|
Rockland's Award-Winning News
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE
09-02-10
STONY POINT SUPERVISOR LAMENTS TOWN’S HUGE SCHOOL-TAX HIKE
Stony Point Supervisor William Sherwood says he won’t point fingers over the town’s 13.8% school tax increase. At issue is the discrepancy between that increase and the slight tax decrease in store for residents of Haverstraw, which makes up the rest of the North Rockland school district. Sherwood told WRCR listeners this morning a combination of factors was involved, including a difference in equalization rates sought separately by the two towns. But Sherwood suggested that North Rockland school officials should have had a clearer idea of the situation before they projected a much smaller, 6% tax hike. The town’s school-tax increase reportedly comes to about $1,000 for the average residence this year.
HURRICANE EARL LIKELY TO BENEFIT AREA WEATHER
Rockland is bracing for what’s expected to be just a glancing blow from Hurricane Earl as it runs up the Atlantic coast. The storm is expected to pass the New York City area sometime tomorrow – but far enough off-shore to spare us the worst of its effects. In fact, Rocklanders are looking forward to its predicted benefits – namely, clean, dry air and lower temperatures. WRCR meteorologist Mark Hanok says today should be the last of the current spate of 90-degree days – and that a sunny, dry, and comfortable Labor Day weekend is ahead with high temperatures in the upper-70’s.
POLICE DISPATCHER, FAMILY MEMBERS SAVE LIFE OF ONE-YEAR-OLD
A one-year-old New City boy is alive today, thanks to a Clarkstown police dispatcher, the boy’s mother, and his seven-year-old sister. Police – who aren’t identifying the Orient Court family -- say the dramatic rescue took place Tuesday afternoon, after the boy fell into the family swimming pool. The tot reportedly had stopped breathing and was turning blue when his sister pulled him from the water and called 911. Dispatcher Beverly Brooks took the call, and for the next several minutes, instructed the girl – and through her, the mother – on the life-saving techniques that did, indeed, bring the child around. At last word, the boy was recovering at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
CLARKSTOWN TO RE-HIRE THREE LAID-OFF TEACHERS …
Good news for some of the Clarkstown teachers who were laid off during this year’s school-budget crunch. District officials say they’ll use part of a $1.4-million federal grant to re-hire three full-time teachers and eleven teaching assistants who were let go this summer. The cost of the re-hirings: about $455,000.
… AND TO PAY NYS $4,500 FINE OVER STUDENT-HIRING PRACTICES
In a separate development, the state Department of Labor has fined the Clarkstown school district $4,500 for employing student workers without work permits. The fine results from a five-month investigation of the district’s hiring practices, touched off by a student’s on-the-job injury.
09-01-10
STATE HALTS SALE OF HILLCREST SCHOOL
The sale of East Ramapo’s Hillcrest Elementary School to a New Square yeshiva has been blocked – until next March at least. State Education Commissioner David Steiner issued a six-month stay yesterday, pending his own, FINAL ruling on the sale. East Ramapo resident and former school board candidate Steven White had appealed the sale on grounds the $3.2-million winning bid by Yeshiva Avir Yakov was far below the New City school’s assessed value. The town of Clarkstown assesses the school and property at over $10-million. East Ramapo officials say their own appraisals show a much lower value, but they’ve refused to disclose the actual appraisal figures.
SCHOOLS URGED TO STOP ASKING FOR CHILDREN’S IMMIGRATION STATUS
One OTHER Rockland school district is the subject of action by the State Education Department this week. New guidelines, issued Monday, say school districts should not ask newly-registering students about their immigration status. The department cited the Nyack school district and more than 130 others around the state for asking students for Social Security numbers, visas and other information indicating their immigration status. The New York State Civil Liberties Union brought the action to protect immigrant children from being denied schooling due to their status.
PAIR ARRESTED AFTER CHASE IN CAR-ROBBERY CASE
Two young Rockland men were arrested in Pearl River early yesterday in connection with a spate of thefts from unlocked cars. Nineteen-year-old Edward Best of Spring Valley and 18-year-old Tyler Blumenfeld of Nanuet are charged with petty larceny and possession of stolen property. They were picked up after a police chase, on foot, involving a tracking dog. Police were called by a Pearl River resident alerted by a car alarm. Residents throughout the county have been hit by a series of unlocked-car robberies since this past spring.
MAN ROBS PIERMONT ATM CUSTOMER, RUNS OVER WITNESS
Piermont police are on the lookout for a thief who may have used a car to take out a witness. The suspect reportedly beat and robbed a man Monday afternoon at a Main Street ATM, then fled by car, striking a bystander in the process. The bystander was not hurt seriously. Police are looking for a slim, dark-haired, white male about 5-feet-7-inches tall. They’re hoping to hear from any of a number of reported witnesses to the crime at 359-0240.
STATE-WIDE AIR QUALITY ADVISORY ISSUED AS HEAT WAVE CONTINUES
New York State health officials have issued a state-wide Air Quality Health Advisory for today as temperatures soar into the 90’s again. Residents are urged to put off any strenuous activity such as lawn-mowing until the evening hours when harmful ozone levels are down.
08-31-10
DINAPOLI TO PROBE MTA FOR OVERTIME PAY ABUSE
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says “something is wrong” with the way the Metropolitan Transportation Authority doles out overtime to its staff. So DiNapoli is beginning what he calls a “forensic audit” of the agency to see if what’s wrong is fraud. He says it’s hard for the agency to justify fare hikes and service cuts when 140 of its employees are able to – in his words – “double their salaries through overtime.” The crackdown follows a report three weeks ago in which DiNapoli found that overtime abuse costs the MTA some $56-million a year.
MADOFF ACCOUNTANT FRIEHLING’S SENTENCING POSTPONED
Bernard Madoff’s New City accountant gets a six-month reprieve from sentencing. David Friehling was to have been sentenced this week for helping Madoff pull off his billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. But with Friehling reportedly co-operating with the feds still probing Madoff, prosecutors agreed to push back the accountant’s sentencing date to next March 11th. Friehling pleaded guilty last November to signing-off on Madoff’s financial statements without actually auditing them. He earned more than $12,000 a month from Madoff from 2004 to 2007.
ANOTHER HEALTH WARNING AS TEMPERATURES SOAR AGAIN
Rockland is under an Air Quality Health Advisory today. Temperatures are expected to be in the 90’s again today, and County County Health Commissioner Joan Facelle says the concern is a resultant excess of ozone in the atmosphere. Facelle says that’s a problem particularly for people with respiratory problems. And she urges all residents to limit strenuous outdoor activity to the evening hours, when ozone levels are down.
08-30-10
STONY POINT SCHOOL TAXES TO RISE 14%
Another blow for Stony Point residents. School taxes there will increase this year by 13.8%, or about $1,000 for the average household. At the same time, most Haverstraw taxpayers will pay slightly less, as the average home assessment in that town declined from last year. A downward reassessment of Mirant’s closed Bowline Point plant reportedly will cost the North Rockland school district about $6-million. Both Stony Point and Haverstraw are part of that school district. Stony Point town board member Stephen Cole-Hatcher tells the Journal News his town could have avoided the big tax hike if it had disputed its state-set equalization rate, an assertion denied by supervisor Bill Sherwood.
ORANGETOWN EYES GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT CHANGE
The town of Orangetown is looking to put its money-losing golf course into different hands. The 27-hole Blue Hill course lost $374,000 last year, following a $456,000 loss in 2008. The contract with long-time course pro Jim Stewart expires this year. And, for the first time since Stewart took over in 1975, town officials are seeking applicants to replace him. Stewart says much of Blue Hill’s red ink is due to capital improvements and discount rates for residents – not a lack of golfers on the course.
COUNTY TO DEMONSTRATE NEW, DIGITAL VOTING MACHINES
Rockland voters will get a preview this week of the county’s new, digital voting machines. The Board of Elections will hold the first of several demonstration sessions from 4 to 7 p.m. this Thursday at the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Nyack. The new machines won’t have levers. Voters instead will mark their choices on paper forms which are then read by scanners. Election officials say an advantage of the new system is that each vote is counted immediately.
HEALTH DEPT. WARNS OF CONTINUED LYME DISEASE THREAT
Rockland residents should stay on the alert to avoid Lyme Disease even as fall approaches. That’s the word from the County Health Department, which says tick-borne diseases remain a serious threat. The department says residents should wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants when hiking or doing fall chores like raking leaves – and to check our clothing and bodies for ticks afterward. If detected late, Lyme Disease can affect the skin, nervous system and heart – and can cause serious, long-term health problems.
HILLCREST VOLUNTEERS CITED AT RE-DEDICATION OF FIRE-RAVAGED SYNAGOGUE
Members of the Hillcrest Fire department were honored guests yesterday at the West Clarkstown Jewish Center. The occasion – a re-dedication of the center, which was all but destroyed by a fire one year ago. During the course of that fire, volunteers from Hillcrest managed to save all three of the synagogue’s Torahs.
08-27-10
ST. LAWRENCE: “I GET THE MESSAGE” ON BALLPARK FINANCING
Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence says he’s already begun seeking private funding for the town’s planned minor league baseball stadium. Residents voted “NO” on Tuesday to the INITIAL plan, in which the town would have guaranteed the stadium’s $16.5-million bond. Voters rejected that plan by a better-than-two-to-one margin. The planned 3,500-seat stadium is to be built near the County’s fire-training center in northern Ramapo. St. Lawrence says work at the site will continue, despite prospects of a law suit by stadium opponents.
CLOSE CALL FOR FIREFIGHTERS AT NEW CITY HOUSEFIRE
The blaze that heavily damaged a New City home yesterday could have had tragic results. Officials say the early-morning fire on Tamarac Avenue became so intense that ceilings in the two-story home began collapsing, causing seven fire-fighters to flee the smoke and flames. In all, about 50 volunteers from four departments fought the blaze for two hours. There were no casualties. The home-owners reportedly were already outside the house when the first fire-truck arrived.
CAR DRIVES INTO HILLCREST HOME; TWO INJURED
Two people were injured when a car drove into a Hillcrest home last night. Ramapo police say the driver of the car – 65-year-old Rosie Johnson -- had arrived at the Hickory Street home to deliver a package when she hit the gas pedal instead of the breaks – and the Toyota went through a garage door into what had been converted to a living space. Debris from the crash hit an elderly man who had been sitting in the driveway, 88-year-old Joseph Fide. Both he and Johnson were treated for minor injuries at Nyack Hospital. No charges were filed against Johnson.
NYACK RESIDENTS TO BE GIVEN NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF SEX OFFENCERS
Nyack residents will be more in-the-know than they were last year when it comes to the whereabouts of sex offenders. Nyack school district officials tell the Journal News they’ll begin informing parents of the names and addresses of level-two and level-three sex offenders when they move into the district. That’s a step up from the current policy, in which parents are referred to a sex-offender registry for that specific information.
08-26-10
FIRE DAMAGES NEW CITY HOME
Fire heavily damaged a New City home this morning. Fire officials say the blaze broke out shortly before 5:30 a.m. in the single-family home on Tamarac Avenue. There were no injuries, and it’s not yet known what caused the fire, which reportedly destroyed the rear of the home.
RAMAPO TO SEEK PRIVATE FUNDING FOR BASEBALL STADIUM
The town of Ramapo will now seek private funding for its planned minor league baseball park. So says Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence, following Tuesday’s referendum vote rejecting the initial financing plan, which would have used Ramapo’s high credit rating to guarantee the stadium’s $16.5-million bond. St. Lawrence says the “no” vote -- of roughly 7,000 to just 3,000 “yes” – made it clear that Ramapo taxpayers don’t want their money to back the project. Two town board members had said a solid “no” vote might cool their support for the planned 3,500-seat stadium. St. Lawrence says the town will now seek private investors for the project. We’ll ask him tomorrow morning here on WRCR how confident he is in that plan.
SPRING VALLEY HIGHWAY CHIEF EYED OVER DRIVEWAY WORK
Spring Valley’s highway superintendent is under scrutiny this morning because of work being done on his property. The Journal News says Neil Vitiello is having his driveway on Union Road repaved by a subcontractor who’s also working on a village-financed project currently under way by United Water. Both Vitiello and Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmine insist there’s no conflict since Vitiello is paying for the driveway job with personal funds.
NO JAILTIME FOR EX-LITTLE LEAGUE TREASURER IN FUNDS THEFT
Former Stony Point Little League treasurer Karen Ramos will NOT go to jail for stealing funds from the league. State Supreme Court Justice William Kelly sentenced Ramos yesterday to five years’ probation, including six months in a work-release program. and also fined her $5,000. Ramos pleaded guilty in June to stealing $156,000 from the league while she served as its treasurer. Justice Kelly said he was persuaded to spare Ramos from having to serve jail time by the fact that she has repaid the stolen funds in full.
THRUWAY STOP LEADS TO DRUG BUST; TWO JAILED
A Thruway traffic stop in Clarkstown yesterday turned up a cache of cocaine, and resulted in drug charges against two New York City men. State police say they arrested 29-year-old Norberto Ruiz of Manhattan and 19-year-old Carlos Jiminez-Torivio of the Bronx after finding 14 ounces – or about $15,000 worth -- of cocaine inside Ruiz’s car. The two men were held overnight without bail, both charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.
08-25-10
RAMAPO VOTERS REJECT BALLPARK FINANCING PLAN
Ramapo residents have said a resounding “no” to the town’s plan to finance its proposed minor league baseball park. The referendum – on whether the town should guarantee the project’s $16.5-million bond – went down in yesterday’s voting by a two-to-one margin. Of the more than 8,000 votes cast, well over 5,000 were in the “no” column. Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence has said the proposed 3,500-seat stadium, near the fire training center in northern Ramapo, will be built no matter how the financing-vote went. But at least two town board members indicated they might no longer support the project itself if the referendum lost. And some stadium opponents are suggesting they’ll go to court to prevent St. Lawrence from going ahead with it despite yesterday’s “no” vote.
LAKE NANUET POOL CLOSED FOR SEASON
The town of Clarkstown has its own summer-sport issue to deal with: the closing of its pool at Lake Nanuet Park. Last weekend’s storm clogged a drainage system, sending debris into the pool. Town officials say it’ll remain closed for the season, since the pool would have to be drained completely and then re-filled. The facility is normally closed for the season around Labor Day, less than two weeks from now. This is the second time in three years that heavy rains forced an early closing of the Lake Nanuet pool.
ZEBROWSKI JOINS KOCH’S STATE GOVT. REFORM CAMPAIGN
Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski has signed onto Ed Koch’s campaign to reform New York State government. The 85-year-old former New York City mayor refers to the so-called “New York Uprising” campaign as his “last hurrah.” So far, 91 of the state’s 210 legislators have endorsed Koch’s reform package. Zebrowski told WRCR listeners this morning HE signed on because he likes the plan’s three main elements: better budgeting practices, non-partisan redistricting, and stricter ethics policies.
SUSPECT SOUGHT FOR PASSING COUNTERFEIT BILLS AT PALISADES MALL
Clarkstown police say a counterfeiter struck at the Palisades Mall this week. The suspect reportedly used five bogus hundred-dollar bills on Monday to buy a laptop at Target. A police spokesman says a store security officer discovered the bills were counterfeit when he examined them hours after the purchase. The suspect is described as a Hispanic man, 18 to 25 years old, with black hair. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt at the time of the purchase.
JULY HOME SALES DOWN SHARPLY IN REGION
Home sales in the region declined sharply last month. The state realtors association says sales of existing single-family homes in the Lower Hudson Valley fell nearly 37% in July from a month earlier. Even at that, the regional drop was less than the statewide home-sales decline of about 50%.
08-24-10
RAMAPO BALLPARK-FUNDING VOTE UNDER WAY
They’re voting in Ramapo today on a funding referendum for the town’s planned minor league baseball park. Polls will be open until ten p.m. – for a vote seen by many as a test of public sentiment on the proposed 3,500-seat stadium. The referendum asks not whether the ballpark should be built, but whether the town – with its high bond rating -- should guarantee the $16.5-million construction bond. Town officials say a “no” vote would mean a higher interest rate, costing the town hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The issue has been typically contentious for Ramapo -- some opponents of the stadium suggesting that, if they prevail today, they’ll go to court to stop the project.
STIR BREWING IN CLARKSTOWN OVER PERSONNEL CHIEF’S BENEFITS
There’s a controversy brewing in Clarkstown, too -- this one involving the town’s personnel chief and the benefits she receives. Mary Loeffler is on extended paid sick leave after reportedly suffering a heart attack early this month. Loeffler’s long leave of absence this past winter, following her husband’s death, drew criticism from many residents, who say she’s receiving benefits she’s not entitled to. Town officials acknowledge that the 70-year-old Loeffler, who’s scheduled to retire next month, has exceeded her allotted time off for the year. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Loeffler is also Clarkstown’s Conservative party chairwoman – a post from which she has endorsed her boss, the town supervisor, Democrat Alex Gromack.
ORANGETOWN PICKS PFIZER EXEC AS TOWN’S NEW SEWER CHIEF
Orangetown has named a new sewer director. He’s Scott Burton, currently the associate director of Pfizer’s engineering department. Burton takes over as the town’s Director of Environmental Management and Engineering on September 13th. The $163,000-a-year post has been empty for several weeks, since the resignation of sewer chief Ron Delo.
STONY POINT CONTRACTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING FROM CLIENTS IN ORANGE COUNTY
A Stony Point contractor has pleaded guilty to grand larceny, for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from several clients in Orange County. Christopher Marnell of Marnell Homes entered the guilty plea yesterday in Goshen, and was ordered to return nearly $352,000 to his victims. Prosecutors say Marnell spent money earmarked for specific home-construction jobs in 2005 and 2006 for personal reasons and other construction jobs.
08-23-10
RAMAPO VOTES TOMORROW ON BALLPARK REFERENDUM
Tomorrow is another big voting day in Ramapo. Residents will be at the polls to give a thumbs-up or -down on a funding referendum for the town’s planned minor league baseball park. Site-clearing is already under way for the proposed 3,500-seat stadium, not far from the Fire Training Center near Pomona. But the vote is seen as a test of public opinion on the ballpark. Opponents say the stadium will cause traffic and other problems if the host Canadian-American League team is successful – and a financial drain on the town if it isn’t. Ramapo officials dispute both contentions.
NYACK HIGH SCHOOL’S “CLOSED CAMPUS” POLICY TO BE UNVEILED
Nyack residents will be out for tomorrow night’s school board meeting -- to get details on the district’s new closed-campus policy for Nyack High School. Under the plan, freshmen and sophomores will be barred from leaving the school grounds during the day. Six other school districts in the county already have similar policies in place. But opponents of the Nyack plan say it will violate the district’s long-standing open-campus policy and will be hard to enforce. About 400 of Nyack High’s 1,000 students are freshmen and sophomores. School officials say the new, closed-campus policy is needed to ensure student safety and attendance.
HEAVY RAIN CAUSES SCATTERED FLOODING, AND POSSIBLY ONE FATAL ACCIDENT
Rocklanders awoke to the aftermath of heavy rains today. Three or more inches fell on the county over a four-hour period late in the day yesterday. And by sunrise today, local readings put the total amount of rainfall at up to nearly six and a-half inches, that measurement taken in Pearl River. Flooding was reported in many areas – including Nyack, where residents were evacuated from a three-block stretch of Main Street. Other areas of flooding: downtown New City, Rt. 59 outside the Palisades Mall, sections of Pearl River and Nanuet, and Spring Valley, where flooding and downed trees blocked a stretch of Union Road until 9 p.m. A much lighter downpour continues today, and WRCR meteorologist Mark Hanok says the rain will stay with us through tomorrow.
Yesterday’s downpour might have contributed to at least one fatal accident in the area. Police say a pregnant Brooklyn woman and her unborn child were killed on Route 9-W in Highland Falls just before 7 p.m. yesterday, when the car she was riding in spun off the road and careened off a rock into a guard rail. The 23-year-old woman, who reportedly was not wearing a seat-belt, was thrown from the back seat of the vehicle. Witnesses say the car seemed to have hydroplaned in the heavy rain.
ONE INJURED IN NEW CITY FIRE
A New City man suffered hand and facial burns early yesterday, when fire struck his home on Heath Court. Fire officials say the blaze apparently started in the kitchen of the two-story home. The man and his wife, both described as elderly, reportedly were wakened by smoke shortly after midnight – and managed to escape to a neighbor’s home as flames damaged much of theirs.
08-20-10
RAMAPO BRACES FOR VOTE ON STADIUM FUNDING REFERENDUM
Ramapo voters go to the polls Tuesday in what’s viewed as a test of public sentiment on the town’s planned minor-league baseball stadium. The referendum is not on the stadium itself, but on the town’s guarantee behind its funding. Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence says the guarantee would lower the interest rate on the town’s estimated $950,000 annual tab. Even so, some members of the town board have been reticent about approving initial expenditures for the project, pending Tuesday’s vote. Site-clearing for the planned, 3,500-seat stadium – off Rt. 45 near the county’s fire training center -- is already under way. Ballpark opponents say that shows the St. Lawrence administration doesn’t care whether the public is for it or against it.
PROBE CONTINUES ON CAUSE OF FATAL SUV-PLUNGE INTO LAKE TIORATI
It’s still not known what caused a Hillburn couple’s SUV to go off the road in Harriman State Park and plunge into Lake Tiorati on Wednesday. The bodies of 62-year-old George Powell, Jr., and 56-year-old Victoria Dufreese were recovered from inside the submerged vehicle. A preliminary autopsy report says the couple drowned, but an Orange County spokesperson says that finding is still unofficial. The couple is believed to have been en route to a hospital where Powell was being treated for cancer. He reportedly was awaiting a liver transplant.
REP. HALL URGES GROUND-ZERO MOSQUE PLANNERS TO CONSIDER NEW VENUE
Congressman John Hall has weighed in on the Ground-Zero Mosque issue. The Dover Plains Democrat, whose district includes Stony Point, says the Islamic cultural center, planned for construction two blocks from the World Trade Center site, should be built elsewhere out of respect for the 9-11 victims and their families. The issue has loomed large for incumbents in this congressional election year. Hall says there’s no question, Muslims have the RIGHT to live or pray anywhere in America. But, he adds, moving the center to a different site would be the “sensitive” thing to do.
REPORT: TUXEDO-PARK MURDER SUSPECT BEING DENIED FAMILY VISITS
It’s reported that Tuxedo Park murder suspect Jesse Green is being denied visits from family and friends at the Orange County Jail. Green is charged with killing his father and seriously injuring his mother on July 7th at their home inside that gated community. Green’s legal-aid attorney, David Lindine, says he learned of the so-called “lockdown” order this week, after Green’s aunt was denied a visit with him. The order bars Green from meeting with anyone but his lawyer and also bars him from taking part in his own defense. Lindine calls the order – as applied in Green’s case – secretive, improper, and unconstitutional.
DRUNK-DRIVER CRACKDOWN BEGINS IN STATE PARKS
If you drink and drive into one of New York’s state parks in the next two weeks or so, you’re heading for trouble. The Park Police today begin a campaign targeting impaired drivers. The crackdown, dubbed “Over the Limit, Under Arrest,” runs through Labor Day. It includes sobriety checkpoints and dedicated patrols inside the parks in order to detect and arrest drunk drivers.
