Dennis O'Mara Corner decal that will be placed in the gymnasium at WSHS; please cast your vote during the week of 9/24 using the form that can be found  here -thank you for your input!