School Tax Presentation, Book Swap and New Look for Patch Homepage

1. Patch homepage refresh (updated 7 a.m.)

You may notice—the Patch homepage will different tomorrow. We'll be doing a quick visual nip-and-tuck to the homepage to make it even more user-friendly. For those keeping score:

• We'll tweak some words in our navigation bar to save space (e.g., "Traffic & Gas" is now "Commute")
• The weather icon will be next to the Patch branding so you can find it more quickly! 
• You will be moved closer to the top—our "shout stream" will be front and center to show all your comments off.

The site might look a little different but we will still offer the same robust coverage of everything happening in your community. That was, is, and will always be our mission. We hope you'll let us know what you think of our tweaks—drop me a line or offer a comment below! (and sorry for originally saying it would be today—look for these changes tomorrow).

2. Weed out your children's book collection

There's a book swap coming! If your house is full of children's books that your kids have outgrown, you might be interested in a swap. Co-sponsored by and the , the swap includes a drop off (April 9-11 at Little Joe's) and the swap itself, where you can browse and socialize with your neighbors, on April 12 from 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. You'll get one voucher per book you drop off to pick up an equal number of "new-to-you" books. Books will also be available for purchase for two dollars each. All profits and any books not claimed at the end of the evening go to the Katonah Village Library Children's Room.

3. New restaurant in Purdys

For those of you who loved John Michael's and Purdy's Homestead before that, get ready for an all-new reincarnation of that historic site. Restaurateur Edward Taylor will open Purdy's Farmer & The Fish on Saturday night and Patch has the scoop on what it's all about. Check back later today for our interview with Taylor and a new nearby destination for food.

4. Understanding property values and equalization rates

Town assessors from Mt. Kisco, Bedford, New Castle, North Castle and Pound Ridge will be on hand for a panel discussion and presentation at tonight's Bedford school board meeting. The presenters will focus on how property values and equalization rates affect school tax apportionment and tax rates. The Board meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm in the ; the meeting is also broadcast live on Cablevision Channel 18 or FiOS Channel 1982.

5. Building strong parent-child connections - RCS lecture

Rippowam Cisqua is hosting a lecture featuring Tara Brown, educator, coach, and author of Different Cultures, Common Ground, as part of the RCS Foundations of Education Series lecture.  In her presentation, Brown will share how important it is in today's fast paced world to take the time to observe the good in our children and to appreciate the gifts and strengths they naturally possess. She will share how this simple action can help uncover our children's passions, which is a great step in strengthening parent/child connections. For more information,