08-19-10
E. RAMAPO CAPS TAX-HIKE AND RE-HIRES 18 TEACHERS AND AIDES
Found money leads to a slimmed-down tax-hike and some resurrected jobs in East Ramapo. District residents will see a school-tax increase of just 1.99% this year, despite initial projections of up to 10%. And 18 teacher and teacher-aide positions eliminated during budget negotiations have been restored. It’s mostly the result of a $17-million reserve fund -- several millions more than district officials had expected. East Ramapo’s school board took the actions at its meeting last night. More than a hundred district employees, including teachers, were let go as part of this year’s $196-million budget. Board President Nathan Rothschild says projected revenues from the contested sale of Hillcrest Elementary school were not used to keep the tax-increase down, or to rehire school personnel.
COUNTY HEALTH COMMISSIONER WANTS HEADS-UP ON PLANS FOR JEWISH CEREMONY
Rockland health officials want to know when and where Ramapo’s Jewish community will hold its annual kapparot ceremony this year. The pre-Yom Kippur ritual involves the killing of a chicken, and for the past three years, organizers were fined for leaving the ritual site in unsanitary condition. County Health Commissioner Joan Facelle reportedly seeks a meeting with organizers to emphasize compliance with the county’s sanitary code. But other board-of-health members say such meetings have had no effect in the past. Yom Kippur begins September 17th this year.
ALLEGED PEEPING PHOTOG TO AWAIT POSSIBLE IMMIGRATION HEARING IN COUNTY JAIL
The Spring Valley man charged with snapping cell phone pictures under a woman’s dress at the Palisades Mall will have plenty of time to reflect. Twenty-nine year-old Banger Hernandez-Sandoval is being held at county jail on $1,000 bail. And police say he’ll stay there until federal officials decide whether or not he’ll face an immigration hearing. Hernandez-Sandoval is a native of Guatemala, his immigration status unclear at this time. He was arrested Sunday after a shopper at the Charlotte Russe clothing store reported seeing him hold his cell phone under the dress of another customer. Police who confiscated the phone say it contained similar photos of other women, as well.
HILLBURN COUPLE DROWN IN CAR PLUNGE AT HARRIMAN STATE PARK
A Hillburn couple drowned in Harriman State Park yesterday when their SUV ran off the road and plunged into Lake Tiorati. Divers pulled the bodies of 62-year-old George Powell, Jr., and 56-year-old Victoria Dufreese from inside the vehicle, submerged in 12 feet of water. Powell was a former Marine, his family prominent in Hillburn. It’s believed that he and Dufreese were en route to the veterans hospital in Castle Point, where Powell was being treated for cancer, when the 8 a.m. accident occurred.
08-18-10
RESIDENTS RETURNING AFTER SPRING VALLEY APARTMENT BUILDING FIRE
Most of the residents displaced from a Spring Valley apartment-building fire on Monday have returned to their homes. Meanwhile, officials say the blaze, which destroyed 10 units at the Blueberry Hill apartments, did not appear to be suspicious. It’s not clear what touched off the second-story blaze, but officials theorize it started in the empty apartment of a man who was in the hospital. None of the building’s residents was hurt in the fire, but a village police officer was treated for smoke inhalation. More than 70 volunteers from nine departments took some three hours to bring the flames under control.
EAST RAMAPO FINDS $17-MILLION SURPLUS
The East Ramapo school board meets tonight to set this year’s district tax rate – reportedly, with a $17-million surplus in hand. Officials tell the Journal News the surplus – resulting from large-scale layoffs and spending cuts -- was several million dollars more than expected. Estimates had put the likely tax increase at between four and seven percent. The larger-than-expected surplus is seen as likely to keep the tax hike toward the lower end of that range.
NYACK BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT HAS DRUG CONVICTION RECORD
Orangetown police say the man who robbed a Nyack bank on Saturday is a former Rocklander with a criminal record. Thirty-nine year-old Richard Williams was arrested after a traffic stop in New City on Monday. Williams is charged with robbing the Trustco Bank of some $14,000 after threatening a teller and the bank’s manager with a handgun. Police say neither the money nor the gun has been recovered. Williams, who now lives in North Carolina, has a record of drug-dealing convictions dating back to the 1990’s, when he lived in Nyack. He now faces charges of grand larceny and weapons possession.
RAMAPO MAN CONVICTED OF THREATENING WIFE
A prosecutors’ appeal has led to the conviction of a Ramapo man for threatening to kill his wife in April of last year. Forty-three year-old David Read was found guilty yesterday in county court – two months after an appellate court overturned the initial dismissal of his case. The case was thrown out last November after a county judge ruled the eye-witness testimony of a police officer inadmissible at trial. Now, with the felony conviction – Read’s fourth -- he faces the maximum, 2-to-4-year sentence. He’s also charged, separately, with a 2008 assault on his wife.
SPRING VALLEY MAN CHARGED WITH TAKING CELL PHONE PIX UNDER WOMAN’S DRESS
A Spring Valley man answered to charges in Clarkstown town court today that he took cell-phone pictures under a woman’s dress at the Palisades Mall. Twenty-nine year-old Banger Hernandez-Sandoval was arrested Sunday after police were called to the Charlotte Russe clothing store by an employee who claimed she saw Hernandez-Sandoval holding his cell-phone under a customer’s dress. Police, who confiscated the phone, say it held similar pictures of other women, as well.
08-17-10
COUNTY ASKS RESIDENTS TO SAVE WATER
Rocklanders are being asked to conserve water. County Health Commissioner Joan Facelle issued the request yesterday, citing the summer’s excessive heat and lack of rainfall in the region. So far it’s only a request, with suggestions on how to conserve. For instance, the Health Department website contains what’s called an ET-Index to help residents determine how often to water their lawns. In addition, the county has banned smoking and the use of portable grills in all county parks. Officials say the parks could be closed if the hot, dry weather continues.
MORE THAN 70 VOLUNTEERS BATTLE SPRING VALLEY BLAZE
Due to a lack of water, it took some 70 firefighters more than three hours to bring a Spring Valley apartment-building fire under control yesterday. There was just one casualty – a village police officer was treated for smoke inhalation. But several units at the Blueberry Hill apartments on Route 306 were damaged. Fire officials say a lack of fire hydrants near the blaze slowed down efforts to fight it. The fire broke out just before 7 p.m., apparently on the second floor of the three-story apartment building. Volunteers from seven fire companies responded. Some 22 families reportedly were displaced by the fire.
LAS VEGAS WOMAN SENTENCED TO MAX IN TRAFFIC DEATH OF ROCKLANDER PAUL MAIDMAN
A Nevada court has sentenced a Las Vegas woman to eight to 20 years in state prison for the drunk-driving death of Suffern native Paul Maidman. Twenty-nine year-old Miranda Dalton was handed the maximum sentence yesterday, following an organized, stiff-punishment campaign by Maidman’s family and friends. Maidman, a 28-year-old Air Force veteran, was killed April ninth in Las Vegas, when Dalton’s Grand Cherokee slammed into his Buick.
WOMAN ARRESTED IN MASSAGE PARLOR PROSTITUTION PROBE
Clarkstown police are investigating a Nyack massage parlor as part of a broader prostitution probe. A young Brooklyn woman who works at the New Age Health Spa was arrested this week on suspicion of prostitution. Twenty-one year-old Polina Kosolarova is to appear in town court September 15th to answer the charge. A police spokesman says no charges have been brought against New Age itself, but that an investigation of the massage parlor – and others in Clarkstown -- continues.
08-16-10
SECOND WEST NILE MOSQUITO FOUND IN ROCKLAND
They’re back. Another mosquito infected with the West Nile virus has been identified in Rockland. Health officials say the discovery, made in Orangetown earlier this month, was the county’s second this year. A West-Nile infected mosquito turned up in a sample from Ramapo in June. West Nile is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. So far, no human cases have been diagnosed in Rockland County, although infected mosquitoes have been found here every year since 1999.
EAST RAMAPO WITHHOLDS HILLCREST SCHOOL APPRAISAL INFORMATION
The East Ramapo school board says “no” to the public release of its appraisals on the Hillcrest Elementary School. Opponents of the recent sale of the school to a New Square Yeshiva say the district sold the Hillcrest site for much less than it’s worth. The Journal News says the district has denied its Freedom of Information request for the appraisal details, as well as a request from a district resident seeking to block the sale in court. Yeshiva Avir Yakov’s $3.1-million bid was chosen over at least one higher bid – and, despite reported estimates on the 12-acre Hillcrest site, in New City, at $5-$10-million.
SUSPECT SOUGHT IN ARMED ROBBERY OF NYACK BANK
Orangetown police are on the lookout for a man who robbed a Nyack bank at gunpoint over the weekend. The ski-masked suspect reportedly pulled a handgun after entering the Trustco Bank on Route 59 Saturday morning, and made off with an estimated $17,000 in cash. The suspect is described as black, 30 to 40 years old, of medium height and build. Police say the bank’s video camera captured him on tape.
GOVERNOR SIGNS NO-FAULT DIVORCE MEASURE
New York is now a No-Fault Divorce state. Governor Paterson signed legislation Saturday making New York the 50th state to go the no-fault route. Until now, divorces have been granted in the state only on grounds of abandonment, adultery, cruelty and imprisonment – and only after a one-year waiting period. Under the new law, one spouse need only swear that the relationship has broken down for at least six months.
08-13-10
ROCKLAND TO SUE MTA OVER PAYROLL TAX
Rockland County is ready to file suit against the MTA’s payroll mobility tax. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef says the suit will be filed today or Monday in State Supreme Court. It names the state legislature and Governor David Paterson as defendants along with the transit agency. The tax duns employers in the MTA region 34 cents for every 100 dollars of their payrolls. Speaking this morning on WRCR, Vanderhoef said the suit is based on a reading of the state constitution that suggests the payroll tax required a two-thirds vote of the legislature rather than the simple majority it got.
CONTRACTOR SUES ORANGETOWN OVER PROJECT BID
A Nanuet electrical contractor is crying foul over the awarding of a municipal contract to a rival firm. In a lawsuit filed against the Town of Orangetown, Fanshawe, Inc. says the winning bid on a half-million-dollar pumping-station-upgrade job – by Valentine Electric of Blauvelt -- was improperly filed. Fanshare was the runner-up, with a bid less than $10,000 higher than Valentine’s. But the lawsuit claims Valentine failed to include a required line-item that might have raised the bid ABOVE Fanshare’s. Valentine says the line-item was for a part of the job it would be able to do at no charge.
REP. HALL SUES OVER LOSS OF INDEPENDENCE LINE
Also crying foul is Congressman John Hall, whose district includes part of North Rockland. Democrat Hall says election rival Nan Hayworth should not have been awarded the Independence Party line in November’s election. Hall, who had the Independence line last time out, claims in a lawsuit filed yesterday that Hayworth’s nominating petitions contain fraudulent signatures. A state supreme court in Albany will hear the case later this month.
VIRGINIA COUPLE FACES DRUG, WEAPONS CHARGES AFTER THRUWAY STOP
An out-of-state couple has been charged with drug-and-weapons possession after a traffic stop yesterday on the New York State Thruway. State police arrested 47-year-old Loren Mitchell and 32-year-old Jennifer Kroft, both of Virginia, after pulling their car over in South Nyack. Inside the late-model Chevrolet, they reportedly found a 38-calibre revolver and an unspecified amount of marijuana. In addition to the drug-and-weapons charges, Mitchell is accused of driving while impaired by drugs.
08-12-10
COUNTY LEGISLATOR BALKS AT TOURISM POST APPOINTMENT
County Legislator Ed Day says Rockland doesn’t need a new tourism director. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef reportedly has named his long-time spokesperson, C.J. Miller, to that post, which was left open by the death last month of Heather Duke. Miller has been with Vanderhoef since 1994. The new job reportedly boosts her salary by about $10,000 -- to $102,000 a year. Speaking this morning on WRCR, Day said the Rockland Economic Development Corporation could do the county tourism department’s job better, and at a saving of more than $250,000 a year.
SHERWOOD: MIRANT WOULD LIKE TO STAY IN NORTH ROCKLAND
There’s still a chance that the Mirant Corporation will stay in North Rockland. Stony Point Supervisor William Sherwood says that’s the impression he got at a luncheon meeting last week with Mirant officials. The energy firm still owns the Lovett site in Stony Point. Sherwood told WRCR listeners this morning the executives indicated that Mirant would consider selling the site ”if the price is right,” but would prefer to build a new power plant on it.
OCTOBER 19TH SET FOR RAMAPO BOARD VOTE ON BOBOVER YESHIVA
Monsey’s Bobover congregation has two months to resolve safety and other issues surrounding its planned yeshiva near Pomona. The Ramapo planning board this week put off a vote on the proposed Hassidic school until October 19th. The controversial project – to build a two-story yeshiva on the Route 306 site off Brick Church Road – is being held up by issues involving a fire-hydrant and a driveway dispute. The Bobover congregation made headlines last year when a cow was slaughtered in open view on the grounds of its Monsey school.
COUNTY LEGISLATOR: RESTAURANTS NEED MORE GREASE-CUTTING OPTIONS
County Legislator Alden Wolfe says Rockland’s restaurants need more leeway in how they keep their sewer pipes clean. Excessive grease can cause major problems for local sewage systems. Wolfe proposed a sewer-law amendment this week to let restaurants use biological pre-treatments to break grease down. A public hearing on the amendment is scheduled for October fifth.
08-11-10
D.A. PROBES ALLEGED MISUSE OF GARNERVILLE CHURCH FUNDS
Still no word on whether charges will be brought against Father Thomas Kreiser, the former pastor of St. Gregory Barbarigo’s parish in Garnerville. A church audit, conducted after Kreiser’s sudden resignation in June, reportedly found that Kreiser had mis-appropriated some $25,000 in parish funds. District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said yesterday his office has been investigating the case. But Zugibe wouldn’t say whether charges are likely. Kreiser reportedly has returned the parish funds.
WORKER’S BLOW-TORCH SEEN AS CAUSE OF WEST NYACK FIRE
Roofers using a blow-torch apparently started a West Nyack fire yesterday. The late-afternoon blaze on Strawtown Road damaged parts of a two-story commercial-and-residential building. Fire officials say all occupants and residents of the building got out safely. A section of Strawtown Road was closed for more than a half-hour as firefighters from five departments battled the flames.
COUNTY UNDER O&R HEAT WATCH ADVISORY AGAIN
It’s not quite as hot today as it was yesterday, but it’s hot enough for another Summer Heat Watch advisory. Orange and Rockland says it expects air-conditioning to drain its power system by a bit over the heat-watch threshold of 1,300 megawatts. The advisory means O&R crews will deal FIRST with heat-related emergency situations, then with routine repairs.
STATE COMPTROLLER: LOCAL OFFICIALS MAKE MILLION$ THROUGH FRAUD
Local school and government officials throughout New York reportedly have stolen more than $10-million in taxpayer funds over the past three years. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says more than 51 cases of fraud and other abuses by officials and government employees have been uncovered since 2007 – and that audits by his office continue to turn up new cases. The comptroller says there are signs for honest officials to watch out for among their employees. Among them – lifestyle or behavioral changes, serious personal debt problems, and a reluctance to provide information to auditors.
COPS: PIZZERIA BURGLAR FELL ASLEEP IN CAR BEHIND SCENE OF CRIME
Rules Number One and Two for burglars: Stay awake, and don’t stay around. Orangetown police say 22-year-old Andrew Murphy of Nanuet apparently forgot those rules yesterday when he allegedly broke into the Domino’s Pizzeria in Pearl River. Police found Murphy asleep in his car – in the parking lot behind Domino’s – shortly after the early-morning break-in. Police say no money appeared to have been taken, but that a computer and cash register were damaged. Murphy is charged with felony counts of burglary and criminal mischief.
08-10-10
COUNTY LEGISLATOR WANTS ROCKLAND TO JOIN SUIT AGAINST MTA PAYROLL TAX
County Legislator Ed Day wants Rockland to go to court over the MTA Payroll Mobility Tax. In a statement released yesterday, Day formally requests that Rockland join Putnam and Nassau Counties in a lawsuit against the state agency. Day says three towns in Orange County have joined the suit, as well. The tax duns employers in the MTA region 34 cents for every $100 of their payrolls. Calling the tax “egregious,” Day says it simply widens the county’s so-called transportation value gap. Rockland pays the MTA $106-million a year but receives only $46-million in transit service. The tax was instituted last year, largely as a way to keep down any increase in New York City bus and subway fares.
AUDIT: GARNERVILLE PRIEST MISAPPROPRIATED FUNDS
An audit reportedly has found that the recently-resigned pastor at St. Gregory Barbarigo church in Garnerville misappropriated church funds. Father Thomas Kreiser stepped down suddenly in June, citing unexplained personal and medical reasons. Now comes word of the audit, conducted by the Archdiocese of New York. Its finding: Kreiser’s problems led to the mis-management of “some parish funds.” A church bulletin doesn’t say how much money was involved but says “all funds have been returned to the parish.” Kreiser reportedly is in treatment. No word from county prosecutors on whether charges will be leveled against Kreiser.
RAMAPO PLANNING BOARD TO VOTE ON BOBOVER APPLICATION FOR NEW YESHIVA
Another hot-button issue goes before the Ramapo Planning Board tonight. On the agenda – a vote that could give the controversial Bobover Yeshiva approval to construct a school building and adult-student housing at a site on Route 306 off Brick Church Road. The Bobover congregation made headlines last year for slaughtering a cow in public view at its current school site.
ROCKLAND BOCES GETS MILLION-DOLLAR AWARD TO TRAIN HISTORY TEACHERS
Rockland BOCES is celebrating a windfall – a nearly $1-million grant from the federal government for teacher training in American History. BOCES says the three-year grant will help close an education gap among educators. A spokesperson says teachers have little continuing training in local and American history. The grant will allow social studies teachers from around Rockland to brush up on their subjects with trips to historic sites and discussions with historians and other experts.
HILLBURN TO HOST PUBLIC SESSION ON T-Z BRIDGE-CORRIDOR PROJECT
Hillburn residents will get a look this week at plans to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge. Members of the T-Z Bridge and Corridor Project team will discuss the plan Thursday night, at a special meeting at the Hillburn Community Room on Mountain Avenue. It’s the latest in a series of meetings throughout Rockland and Westchester designed to give communities along the Bridge-and-Thruway corridor some say in the plan’s design.
SUMMER HEAT WATCH ADVISORY IN EFFECT TODAY
With temperatures expected to top 90 degrees today, another Summer Heat Watch advisory is in effect for Rockland. Orange and Rockland says the hot, steamy weather – and the resultant use of air conditioners – is likely to drain its system by about 1,400 megawatts. That’s only some 200 megawatts under O&R’s record daily demand of 1,617 megawatts, set during the August, 2006, heat wave. The heat watch advisory calls on residents to conserve energy, in part by raising air-conditioner trigger settings to 78 degrees … and by lowering window shades to block out the sunshine.
08-09-10
NYACK AMBULANCE CORPS CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF SERVICE
Yesterday approximately 40 ambulance corps members gathered with family and friends at the Maydell Faith and Life Center in Upper Nyack for their annual picnic and in celebration of 70 years. Nyack is reportedly the second oldest ambulance corps in Rockland County, and answers about 1,600 calls a year.
WARNING FOR WEST NILE VIRUS
States officials are warning that due to the hot dry weather, the level of West Nile seems to be elevated. West Nile season is usually at its highest in late August., but what seems to be alarming this season is that nearly 200 mosquitoes have already been found to be carrying the disease. 127 insects carrying this virus have been spotted in New York City, and the others in Nassau and Suffolk counties. One of the bugs carrying the virus has been found in Rockland. To see a list of precautions people can take to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes visit http://tinyurl.com/33bgvdt.
RESIDENTS HELP LOCAL SHELTER
The Hi-Tor Animal Care Center in Pomona recently announced that its Dollar for Dollar fundraising campaign made nearly $60,000 Judy Stone, a member of Hi-Tor’s board of directors states the campaign, which began in March and lasted through June, took a great step forward when a board members was able to solicit an anonymous private donation of $20,000.Hi-Tor is now looking to solicit public donations to match te generous sum. Money made by the Dollar for Dollar campaign is used to vaccinate as well as spray or neuter the animals. Those wanting to volunteer at the shelter please visit their website, www.hitor.org and click on the volunteer application. Also, those who would like to adopt animals, of like to donated blankets, food, cat littler and newspaper. Or cleaning supplies visit h-tor at 65 Firemen’s Memorial Drive.
LOCAL MAN INJURED ON THE HUDSON RIVER
58 year old Suffern man, Thomas McGuigan was operating a personal watercraft on the Hudson River this weekend where he was seriously injured. It has been stated that although his friends on the boat accompanying the watercraft tried to help him, it was unsuccessful for he was semiconscious. McGuigan was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he reportedly suffered neck, back and shoulder injuries, cuts on his face, and a possible concussion.
08-06-10
LEGISLATION PASSED TO HELP EDUCATION AND MEDICAID
The United States Senate approved legislation yesterday that provides $26.1 billion for education jobs funding and Federal Medicaid assistance to the states. According to Governor David Paterson, this is an exciting and significant step forward in the process to bring critical Medicaid and education dollars to New York State. The legislation is expected to provide approximately $1.4 billion to the State over two budget years, with $800 million of that funding coming in the current fiscal year. Paterson states under this legislation, New York is expected to receive more than $600 million in funding to retain and create teacher jobs across the State in 2010 2011 school year.
SYRACUSE WOMAN IN COURT FOR ACCUSSED STABING
A Syracuse woman made a brief appearance last night in Town Court. 39 year old Lisa Turkki of Easy Syracuse is being accused of repeatedly stabbing her two young nieces, 7 year old Maeve and 9 year old Annabel Keely in Katonoah last Saturday. Police say Turkki was baby-sitting for her nieces Saturday night when the attack occurred, while their parents were attending a concert nearby. During a brief appearance in town court, Turkki made no comments about the accusation and offered no plea. She is to be sent back to jail without bail pending another court appearance August 23rd. The children were taken to Westchester medical center where they are recovering from surgery and are expected to be released by the end of the week.
NYACK SUPERINTEENDENT MOVES ON
Nyack Superintendent of School Valencia Douglas announced her resignation at a morning meeting yesterday to take charge of the small Pocantico Hills School in Westchester. Douglas has been Nyack’s superintendent since 2005. This transaction is set to take place on September 7th. During this time, Vice President Michael Mark is said that the Nyack board is meeting privately today and August 17th to discuss appointing an interim superintendent for the upcoming school year.
COUNTIES LITTLE LEAGE TEAM IS ON THE WAY ON MAKING IT BIG
The Haverstraw Senior Little League team is advancing their second straight Senior League World Series. After beating Felton-Harrington Delaware 7 to 1 yesterday in the Eastern Regional championship at Rockwood Field, Haverstraw is on their way to play Laurel Deleware at Bruce E. Layton Field on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. The semifinals are set to be August 13th, the final on Aug 14th at 11 a.m being aired live on ESPN2.
REPAIRS ON THE TAPPAN SEE BRIDGE SCHEDUALED NEXT WEEK
The New York State Thruway Authority today announced routine repairs on the Tappan Zee Bridge will continue on Monday August 9th through Friday August 13th during off peak travel times, depending on the weather. To help travelers and commuters along the bridge the repairs are set to be between 9 a.m through 3 p.m and overnight when possible.
