Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
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Leah Galton Goes Pro: All-American Hofstra Product to Share the Pitch with Soccer Icons
By Neil A. Carousso
Hempstead, NY — England native Leah Galton goes professional, making her pro debut with National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) Sky Blue FC next month, after she graduates from Hofstra University where she racked up a laundry list of accolades including All-American and Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference First-Team All-Star honors. Galton is also the only 3-time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year, 3-time CAA Pre-Season Player of the Year; in addition, the Hofstra forward was a 2015 Mac Hermann Trophy Semi-Finalist. Galton holds the Hofstra Pride program-record for points with 122 and she is tied for most assists. Number 21 has the 2nd most goals in program history, 1 goal shy of her former teammate number 19 Sam Scolarici.
“I just want to go as far as I can with Sky Blue,” said Galton, adding, “They’re my first team that ever had faith in me to go professionally.”
Sky Blue FC plays their home games at Yurcak Field on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ, where, coincidentally, Galton’s stellar collegiate career ended on November 20, 2015 in a 2nd round NCAA Tournament match-up against the #2 seed Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The English superstar played on a torn quad, which she suffered the week before, in the 1st round against Georgetown, at the tail end of the first of two overtimes. Galton calls the 2nd round tourney game the “big moment” in her collegiate career.
“I was actually very surprised, pleasantly surprised, that she was still available,” remarked Christy Holly, Sky Blue FC Head Coach.
Galton was drafted 13th overall in the 2nd round of the 2016 College NWSL Draft. The Hofstra forward became just the second English footballer to be drafted by the American League. Rachel Daly from St. John’s University in Queens, NY was the first English footballer to be drafted, just 7 picks ahead of Galton.
“She’s one of those players has the most amount of assets that will make that transition [from Division I collegiate soccer to professional soccer] a little bit easier,” said Holly, who enters his first season as Sky Blue FC Head Coach after serving as the team’s assistant for 3 seasons.
Galton started all 4 years in the Hofstra blue and gold after being heavily recruited out of high school for a paramount role on the Pride.
Galton’s goal for 2016: “To get on the field for some game-time so, hopefully, challenge the players that are already starting and get myself on that field to play some games and score some goals,” said Galton, confidently.
Even with all the collegiate honors, Galton remains humble and understands that she has room for improvement in order to reach her ultimate career goals, which includes hours of daily on-field practice, strength and conditioning.
“…Improve myself in every way: shooting, dribbling, heading, everything I can and give [Sky Blue FC] everything I’ve got.”
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Do New Yorkers’ Votes Matter?
By Neil A. Carousso
This year’s heavily covered and widely discussed presidential election season has mobilized new and millennial voters to the polls, but in large states like New York, do votes matter?
“We’re not relevant on the national stage,” said Jim Coll, who is the founder of ChangeNYS.org, a non-profit organization with the mission to promote civic education and political reform in New York. “New York will kind of fall off the map in terms of getting attention from these politicians running for president.”
Both front-runners won the New York Primary. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, won in the Empire State with 58 percent of the vote. Bernie Sanders, who was born in Brooklyn, received 42 percent of the vote and 106 regular delegates. Although Clinton only received 33 more delegates than Sanders she earned 290,614 more votes than the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist.
New York businessman Donald Trump won his home state with a whopping 60.4 percent of the vote, picking up 89 delegates. Trump is now 393 delegates shy of clinching the Republican nomination before July’s GOP Convention in Cleveland. There are 172 Republican delegates up for grabs on what some are referring to as “Super Tuesday III.” Pennsylvania, a winner-take-most state, carries 71 GOP delegates, the most of five states with primaries on April 26.
Ohio Governor John Kasich collected 4 delegates, earning 25 percent of the vote. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, after insulting New Yorkers 3 months ago with a comment about “New York values” in a Fox Business GOP debate, received 14.5 percent of the Big Apple vote.
“We are the ones who are going to have to live with this decision,” said a college-aged female voter who voted for the first time. “I don’t want to complain about the results afterwards when I wasn’t apart of it.”
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Fairness in Politics? Why New York Ultimately Does Not Matter in Picking the Next President
By Neil A. Carousso
Uniondale, NY — Tuesday’s New York presidential primary is the first Empire State primary in memory that made a difference in the election process as GOP frontrunner Donald Trump (R-NY) seeks the magic 1237 delegates to clinch the nomination.
It presents an opportunity for New Yorkers to make an impact in the presidential primaries in an election year unlike any other in which registered democratic and republican voters head to the polls to fulfill their citizen responsibilities.
“We are the ones who are going to have to live with this decision,” said a college-aged female voter. “They affect us regarding education, regarding the economy, our future jobs, things of that nature, so I think [voting] does matter.”
Certainly, this highly publicized and politically charged election cycle has mobilized new voters – millennials and first time voters; however, residents of large states like New York and California have never felt part of the political process until now.
“We should go to a system that is congressional district-based,” said Jim Coll, founder of ChangeNYS.org, a non-profit organization with the mission to promote civic education and political reform in New York.
This evening, polls close at 9 PM in New York. Frontrunners Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Trump are the expected New York primary winners, but millennial voters on the left could change that if they come out for self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders (D-VA).
“If we went to a system that competed in every congressional district, for each of those electoral votes, there are some districts, 7 of them, that would be considered swing districts in this particular election and they’d be paying attention to the issues that are most closely associated to me, my family, my neighbors and their families, instead of just protecting the political parties and their interests,” Coll said.
Ninety-five Republican delegates are at stake Tuesday while 247 pledged Democratic delegates will be allocated proportionally on the left.
“I’d like to see fairness improve in everything,” said a male voter.
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Make It Count: Neil A. Carousso Joins CBS New York GOP Panel
New York, NY — CBS New York has hosted two panels the past couple of weeks with millennial voters from both sides of the aisle. On Monday, 1010 WINS news anchor Sonia Rincon and WCBS Newsradio 880’s Marla Diamond anchored “Make It Count: GOP Supporters Debate” in the Adorama Live Theatre at CBS Radio headquarters in Lower Manhattan.
“Make It Count” focused on millennial concerns and issues surrounding the 2016 presidential campaigns ahead of the New York Primary. Journalist Neil A. Carousso joined the panel along with Donald Trump supporter Madilynn Morris, John Kasich supporter Johannes Sorto and Sarah Audelo from “Rock the Vote.”
Read more on CBSNewYork.com.
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2016 New Hampshire Primaries
Neil A. Carousso is the senior/lead political reporter for WRHU in New York. Neil covered the New Hampshire primaries, which were held on Tuesday, February 9, 2016. Listen above to coverage that aired on WRHU.