SMOKE TESTING ALERT
Please be away that Weston and Sampson will be conducting smoke testing today along the following streets. In New City; Ann Street, Baldwin Place, Kings Highway, Gerlach Drive, Bittman lane, Twin Peg Drive, Arden Place, Gandy Lane, Queens Road, Kent Street, Short Hill Road, Pine Tree Lane, Colonial Drive, Burger Street, Raven Terrace, New Hempstead Road, Phillips Hill Road, Henry Street, Murdock Road, Lombardi Drive, and Greenwood Drive. In Monsey smoke testing’s will occur on Grandview Avenue, Willow Tree (between Grandview Avenue and Forshay Road), Fieldcrest Drive, and Suhl lane.
08-05-10
SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT FROM BLUE RILL DAY CAMP
A school bus taking children home from Blue Rill day camp swerved off the road and hit a group of trees yesterday. The accident took place at the corner of Saddle River and Ackertown roads. The 16 children who were between the ages of 5 and 14, a counselor and the bus driver were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, alll with minor injuries. The cause is still under investigation.
UNDERCOVER POLICE ARREST COCAINE SALE
Undercover police officers arrested a Spring Valley man on cocaine sale and resisting arrest. Jermain Join is said to be previously arrested in Bergen County on Monday during a planned sale of cocaine to an under cover police officer with Bergen County Narcotics task force. After his arrest, officials state Johnson fled from the Exxon on the Run where he called his contact. Johnson was being held in Bergen County jail yesterday with a bail of $100,000. He is set to remain on New York State parole till August 27th
DINAPOLIS’ REACTION TO BUDGET
Despite the long delay in the budget, there is some positive news. According to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, the budget includes a contingency plan in case the federal funding is not approved. DiNapoli states there are significant risks in this budget and little has been done to align recurring spending with recurring revenues. According to DiNapoli, the budget process reeks of dysfunction and nothing was done to reform that process.
GOVERNOR RELEAVES TENSION ON PROPERTY TAX
The first step was taken on easing the tension on New York State Property Tax. Governor David Paterson stated yesterday that New York currently holds the undeclared distinction of having the highest property taxes in the nation. Residents of Nassau, Westchester and Rockland Counties count themselves in the nations top ten with property tax levels rising at more than twice the rate of inflation and salary growth. According to Paterson, to help solve this problem on property tax, a bipartisan vote of 51 to 8. The New York State Senate passed legislation to provide New Yorkers a property tax cap. This property tax cap is said to ensure real, sustainable property tax relief. Patersons next step is stated to make the cap a law.
NEW DESIGN IN HELPING MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
Dozens of seniors listened yesterday as Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack and Town Board Member George Hoehmann discussed what is called File of Life. File of life is said to be a card in a red magnet pocket attached to the outside of a refrigerator. It contains vital, personal, and medical information about a resident. It would list information such as health conditions, recent surgeries allergies and similar information. Hoehmann states it is available to all residents’ not just seniors. Those who want the card may pick it up the Supervisors office or Town Council Chambers both at Town Hall 10 Maple Ave in New City
08-04-10
N.J. COMMUTER TRAIN KILLS PEDESTRIAN NEAR RAMSEY
A pedestrian was killed by a commuter train in Bergen County this morning. Police say the unidentified man was hit by the New Jersey Transit train near Ramsey just before 8 a.m. The incident caused half-hour delays on NJT’s Main, Bergen and Port Jervis lines, the last of which serves commuters here in Rockland County.
RESCUED T-Z JUMPER A PRO POKER PLAYER ON LOSING STREAK
The White Plains man who survived a suicide leap off the Tappan Zee Bridge yesterday is a high-level poker player. It’s still not clear why 29-year-old Matthew Casterella took the plunge, but a reversal of fortunes might have been involved. The Journal News says Casterella was a big winner on the professional poker tour, winning more than $1.5-million over the past five years. But the paper says his winnings have dropped off in recent months, and Casterella is believed to be in financial trouble.
AUG. 24TH SET FOR RAMAPO BASEBALL STADIUM REFERENDUM
Ramapo residents will vote this month on the town’s minor-league baseball stadium referendum. The town board voted last night to hold the vote on August 24th. The referendum challenges the town’s guarantee on financing for the $16.5-million stadium, which will be home to a Canadian-American League team. Town officials say, if the financing plan is rejected, they’ll find another way to pay for the stadium.
COUNTY LEGISLATURE OPTS INTO STATE'S EARLY-RETIREMENT PLAN
The county legislature voted unanimously last night to take part in New York State’s early-retirement program. It’s a move which, supporters say, could save the county some $22-million in salaries over the next two years. Some 200 Rockland County employees took buyouts offered by the county in 2008 and 2009. The state plan offers incentives designed to encourage municipalities to streamline their operations.
NEW CITY ACCOUNTANT TIED TO MADOFF LOSES LICENSE
Bernie Madoff’s New City accountant is no longer licensed to work. A New York State agency stripped David Friehling of his CPA license, citing Friehling’s failure to audit Madoff’s financial statements before filing them. Madoff is in prison, convicted of swindling clients of his financial consulting firm out of billions of dollars. He paid Friehling an average of about $13,000/month from 1991 to 2008 to audit his books. In addition to the loss of his license, Friehling will be sentenced September 3rd for his conviction on nine criminal counts, including securities fraud. He faces up to 114 years in federal prison but is likely to get a big break on that, thanks to his co-operation in the Madoff case.
LAWRENCE TAYLOR RAPE CASE ADJOURNED UNTIL SEPT. 8TH
The Lawrence Taylor rape case has been postponed until next month. Prosecutors agreed at a hearing yesterday to adjourn the case until September 8th. Taylor is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old runaway in early May at the Holiday Inn in Montebello. He says he paid a PIMP $300 for the encounter after being told the girl was over 18 years old. District Attorney Thomas Zugibe says he’ll consider a plea from the ex-New York Giant as long as it includes Taylor’s registration as a sex offender in New York State.
08-03-10
ONE DEAD, ONE SAVED, IN TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE INCIDENTS
One man was killed and another spared from dying, in separate incidents on the Tappan Zee Bridge yesterday. State police were called to the bridge at about 1 p.m., after a Maryland man reattaching a trailer to his car was hit by another vehicle. He died of head injuries a short time later at Westchester Medical Center. Then, at about 4 p.m., as police pulled up behind a car stopped at mid-span, a man ran from the car and jumped over the bridge railing. Despite the nearly-140-foot plunge, the man – identified only as a 29-year-old White Plains resident – was pulled alive from the Hudson. He was treated for minor injuries, also at Westchester Medical Center.
ANOTHER SUSPICIOUS FIRE HITS LETCHWORTH VILLAGE SITE
A second suspicious fire in as many weeks destroyed an abandoned building at the old Letchworth Village complex in Thiells last night. Fire officials speculate that arson was involved, since the two-story stone building had no working utilities. A July 16th fire destroyed the nearby Jacobson House, also under suspicious conditions, coming three months after fire engulfed yet another abandoned building at the Letchworth site. Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion at last night’s blaze. Fire officials investigating all three fires say only that they might be connected.
BROWN WATER STILL ON TAP IN STONY POINT
Some Stony Point residents reportedly are still getting brown water from their taps, more than a month after the problem began. United Water explained in June that it was caused by the company’s routine flushing of pipes. But when the water stayed brown, U-W said increased demand during the summer heat wave caused it to tap into a second source, which likely brought sediment into the system. But now, more than two weeks since that diagnosis, the brown-water problem persists. United Water says, despite its color, the water is safe to drink. The Journal News says Stony Point Supervisor William Sherwood has asked the water company to make its actual test results public, a request that United Water has not yet honored.
STONY POINT WINS LITTLE LEAGUE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
There’s also some good news from North Rockland. Stony Point Little-Leaguers are the new state champions. This, after yesterday’s 3-to-2 victory over the reigning champs from South Shore at Germonds Park in West Nyack. The Stony Point youngsters are the fourth Rockland team to capture the state Little League title. It was the team’s third straight appearance in the championship game. And, with the victory, the Stony Pointers head for the mid-Atlantic Regionals, which begin Friday in Bristol, Connecticut.
WRCR’S STEVE POSSELL A GRANDFATHER – AGAIN
Stony Point gained a new resident overnight. Luke Van Pelt weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces at birth, just after midnight at Good Samaritan Hospital. At last word both baby Luke and Mama Liz Possell Van Pelt were doing well – Liz, of course, the daughter of WRCR morning man Steve Possell.
POWER OUT IN PART OF NANUET AFTER CAR CRASHES INTO UTILITY POLE
A section of Nanuet was without power this morning, following the collision of a car and a utility pole. Orange and Rockland says a transformer was destroyed in the crash, knocking out service to 31 customers on Convent Road and Fairview Court. The driver was treated at Nyack Hospital for minor injuries.
08-02-10
GROMACK: PLANS FOR NANUET MALL UPGRADE COMING SOON
The ball may get rolling soon on new plans for the Nanuet Mall. That’s the word from Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack, who appeared this morning here on WRCR. The mall, which is home to WRCR, has fallen on hard times in recent years, as the Palisades Center became the county’s chief shopping venue. Gromack told listeners this morning the town is expecting to see formal plans from the Nanuet mall owner by October, with actual work to begin at the site sometime next year.
REPORT: HILLCREST SCHOOL APPRAISAL A MYSTERY
There are more questions today about East Ramapo’s pending sale of the Hillcrest Elementary School. The school board last week accepted a winning bid of $3.1-million from a New Square Hasidic congregation. But the Journal News says few, if any, district officials have seen the school site’s actual appraisal. The 12-acre Hillcrest property is located in New City. Estimates of its current value range as high as $10-million. The winning bidder, Yeshiva Avir Yakov, made headlines earlier this year when students at its New Square school were briefly trapped inside the building during a fire by illegally chained doors.
KATONAH SISTERS SLASHED, AUNT CHARGED
Two young Katonah girls are recovering from knife-wound surgery at Westchester Medical Center this morning, their aunt charged with their stabbing. Police say 39-year-old Lisa Turkki of East Syracuse was baby-sitting for her nieces Saturday night when the attack occurred. The parents of the girls – 9-year-old Annabel Kelly and her 7-year-old sister Maeve – were at a nearby concert. Turkki is in Westchester County Jail, charged with two felony assault counts, facing a court appearance Thursday.
LACROSSE GLOVES RECALLED DUE TO EXCESSIVE LEAD
Another line of PRODUCTS made in Asia is being recalled due to health concerns. The County health department says the products – 10-, 12-, and 13-inch LaCrosse gloves – are being pulled from the market due to excessive lead levels. The gloves were sold at sporting goods stores between last July and last month. They’re manufactured in Vietnam by a Michigan company named Brine, and are labeled as Youth and Adult Brine VIP LaCrosse Gloves.
COUNTY ISSUES WEST NILE WARNING
Health officials say it’s becoming prime time for exposure to the West Nile virus. The county department of health says Rocklanders should take steps now to make it hard for mosquitos to breed on their property. That mostly means removing objects that collect water, such as tin cans, plastic containers, and old tires; clearing clogged roof gutters; and changing bird-bath water twice a week.
07-30-10
NYACK NURSES OKAY CONTRACT
Nurses at Nyack Hospital have voted “yes” on a new contract to replace the one that expired seven months ago. The pact reportedly will boost nurses’ salaries by 9.1% over three years. Nyack nurses have been working without a contract since the beginning of the year. Although they remained on the job, the nurses staged a number of so-called “informational pickets” outside the hospital to gather public support.
SPRING VALLEY RE-OPENS UNION ROAD AFTER TWO YEARS
Union Road in Spring Valley re-opened today, with a celebration at the site of a temporary bridge at Morris Avenue. Nearly two decades of drainage problems led to the construction project that closed Union Road and snarled traffic daily along adjoining residential streets for the past two years. The $11-million project will install catch basins and upgrade storm-water drainage along a section of Pascack Brook. Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin was on hand at the Morris Avenue site to perform the 1 p.m. ribbon-cutting.
BYRNE GRANTED PERMANENT U.S. RESIDENCY STATUS
Pearl River resident Joe Byrne has been granted permanent U.S. resident status. Immigration officials made the decision yesterday, ending years of uncertainty and expatriation for Byrne. He was extradited to his native Ireland two years ago, charged there with burglary and robbery in two cases dating back to the mid-1990’s. Byrne returned to his wife and young daughter in Pearl River this week, three months after the charges in Ireland were dropped.
ALLEGED RANSACKER DUO PLEAD NOT GUILTY
The alleged Rockland ransackers pleaded not guilty to burglary charges in State Supreme Court yesterday. Twenty-nine year-old Paula Izurieta of Yonkers and 33-year-old Ivan Murat are accused of burglarizing the Congers home of Richard Serpico two weeks ago – ONE DAY after Serpico was killed in a motorcycle accident. Prosecutors say the pair, both of whom knew Serpico, virtually cleaned his home out, taking a carful of electronic equipment and other valuables. Izurieta and Murat are being held at Rockland County Jail on $50,000 bail each.
NEED A JOB? COUNTY NEEDS ELECTION INSPECTORS
If you’re looking for a short-term, part-time job, you might want to give the County Board of Elections a call. Elections inspectors are needed for both Primary Day, September 14th, and Election Day, November 2nd. The position requires certification, and the election board has scheduled training classes for that. For information, go to the board’s website --- www.voterockland.com – or call 638-5172.
07-29-10
EAST RAMAPO BOARD APPROVES SALE OF HILLCREST SCHOOL TO NEW SQUARE YESHIVA
The East Ramapo school board last night approved the sale of Hillcrest Elementary School. The controversial decision – on a 7-1 vote -- came after a district-signature Executive Session was called during the meeting. Residents had protested the intended sale since its approval as part of this year’s district budget. In addition to those simply opposed to closing the Hillcrest school, many felt the property – located in New City – was worth much more than the district was willing to sell it for. The winning bid – of $3.1-million – came from Congregation Yeshiva Avir Yakov of New Square. Avir Yakov made news recently when students at the Yeshiva were briefly trapped in a fire there by illegally chained doors.
ROCKLAND STUDENTS’ MATH AND ENGLISH TEST SCORES PLUMMET, AS EXPECTED
Math and English test scores for young students throughout Rockland and New York State plummeted this past school year. But state education officials say the drop-off was expected, because the marking standards for the third- and eighth-grade tests had been raised. Sixty-one percent of Rockland students tested “proficient” or better for those grades in English this year, compared with 84% in 2009. In math, the proficiency level slipped from 90% in 2009 to 68% this year.
YONKERS WOMAN AND VALLEY COTTAGE MAN INDICTED FOR RANSACKING HOME OF DEAD ACQUAINTANCE
A Yonkers woman and her Valley Cottage companion have been indicted for ransacking the home of a Congers man killed one day earlier in a motorcycling accident. Paula Izurieta and Ivan Murat face up to 15 years in jail if convicted of the second-degree burglary charges. Prosecutors say the pair twice ransacked the home of Richard Serpico, an acquaintance of both who died in a July 16th crash on the Lake DeForest causeway in Congers.
SEX OFFENDER MOVES TO SPRING VALLEY
A high-risk sex offender has moved into Spring Valley. Officials are notifying village residents that 53-year-old Brian Zuill, convicted in 1992 of sexually abusing a ten-year-old girl, is a Level-Three offender considered to be at high risk to repeat his crime. Zuill now lives at One Madison Avenue in Spring Valley.
NEW YORK BEACHES RANKED LOW FOR WATER QUALITY
An environmental group ranks beaches in the New York City area as the nation’s seventh-worst in water quality. The Natural Resources Defense Council says beaches in the region had a total of nearly 2,000 closings and health advisory days last year – due mostly to storm-water runoff and sewage. Westchester County beaches fared best in the region with just 230 closings and advisory days.
07-28-10
REPORT: ROCKLAND PROPERTY VALUES HARDEST HIT IN NYS
A report by state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says, of ALL counties in New York State, Rockland has been hit hardest by the recession in terms of property values. The report finds the total tax assessment on properties in the county dropped by nearly five percent from 2008 to 2009. That’s a loss of $2.2-billion in property-tax revenues for the county, from $45.5-billion to $43.3-billion. DeNapoli says that, while Rockland and the rest of the Lower Hudson region were the hardest hit, some UPSTATE counties actually saw an increase in property values over that same period.
MTA BOARD GETS FIRST LOOK AT AGENCY’S 2011 BUDGET
The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority got a first look at the agency’s proposed 2011 budget today. If approved, the $12-billion package would include a round of fare and toll increases – hikes as high as 9.4% for Metro-North riders. MTA officials say the agency needs to boost fares by 7.5% overall next year in order to pay its bills. The board’s final vote on the MTA budget will follow public hearings most likely to be scheduled in September.
BYRNE RETURNS HOME TO PEARL RIVER, TWO YEARS AFTER EXTRADITION TO IRELAND
Joseph Byrne is finally home in Pearl River. Byrne was extradited to his native Ireland two years ago, charged there with burglary and robbery in two cases dating back to the mid-1990’s. The charges were dropped this past April, but Byrne was unable to come home until yesterday because his green card had been revoked. Under an agreement sought by Congressman Elliot Engel and others, Byrne will begin his U.S.-citizenship process this week.
MUSICIAN WILLIAM HARGROVE DEAD AT 83; FOOD EXPERT FAITH CRUMPACKER, AT 76
Musician and music enthusiast William Hargrove died Sunday at the age of 83. Hargrove was a co-founder of the annual Festival of the Arts held at St. Paul’s Church in South Nyack, where he served as musical director for more than a decade. A funeral service was held Monday at the Fellowship Community in Chestnut Ridge, where he lived since 2007.
Hargrove’s death came a day after that of food-expert Faith Crumpacker of Valley Cottage. Known as “Bunny,” Crumpacker wrote and edited several books and pamphlets about food and cooking – among them, “The Sex Life of Food,” and “How to Slice an Onion.” Bunny Crumpacker died of cancer Saturday at the age of 76.
07-27-10
NANUET RESIDENTS WARNED TO LOCK CARS AT NIGHT
Residents of The Hamlets neighborhood in Nanuet are being warned to lock their cars at night. This, after a string of night-time thefts targeting valuables – primarily electronic equipment -- left inside those cars. Police also link one case of vandalism to the thefts. They say a Poplar Street resident chased a would-be car thief from the street about 2 a.m. last Friday – only to find the windshield of his own car smashed, and its tires slashed, later that morning. So far, there have been no arrests in the robbery spree. Clarkstown police are asking anyone with information on the thefts to call them at 639-5800. That’s 639-5800.
HUNT IS ON FOR DRIVER IN NEW CITY HIT-AND-RUN
That same police department wants the public’s help in finding a hit-and-run driver who left a New City man seriously injured nearly two weeks ago. The victim, 35-year-old Kory De Miceli, was struck from behind as he walked alongside Rt. 304 near Squadron Boulevard just before midnight on July 15th. He was found a short time later lying on the side of the road, with several broken bones and a ruptured spleen. Anyone with information about this case is being asked to call the state Crime-Stoppers tip-line, at 866-313-TIPS. That’s 866-313-8477.
EX-NEW SQUARE OFFICIAL GETS 27 MONTHS FOR BILKING $-MILLIONS FROM GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Former New Square village clerk Avrum Friesel has been sentenced to 27 months in jail for bilking government assistance programs out of millions of dollars. Friesel fled to Israel upon his indictment in 1997 and was returned to the United States last year after his arrest in London. As part of his sentence, handed down yesterday in federal court, Friesel must also pay back $11.6-million he stole from state and federal education programs, mostly for non-existent students. He was one of seven men indicted in the case.
BOMB SCARE RATTLES MONSEY NEIGHBORHOOD
What appeared to be a fake bomb was found in front of the Family Health Center in Monsey yesterday. Spring Valley police were called to the scene, on Melnick Drive, at about 4 p.m. and found a bottle, wired and wrapped in duct tape, at the building’s entrance. X-rays showed the substance inside the bottle was not explosive. No arrests were reported in the case.
CLARKSTOWN COACHES TO HEAR DETAILS OF SPORTS PROGRAM CUTBACKS TODAY
Athletic directors at Clarkstown schools will get details of the district’s sports-program cutbacks this afternoon. Some 40 assistant-coaching positions were eliminated at Clarkstown North and South High Schools in current budget crunch. Both schools will combine to field single teams in some sports -- and all freshman baseball, football and basketball teams will be eliminated -- in the upcoming school year.
This comes as Clarkstown school officials report they’re saving big money on overtime. Schools superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan says the district’s overtime payments dropped 80% over the past three years, from $948,000 in 2006-and-7 to $186,000 last year. The savings reportedly came by cutting the overtime hours of school employees outside the teaching staff.
07-26-10
PALISADES MALL SEEKS 66% TAX ASSESSMENT CUT
Owners of the Palisades Mall have filed a certiorari grievance, seeing a 65.6% reduction in its current-year tax assessment from the Town of Clarkstown. The mall now pays $23.5-million in property taxes, of which more than $15-million goes to the Clarkstown school district. The mall’s owners say their property is taxed at an unfairly high rate, and that the poor economy has forced them to re-negotiate leases with its stores. Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack told WRCR listeners this morning the mall still has an occupancy rate of more than 90%, and that Clarkstown will “go all out” to fight the case.
NYACK MAN CHARGED IN STRING OF HIT-AND-RUNS
Spring Valley police say it was a case of hit-and-run times two, at least. The driver of a pickup truck, 33-year-old Luis Avendano-Barrera of Nyack, was arrested Saturday night after he allegedly struck and injured a pedestrian on South Central Avenue and then rear-ended a car on South Main Street. Police say Avendano-Barrera failed several sobriety tests – and that, while he was being processed, another driver reported that his car had been rear-ended off Hickory Street and Route 45 by a pickup truck matching Avendano-Barrera’s. The defendant is charged with D-W-I and leaving the scene of an accident.
KOREAN WAR VETS HONOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T RETURN
Rain only slightly dampened Sunday’s Korean War commemoration. About two dozen veterans of the war turned out at Onderdonk Cemetery in Ramapo, to honor the 27 Rocklanders who were killed in Korea. Afternoon thunderstorms forced the service indoors part-way through the proceedings. Among the Korean War veterans who did not attend the ceremony this year was State Senator Thomas Morahan, who died of Leukemia this month at the age of 78.
FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF WRONG-WAY TACONIC CRASH
Today marks the first anniversary of the Taconic State Parkway tragedy. Eight people died when a car traveling the wrong way on the parkway struck another car head-on. Police say the woman driving the wrong-way car was high on drugs and alcohol. She and four family members were killed in the crash, along with all three people in the second vehicle.
07-22-10
POWER BACK TO 5,500 O&R CUSTOMERS AFTER VIOLENT STORMS HIT ROCKLAND AGAIN
It was another night of wild weather for parts of Rockland. The usual wind and rain were the culprits, this time with hail adding insult to injury. Orange and Rockland crews were out overnight, restoring power to nearly 5,500 customers knocked off-line by the storm, county-wide. Hardest hit was the town of Clarkstown, with lights out in nearly 3,000 of those homes.
STATE COURT JUDGE DISMISSES SUIT AGAINST O’TOWN POLICE CHIEF
The lawsuit against Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty has been dismissed. The suit, by a former member of the Orangetown force, claimed that Nulty’s 1997 appointment as chief was invalid because the chief’s test he took was not specifically for Orangetown. State Spreme Court justice Linda Jamieson dismissed the suit this week, saying the petitioners lacked legal standing and that, in any case, the exam was valid.
BURGLARY SUSPECT HAS RECORD OF RUN-INS WITH THE LAW
The Yonkers woman charged with looting a Congers home over the weekend reportedly has a long history of run-ins with the law. Twenty-nine year-old Paula Izurieta and a companion were arrested Sunday night when they were caught removing valuables from the home of Richard Serpico. He had been killed in a Congers motorcycle accident two days earlier. It was reported yesterday that Izurieta had been on a boat in Long Island Sound with a Mount Vernon fireman on June 26th, the day the fireman drowned. Today, the Journal News reports that Izurieta pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs after head-on crash in 2008 that nearly killed a YONKERS fireman. And the paper quotes Izurieta’s Yonkers neighbors as saying police have been called to her address more than ten times in recent years, mostly to deal with disturbances. Izurieta and her alleged accomplice are charged with grand larceny in the Serpico case.
NEW HEMPSTEAD FIRE SEEN AS SUSPICIOUS
Officials say they’re suspicious about a fire that damaged an abandoned home in New Hempstead yesterday. Sheriff’s deputies reportedly were sent to investigate the Union Road site after Hillcrest volunteers put out fire. There were no injuries in the blaze. The house reportedly had been officially unoccupied for several years. It wasn’t clear whether anyone had, in fact, been living in the house. Hillcrest fire chief Kim Weppler says the fact that utilities had been turned off in the home before the fire started makes it suspicious.
For more news and a complete listing of community events, log onto our website, WRCR.com. I’m Charlie Reina, WRCR News.
07-21-10
BURGLARY SUSPECT TIED TO CASE OF DROWNED FIREMAN
A woman accused of burglarizing the home of a Rockland man killed in a motorcycling accident has been linked to a Westchester fireman who drowned. Twenty-nine year-old Paula Izurieta was arrested Sunday night after she and a companion were caught removing valuables from the Congers home of Richard Serpico. He had died two days earlier when his motorcycle crashed on the Lake DeForest causeway. A background check showed that Izurieta had been on a boat with Mount Vernon fireman James Drago in Long Island Sound on June 26th when Drago drowned. Police say there were no apparent signs of foul play in Drago’s death. Izurieta and her alleged accomplice in the Serpico case faced grand larceny and other charges when they appeared this afternoon in Clarkstown Town Court.
POWER KNOCKED OUT IN MONDAY’S STORM FINALLY RESTORED
Power was finally restored last evening to the last of the Rockland homes affected by Monday’s violent storm. Orange and Rockland says more than 2,700 Rockland customers were knocked off-line at one point or another, as strong winds brought trees, limbs and power lines to the ground. O&R crews worked through the night Monday and all day yesterday to restore power to the nearly 150 locations that took the brunt of the storm here in Rockland.
INDIAN POINT GETS SUPPORT AT PUBLIC HEARING
The second of two public hearings on a crucial Indian Point matter takes place today in New Paltz. The Buchanan nuclear plant got votes of confidence from several supporters at yesterday’s hearing in Cortlandt. Indian Point faces a federal shut-down, unless it replaces its water-intake system to one deemed less damaging to aquatic life in the Hudson. Local labor leaders were among those at yesterday’s hearing – arguing that a plant shutdown would cost too many jobs. New York City residents voiced health concerns, fearing a change-over to a less-clean power source could breed asthma and other diseases.
TWO ARRIVE WITH BAIL-OUT MONEY FOR FRIEND, WIND UP UNDER ARREST
Rockland Sheriff’s deputies got an unexpected bonus early yesterday, when two men showed up at County Jail to bail out a friend. It was just after midnight when the pair – 40-year-old Freddy Calderin of North Salem, New Jersey, and 42-year-old Richard Amann of Garnerville – arrived to post bail for a woman being held at the jail. A background check showed that Calderin was wanted in Bergen County on a parole violation, and a body search showed that Amann was carrying three packets of heroin and two hypodermic needles. Calderin is now in Rockland County jail, awaiting extradition to New jersey. Amann is due in Clarkstown Justice Court August 9th to face misdemeanor drug charges.
07-20-10
ZUGIBE TOUTS PROVISION OF DRUNK DRIVING LAW
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe is touting a new legal constraint on drunk drivers. Zugibe joined state and local officials at a Pomona news conference today to unveil the provision, which goes into effect August 15th. It requires anyone convicted of drunk driving to equip his or her car with a so-called ignition interlock. The device, which measures breath-alcohol content, won’t allow the car to start if the driver registers a high enough alcohol level.
WIND STORM KNOCKS OUT POWER TO 3,500+ O&R CUSTOMERS
Orange and Rockland reports some 35-hundred customers were without power after the wind died down last night. Orangetown took the brunt of the storm, as trees, limbs and power lines came down all over town. One tree fell across Rt. 303 in Tappan, closing a stretch of that major roadway for much of the evening. And traffic was tied up briefly on the Palisades Parkway while a downed tree blocked off a southbound lane in Orangeburg. O&R crews were out overnight in several parts of the county, restoring power in most cases by daybreak. No serious accidents or fires were reported in Rockland during the storm.
PAIR NABBED IN ALLEGED BURGLARY AT CONGERS HOME OF ACCIDENT VICTIM
Two self-described “friends” of a Rockland man killed in a weekend motorcycle accident were caught apparently burglarizing the man’s home. The two – 33-year-old Ivan Murat of Valley Cottage and 29-year-old Paula Izurieta of Yonkers are charged with grand larceny, burglary and other felonies. Clarkstown police arrested the pair Sunday night at the Congers home of 33-year-old Richard Serpico. He was killed – and a companion critically injured -- two days earlier when his motorcycle crashed on the Lake DeForest causeway. Murat and Izurieta reportedly were in the process of removing electronic equipment, clothing, and other valuable items from Serpico’s home when they were spotted by a neighbor.
COUNTY’S FIRST 2010 WEST NILE-INFECTED MOSQUITO IDENTIFIED
Rockland health officials say the county’s first West-Nile-infected mosquito of the year has made an early appearance. The mosquito was identified in a sampling taken in Ramapo during the last week of June. The first sighting normally doesn’t come until August. About 15 infected mosquitoes have been found state-wide so far this year. West Nile is potentially fatal to humans. There has never been a confirmed human case of it in Rockland, even though it’s been found in mosquitoes here every year since 1999.
RAMAPO TOWN BOARD DELAYS VOTE ON BALLPARK SPENDING
Last night’s Ramapo Town Board meeting was cancelled when three of its members became unavailable. That put off a vote on whether to approve the borrowing of nearly $6-million to clear land for the town’s proposed minor-league baseball park. This comes as opponents of the 3,500-seat stadium challenge the town’s guarantee of a $16-million construction bond for the stadium. A referendum on that is expected to go before Ramapo voters in late August or early September.
07-19-10
CRUCIAL HEARINGS THIS WEEK ON INDIAN POINT COOLING SYSTEM
Public hearings begin this week on an issue key to Indian Point’s future – the water-intake system used to keep the Buchanan nuclear plant cool during operation. The current system uses up to two and a-half billion gallons of Hudson water daily – returning it heated to the river, and killing large amounts of aquatic life in the process. The hearings are slated tomorrow in Cortlandt and Wednesday in New Paltz. They’ll determine whether Indian Point should switch to a system with less environmental impact, or risk being shut down. Plant officials say they can’t afford the billion-dollar cost of the so-called “closed loop” system.
CONGERS MAN KILLED IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT
A motorcycle accident took the life of a Congers man over the weekend. Thirty-three year-old Richard Serpico died late Friday night when his cycle crashed on the Lake DeForest Causeway. Clarkstown police say Serpico and a rider were thrown from the cycle. The rider, 33-year-old Peter Lombardi of Yonkers, was taken to Westchester Medical Center with serious head and chest injuries. Serpico died during surgery for similar injuries at Nyack Hospital.
BUS JUMPS EMBANKMENT, JUST MISSES PIERMONT HOUSE
A runaway bus jumped an embankment in Piermont Saturday night and nearly hit a residence. The Big Apple bus was en route to pick up wedding guests at a restaurant when, according to the driver, the brakes failed. It came to rest just before crashing through a fence into the back yard of the Bay Street home. No one was injured in the accident. The driver was cited for ignoring signs banning bus traffic on Bay Street.
ROCKLAND TOURISM DIRECTOR HEATHER DUKE TO BE BURIED TOMORROW
Rockland’s long-time tourism director, Heather Duke, will be buried tomorrow near South Fallsburg, in Sullivan County, where she was raised. Duke died Wednesday at a New York City hospital at the age of 67. She headed the Rockland County Tourism Department since its creation in 1994. Viewing hours for Heather Duke are scheduled from 2-to-4 p.m. and 7-to-9 p.m. today at Higgins Funeral Home in New City.
GOV. PATERSON AMONG MOURNERS AT MORAHAN FUNERAL
Hundreds of mourners, including Governor David Paterson, attended Saturday’s funeral service for State Senator Thomas Morahan. The long-time lawmaker died last Monday of Leukemia at Columbia-Cornell hospital in Manhattan. He was buried at St. Anthony’s cemetery in Nanuet following a funeral mass at St. Augustine’s church in New City.
07-16-10
UNITED WATER GETS RATE-HIKE OKAY
The state Public Service Commission has granted United Water a rate-increase package that will add nearly $160 to the average customer’s bill over three years. That’s an increase of about 9-percent a year. United Water had sought a one-year rate-hike of 21-percent, or about $120 for the year. The P-S-C says the increase it DID grant will enable United Water to make improvements to its system and still provide “a safe and adequate supply of water” to its customers. The initial rate hike goes into effect September first.
REGION’S UNEMPLOYMENT UP, YET DOWN
The State Labor Department says unemployment in the lower Hudson Valley was at 6.7% last month – down from 7.3% a year earlier. It was the sixth straight month in which fewer jobs were lost in the region, compared with 2009. But on a month-to-month basis, joblessness still rose in June – by one-tenth of a percent from May’s 6.6% rate. State officials say May-to-June unemployment increases are standard, and that the overall trend for the region suggests a positive turnaround.
NANUET MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MOLESTING FIVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A Nanuet man who pleaded guilty to molesting a five-year-old girl has been sentenced to five years in jail. Twenty-six year old Daniel Lopez-Vasquez drew the sentence in State Supreme Court. He’ll also serve ten years probation after his jail term. Lopez-Vasquez was arrested last December, after the girl’s mother found him in bed with her daughter. Prosecutors say he had had a relationship with the girl prior to that incident.
SPRING VALLEY SEX OFFENDER NABBED FOR NOT REPORTING MOVE TO PENNSYLVANIA
And a Spring Valley man once jailed for sexually abusing a five-year-old girl has been arrested again – this time for not reporting a change of address. Thirty-four year-old Jeremy Rose pleaded guilty to sodomizing the girl in 2002 and left state prison this year classified as a Level-2 Sex Offender. Police say, after taking an apartment in Spring Valley, Rose moved – first to Orangeburg and then to Pennsylvania – without notifying probation officials, as required by law. Rose turned himself in to Ramapo police this week. He’s in county jail now, charged both with failing to register his new address – and with using the Internet without permission.
07-15-10
STATE FLAGS TO FLY AT HALF-MAST TOMORROW FOR MORAHAN
The flags on all state government buildings in New York will be flown at half-mast tomorrow -- this, in honor of State Senator Thomas Morahan, who died Monday of Leukemia. More than 300 people bid farewell to Morahan last night at Higgins Funeral Home in New City. Viewing continues today and tomorrow with afternoon and evening hours scheduled both days. Morahan will be buried Saturday at St. Anthony’s Cemetery in Nanuet, following a mass at St. Augustine’s church in New City. Among the hundreds expected to attend are Governor David Paterson and most of Morahan’s State Senate colleagues.
SECOND ARREST IN TOMPKINS COVE SHOOTING
A second person has been arrested in connection with the Monday-morning shooting of a Garnerville man in Tompkins Cove. Stony Point police say 21-year-old Jonathan Quinones of West Haverstraw encouraged 18-year-old Kevin Seda of Garnerville to shoot the man during an argument. Seda was arrested Tuesday and charged with attempted murder. He’s in county jail on $250,000 bail. Quinones is jailed on $25,000 bail, charged with criminal solicitation. The victim, who has not been identified publicly, was treated for gunshot wounds and released from Nyack Hospital.
EVICTION NOTICES SENT TO FAMILIES IN CONTESTED RAMAPO HOUSING UNITS
Eviction notices have been sent to 16 Israeli families who have been living for the past year in Yeshiva-owned housing in Ramapo. Four Ramapo villages issued the notices yesterday, after a state-court justice upheld a lower-court ruling against Mosdos Chofetz Chaim, which built the housing on Grandview Avenue. The villages – Chestnut Ridge, Montebello, Pomona, and Wesley Hills – had challenged the Town’s creation in 2004 of adult-student housing zones, paving the way for those units. Yesterday’s ruling cited the yeshiva for failing to put up a court-ordered, $75,000 surety bond while it fought the challenge.
TAPPAN ZEE DECK REPAIR RE-STARTS
The latest round of deck-replacement work on the Tappan Zee Bridge has begun. Three lanes – two southbound and one northbound – will be closed overnights, between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., Monday-to-Friday, during the work. The State Thruway Authority says just over a-quarter of the bridge roadway has been re-surfaced since the project began in 2007. The re-decking is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012. Work is set to begin soon thereafter on a new bridge to replace the now-55-year-old structure. State officials say the current deck-work is necessary to keep the bridge safe for commuter traffic until then.
TOURISM DIRECTOR HEATHER DUKE DIES
Rockland’s long-time county tourism director, Heather Duke, is dead. The 67-year-old Duke died yesterday at a New York City hospital. Duke was active on local issues for many years in her home village of Nyack. She assumed the county tourism post when it was created in 1994. Heather Duke will be buried Tuesday near South Fallsburg, in Sullivan County, where she was raised.
07-14-10
MORAHAN BURIAL SATURDAY IN NANUET
Funeral arrangements have been set for State Senator Thomas Morahan, who died Monday of Leukemia. Morahan will be buried Saturday at St. Anthony’s Cemetery in Nanuet, following a mass at St. Augustine’s Church in New City. The 10 a.m. mass will be open to the public. Viewing at Higgins Funeral Home in New City is scheduled from 7-9 tonight, and from 2-to-4 p.m. and 7-to-9 p.m. tomorrow and Friday.
Higgins will provide air-conditioned van service for the evening viewings tomorrow and Friday. Vans will be available both days from 7-to-9 p.m. at the Clarkstown Town Hall and Town Justice parking lots to transport mourners to the funeral home. Those attending the funeral mass for Senator Morahan on Saturday morning are strongly advised to park in either of those lots and then walk to St. Augustine’s church for the 10 a.m. mass.
In addition to family and friends, most of Morahan’s fellow State Senators are expected to attend the proceedings. Clarkstown officials say downtown areas of New City disrupted by the current revitalization project will be cleared, if necessary, to accommodate the mourners.
Governor David Paterson has hailed Morahan as a “dedicated, passionate and courageous public servant. In a statement from Albany, Paterson cited in particular Morahan’s tireless work on behalf of the developmentally disabled, concluding, “Senator Morahan never shrank from a fight, even in his last days, and all New Yorkers are better off because of his service.”
MORAHAN OFFICES TO REMAIN UPEN THROUGH DEC. 31ST
Senator Morahan’s offices in Albany and Nanuet will remain open through the end of the year. Members of Morahan’s staff will continue to man the offices, providing services for the public as they have since Morahan took office ten years ago. This would have been Morahan’s final year in the State Senate. He announced he would not run for re-election shortly after his Leukemia diagnosis in January.
GARNERVILLE MAN CHARGED IN TOMPKINS COVE SHOOTING
Police have charged a young Garnerville man with attempted murder following a shooting incident in Tompkins Cove. Eighteen-year-old Kevin Seda was arrested yesterday, and charged in the shooting Monday of an unidentified 21-year-old man during an argument. The alleged victim is reported to be at Nyack Hospital with gunshot wounds described as non-life-threatening. Seda is being held on $250-thousand bail at County Jail in New City.
CHILD MOLESTER-VIDEOTAPER SENTENCED
A New Jersey man who sexually molested an 11-year-old girl in Rockland County last December will serve 4-12 years in jail. Thirty-six year-old Alex Avila of Dumont was sentenced yesterday in Rockland County Court. Avila was arrested, thanks in large part to a videotape that he, himself, made of the molestation, which occurred at the girl’s home in Central Nyack.
07-13-10
STATE SENATOR MORAHAN DIES AT AGE 78
Leukemia has claimed the life of State Senator Thomas P. Morahan at the age of 78. The long-time legislator died yesterday at Columbia-Cornell Hospital in Manhattan, where he had undergone treatment since his diagnosis in January. Morahan served Rockland in public office for more than 30 years – including as a County Legislator, State Assemblyman and, since 1999, State Senator. Colleagues and political figures from both sides of the aisle praised Morahan as a tireless advocate for his constituents ... one who worked as well – and as willingly -- with Democrats as with his fellow Republicans. Morahan served, notably, as chairman of the senate’s Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee – a chairmanship he was asked to keep when the Democrats took control of the senate. Funeral arrangements for Senator Morahan were still incomplete as of this afternoon.
TAYLOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO RAPE CHARGE
Former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor pleaded not guilty in Rockland County Court today to statutory rape and other charges. Taylor was arrested May sixth at the Holiday Inn in Ramapo and charged with having sex there with a teen-age girl. The football hall-of-famer says he paid a Bronx man $300 for the encounter, taking the alleged pimp’s word that the girl was of legal age. She turned out to be a 16-year-old runaway, who claims that she was forced into prostitution.
THREE CHARGED IN ALLEGED RAPE OF 18-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IN NEW HEMPSTEAD
Three young Ramapo men are in County Jail today, charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman. Ramapo police say the three picked up the alleged victim, who they knew, as she walked to a friend’s house in Spring Valley at about noon last Friday. They then allegedly drove her to a New Hempstead house and forced her to have sex with them. Two of the three – 18-year-olds Anthony Carrenard and Giordany Alexis – were charged with rape -- the third, 19-year-old Ben-Amar Israel, with attempted rape. All three are charged with unlawful imprisonment. The alleged victim was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital.
07-12-10
HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT AGAIN TODAY
Another summer heat-watch advisory is in effect for Rockland today. Orange and Rockland says even though the temperature is down from last week’s 100-degree highs, the humidity is rising. And that, says the utility, means more air-conditioning – and more of a drain on O&R’s power system. Today’s temperatures in the 80’s are expected to give way to readings in the mid-90’s by week’s end. The advisory means O&R crews will put off non-emergency work in order to deal with heat-related emergency situations as they come up.
LAWRENCE TAYLOR PLEA ON STATUTORY RAPE CHARGE DUE TOMORROW IN NEW CITY
Former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor has a day in court tomorrow. The pro-football Hall-of-Famer is expected to plead not guilty to statutory rape when he appears before County Court Judge William Nelson in New City. Taylor was arrested May sixth at the Holiday Inn in Ramapo after allegedly having sex with a teen-aged girl. Taylor says he paid a New York City man $300 for the encounter, believing the girl to be of legal age. She turned out to be a 16-year-old runaway, allegedly forced into prostitution. The alleged pimp, 36-year-old Rasheed Davis of the Bronx, is charged with sex trafficking and coercion. Taylor, who lives in Florida, has been free on bail since his arrest.
NANUET MAN CHARGED WITH RAPING 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A Nanuet man is charged with raping a 12-year-old in Spring Valley girl over the weekend. Police say 23-year-old Segundo Duchigauman raped the unidentified girl Saturday at a Spring Valley residence. Duchigauman was to be arraigned today on charges of first-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child.
POLICE: NEW JERSEY MAN BEATEN, ROBBED IN NYACK
Orangetown police say a Norwood, New Jersey man was robbed and beaten in Nyack over the weekend during a botched drug deal. The unidentified victim was treated at Nyack Hospital for a cut nose after the incident early Sunday morning. Police say the beating took place at South Franklin Street and DePew Avenue after the man approached two other men and offered to by marijuana from them. The pair allegedly punched the man and took his money, with no pot changing hands. The two suspects, both described as black and about 6-feet tall, are still on the loose.
ORANGETOWN SUPERVISOR TO FILL IN AS SEWER CHIEF WHILE SUCCESSOR IS CHOSEN
Orangetown Supervisor Paul Whelan will be immersed in sewage issues for the foreseeable future. The town’s long-time sewer director, Ron Delo, has retired. And Whalen says, rather than appointing an interim director, He’ll take-over the job – at no extra pay -- until a successor to Delo is hired. Whelan will work out of the sewer department rather than Town Hall during that time, which is expected to extend through the summer.
REPLACEMENT FOR NYC BRIDGE HEADS DOWN FROM ALBANY TOMORROW
If you see a bridge coming down the Hudson this week, there’s no need to have your eyes checked. A 350-foot-long pre-fabricated bridge sets out by barge tomorrow from a construction site just south of Albany. It’s heading for the East River in New York City, where it will replace the century-old Willis Avenue Bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx. The new span is expected to be in place by early next month.
07-09-10
BEAR SPOTTED ON POMONA SCHOOL GROUNDS
There was a bear scare at the Pomona Middle School today. Children there for summer camp were brought inside the school at about 11:30 this morning when someone spotted a black bear on the school grounds. Ramapo police were still looking for the bear at noon, when camp ended and the students were taken home. It was at least the third reported bear-siting in Rockland County since May.
RAMAPO POLICE NAB TUXEDO PARK MURDER SUSPECT
A Tuxedo Park murder suspect is in Orange County Jail today, thanks to the sharp eyes of some Ramapo police officers. Thirty-year-old Jesse Green was arrested in Ramapo late Wednesday night when police spotted his Mercedes Benz. The car’s description was in a B-O-L – or Be-On-the-Lookout report – issued earlier in the day. Green is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly beating his father to death with a frying pan. Police say Green also beat his mother, leaving her bleeding and tied-up at the scene. She’s reported in critical condition at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern. It’s not clear what caused Green’s alleged rampage at his parent’s home in that exclusive, gated community of Tuxedo Park.
BIDS UNDER REVIEW FOR E. RAMAPO’S HILLCREST SCHOOL PROPERTY
The East Ramapo school district reportedly has received three bids on the now-idle Hillcrest Elementary School. The Journal News says likely winning bid – to buy the school site for $3.2-million – is from the New Square-based Yeshiva Avir Yakov. The paper says the highest bid – of $4.3-million – is from ZD Realty of Monsey, a long-time real estate holding company for New Square. But that bid reportedly contains financing terms likely to be unacceptable to the school district. Both bidders have been prominent in the news this past year -- Yeshiva Avir Yakov for a school fire in April in which several students were briefly trapped by chained doors, and ZD Realty as owner of the site for New Square’s proposed chicken processing plant. East Ramapo closed the Hillcrest School as an economy move included this year’s district budget.
CAR TALK, NOOOO … SEX TALK, YESSSSSS
Phone-callers expecting to reach the Motor Vehicles department in Haverstraw are being shocked by the answer their getting. It’s a taped message from a phone-sex company promising hot talk at a per-minute rate. A D-M-V spokesman says the agency dropped the toll-free number more than a year ago, and that it apparently was re-issued recently to the sex hotline. The new number to call for Rockland motor-vehicle information is (718) 477-4820. Sorry, folks, but you’ll have to find the other number yourselves.
07-08-10
SOME, BUT NOT MUCH, HEAT RELIEF TODAY
There’s at least some relief for Rocklanders today, with temperatures topping out at about 90 degrees. This, after two blistering days with highs over 100 degrees. But with the humidity still high, Orange and Rockland has extended its Heat Watch Advisory for another day. O&R says the load on its system, mostly due to air conditioning, has knocked out power to some 700 Rockland homes at various times during the heat-wave. The largest of those outages, in Haverstraw yesterday, affected about 50 homes.
United Water says Rocklanders are complying with their request to cut down on water-USAGE. Robo calls asked residents on Monday to stop watering lawns while the heat wave continued. The company says county water consumption dropped by more than three-million gallons on Tuesday from Monday’s RECORD HIGH of more than 47-million gallons.
SEVEN SAVED IN WEST HAVERSTRAW FIRE
Yesterday got off to a TOUGH START or fire-fighters in West Haverstraw. Officials say some 40 volunteers put out an early-morning blaze at a Chapel Street home, evacuating up to seven people in the process. There were no casualties in the blaze, which began on the roof of the house and worked its way down to the attic. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
FIVE ARRESTED IN ALLEGED ASSAULT-ROBBERY IN CONGERS
Five Rocklanders, four of them teens, face a variety of charges after their arrests in Congers for what police describe as a violent robbery. Clarkstown police say the five males beat and robbed a man walking along Old Haverstraw Road Monday afternoon, making off with about $100 cash. It was the get-away car that was the give-away in the case. Police say an officer spotted the red Mustang convertible shortly after the alleged robbery, and all five suspects were arrested. Three of the five were charged with robbery and assault. The two others, aged 14 and 15, will face action in Family Court. The unidentified victim suffered cuts and bruises.
07-07-10
STONY POINT’S SHERWOOD: CLEAN TAP WATER EXPECTED “SOON” IN TOWN
The drinking water in Stony Point should be back to normal soon. That’s the word from town Supervisor Bill Sherwood. It was about a month ago that the water turned brown and foul-smelling in Stony Point – the result of a line-flushing by United Water. Sherwood told us two weeks ago the company had assured him the water would be clear in a few days. But that didn’t happen. The water stayed brown, and United Water stayed mum on the issue as residents wondered when they’d have clean water again. This morning, Sherwood said County Health Department officials told him yesterday a second problem had developed during the current heat wave, one that should be cleared up “soon.” In the meantime, Sherwood says, the water – even discolored -- is safe to drink.
HEAT WAVE CONTINUES, BUT SHOULD BEGIN TO BREAK BY TOMORROW
It’s another hot and steamy day in Rockland. Temperatures again will be around the 100-degree mark, with WRCR meteorologist Mark Hanok calling for a high of at least 95. Temperatures reached 104 degrees for most of the county yesterday, with one mid-afternoon reading, at the Fire Training Site in Pomona, at 107 degrees.
ROCKLANDERS URGED TO CONSERVE ENERGY & WATER DURING HEAT WAVE
Orange and Rockland says it’s held outages to a minimum so far. Fewer than 30 O&R customers were reported without electricity this afternoon, with power expected to be restored before the end of the day. But a Summer Heat Watch Advisory remains in effect, O&R reporting that customers here used more than 1,570 megawatts yesterday. That’s about 50 megawatts short of the Rockland record.
As for the drain on water, Rocklanders are being urged to let their lawns go un-watered, at least through tomorrow, when daytime highs only in the upper 80’s are expected. United Water says the county used a one-day record of more than 47-million gallons of water on Monday.
An Air-Quality Health Advisory is in effect for all of New York State. Residents are urged to limit strenuous outdoor activity in the afternoon and early evening hours. Excess ozone in the air at those times is especially harmful to people with respiratory problems.
07-06-10
HEAT WAVE CONTINUES: ROCKLANDERS ON AIR AND WATER ALERTS
Rocklanders are suffering through another sweltering day today. WRCR meteorologist Mark Hanok calls it the county’s hottest day since August of 2001, with temperatures again around 100 degrees and even more humidity than yesterday.
Orange and Rockland has issued another Summer Heat Watch Advisory. O&R says it expects electricity-usage along its system to top out at around 1,570 megawatts today – not far short of the record 1,617 megawatts, set in August of 2006. Under the advisory, O&R crews defer non-emergency work, standing ready to tackle heat-related emergency situations as they come up.
United Water is asking Rocklanders to conserve water this week. The company issued the advisory late yesterday, urging customers to restrict outdoor usage, such as lawn watering, through Thursday at least. A spokesman says the move could reduce by as much as half the amount of water used during the three-day period.
And the State of New York has issued an Air-Quality Health Advisory for Rockland and the rest of the Metropolitan Area. The county Health Department says the concern is excess ozone, which especially affects people with respiratory problems. Residents are urged to limit strenuous outdoor activity in the afternoon and early evening hours, when ozone levels are at their highest.
COOLING CENTERS OPEN DURING HEAT WAVE THROUGHOUT ROCKLAND
If you find that you can’t beat the heat, there are more than a dozen places throughout Rockland where you can go to cool off:
Cooling centers in Clarkstown – all open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. – are located at the Central Nyack Community Center, the Pascack Community Center in Nanuet, the Congers Community Center, and the Street Community Center in New City. Nyack Village Hall will serve as an additional cooling center from 9-to-5 each day during the heat wave.
Haverstraw residents can cool off during the heat wave in the Meeting Room at Town Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also open for resident-cooling – the Haverstraw Village Hall, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Orangetown Town Hall will be open for cooling from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Two TOWN-run cooling centers are open in Ramapo: Town Hall from 9-to-5 … and the St. Lawrence Center from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. And the Suffern and Spring Valley Village Halls will be open for cooling, as well – from 9-to-5 in Suffern, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Spring Valley. All three town pools in Ramapo will be free to town residents for the duration of the heat wave.
Stony Point residents can cool off at the Town Police Department Command Center, which is open around the clock … and from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Rho Building at the Letchworth Village site.
APPARENT SUICIDE TRY THWARTED IN MONSEY
Spring Valley police thwarted an apparent suicide attempt on Sunday. A police spokesman says an off-duty officer driving through the parking lot at the Heitman Drive Apartments just before midnight saw an idling car with a hose extending from its tailpipe into a passenger-side window. That officer and a second called in to assist were able to pull a man from inside the car in time to save his life. The man, whose name was not released, is thought to have been depressed over financial issues.
BODY OF MONSEY MAN FOUND ON RAILROAD TRACKS
The body of a Monsey man was found on a stretch of little-used railroad tracks in that village yesterday. The victim is identified as 22-year-old Moshe Gluck. Ramapo police say there was no indication that Gluck’s death involved foul play. Because of that, and the fact that Gluck was a religious Jew, no autopsy was performed to determine the exact cause of Gluck’s death.
07-02-10
BUSINESSMAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING COUPLE IN THEIR MONSEY HOME
A Rockland businessman is charged with assaulting a Monsey couple inside their home two weeks ago. Ramapo police say 34-year-old Jacob Wagschal broke into the unidentified couple’s Kaufman Court residence on June 19th, then punched and beat the husband with a cane, and shoved the wife. Wagschal, who owns JW Developers in Monsey, is charged with felony counts of burglary and attempted assault. Police say Wagschal and the couple apparently had been involved in a dispute over parking.
COUNTY LEGISLATORS ENDORSE FUNDING-RELIEF MEASURE FOR NON-PROFITS
Rockland’s county legislators have voted to support the formation of a local development corporation to help non-profit organizations stay afloat. Two legislative committees voted unanimously this week to create the agency, which would provide the non-profits with tax-exempt bond financing. That’s something that non-profits have enjoyed state-wide for several years, but lost in the state’s current economic crisis. The full county legislature is scheduled to vote on the measure next Tuesday.
STATE LAWMAKERS OKAY ORANGE COUNTY GANG- COURT MEASURE
The State Assembly voted this week to let Orange County take new steps to deal with gangs. Gang activity has been a big problem in the city of Newburgh, in particular. The legislation would set up a pilot program to create special courts to try all gang-related cases. Proponents say the courts would make it easier and less expensive to resolve gang issues.
COYOTES SUSPECTED IN UPPER GRANDVIEW DEER-KILL
Those brazen coyotes that have been in the news in Westchester County may have some like-minded cousins here in Rockland. The Journal News says an Upper Grandview woman spotted what she thinks were two coyotes last Saturday, not long after her husband found a dead fawn in their back yard. The young deer apparently had been attacked by another animal. Animal control officials say coyotes haven’t been much of a problem in Rockland -- but may be more active these days because of an increase in the local deer population. Two young children were scratched and bitten by coyotes last week in Rye.
ROCKLAND OFFICIALS WARN OF FIRE THREAT FROM BACKYARD FIREWORKS
Rockland officials are warning residents to be extra careful this year with backyard fireworks. Aside from the fact that firecrackers and the like are ILLEGAL in New York State, they can also start fires. County emergency services chief Gordon Wren says that’s especially true of bottle rockets and similar fireworks, which are often shot from back yards into nearby woods. Wren issued the warning this morning, about 12 hours after Hillcrest fire-fighters had to climb South Mountain to put out a blaze in Gurney Park. It was apparently the result of a camp fire, but Wren says it’s an apt reminder about firework safety, as well.
HAVERSTRAW FIREWORKS LEAD INTO WEEKEND CELEBRATIONS
Rockland’s pre-Fourth-of-July municipal fireworks continue tonight in Haverstraw. The festivities at Bowline Point Park kick off at 7 o’clock with music by the Summers Dream Orchestra and fireworks at 9:30. Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw offers a second venue for watching the riverside pyrotechnics. The hospital’s second annual Independence Day bash gets under way at 7 p.m. A five-dollar admission fee gets you in for an evening of food, music, rides, and a hillside view of the Bowline Park fireworks. The village of Tappan holds its celebration tomorrow night. And on Sunday the Fourth, Pearl River and Nyack round out the weekend firework schedule.
07-01-10
ROCKLAND MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS’ WEDNESDAY TOLL: ONE DEAD, ONE INJURED
Two motorcycle accidents in Rockland yesterday left one man dead and another seriously injured. The fatal crash occurred just before 11 p.m. on Route 9-W in Haverstraw. Details of the accident and the victim’s name were not immediately released. Earlier in the day, a Ramapo police officer was critically injured when his motorcycle collided with a car in Wesley Hills. Police say the officer, 57-year-old Joseph Hannes, was off-duty when the 4 p.m. accident occurred. He was traveling east on Route 202 when the car, driven by a Monsey woman, reportedly cut in front of him to make a left-hand turn onto Spook Rock Road. Hannes was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla with head and internal injuries. He was listed in critical condition today following surgery. Ramapo police say Hannes was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
FEDERAL FUNDS TO PAY FOR FIRE-MASK FITTINGS
Uncle Sam will pick up the tab for fitting Rockland’s volunteer fire-fighters with safety masks. That’s the word from county emergency services chief Gordon Wren, who says he’ll use funds from a federal public-safety grant to cover the fittings for the rest of the year. Wren had said Tuesday that departmental budget trimming likely would mean the fire-fighters themselves would have to pick up the $30 mask-fitting fee. But he told county legislators last night he’ll dip into the federal grant instead – for the fittings, and for an $11,000 mask-testing device that all the county’s fire departments can use.
PUBLIC VIEWS T-Z BRIDGE-CORRIDOR PLANS
Hundreds of Rocklanders got a sneak peak at the Tappan-Zee Bridge-and-corridor plans yesterday. Details of the $16-billion project were on display during a four-hour open house at the Palisades Mall. The Journal News says the plan – for a new bridge-and-commuter rail line linking Rockland and Westchester -- drew mixed reactions from those who attended. The main concerns reportedly were about the project’s cost and environmental impact. The Rockland open house followed a similar session for Westchester residents Monday night in Greenburgh.
FIREWORKS IN CLARKSTOWN TONIGHT; MORE ELSEWHERE IN ROCKLAND THIS WEEKEND
The Fourth of July weekend starts a day early in Clarkstown. The town’s Family Music and Fireworks display kicks off at 8 o’clock tonight on the grounds of Nanuet High School. Similar events are on tap tomorrow night in Haverstraw and West Haverstraw. Tappan and West Point have their celebrations on Saturday night. Nyack and Pearl River hold theirs on Sunday – the actual Fourth.
06-30-10
BOIL-WATER ORDER IN EFFECT IN UPPER NYACK AND VALLEY COTTAGE
Upper Nyack residents and some in Valley Cottage are on orders to boil their drinking water. United Water says the order will stick until final tests show the water is drinkable. The lines to those areas were shut-off for several hours on Sunday due to low oxygen levels in the county’s main reservoir, Lake DeForest. County Health Department officials say such shutdowns can allow contaminants to enter the system. The boil order is for drinking water only. Boiling is not required for other uses, such as washing or watering plants.
COUNTY CUTBACKS FORCE VOLUNTEER FIRE-FIGHTERS TO BUY OWN SAFETY MASKS
Rockland’s volunteer fire-fighters are being asked to pay for their own safety masks. The COUNTY has picked up the tab for the 30-dollar face masks up to now. But fire and emergency services chief Gordon Wren says he and other department heads have been told to trim spending. And he says it was either lose the mask allowance or offer fewer training classes to the county’s 2,800 fire-fighters, all of whom serve without pay.
BASEBALL TOURNAMENT TO MEMORIALIZE SUFFERN HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS KILLED IN CRASH
Suffern High School is staging a regional baseball tournament this weekend in honor of two Suffern High players who died earlier this year. Eighteen year-old Vincent Crotty and 17-year-old Christopher Konkowski were killed March 30th when Konkowski’s car collided with a truck on Route 202. The weekend tournament – at the Suffern Baseball Complex on Chestnut Street -- begins Friday evening with a game between the Suffern Blue Devils and New City Outlaws. Two other wood-bat-league teams -- from Hasting and Somers in Westchester County -- will also take part in the tournament. Admission is free. All donations and income from T-shirt sales and a planned raffle will go to scholarship funds set up in Crotty’s and Konkowski’s names.
SECOND COYOTE ATTACK IN LESS THAN WEEK IN RYE LEAVES 3-YEAR-OLD INJURED
Another child has been attacked by a coyote in Rye. Police say the three-year-old girl was playing in the yard of her home when the attack took place last evening. Two Coyotes set upon a six-year-old girl in a nearby Rye neighborhood last Friday night. Both children suffered what are described as non-life-threatening injuries.
06-29-10
TEMPORARY BRIDGE TO RE-OPEN UNION ROAD IN SPRING VALLEY
The long-awaited re-opening of Union Road in Spring Valley is less than a month away. That’s according to village officials, who say a temporary replacement bridge will go up in mid-July at Morris Road. That will open the way for through traffic on Union Road for the first time since the old bridge was closed due to flooding problems two years ago. A permanent bridge will go up at Morris Road when a village-and-county-sponsored drainage project is completed.
LAKE DEFOREST WATER BACK ON TAP AFTER SHUTDOWN
Rockland County’s largest reservoir is back on line after a brief shutdown. United Water closed its main treatment plant for several hours yesterday, reportedly because of low oxygen levels in Lake Deforest. A company spokesman says the plant was re-started after workers replaced an intake pipe and cleaned filters. Parts of Valley Cottage and Upper Nyack were without water service during the shutdown.
STONY POINT WATER STILL DISCOLORED
United Water customers in Stony Point are still dealing with murky, brown drinking water. The problem began early this month when the water company performed a high-pressure flushing job to clear excess iron from its main Stony Point lines. Town supervisor William Sherwood says United Water officials told him last week the water would be clear again within a few days. But as of this morning, some town residents said the water, which is drinkable, remained discolored.
PUBLIC TO VIEW T-Z BRIDGE-CORRIDOR PLANS TOMORROW
Rocklanders will get a chance this week to view plans for the Tappan-Zee bridge and corridor project. An open house is set for tomorrow – 4 to 8 p.m. – in the Adler meeting room at the Palisades Mall. Project officials will be there with details of several options still under consideration, The $16-billion project will link Rockland and Westchester with a new bridge over which a commuter rail line will run. Hundreds of Westchester residents turned out for a bridge-project open house yesterday in Greenburgh.
06-28-10
HEAT WATCH ADVISORY IN EFFECT TODAY
Orange and Rockland has issued another heat watch advisory -- its third since summer began one week ago. This means the utility company expects an excessive load on its power system today, presumably due to air conditioning. Temperatures in the low- to mid-90’s are expected, along with high humidity and possible late-afternoon thunderstorms. O&R is asking residents to help head-off power failures by taking energy-conserving steps – chief among them, keeping indoor air-conditioners set at 78 degrees or higher.
TASER-THREAT MUGGING REPORTED AT NANUET MALL
Two men claiming to be armed with a Taser reportedly pulled off a robbery here at the Nanuet Mall over the weekend. Clarkstown police say the two approached a man under the mall’s outside parking deck at about 6 p.m. Saturday and threatened to “zap” him unless he withdrew cash from a mall ATM. The 20-year-old alleged victim says he complied, even though he never actually saw a taser. The two suspects, both described as white males with dark hair, fled by car.
MONSEY TOT ON “BIG WHEEL” TRIKE HIT BY VAN
A two-year-old Monsey boy was injured yesterday, reportedly seriously, when he was hit by a van outside a home on Remsen Avenue. Ramapo police say the boy was riding his “Big Wheel” tricycle in the driveway of the home when the incident took place. He reportedly was dragged ten to 15 feet by the van, which was in the process of making a turn in the driveway. The full extent of the boy’s injuries is unclear. He was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan for treatment.
COUNTY-SPONSORED ORGANIC FARM TO OPEN IN NEW CITY
Rockland County takes a big step this week toward returning to its agrarian roots. The Journal News says the county Farm Alliance will sign a lease with owners of the Cropsey Community Farm in New City tomorrow to set aside five acres of fallow land for organic food production. The goal, reportedly, is to grow enough produce to feed more than 150 local families. Rockland was home to hundreds of farms, before the Tappan Zee Bridge helped usher in a housing boom that used up most of the farmland.
PARTY DOLLS HEADLINE RAMAPO FIREWORKS DISPLAY
Despite the 90-degree heat and high humidity, thousands of Rocklanders joined WRCR at the Rockland Community College campus last night for this year’s Thunder Over Ramapo event. The pre-Fourth of July fireworks display capped off an evening of entertainment that included local bands and singers, sky-divers … and this year’s main act, The Party Dolls. Their lead song – appropriately enough – was the 1960’s favorite, “Heat Wave.”
06-25-10
CLARKSTOWN TEACHERS AGREE TO 18-MONTH SALARY FREEZE
Teachers in a second Rockland school district have agreed to tighten their own belts during the state’s current economic crisis. Clarkstown teachers approved a new five-year contract yesterday that starts with an 18-month salary freeze. The pact, which goes to the school board next Monday, also trims salary increases for the remaining three-and-a-half years to no more than 3% annually -- about half their usual size. North Rockland teachers agreed to big salary give-backs earlier this year.
DETAILS OF T-Z BRIDGE PROJECT TO BE UNVEILED NEXT WEEK
Key details of the Tappan-Zee bridge project will be officially unveiled next week. The $16-billion project gets its first public displays Monday at the Westchester Marriot in Greenburgh and Wednesday at the Palisades Mall. Some 50 local residents, all stake-holders in the project, got a preview yesterday in West Nyack. Among the highlights: plans to connect the bridge corridor to more than a dozen bus lines from Orange County, northern New Jersey and Connecticut -- and a projected re-design of Thruway Exit 10 at the bridge approach in Nyack.
AUDIT: ORANGETOWN FINANCIALLY SOUND
A new audit shows the town of Orangetown is in good shape, financially. Details of the town-financed audit, unveiled this week, show actual increases in some town accounts last year despite big cutbacks in state aid. This, as a result of even bigger cuts in spending by the town. One area of concern: Orangetown’s two municipal golf courses, which lost more than a half-million dollars in 2009.
COUNTY LEGISLATURE TO STATE: “PUT FREEZE ON FRACKING”
The Rockland County legislature is now on record against hydraulic fracking. The controversial drilling method for natural gas has come under fire from environmentalists, who say it poses big threats to the state’s wildlife and water supply. The legislature voted this week to urge Governor David Paterson to impose a moratorium on the practice pending further scientific study.
WEST POINT IS FIRST STOP IN PRINCE HARRY’S NY VISIT
A visit to West Point today highlights the start of a three-day stay in New York for Britain’s Prince Harry. The son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana was to take part in live-ammunition drills and field exercises while AT the military academy. Harry served with British forces in Afghanistan two years ago.
06-24-10
MIRANT SEEKS 97.5% TAX ASSESSMENT REDUCTION ON BOWLINE PLANT
North Rockland faces the possibility of another financial blow from the Mirant Corporation. The energy firm has filed a new property tax grievance with the Town of Haverstraw, seeking a 97.5% assessment reduction on its Bowline plant. Mirant says the reduction is warranted because the plant operates less than ten percent of the time. The town agreed earlier this year to reduce Mirant’s assessment by nearly 50% -- from $378-million to $197-million. The new grievance seeks to slash that figure to just $5-million. That reportedly would lower Bowline’s 2010 tax payment to the North Rockland school district from the current $6.2-million to less than $160,000.
SHERWOOD: STONY POINT WATER TO CLEAR UP IN A FEW DAYS
Stony Point Supervisor William Sherwood says the drinking water in his town should be clear again soon. Residents have been watching brownish, rust-smelling water pour from their taps for several days now. Sherwood told WRCR listeners this morning his office has been getting dozens of calls each day from residents asking what the problem is and when it will be fixed. Sherwood said he put those questions directly from United Water and found out the following: the “problem” is that the water company has been flushing its main lines in Stony Point with extra force this year to flush-out iron deposits. And now that the flushing is over, the tap-water water should be clear and fresh-smelling within a few days.
FOTBALLER TAYLOR INDICTED FOR STATUTORY RAPE IN TEEN-SEX CASE
A Rockland grand jury has indicted former New York Giants football star Lawrence Taylor for statutory rape. The 51-year-old Taylor is charged with having sex with a 16-year-old runaway at the Holiday Inn in Montebello on May sixth. Taylor denies that actual sexual intercourse took place. He admits paying an alleged New York City pimp $300 for the tryst -- but says he was told that the girl was 19 years old. Taylor faces arraignment July 13th in Rockland County Court.
KEY HEARING SET FOR GARZA MURDER SUSPECT
The prime suspect in the killing of aspiring dancer Laura Garza is due in Orange County Court on July 14th for a key hearing. Michael Mele of Wallkill was with the 25-year-old Garza when she was last seen alive – at a Manhattan night club in December of 2008. Her body was found two months ago in a Pennsylvania field. The July 14th hearing is on whether credit cards found in Mele’s home can be used against him if he’s charged with Garza’s death. Mele is currently in Orange County jail for failing to register as a sex offender.
NICHOLSON FRAUD CASE ADJOURNED INDEFINITELY
Former Rockland financial consultant James Nicholson wins a delay in his case. The 43-year-old Nicholson pleaded guilty in December to defrauding investment clients out of some $40-million, although prosecutors say the actual figure is $140-million or more. A U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan adjourned the case indefinitely yesterday to give time to Nicholson’s new legal team. He fired his original lawyers not long after entering the guilty plea. Nicholson, now of Saddle River, New Jersey, faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
06-23-10
MOTORCYCLIST KILLED ON THRUWAY IN SLOATSBURG
An Orange County motorcyclist was killed on the Thruway in Rockland yesterday. State police say 50-year-old Brendan Brown of Goshen died after colliding with an SUV in Sloatsburg, between exits 16 and 15-A. Witnesses reportedly said Brown had been driving erratically ahead of the Jeep Grand Cherokee just before the 9:30 a.m. accident. Brown was thrown from his motorcycle into a guardrail. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cherokee driver was not charged.
SPRING VALLEY TEEN CHARGED WITH WIELDING A MACHETE AT VILLAGE BRAWL
A 14-year-old Spring Valley boy is charged with carrying a machete to a street brawl in the village earlier this week. Police say several people were injured in the Monday-afternoon brawl on Prospect Street. A number of other weapons, including golf clubs, reportedly were used during the fight. One adult alleged combatant, 32-year-old Troy Montgomery of Haverstraw, was charged with weapons possession and assault. He’s being held without bail in county jail.
FINGERPRINTS LEAD TO ARREST IN 2005 HARRIMAN PARK ASSAULT
Police at Harriman State park say a finger-print check has led to an arrest in a five-year-old assault case. Thirty-three year-old former Tuxedo resident Filiberto Gonzalez is charged with attacking – and attempting to kidnap -- a 30-year-old woman inside the park in September of 2005. Police say Gonzalez, who fled the scene, later took on an alias and moved from the area. He was arrested in Toms River, New Jersey, last month on a domestic assault charge – and identified as Gonzalez when his finger-prints were run through. He’s being held in Orange County Jail on $250,000 bail.
MAN IN PHOTO SOUGHT IN FOUR RAMAPO ROBBERIES
Ramapo police say a man photographed while robbing a Monsey gas station on Monday may have committed three other robberies first. Police yesterday released a security-camera photo of the man in the process of stealing a cash register from the Route-59 Shell station about 3:30 Monday morning. They say he matches the description of a man they believe robbed three other Ramapo businesses earlier that same night. The suspect is described as white, in his 30’s or 40’s, about six feet tall, and with receding blond hair. If you have information about any of the robberies, you’re urged to call Ramapo police at 357-5100, or Spring Valley police at 356-7400.
06-22-10
ROCKLAND GAY-RIGHTS ACTIVIST CHARGED IN S. CAROLINA TEEN-SEX CASE
A prominent Rockland gay rights activist faces charges in South Carolina of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teen-ager. Police in Conway, South Carolina, say 59-year-old Louis Tharp of Upper Nyack held the 15-year-old boy captive and assaulted him at a Conway gym last Thursday. Tharp was chairman of the Rockland County anti-bias Commission in 1997, and he was mentioned as a possible candidate in the State Senate race this year. He’s out on $50,000 bail, awaiting a court appearance in South Carolina on August sixth.
CHURCH TO PROBE RESIGNATION OF GARNERVILLE PASTOR
The Catholic Church is investigating the sudden resignation of a Rockland County priest. The Reverend Thomas Kreiser resigned last week as pastor of St. Gregory Barbarigo church in Garnerville. An archdiocese spokesman says Kreiser served the parish enthusiastically during his two-year tenure but came forward last week seeking help for what the spokesman described only as “personal problems.” The resignation comes as St. Gregory Barbarigo celebrates its 50th anniversary.
WITH SOUND AND SAFETY IN MIND, COUNTY TO UPGRADE RAILROAD CROSSINGS
Rockland County has stepped up its campaign to make railroad crossings both safer and quieter. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef says experts will be checking crossings throughout the county, with an eye toward design improvements to make the use of warning horns unnecessary. Current law requires trains to sound their horns at crossings that don’t have strict car- and pedestrian-safety measures in place. Residents who live near many of Rockland’s railroad crossings have long complained about trains sounding their horns, especially at night.
06-21-10
STATE LAWMAKERS PASS MORAHAN-BACKED MENTAL-HEALTH BILLS
State Senator Thomas Morahan has scored two victories in Albany for people with severe mental health issues. One is the Senate passage last week of legislation to extend Kendra’s Law. The other – passage of a bill removing the word “retardation” from a state agency serving the mentally ill. Morahan, who chairs the senate’s Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee, pressed for both pieces of legislation. Kendra’s Law is aimed at assuring continued treatment and developmental training for those with severe mental illness. It’s named for a woman who was pushed to her death on the tracks of a New York City subway line in 1999 by a mentally ill person who was not being treated. As for the agency name-change – the State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabiliites will become the State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities. Both pieces of legislation now await Governor David Paterson’s signature.
COUNTY SEEKS EMPLOYERS FOR YOUTH WORK PROGRAM
Here in Rockland, officials are seeking employers to take part in the county’s Youth Employment Program. The year-long program gives young people between the ages of 14 and 18 a chance to work for at least the minimum wage at jobs in both the public and private sectors. The county contributes half their salary for up to 25 hours a week, easing the burden for participating employers.
RAMAPO BALLPARK CRITICS SAY THEY’LL HAVE PETITIONS SIGNED BY END OF THIS WEEK
Opponents of Ramapo’s planned 3,500 seat baseball stadium say they’ll deliver petitions to town hall this week with 1,500 or more signatures. The petitions call for a public vote on the town’s plan to finance the $16.5-million project, which is slated for completion by next summer.
PEARL RIVER RELAY FOR LIFE SCORES BIG FOR CANCER RESEARCH
Sponsors say Rockland County’s first Relay for Life was a smashing success. County Legislator John Murphy says the walkathon, held over the weekend in Pearl River, brought in as much as twice the initial $40,000 goal for cancer research. Murphy, who co-chaired the event with his wife Eileen, said $60,000 had been pledged before the event even started. And later estimates put the eventual take at possibly $75,000 or more.
06-18-10
UNITED WATER GETS OKAY FOR SURCHARGE; ST. LAWRENCE TO FIGHT IT
Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence is up in arms over United Water’s plan to tack a $30 surcharge on the average customer’s payment for the rest of this year. The state Public Service Commission agreed yesterday to allow United Water to add the surcharge, incrementally, for the period from July through December. The collection will total $3.1-million, the amount United Water under-collected from its customers last year for reasons including increases in production costs and taxes. Speaking on WRCR this morning, St. Lawrence called this just another example of PSC coziness with the state’s utility companies. And he said he’ll go to Governor David Paterson – and, if necessary, to State Supreme Court -- to get the surcharge killed.
SETTLEMENT ALLOWS SHABBOS HOUSE TO STAY OPEN
The village of Suffern has settled a four-year legal battle with the operators of Shabbos House. That’s the guesthouse provided for observant Jews visiting relatives at Good Samaritan Hospital on holy days. Because the house, on a residential street, can accommodate up to 14 people, the village said it violated local single-family zoning laws. But the federal government stepped in, arguing that closing Shabbos House would violate religious land-use laws. The settlement allows the house to continue operating.
ROCKLAND MAN BUSTED IN ARIZONA, ALLEGEDLY WITH 340-POUND POT STASH
A traffic stop in Arizona, this week led to the arrest of a Spring Valley man on drug charges. Police say 37-year-old Nigel Davis was pulled over on Interstate 17 in Prescott Tuesday night after making an unsafe lane change. A search of Davis’s pick-up truck reportedly turned up more than 340 pounds of marijuana hidden in a bogus gas tank. Davis is jailed in Arizona on $300,000 bond, charged with transporting marijuana with the intent to sell.
NEW CITY MAN TO TRY MT. RAINIER CLIMB (AGAIN) FOR CHARITY
A New City man intends to get high out West – about three miles high, if all goes well. But Andrew Freirich’s quest is not only legal; it’s for charity. Freirich hopes to climb to the 14,000-foot summit of Washington’s Mt. Rainier – and to collect $10,000 from sponsors for St. Jude Hospital in the process. That Memphis institution specializes in treating children with cancer. Freirich – who, himself, has battled skin cancer – tried the climb last year but was turned back by weather conditions. He’ll start the new climb on July 12th.
06-17-10
ROCKLAND HOUSING STARTS – AND HOME REMODELING JOBS – REPORTED ON THE RISE
A new report shows Rockland leading much of the Metropolitan Area in new home construction. Census figures released this week say 547 housing units were built in Rockland last year -- compared with 63 in Westchester and just 18 in Putnam County. Only Orange and Nassau topped Rockland among the suburban counties. By far, the majority of new units in Rockland are in Ramapo – due mostly to the growth of the county’s Orthodox Jewish community.
The census figures come as the U.S. Commerce Department reports a 10% drop in new home construction nationwide in May. The report suggests that things won’t get better soon – as new building permits dropped nearly six percent in the same period.
One bright spot, though. The Journal News reports that the number of home repair and remodeling jobs has turned sharply upward in Rockland since April. But the report says even though more people are re-investing in their existing homes, they’re doing it with tighter fists – keeping the remodeling jobs smaller and less expensive than in the past.
NYACK NURSES TO STAGE “INFORMATIONAL” PICKETING MODAY
Nyack nurses will stage another round of “informational” picketing outside the hospital next week. Negotiations on a new nurses’ contract, under way since last fall, have stalled over the hospital’s demand for givebacks, including what the nurses call “deep cuts” in their health care plan. The picketing is scheduled for next Monday outside Nyack Hospital’s main entrance. The nurses staged their first demonstration on March ninth, and say they’ll stage more until there’s a new contract.
CLARKSTOWN HIGHWAY SUPT. BALLARD HONORED
Clarkstown Highway Superintendent Wayne Ballard has been honored by his peers. The New York State Society of Professional Engineers named Ballard this year’s Government Engineer of the Year. Ballard received the award yesterday when the society’s Rockland County chapter held its annual dinner. Ballard has been credited with streamlining Clarkstown’s highway department – and with introducing new and more effective approaches to the department’s work. Among his innovations: the pre-treating of town roads with brine, or salt water, before winter storms start, in order to minimize icy conditions.
SUFFERN SCHOOL HONORS SLAIN TEACHER
Hundreds of Suffern residents were on hand at the Connor Elementary School yesterday to pay tribute to Jami Erlich. The 32-year-old phys-ed teacher was brutally murdered last November at her home in Valley Cottage. Yesterday was Olympic Day at the Connor school. That’s said to have been one of Erlich’s favorite annual events – so, it was on this Olympic Day that a memorial site for Erlich was dedicated at the school’s athletic field. A plaque at the site reads, in part, “… you will live forever in our hearts.”
06-16-10
EAST RAMAPO VOTERS APPROVE SCHOOL BUDGET
East Ramapo has a school budget. District voters approved a $196-million package yesterday, one month after rejecting the initial proposal for about $2-million more. The budget approval means big cutbacks for the district – layoffs for more than a hundred employees including teachers, and the closing of Hillcrest Elementary School. The winning margin was about 700 votes out of 9,000 cast – a turnout of about half the number who voted on May eleventh. The new budget means a tax increase for district residents of four to eight percent, depending on how much funding comes down from Albany when the state budget is finally approved.
VANDERHOEF: COUNTY WORKING WITH PFIZER TO KEEP PEARL RIVER SITE FULLY OCCUPIED
Rockland County and Pfizer reportedly are working together to keep the drug-manufacturer’s Pearl River campus intact. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef made the disclosure yesterday during a meeting of fellow county leaders at Dominican College. Vanderhoef said Pfizer has agreed to work with the County to lease or sell any buildings on the campus that become vacant as the pharmaceutical firm downsizes. Pfizer is closing the manufacturing end of its Pearl River facility over the next four years, laying off nearly two-thirds of its 3,000 employees there. The objective of the partnership, said Vanderhoef, is to bring in other bio-pharmaceutical or bio-technical firms to occupy the vacated Pfizer space, thus avoiding a big drop in Orangetown’s tax base.
INFORMANT LIES; DRUG SUSPECT SPRUNG
Prosecutors have dropped their case against a Pearl River man accused of dealing drugs. Twenty-two year-old Maxim Tokar got the good news yesterday in County Court when the District Attorney’s office disclosed that its key witness – a police informant – had lied when he said Tokar sold him prescription drugs. The witness, Daniel Bennet, got the worst of yesterday’s proceedings. He was charged with first-degree perjury as the charges against Tokar were dropped.
ANOTHER BLACK BEAR CAPTURED IN ROCKLAND
A police chase through a residential neighborhood of Nanuet yesterday ended with a bear in custody. The black bear was roaming not far from the Nanuet High and Middle Schools when first seen. The schools were locked down briefly as police and animal control officers gave chase – finally TREEING the bear outside a home on Church Street. A tranquilizer dart brought the 150-pound male down, dazed but alive. It was Rockland’s second such incident in less than a month. A black bear was tranquilized and captured May 27th after climbing a tree on the Pfizer campus in Pearl River.
06-15-10
EAST RAMAPO BUDGET RE-VOTE TODAY
East Ramapo residents are voting today for a second time on the upcoming year’s school budget. The initial $198-million package was rejected last month, Rockland’s only school budget defeated this year. The revised package retains most of the controversial elements of the original, including more than a hundred staff and teacher layoffs and the closing of Hillcrest Elementary School. But opponents of the current school board are urging a “yes” vote. They say the board favors an even more severe austerity budget, despite the major program cuts it likely would mean, because the board’s Hassidic majority sends its children to yeshivas, not public schools.
FARLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL TO LOSE POLICE LIAISON
The Farley Middle School in Stony Point won’t have a police officer on premises when it reopens in the fall. Farley’s current school resource officer, Theresa Roberts, is returning to patrol duty as the town’s short-staffed police force deals with the financial crunch. She’s been at the school since 2008, preventing violence and helping students with problems such as bullying. Police Chief Patrick Brophy says he needs more officers out on patrol. And town officials say they can’t afford to hire a new officer in order to keep Roberts at the Farley School.
PUBLIC HEARINGS SET FOR T-Z BRIDGE PROJECT
Details of the Tappan Zee Bridge-replacement project go public this month. The Bridge-Corridor Project team will unveil the plan at a public hearing in Greenburgh on June 28th, and again on the 30th, in West Nyack. The $16-billion project includes not only a new bridge but commuter bus and rail lines over it. Charts and models will be used at the hearings to show where and how such things as train stations will be built along the bridge corridor in Rockland and Westchester counties.
CONSTRUCTION CO. RE-HIRED FOR SECOND PHASE OF T-Z RESURFACING
The state Thruway Authority has hired the same company that’s been resurfacing the existing Tappan Zee to stay with the project for Phase Two. That means two more years on the bridge for the Tutor Perini Corporation, which has been re-plating the outside lanes of the bridge for the past two years. Phase Two means decking plates for the center lanes, along with new and taller bridge railings to hinder suicide attempts.
06-14-10
EAST RAMAPO BUDGET RE-VOTE TOMORROW
Voters in East Ramapo go to the polls tomorrow for a second chance to approve the upcoming year’s school budget. The initial, $198-million package was Rockland’s ONLY school budget to be rejected in last month’s voting – in part, because it called for the firing of more than a hundred staff members, including teachers, and the closing of one elementary school. Those cost-cutting measures remain in the revised package. But supporters say it’s still better than the alternative – an austerity program that would likely curtail popular school programs such as music and drama.
FIRED COP SETTLES SUIT AGAINST TOWN OF RAMAPO
A half-million-dollar settlement ends a fired police officer’s lawsuit against the town of Ramapo. Andrew Dale was fired from the force two years ago when he was accused of sexually abusing a Monsey woman. But criminal charges were dropped when the woman was found to have lied on the witness stand – and Dale filed suit in federal court over his firing. The settlement, totaling $559,000 in back salary and benefits, allows Dale to retire voluntarily from the Ramapo force with a clean record.
NEWBURGH TERROR SUSPECTS GO ON TRIAL TOMORROW
The so-called “Newburgh Four” go on trial in White Plains Wednesday. James Cromitie, Onta Williams, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen are charged with the attempted bombing of several Bronx synagogues in May of last year. Federal prosecutors say it was a case of anti-Semitic terrorism, but defense attorneys say their clients were led into the plot by a government informant. During the trial, Both sides reportedly will rely heavily on audio tapes made during the year-long investigation – the prosecution to incriminate the four, the defense to vindicate them.
MAN SOUGHT AFTER MT. IVY STANDOFF
A stand-off at the Mount Ivy Trailer Park kept dozens of police busy for more than three hours Saturday night. It’s unclear what touched off the incident, which brought Haverstraw police to the scene along with Sheriff’s officers and, reportedly, even a swat team. Police say the siege ended with no casualties – but, apparently, without an arrest either. At last word, a male suspect was being sought in the case.
LARGE TURNOUT FOR ROCKLAND GAY PRIDE EVENT
Some 2,000 people turned out in Nyack Saturday for the 12th annual Gay Pride in Rockland event. The festivities, at the Riverspace Arts Center, included music, dance and family activities. And, in a possible sign of growing acceptance of gays and lesbians, more than a dozen politicians and members of the clergy were on hand as well.
06-11-10
U.S. GYPSUM CLOSES DOORS AT STONY POINT PLANT
Today is the last day of work at the U.S. Gypsum plant in Stony Point. The wall-board maker is laying the last 70 of its employees at the plant off -- a result of the nationwide building slowdown that’s slashed demand for its products. U.S. Gypsum is reported to be keeping the Stony Point facility intact in hopes of a possible re-opening if and when the economy improves.
GAMBLING RAIDS NET THREE FAMILY MEMBERS
A gambling bust has brought down three members of what prosecutors call a mob-related family. Frank Fea, his son Alfred and daughter-in-law Tracey were arrested Wednesday at their homes in Saddle River, New Jersey and Middletown, New York. Those and additional raids in Rockland and the Bronx reportedly netted nearly $400,000 in cash, as well as weapons, slot machines, and some $3-million in bank accounts. Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe promises more arrests in the now-16-month-old gambling investigation. Each of the Feas faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
THREE STONY POINT OFFICERS INJURED IN CAR CHASE
Three Stony Point police officers were injured in Tompkins Cove yesterday when their cruisers were rammed during a high-speed chase. Eighteen-year-old Bryan Ronga of Haverstraw was hit with a variety of charges, including illegally fleeing police and reckless endangerment. Police say they began chasing Ronga’s car at about 3 p.m. following a citizen’s complaint – and that party-way through the chase, Ronga reversed direction and rammed his car into the two pursuing cruisers, injuring two officers – and then tried to run down a third officer, who was off-duty, injuring him as well. All three officers were treated at and released from Nyack hospital. Ronga is due in court July first.
THREE STILL SOUGHT IN NANUET CAB-DRIVER ROBBERY TRY
Clarkstown police are still on the lookout for three men who, they say, tried to rob a cab driver Wednesday night in Nanuet. A fourth suspect, 20-year-old Darmar Delisser of Spring Valley, was arrested and charged with second-degree robbery. Police say Delisser and the others demanded money from the cab driver upon arriving at their destination – but fled empty-handed when the driver floored the gas and drove down an embankment. Delisser was picked up shortly after the incident. The whereabouts of the other suspects remain unknown.
SHERIFF’S DEPT. DRUG DROP-OFF SCHEDULED TOMORROW
The county sheriff’s department is taking drugs. Your drugs, to be exact. Tomorrow being the second Saturday of the month, residents are being asked to drop off any unused, unwanted or out-dated drugs – no questions asked. The place – the sheriff’s offices at 55 New Hempstead Road in New City. The time – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s part of County’s the effort to combat the growing sale by young people of prescription drugs taken from their parents’ medicine cabinets.
06-10-10
SOLDIER LEAPS FROM TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE
For the second time in six months, an American soldier has committed suicide from the Tappan Zee Bridge. State police say 19-year-old U.S. Army private Elizabeth Lynch-Gonzalez of Shrub Oak leapt from the bridge at about 2:30 this morning. She reportedly was heading for duty at a Texas military base. A 22-year-old Army reservist, Wolfe Aristide of Spring Valley, jumped to his death from the Tappan Zee in January, months before he was to be deployed to Iraq.
CAB DRIVER THWARTS ROBBERY IN NANUET
Clarkstown police are looking for three of the four men who, they say, tried to rob a cab driver in Nanuet last night. The fourth man – whose name is being withheld – was arrested shortly after the alleged robbery. The cab driver reportedly managed to thwart the robbery when he floored the gas and drove the cab down an embankment. Police say the four suspects fled empty-handed. The one arrested is charged with second-degree robbery. The whereabouts of the other three are unknown.
FORMER TREASURER PLEADS GUILTY TO THEFT OF LITTLE LEAGUE FUNDS
Former Stony Point Little League Treasurer Karen Ramos pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing $156,000 from the league. The 43-year-old Ramos faces up to 15 years in jail when sentenced August eleventh. But she could wind up with a much lighter sentence, including no jail time -- because Ramos has repayed all but about $10,000 of the stolen funds. She pleaded guilty to taking the money over a five–year period ending last year through illegal cash withdrawals from the little league accounts.
DISBARRED LAWYER CHARGED WITH STEALING $52,000 IN REAL-ESTATE DEAL
Prosecutors say a disbarred lawyer from New City stole more than $50,000 in a failed real-estate deal. Sixty-eight year-old Raymond Perez was indicted this week for grand larceny in the case, which dates back to 2006. It was then that a New York City couple reportedly paid Perez $52,000 to represent them in the purchase of a Bronx property to be used for a church. Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe says the deal fell through – and Perez made off with the payment -- when it was learned that he had been disbarred ten years earlier and was practicing law illegally. Perez is scheduled to appear in County Court June 22nd.
NYACK MAN ORDERED TO PAY $30,000 RESTITUTION IN $3-MILLION STOCK FRAUD CASE
A Nyack man has been ordered to pay more than $30,000 restitution to clients in a stock fraud case. Sixty-one year-old Steven Lampert pleaded guilty in New City yesterday to selling the victims – mostly personal friends of his -- some $3-million in stocks he didn’t own. In addition to the restitution, Lampert was sentenced to time served since his arrest last October and five years probation. His 63-year-old wife, Karen Lampert, received a similar sentence two months ago when she pleaded guilty to her role in the scheme.
(PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING CORRECTS YESTERDAY’S ITEM ON THE BECKER FUNERAL)
BECKER FUNERAL SERVICE HELD TODAY
Funeral services were slated this morning for Arnold Becker. The long-time jurist died Monday at the age of 81. Becker is best known as Rockland’s first public defender – running that office from 1965 to ‘72. He’s said to be the inspiration for the character “Arnie Becker” in the 1990’s television series “L.A. Law.” Becker will be buried today following an 11 a.m. service at Hellman’s Memorial Chapel in Spring Valley.
06-09-10
MORAHAN CITES LEADERSHIP VACUUM IN ALBANY
State Senator Thomas Morahan says Albany is suffering from a lack of leadership. Governor David Paterson and the state legislature have been at odds over a long-overdue budget. Some legislators -- including two Democrats whose votes would be decisive -- are threatening to shut the state government down rather than extend the current budget. Morahan, who''s battling leukemia and retiring at the end of this year, told WRCR listeners this morning it''s time for those running for governor – both Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Rick Lazio -- to STEP UP with bold plans for ending the state''s financial crisis.
POSSIBLE PRIMARY RACE SEEN IN DEMS’ STATE SENATE BID
Petition drives are under way for candidates who lost at their party conventions this week and last. The petitions must be filed by July 15th, enabling those with enough valid signatures to force a September primary. Locally, that would most likely affect the Democratic race for Morahan’s State Senate seat. Clarkstown town clerk David Carlucci won that party’s nomination at last week’s convention in New City. But two other Democrats – Ramapo resident Grant Valentine and Tuxedo Supervisor Peter Dolan – have also announced for the seat. It’s not clear whether they or a possible third challenger, Clarkstown resident Louis Tharp, will try to take Carlucci to primary. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef won the REPUBLICAN convention-nod for state senate THIS week. His opponent, County Legislator Ed Day, quickly endorsed Vanderhoef, forestalling any thought of a primary race.
DALAY IN LAWRENCE TAYLOR SEX CASE
There’s a two-week delay in the Lawrence Taylor case. The former New York Giants football star is charged with soliciting a teen-aged prostitute for sex at a Ramapo motel early last month. Taylor was to appear in Town Court tomorrow. But with talks on a plea bargain at a reported standstill, that date has been pushed back to June 24th. And prosecutors are said to be readying the case for a grand jury. Taylor is accused of paying a pimp $300 to have sex with the girl, who turned out to be a 16-year-old runaway.
EX LITTLE LEAGUE TREASURER TO COURT TOMORROW IN FUNDS-THEFT CASE
Former Stony Point Little League treasurer Karen Ramos is to appear in State Supreme Court tomorrow on charges she stole more than $156,000 from the league. The 47-year-old Ramos faces a 27-count indictment. It accuses her of taking the funds through illegal cash withdrawals over a five-year period ending in 2009. If convicted, Ramos faces up to 15 years in jail.
”MR. PUBLIC DEFENDER” ARNOLD BECKER LAID TO REST AFTER SPRING VALLEY MASS
Funeral services were held today for Arnold Becker. The long-time attorney and jurist died Monday at the age of 81. Becker is best known as Rockland’s first public defender, taking that office soon after leading the effort to create it. In later years, he served in a number of capacities throughout Rockland, including Spring Valley Village Attorney. Becker was buried today following an 11 a.m. service at Hellman’s Memorial Chapel in Spring Valley.
06-08-10
FOMER PUBLIC DEFENDER ARNOLD BECKER DIES AT 81
Rockland County has lost one of its legal icons. Former public defender Arnold Becker died early yesterday at the age of 81. Family members say Becker died peacefully in his sleep. Becker became Rockland’s first public defender in 1965, after fighting to CREATE the county PD’s office. In a career that dates back to the 1950’s, Becker also served in a number of county, town and municipal posts, including Spring Valley village justice. His war-time friendship in Korea with a budding TV producer reportedly led to the creation of the character “Arnie Becker” in the legal series, “L.A. Law,” some 40 years later. Funeral services for Arnold Becker are slated for 11 a.m. Thursday at Hellman’s Memorial Chapel in Spring Valley.
VANDERHOEF GETS GOP NOMINAION FOR STATE SENATE
It’s Vanderhoef versus Carlucci in the race for state Senate. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef won the Republican nomination last night for the seat to be vacated by the retiring Thomas Morahan. Vanderhoef won easily, with 221 delegate votes, versus 114 for County Legislator Ed Day. Both candidates reportedly agreed before the start of last night’s convention in New City to support the winner and not force a primary. Rockland Democrats voted at their convention last Thursday to put Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci on the state senate ballot in November.
DRESS BARN TO LAY OFF 50 IN MONTEBELLO
Another blow for Rockland on the jobs front. Dress Barn is laying off some 50 workers at its Montebello site and moving its distribution division to Columbus, Ohio. A spokesman for the women’s-wear retailer says the move is a matter of simple economics: its Columbus facility is already equipped with the computers needed for more efficient distribution. It’s the county labor market’s third recent blow. U.S. Gypsum will close its Stony Point plant this month, laying off 70 workers. And drug-maker Pfiser will close down the manufacturing division at its Pearl River plant, laying off more than 1,800 of its 3,000 employees over the next four years.
GUNMAN REPORTEDLY STEALS $16,000 FROM VICTORIA’S SECRET AT PALISADES MALL
Bad news for another women’s clothing retailer. A gunman reportedly robbed the Victoria’s Secret store at the Palisades Mall and made off with $16,000. Clarkstown police say the robbery took place yesterday morning, after the gunman followed an employee into the still unopened store. An outdoor surveillance tape reportedly shows a silver-colored car dropping the suspect off at the mall just before the alleged robbery. It’s the latest in a string of thefts to hit the Victoria’s Secret chain in the past year or so, with more than $30,000 in cash and clothing taken from its stores in Rockland and Westchester counties.
DIVER DIES DURING UNDER-WATER REPAIR JOB AT INDIAN POINT
An autopsy is scheduled today on the diver who died during an under-water repair job at Indian Point. Forty-six year-old Lloyd Beare of Barnegat, New Jersey, was pulled unconscious from the Hudson River yesterday morning after failing to respond to routine communications checks. Officials say Beare’s death does not appear to be suspicious. It’s the first death at the Buchanan nuclear plant since 2002, when a landscaper was electrocuted while clearing brush at a transformer site.
06-07-10
COUNTY REPUBLICANS MEET IN CONVENTION TONIGHT
Tonight is showdown night for County Executive Scott Vanderhoef and County Legislator Ed Day. The two Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination for State Senate, that seat to be vacated by the retiring Thomas Morahan. The GOP county convention is slated for 7 o’clock tonight at Clarkstown Town Hall in New City. Neither Vanderhoef nor Day will say whether he’ll force a primary if the other candidate wins the nomination. Rockland Democrats tapped Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci for the state-senate nod at THEIR convention last week.
PRO-ISRAEL RALLY IN NEW CITY BRINGS OUT HUNDREDS
Hundreds of Rocklanders turned out yesterday for a rally in support of Israel. The Israeli government is under fire for its May 31st boarding of a flotilla ship headed for Gaza in violation of an Israeli blockade. Israeli troops killed nine people, including one American, in the ensuing confrontation. More than 300 people were on hand for yesterday’s rally outside the county courthouse in New City – among them, Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack, County Legislator Ed Day and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffe. The demonstrators’ message was clear: Israel has a right to defend itself. Israeli officials say the flotillas heading for Gaza carry not only relief supplies but weapons to use against Israel.
LAND-CLEARING TO START NEXT WEEK FOR RAMAPO BASEBALL STADIUM
Work is set to begin June 16th on clearing the land for Ramapo’s planned minor-league baseball stadium. The town board is expected to approve an environmental impact statement on the plan the night before. The Journal News reports the town has hired the firm Holt Construction to oversee the estimated $21-million project. Meanwhile, opponents of the plan – including the civic group Preserve Ramapo – are staging a petition drive to prevent construction of the 3,500-seat stadium. Ramapo is said to be in the final stages of negotiations with owners of the Canadian-American League team that will call the stadium home.
PUBLIC WORKSHOP TONIGHT ON ROCKLAND COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PROJECT
Rockland officials this week are holding a third public workshop on the county’s Comprehensive Plan project. The session is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Palisades Mall. The comprehensive plan is envisioned as a guide for development in Rockland over the next 20 years. And public comment is being sought on a range of relevant issues, including land and water use, transportation and local building codes.
06-04-10
WOMAN ACCUSED OF USING BABY’S CARRIAGE IN SHOPLIFTING TRY AT PALISADES MALL
Police say a Spring Valley woman used her baby’s carriage in an attempt to smuggle stolen goods from a local department store. Twenty-five year-old Blanca Castillo-Hugo was arrested Wednesday at Macy’s in the Palisades Mall. With her were her 14-year-old brother and one-year-old daughter -- and, according to Clarkstown police, some $1,800 dollars worth of shop-lifted clothing, inside the carriage with the baby. Both Castillo-Hugo and her brother are charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. Castillo-Hugo also faces a child’s-welfare-endangerment charge when she appears in Town Court on June 14th.
RAMAPO POLICE NAB SUSPECTED JEWEL THIEF AT JFK AIRPORT
Ramapo police raced to Kennedy Airport to make an arrest in a robbery case this week. A police spokesman says the suspect, 48-year-old Katarina Geresiova, was heading home to her native Hungary on Wednesday when she was arrested while checking in for her flight. Geresiova was a live-in housekeeper for a Monsey family who reported the theft of some $20,000 worth of jewelry on May 21st. She allegedly was carrying some of the jewelry with her at the airport. Geresiova is charged with grand larceny and stolen-property possession. She’s being held in County Jail on $7,500 bail.
NYACK COUPLE CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL COLLECTION OF $17,000 IN HOUSING ASSISTANCE
Prosecutors say a Nyack couple raked in more than $17,000 worth of public housing subsidies they weren’t entitled to. Thirty-nine year-old Dexter Fisher and 30-year-old Lateeka Mosley were charged yesterday with grand larceny in the case. They allegedly falsified employment information when applying jointly for the assistance over a three-year period ending last year. District Attorney Thomas Zugibe says both Fisher and Mosely held steady jobs during that time, but that the applications never mentioned Fisher’s income from his job as an aide at the Rockland Psychiatric Center.
MISSING NYC MAN FOUND ALIVE AFTER TACONIC PARKWAY ACCIDENT IN COLUMBIA COUNTY
A New York City man missing for four days was found alive near his wrecked car off the Taconic State Parkway yesterday. Police in Columbia County say 22-year-old Thomas Wopat-Moreau was suffering from dehydration when a state trooper found him in a wooded area alsongside the parkway. He apparently had crawled out the window of his overturned car but was unable to get far from the vehicle because of serious back injuries. Police say Wopat-Moreau might have been drinking at a party before the accident – but that it’s too late to test for that now. He’s being treated at an Albany hospital.
06-03-10
FORMER EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH STEALING $200,000 FROM CAR DEALERSHIP
A Chestnut Ridge woman has been charged with stealing more than $200,000 from a car dealership where she worked as comptroller. Prosecutors say 48-year-old Carol Grabbe took the money from the accounts she handled at Bill Kolb Subaru over a six-year period ending last year. District Attorney Thomas Zugibe says Grabbe faces possible further charges in the case. In all, about $2-million went missing from the car dealership’s accounts. The remaining $1.8-million is still unaccounted for.
ONE-YEAR SENTENCE FOR SUFFERN MAN IN DRUNK-DRIVING DEATH OF FRIEND
A young Suffern man will spend a year in county jail for the drunk-driving death of his best friend ten months ago. Twenty-one year-old Brian Frankel was sentenced yesterday in County Court. Blood-alcohol tests showed that Frankel was at twice the legal limit when he drove his car off the New York State Thruway last August 16th. His passenger, Dominic Zeoli, was killed in the night-time crash following a bachelor party for Zeoli’s brother.
MAN CHARGED WITH DRIVING TO DRUNK-DRIVING SEMINAR AFTER DRINKING
Ramapo police say a Spring Valley man drove to a drunk-driving seminar this week after drinking alcohol. Fifty-one year-old Louis Aschettino was charged Tuesday with driving while impaired to a so-called “victim’s impact” session at the Fire Training Center in Pomona. Aschettino was also charged with a felony count of driving without a license. He had been stripped of his license two years ago on a drunk-driving conviction. Aschettino is due to appear in town court on Monday to answer the new charges.
REPORT: MTA CUTS STAFF BUT STILL SPENDS MORE ON PAYROLL
A new study says the financially-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority cut its payroll by some 700 employees between 2008 and last year. But the Manhattan Institute study says the job-cut savings were more than offset by the raises the agency gave to those it kept on. The MTA paid $5.2-billion in salaries in 2009 -- $100-million more than it paid the year before.
06-02-10
SIX INJURED IN BUS ACCIDENT FOLLOWING NEW SQUARE WEDDING
Six people returning from a wedding in New Square were reported injured early this morning when their chartered bus overturned on the Garden State Parkway. Police in Middletown, New Jersey, say the accident happened at about 5:30 a.m. as the bus carrying a total of 27 people headed south on the Parkway. None of the injuries was reported to be life-threatening. Police say early-morning fog might have been a factor in the incident.
METRO NORTH: GIRL KILLED ON NANUET TRACKS MIGHT NOT HAVE HEARD TRAIN COMING
Metro North says the teen-aged girl who was killed by a New Jersey Transit train in Nanuet Saturday might not have heard the train approaching from behind. The girl was identified as 15-year-old Arianna Wellen of Tuxedo Park. A 14-year-old Rockland boy with whom she was crossing the tracks was not injured. A Metro North spokesman says trains like the one involved are often too quiet to hear, especially from behind. The train’s engineer is quoted as saying he sounded his horn and applied his emergency brakes moments before hitting the girl.
S. ORANGETOWN SCHOOL BACK TO NORMAL AFTER GUN INCIDENT
Classes were back in session today at South Orangetown Middle School – one day after the second gun incident at the school in just under a year. The 14-year-old student who waved the weapon – a pellet gun -- at a teacher and then at passing motorists outside the building was disarmed by a retired NYC policeman who happened to be driving by. The school on Van Wyck Road in Blauvelt was locked down after the 9 a.m. incident for a police sweep, in which no other weapons were found. Police say no shots were fired and there were no injuries. The student was not identified publicly. He’s been charged with weapons possession, menacing -- and four counts of attempted car-jacking. It was on June 9th last year that a Tappan man brandished a gun inside that same school and threatened South Orangetown schools superintendent Kenneth Mitchell.
E. RAMAPO BOARD TO SUBMIT REVISED BUDGET FOR DISTRICT VOTE
East Ramapo voters will get a second chance to approve a new school budget this month. The school board voted last night to submit a revised budget rather than accepting austerity. The new package tops out at just under $196-million – about $3-million less than the budget rejected by East Ramapo voters last month. If approved in a vote set for June 15th, the budget reportedly would raise district taxes by as much as 7.9%, depending on state and federal funding.
COUNTY TO PICK UP MOSQUITO CONTROL TAB AFTER ALL
Rockland County has agreed to pay for the killing of mosquito larvae in this year’s attempt to head off the West Nile virus. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef had said the county couldn’t afford to handle the program this year. But the county legislature voted last night to pony up $100,000 in contingency funds for the larvae-kill, rather than leave the effort up to each town this year.
06-01-10
GUN INCIDENT AT S. ORANGETOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL ENDS WITHOUT VIOLENCE
There was another gun incident at the South Orangetown Middle School. Police say a person they describe only as a “male” displayed a hand-gun inside the school at about 9 o’clock this morning, then left the building, and was arrested outside. A police spokesman would neither confirm nor deny initial reports that the “male” is a student at the school. But the spokesman said reports that shots were fired are incorrect. The arrest, he said, was made without incident. It was a year ago this month when a man threatened South Orangetown Schools Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell with a gun inside that same school, on Van Wyck Road in Blauvelt. The gunman, Peter Cocker of Tappan, is now serving a five-year sentence.
DAY MAKES FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR MORHAN’S STATE SENATE SEAT
County Legislator Ed Day officially announceS his candidacy for State Senate this afternoon. The announcement is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. outside the County Court house in New City. Day faces some stiff competition in his quest for the seat now held by the retiring Thomas Morahan. County Executive Scott Vanderhoef last week also announced for the Republican nomination to the post. Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci is running for the Democratic state-senate nod.
COUNTY CELEBRATES U.S. VETERANS KILLED IN WARTIME
Like the rest of America, Rockland observed Memorial Day yesterday. Thousands turned out for parades and other events honoring those who have died for America in Iraq, Afghanistan and wars past. Speaking at one ceremony, Rockland’s Veterans Service Commissioner Jerry Donnellan reminded his audience to support returning veterans, as well. “The best way to honor those who didn’t come back,” he said, “is by honoring those who did.”
ALBANY DEAL KEEPS PARKS OPEN FOR SUMMER
Rocklanders and other New Yorkers had even more reason to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend. State parks which had been earmarked for closure due to the state’s current budget crisis remained open through the end of summer. It took a last-minute deal in Albany to keep the parks and historic sites in operation. But not everyone is happy with the terms of the deal – which, in part, involves the shifting of state tax revenues and the imposition of new fees and fines. Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb calls the arrangement “a cash grab, plain and simple.”
INJUNCTION ISSUED AGAINST STATE EMPLOYEES’ FORCED FURLOUGHS
Governor David Paterson suffered a budget defeat over the weekend. A U.S. District Court judge issued a temporary injunction against the one-day-a-week unpaid furloughs Paterson had imposed on thousands of state employees. The injunction up-grades a court-imposed stay on those furloughs. In his ruling, the judge said the state failed to make a case for imposing the effective-20% salary cuts, rather than honoring its contract with state employees.
05-28-10
VANDERHOEF, DAY TO SEEK MORAHAN STATE SENATE SEAT
A battle is shaping up between two of Rockland’s most popular Republicans for the State Senate seat now held by Thomas Morahan. Both County Executive Scott Vanderhoef and County Legislator Ed Day made their announcements yesterday. In a letter to fellow Republicans, Vanderhoef said “all indications” – as he put it – point to HIM as the party’s best chance to win the 38th-District seat. In HIS statement, beginning “Dear Neighbors,” DAY positions himself as a logical successor to Morahan, to whom he twice refers as “my good friend and mentor.” The announcements come less than two weeks after Morahan, who’s battling leukemia, declared this to be his last term.
E. RAMAPO SETS UP FOR POSSIBLE BUDGET RE-VOTE
The East Ramapo school board has set aside Tuesday, June 15th, for a possible public re-vote on a school budget. But it’s not clear that an actual vote will take place. The board will announce next Tuesday whether it’ll put up a revised version of the $198-million budget that was rejected this month, or simply accept austerity for the district. East Ramapo’s was the only school budget in Rockland to go down at the polls. District voters were angered by its large-scale staff and program cuts and a projected tax-increase approaching double figures.
LATEST ON PFIZER: BEAR IN TREE OUTSIDE PEARL RIVER PLANT RELOCATED
The Pfizer plant in Pearl River is in the news again, but not over pending job cuts. The story today involves a black bear spotted yesterday in a tree on the pharmaceutical company campus. The story has a happy ending: a DEC agent shoots the bear with a tranquilizer dart … the bear falls asleep, drops into a net, and is destined to be returned to the woods, most likely outside Rockland County. Pfizer, of course, has been in the news most recently over its plans to lay off 1,850 workers at the Pearl River plant over the next four years.
05-27-10
ST. LAWRENCE EYEING NEW POST AFTER CUOMO NAMES DUFFY AS RUNNING-MATE?
What’s next for Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence? That’s an open question, now that New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy is HIS choice for a running-mate. Cuomo got the Democrats’ nomination for governor this week at the party’s state-wide convention in Rye. He announced his choice of Duffy for Lieutenant Governor yesterday. St. Lawrence – who’s been campaigning for Lieutenant Governor – has said he would withdraw and support Cuomo’s personal choice if Cuomo named one. WRCR’s Steve Possell and Charlie Reina will speak with St. Lawrence tomorrow morning about this new development, and about speculation he might have another position in mind, right here in Rockland.
EAST RAMAPO SCHOOL BOARD PUTS OFF BUDGET DECISION
There’s still no decision on a new budget proposal from the East Ramapo school board. Residents held a vigil outside the district offices in Spring Valley last night, pressing the board to submit a revised budget proposal rather than accept austerity. But after a long and reportedly contentious session, the board put off a decision until next Tuesday. The original, $198-million budget was rejected May eleventh in a district-wide vote. Residents were angered by its large-scale staff and program cuts and its projected tax increase of up to nearly 10%, depending on state aid. Critics of the school board say its Orthodox Jewish majority is less concerned with the district’s PUBLIC schools than with its yeshivas.
SUITS FILED AGAINST TOWN OF RAMAPO OVER PATRICK FARM DEVELOPMENT
The Village of Pomona is taking the Town of Ramapo to state court on the Patrick Farm issue. Papers filed this week charge the town with violating its own comprehensive plan when it granted a zoning change for development of the site off Routes 202 and 306. The change allows for the construction of some 500 homes on the 208-acre site. Critics say it would lead, eventually, to high-density multi-family dwellings. Two separate suits by local residents were filed along with the Village of Pomona’s. Town officials say they followed all legal procedures in approving the zoning change.
05-26-10
EAST RAMAPO BOARD TO DECIDE TONIGHT ON BUDGET SUBMISSION
The East Ramapo school board decides tonight on a final budget submission. District voters rejected the initial, $198-million package two weeks ago. The board can submit a revised budget tonight – or go directly to austerity. Either way, East Ramapo faces steep cuts in staff and programs – and, with the loss of as much as $6-million in State aid, a possible school-tax increase approaching 10%. A coalition of parents and students opposed to the cuts – and to the proposed closing of Hillcrest Elementary School – will hold a vigil outside the board offices in Spring Valley before tonight’s meeting.
SING SING PRISON GUARD FROM SPRING VALLEY CHARGED WITH GIVING INMATE CONTRABAND
A Sing Sing prison guard from Spring Valley faces felony charges for allegedly providing contraband to an inmate at the maximum-security prison. State police say 45-year-old Leon Strand gave the inmate electronic items including cell phones and a laptop computer, in return for some as-yet-undisclosed compensation. Strand has been suspended with pay, pending a court appearance in Ossining next month.
POLICE: WATCH OUT FOR BOGUS MAGAZINE SALES-PEOPLE
Rocklanders are being warned to beware of bogus magazine solicitors. Police in Westchester say a number of homes there have been burglarized by people selling magazine subscriptions. Here in Rockland, Clarkstown police arrested two people on Monday for selling magazines without a permit. Police say solicitor crime rises each summer as students come home to part-time jobs such as door-to-door sales. Their advice to residents: Ask to see a peddling permit – and call the police if there is none.
BEAR MOUNTAIN BRIDGE JUMPER NEARLY WAS STOPPED
The Peekskill man who leapt to his death from the Bear Mountain Bridge on Monday reportedly was nearly prevented from jumping. State police say a park police officer spotted 55-year-old Roberto Rivera acting suspiciously – and then gave chase, in vain, when he broke free during questioning and raced to the railing. It’s not known why Rivera committed suicide. His was the Bear Mountain Bridge’s ninth jumping-death in the last decade.
SUPER BOWL 48 TO BE PLAYED AT MEADOWLANDS
The Super Bowl is coming to the Meadowlands. NFL officials made the announcement yesterday: Super Bowl 48 – in 2014 – will be played at Jets-and-Giants Stadium. The decision to bring pro football’s championship game north to a cold-weather climate is a departure from tradition. And, not surprisingly, it’s drawing accolades from New Yorkers. Among them is a wishful-thinking Rockland Congressman Eliot Engel, who says he’s praying for a Jets-vs-Giants MATCHUP in that Super Bowl 48.
05-25-10
HOME SALES, PRICES UP IN APRIL
Sales of existing homes in Rockland rose last month, as did home-sale PRICES. Industry figures released yesterday show 93 homes were sold in the county, up more than 40% from April of last year. And, at $405,000, the median price for Rockland was up just over two percent. The increases are in line with rising home-sales figures for the lower Hudson Valley in general.
AUTOPSY SET FOR BEAR MOUNTAIN BRIDGE JUMPER
An autopsy was scheduled in New City today for a Peekskill man who jumped to his death from the Bear Mountain Bridge. Police say the body of 55-year-old Roberto Rivera was pulled from the Hudson yesterday morning, minutes after Rivera plunged from the bridge. It’s not clear what caused Rivera to take his life. His is the ninth successful suicide from the Bear Mountain Bridge in the last decade.
SUFFERN MAN CHARGED WITH DRIVING DRUNK WITH CHILDREN IN CAR
A weekend drunk driving arrest could lead to big trouble for a Suffern man. Ramapo police say 25-year-old Maryeceo Martinez tested at more than twice the legal alcohol limit Saturday, when he was stopped at a DWI checkpoint in Tallman. And, they say, he was driving with young children in the car, which makes the DWI a felony. Martinez is being held at County Jail on a detainer warrant from U.S. Immigration, although his immigration status is unclear at this time.
NYACK HIRES ITS FIRST VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR
Nyack has signed-on its first-ever village administrator. Jim Politi, a Newburgh resident, was hired for the newly-created position after serving as village manager of the Orange County community of Walden for nearly a decade. Politi will be paid just under $84,000 a year in the administrator’s post. Among his duties, he’ll manage Nyack’s employees, negotiate their contracts, and oversee such things as village parking. In effect, Politi replaces retiring village Treasurer, John Cincotta, at a saving of about $25,000 a year.
MONDAY IS WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY
The Earth’s atmosphere gets a break next Monday. Not because it’s Memorial Day in here in America, but because it’s World No Tobacco Day. It’s the 24th consecutive year for the global day of abstinence from smoking. Health officials say tobacco is the number one preventable cause of death, taking some 5.4 million lives each year, worldwide.
05-24-10
COUNTY TO REVIEW SUPPORT SERVICES FOR SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
The Rockland County legislature is taking action in response to the Lawrence Taylor case. The legislature’s Public Safety Committee will conduct a review this week of all county services that can be used to aid victims of sex trafficking in Rockland. The session is scheduled for the committee’s meeting at 5 p.m. tomorrow. Taylor, the former New York Giant, is accused of hiring a 16-year-old girl who had been forced into prostitution for sex at a Ramapo hotel three weeks ago. Legislator Connie Coker, who called for the review, says sex trafficking is “a form of modern day slavery.”
SPRING VALLEY MAN ARRESTED AFTER EXPOSING HIMSELF TO WOMEN IN NANUET
A Spring Valley man is accused of exposing himself to several women during a weekend incident that began at a Nanuet deli. Twenty-two year-old Isarik Dessourses was arrested Saturday afternoon not far from the Rodeo Two El Deli on Main Street. Clarkstown police say it was there that Dessourses had exposed himself to a female employee, and then – after leaving the store – exposed himself to three members of a family outside their nearby home. Dessourses was jailed on $25,000 bail. He’s charged with four counts of public lewdness.
TWO-WEEK SEAT-BELT SAFETY CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY
The state’s “Buckle Up New York” campaign got under way this morning. The two-week crackdown on drivers who don’t buckle their seat belts is part of the nationwide “Click It or Ticket” campaign. Safety officials say the traffic stops have proved helpful in the past, with more than 80 percent of the driving public now using seat belts.
CUOMO: “I’M RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR.”
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo made it official over the weekend: He’s running for governor. Cuomo made the announcement Saturday in Albany, calling November’s election “probably the most important” for New York State in his lifetime. The campaign for governor opens as the state struggles with a huge deficit, soaring unemployment, and a political quagmire in Albany. Cuomo -- who seeks the office his father held for three terms – will get the Democratic nomination on Thursday, at the party’s state Convention in Rye. It’s not clear whether Cuomo will name a choice for Lieutenant Governor at that time. Among those running for that post is Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence.
REAL ESTATE MAN MERMEL TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR
Meanwhile, the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination is getting a new entrant. New York City real-estate developer Myers Mermel announces his candidacy today. It makes him the fourth candidate in the GOP field – along with front-runner Rick Lazio, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, and Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino. Mermel – a conservative – was New York State campaign director for 2008 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.
05-21-10
OBAMA TO SPEAK AT WEST POINT GRADUATION TOMORROW; ANTI-WAR PROTEST EXPECTED
President Obama is slated to deliver a commencement address at West Point tomorrow. The ceremony at Michie Stadium begins at 10 a.m. At the same time, demonstrators are expected to gather outside the military academy’s gates. They’ll be there to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as they have during Obama’s previous visits to West Point.
BALDING TIRES CITED IN ACCIDENT THAT KILLED PEARL RIVER TEEN
Orangetown police say balding tires were to blame for the one-car accident that killed a Pearl River teen-ager earlier this month. Fifteen year-old Justin Rogers died May third when the car in which he was riding hit a guard-rail and rolled down an embankment off Veterans Memorial Drive in Pearl River. Investigators said yesterday the rear tires of the car failed to meet state depth-of-tread standards. The driver, 17-year-old Steven Lowney of Nanuet, suffered minor injuries in the crash, which occurred during a rainstorm. Police say the wet road was also a contributing factor.
THRUWAY TRAFFIC STOP LEADS TO $15,000 HEROIN FIND
An Orange County man faces drug possession charges after state police stopped the car in which he was riding on the Thruway in New City. Police say 34-year-old John Robles of Middletown had some $15,000 worth of heroin with him when they pulled the car over for traffic violations early yesterday morning. Robles was jailed on $25,000 bail, with a town court appearance in Clarkstown set for Monday.
TWO-WEEK SEAT-BELT SAFETY CRACKDOWN STARS MONDAY
New York State’s next “Click it or Ticket” crackdown begins Monday. Police throughout the state will be out in force for the next two weeks checking for compliance with New York’s seat-belt laws. Safety officials say efforts such as “Click it or Ticket” have been largely successful in getting drivers and passengers to buckle up.
UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN IN REGION LAST MONTH
The latest unemployment figures show a slight decline in joblessness in the Lower Hudson Valley last month. Officials say the jobless rate for the region dropped from 7.1% in March to 6.5% in April, with Rockland right at that 6.5% mark. Employment reportedly rose during that period by some 5,000 jobs in the region, which also covers Westchester and Putnam Counties.
MTA TO CRACK DOWN ON OVERTIME ABUSE IN EFFORT TO CLOSE BUDGET GAP
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it’s found a way to trim millions of dollars from its operating budget. Officials said yesterday they’ll crack down on the wide-spread use of overtime by MTA employees to pad their pensions. That’s a move they say could save the financially-strapped agency $22-million in the upcoming year and up to $60-million annually after that. It’s all part of the effort to wipe out the MTA’s now-$378-million budget deficit.
05-20-10
LAWRENCE TAYLOR “PIMP” INDICTED
The alleged pimp in the Lawrence Taylor case has been charged with sex-trafficking involving a minor. Thirty-six year-old Rasheed Davis was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in New York City. He’s charged with forcing a 16-year-old girl to have sex for money with Taylor at the Holiday Inn in Suffern two weeks ago. Taylor faces possible statutory rape charges when a Rockland grand jury hears the case, which D.A. Thomas Zugibe says will happen soon . The girl, a runaway from the Bronx, says she had sex with Taylor at the hotel while Davis waited outside the room. Prosecutors say $300 changed hands.
SEX OFFENDER MOVES TO NYACK
A high-risk sex offender forced to leave his Suffern apartment earlier this year reportedly has moved to Nyack. Thirty-eight year-old Michael Koval was designated a “Level-3” offender following his conviction four years ago of having sex with two girls under ten years old. He’s considered a high risk to repeat his crimes – but Orangetown police say he has not caused any problems since moving to his new apartment, on High Street in Nyack.
NYACK WOMAN SENTENCED FOR HAVING SEX WITH 14-YEAR-OLD BOY
A Nyack woman reportedly will be jailed for up to three years after admitting to having sex with a 14-year-old boy. Twenty-three year-old Rebecca Vandermark was sentenced in State Supreme Court this week after pleading guilty to third-degree rape. Prosecutors said Vandermark had sexual relations with the boy several times last spring, both at her Nyack apartment and in New Jersey. She pleaded guilty there last September to second-degree rape. Prosecutors said the sexual contact began soon after Vandermark met the boy at a Dobbs Ferry family-assistance center where she worked.
COUNTY LEGISLATOR SAYS ENFORCEMENT OF NEW LICENSING LAW WILL BE TOUGH BUT FAIR
County Legislator Ed Day promises restraint in the use of Rockland’s newly-revised licensing law to protect homeowners. The law allows for the seizure of equipment, including vehicles, from contractors who operate without licenses. It was used for the first time this week against a Chestnut Ridge landscaper with a reported history of flouting licensing laws. Day says the law won’t be used indiscriminately but will target what he calls the “most egregious” violators. For those contractors, he says, the message is clear: “Your compliance or your equipment.”
“SCOPING” SESSIONS TO TAKE PUBLIC INPUT FOR COUNTY’S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
County leaders are putting the first phase of Rockland’s Comprehensive Plan project before the public next week. So-called Public Scoping Sessions are scheduled Monday on a general outline for the plan, which will serve as a guide for all county planning and development over the next two decades. The scoping sessions will be held at the county office building in New City this coming Monday from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m.
05-19-10
BUDGETS PASSED, INCUMBENTS RETURNED IN ALL SCHOOL DISTRICT VOTES
Voters throughout Rockland said YES at the polls yesterday, approving every one of the seven school district budgets and returning all school-board incumbents. Here’s how the voting went:
CLARKSTOWN
In Clarkstown, incumbent Diane Hoeneveld was re-elected to the board, with Robert Alan Carlucci winning the other vacant seat. And the district’s $167-million budget was approved by a 2-1 margin, raising school taxes by about 2%.
NANUET
In Nanuet, incumbents Karen Franchino and Ron Hansen were returned to the board. And voters approved the $61-million budget, with a 2.3% tax hike, also by a 2-1 margin.
NORTH ROCKLAND
Voters in North Rockland said “yes” to a $194-million package despite its nearly-6% tax increase, and returned incumbent board members Stephen Cole-Hatchard and Robert Masiello, both of whom ran uncontested.
NYACK
Nyack voters overwhelmingly approved the district’s nearly-$71-million budget, accepting a 2.8% tax increase. Incumbent Michael Mark was a winner there, along with newcomer Dan Juechter.
PEARL RIVER
In Pearl River, voters approved the county’s smallest school budget, a $58-million package raising taxes by 2.3 percent. And they returned incumbents Robert Davis and Michael Clohessy to the board.
RAMAPO CENTRAL
Ramapo Central voters approved that district’s nearly-$125-million package with a 2% tax hike. Incumbent Clarke Osborn got the nod, along with first-timer Maureen Danzig.
SOUTH ORANGETOWN
And in South Orangetown, voters returned uncontested incumbents Rosemary Pitruzzella and Steve Spiro to the board. And, by a 2-1 margin, they said “yes” to the district’s nearly-$78-million budget, accepting a tax increase of about 1.7%.
Voters in the county’s other school district, East Ramapo, went to the polls last week, and turned thumbs-down on Rockland’s largest proposed school budget -- a $198-million package that would have raised property taxes by up to 10%. Newcomer Moses Friedman was elected to the East Ramapo school board.
PFIZER BOMBSHELL: ANOTHER 1,250 LAYOFFS AT P.R. PLANT BY 2014
Rockland gets one more big blow from Pfizer. The drug company says it will lay off another 1,250 workers at its Pearl River plant over the next four years. That brings the total announced job cuts at the facility to 1,850 since Pfizer merged with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals last October. That’s well over half the plant’s work-force in place at the time of the merger. And it’s half-again more than the 40% layoff figure initially projected by Pfizer. The company says it will close two of the facility’s divisions, biotechnology and consumer healthcare, by 2014, as well, leaving only its vaccine research division in operation.
RAMAPO LANDSCAPER FIRST IN COUNTY TO HAVE EQUIPMENT SEIZED FOR UNLICENSED OPERATION
A Chestnut Ridge landscaper has earned a dubious distinction. Larry Katz, the owner of All Green Landscaping, is the first Rockland contractor to have his equipment seized for operating without a license. Consumer officials impounded the equipment, including a vehicle, under the county’s newly-amended licensing law. Katz reportedly has paid substantial fines on several previous convictions. And he faces up to $5,000 in fines – and up to a year in jail – if convicted on the latest charges. County officials say fines alone don’t stop unlicensed contractors from continuing to operate. Under the new law, the impounded equipment won’t be returned until the contractor obtains a license.
05-18-10
MORAHAN TO RETIRE AT END OF TERM
State Senator Thomas Morahan says this will be his last term in office. The 78-year-old Morahan, who’s battling Leukemia, made the announcement in a written statement to the Republican Party’s County Convention, held last night in Nanuet. Morahan has served Rockland for more than 30 years – electively, as a county legislator, state assemblyman and, for the past ten years, State Senator. He’s been dividing his time between legislating in Albany and receiving medical treatments here and in New York City for several months following his Leukemia diagnosis. In his statement, Morahan pledged to spend the rest of his term “getting the people’s work done.” Morahan’s decision comes less than a week after Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci announced for the Democratic Party nomination for State Senate.
DAY TO CONSIDER RUN FOR MORAHAN’S SEAT
Among those mentioned as possible Republican contenders for Morahan’s seat are County Executive Scott Vanderhoef and county legislator Ed Day. Speaking this morning on WRCR, Day called the speculation “a little bit pre-mature,” but said he’ll make a decision soon on whether or not to make a run.
VOTE TODAY ON BUDGETS, SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES THROUGHOUT ROCKLAND
Today is Voting Day for the last seven of Rockland’s eight school districts. Twenty candidates are vying for 14 open seats in Clarkstown, Nanuet, North Rockland, Nyack, Pearl River, Ramapo Central and South Orangetown. Voters in East Ramapo filled three seats in that district’s election last week, while rejecting a proposed $198-million budget. Budgets up for approval today range from $58-million in Pearl River to $194-million in North Rockland. The polls are open in all seven districts until 9 p.m.
ROCKLAND BUSINESSES URGED TO JOIN ANTI-TAX MOVEMENT
Rockland business leaders are urging members to join a state-wide anti-tax movement. Representatives of the group, Enough Already, were in Orangeburg yesterday to gather support for their effort to keep New York State from over-taxing businesses in order to stay solvent. Rockland Business Association head Al Samuels urged his members to join the movement, whose message to Albany – according to one spokesman – is “No new taxes. No new fees. No borrowing.”
05-17-10
SCHOOL DISTRICTS PREPARE FOR TOMORROW’S BUDGET, SCHOOL BOARD VOTES
Today is Election Eve for the last seven of Rockland’s school districts. In all, 14 school board seats are up for tomorrow’s voting in Clarkstown, Nanuet, North Rockland, Nyack, Pearl River, Ramapo Central and South Orangetown. Voters in East Ramapo filled three seats in THAT district’s election LAST week, while rejecting a proposed $198-million school budget. Budgets up for vote tomorrow range from $57-million in Pearl River to $194-million in North Rockland.
PETITION FILED TO SAVE HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
East Ramapo school activist Peggy Hatton wants the state of New York to prevent the closing of Hillcrest Elementary School. The closing was part of the budget package rejected last week. But it still looms large with district voters as the school board now faces austerity. Hatton, who in the past has run unsuccessfully for a school board seat, petitioned the State Education Department to issue a stay on the Hillcrest closing. The petition claims the district failing to conduct a demographic study, or to hold a public hearing on the matter, before deciding to close the school.
SPRING VALLEY DEMONSTRATION PROTESTS ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Spring Valley yesterday to protest Arizona’s new immigration law. The law is aimed at stopping the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico across the U.S. border. It allows local police in Arizona to stop and check the papers of anyone they suspect is an illegal alien. Immigrant activists say that amounts to sanctioning racial profiling.
PROBE OF CRASH THAT KILLED TWO SUFFERN H.S. STUDENTS NEARLY COMPLETE
Ramapo police are said to be wrapping up their investigation of the accident that killed two Suffern High School students six weeks ago. Eighteen year-old Vincent Crotty and 17-year-old Christopher Konkowski died March 30th when Crotty’s car slammed into a dump truck on Route 202 in Montebello. Police are probing what caused Crotty’s car to cross into the truck’s path.
05-14-10
CARLUCCI TO RUN FOR STATE SENATE
Clarkstown town clerk David Carlucci made the announcement on WRCR his morning. He’s running for State Senator. Carlucci is regarded by many as an innovator, in good part for modernizing the clerk’s office and expanding its services since TAKING office seven years ago. He told us this morning it’s time for some changes in Albany, including ethics and campaign-finance reform. Carlucci, a Democrat, praised the Republican incumbent State Senator, Thomas Morahan, for his years of service, but said the Senate needs new ways of thinking. It’s not clear if Morahan will run for re-election this year. He’s been battling leukemia for several months, dividing his time between legislating in Albany and undergoing medical treatments here and in New York City.
DAY SAYS COSTCO NOT HAPPY WITH HIS GAS PUMP LEAFLETING
Rockland County Legislator Ed Day says Costco management is “not happy” with his leafleting at the gas pumps outside their Nanuet store. Day says Costco has been less than up-front about a bad load of gasoline that got into its premium gas tanks and allegedly damaged the engines of several cars. Costco reportedly has offered to PAY repair costs to car-owners who come forward. But Day wants other, potential victims to know about the tainted gas – and his leaflets are designed to do that. They advise Costco gas customers experiencing problems to contact the county consumer protection department at 708-7600.
SUFFERN MAN CHARGED WITH SEX CRIMES IN NEW JERSEY
Police in Ramsey, New Jersey, have charged a Suffern man with sexual misconduct involving several female high school students. Twenty-seven year-old Derick Jerinski is a music teacher in Patterson. But it was as a volunteer instructor for the Ramsey High School band in 2008 that he’s accused of having sexual contact with one student – and of having sexual conversations with, and showing inappropriate images to, at least five others. Jerinski is jailed in Bergen County on $125,000 bail after his arrest Wednesday in Paterson.
HUNDREDS ATTEND FUNERAL SERVICE FOR JOHN GRANT
Former County Executive John Grant was buried yesterday after a funeral mass at St. Peter’s Church in Haverstraw. Some 400 people heard Grant eulogized at the mass as a dedicated public servant and family man. Grant began his political career in the 1950’s, eventually serving as a Haverstraw town councilman, county legislator, and – upon his election in 1985 -- as Rockland’s first County Executive. He retired from politics in 1993, after losing his bid for a third term to Scott Vanderhoef. Grant died Saturday at age 78 after a long illness.
SENIOR CITIZENS ADVOCATE PAT MCARDLE DEAD AT 87
Rockland mourns another passing today – that of long-time senior citizens advocate Pat McArdle. She died Wednesday of natural causes at age 87. McArdle began her service to seniors 30 years ago, advocating – among other things – for better health care and more affordable prescriptions for the elderly. She served some 20 years on the State-wide Senior Action Council – and, in 1991, was named New York State Senior Citizen of the year. McArdle will be buried tomorrow after a funeral mass at Sacred Heart Church in Suffern.
05-13-10
JOHN GRANT BURIAL TODAY IN HAVERSTRAW
John Grant, the former town councilman who went on to become Rockland’s first County Executive, was buried following a funeral mass this morning at St. Peter’s Church in Haverstraw. Grant died Saturday after a long illness. He was 78 years old. Grant began his political career in Rockland in the 1950’s, eventually serving as a Haverstraw town councilman and a charter member of the County Legislature, of which he went on to become chairman. That paved the way for his successful run in 1985 to become Rockland’s first county executive. Grant retired from politics after losing his bid for a third term to Scott Vanderhoef – and as health problems began to take their toll.
HUNDREDS IN PEARL RIVER CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF ACCIDENT VICTIM JUSTIN ROGERS
About 500 people turned out at Pearl River High School yesterday to memorialize Justin Rogers. The 15-year-old freshman died last Thursday of injuries suffered in a one-car accident three days earlier. The so-called “celebration of life” followed a funeral mass at St. Margaret’s church in Pearl River.
LEGISLATOR SLAMS COSTCO OVER ALLEGEDLY TAINTED GASOLINE
County Legislator Ed Day says CostCo should be doing more to help car-owners who needed repairs after filling up at CostCo’s premium gas pumps. Day told WRCR listeners this morning the problem is E-85, a grade of ethanol – two loads of which were pumped into CostCo’s premium tank early this month. Since then, he said, several CostCo gas customers reported a variety of problems with their cars, with repairs costing up to $2000 or more. CostCo reportedly has quietly been calling car dealerships, offering to pay any of their patrons affected by its gasoline for the repairs that resulted. But Day says that doesn’t help motorists who don’t realize what might have caused their car problems, and that CostCo should put a sign at its pumps with a phone number for affected motorists to call.
EAST RAMAPO SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT URGES BOARD TO AVOID AUSTERITY
East Ramapo Schools Superintendent Ira Oustatcher is pressing for a revised school budget, rather than austerity, in the wake of Tuesday’s budget defeat. Oustatcher tells the Journal News he’ll make that recommendation to the school board. Voters rejected the $198-million-dollar package by some 2,000 votes out of 14,000 cast. Austerity would automatically cut some $5.6-million from the budget. And that, says Oustatcher, would “devastate” school programs in the district. The rejected budget would have forced the layoff of scores of teachers, severe program cuts, and the closing of Hillcrest Elementary School. If the board follows Oustacher’s recommendation and puts up a revised budget, that district-wide vote would be held June 15th.
THURGOOD MARSHALL TO BE HERALDED THIS WEEKEND IN HILLBURN
Next Monday, May 17, has been designated “Thurgood Marshall Day” in New York State. And on Sunday, the county will memorialize the late Supreme Court Justice, who, in 1943, argued successfully to integrate schools in Hillburn. Co-hosting the 3 p.m. event at the Hillburn School on Mountain Avenue – State Senator Thomas Morahan and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffe, who introduced the Thurgood Marshall Day legislation in Albany.
05-12-10
PEARL RIVER HIGH HOLDS “CELEBRATION OF LIFE” FOR ACCIDENT VICTIM JUSTIN ROGERS
Students as Pearl River High observe a “celebration of life” today, in honor of school-mate Justin Rogers. The 15-year-old Rogers died last Thursday, three days after losing a leg in a one-car accident. The 17-year-old driver, Steven Lowney of Nanuet, suffered minor injuries when his car hit a guard-rail on Veteran’s Memorial Drive in Pearl River and rolled down a steep embankment. Investigators say they still don’t know what caused the accident. A memorial service for Rogers was held this morning at St. Margaret’s church in Pearl River.
PUBLIC HEARING TONIGHT ON ROCKLAND’S WATER SUPPLY
Rockland’s water supply is the subject of a hearing tonight before the county legislature’s environmental committee. The size and quality of the water supply have long been a concern here. They’ve come into special focus recently because of United Water’s proposed Hudson River desalination project. Environmental committee chairwoman Connie Coker says it’s time that Rocklanders got the facts on water – so we can develop what she calls a “comprehensive approach” to keeping a continued supply. Featured speaker at tonight’s 7 o’clock hearing at the county office building is Bob Dillon, who heads the Rockland Coalition for Sustainable Water.
EAST RAMAPO BUDGET REJECTED; FRIEDMAN ELECTED
East Ramapo’s much-debated school budget has gone down to defeat. District voters rejected the $198-million package yesterday by a margin of about 2,000 votes out of 14,000 cast. This puts the district on an austerity track that would likely mean even more cutbacks than the proposed budget called for. The vote punctuated the continuing rift between East Ramapo’s Hassidic and non-Hassidic communities. The budget defeat was seen as one of two Hassidic victories in yesterday’s voting. Moses Friedman was elected to the one contested seat on the school board – giving that faction a six-to-three majority on the board. The defeated budget called for the layoffs of more than 100 teachers and teachers’ aides, along with the elimination of some school programs. But a coalition of parents, students and teachers had called for a “yes” vote, in order to head off further cuts.
SUFFERN CONDO’S EX-TREASURER SENTENCED FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
A Suffern man has been sentenced to four months in jail for embezzling more than $150,000 from his condo association. Forty-eight year-old Matthew Stoll pleaded guilty in December to taking the money over a five-year period while serving as the association treasurer. He’s also been ordered to repay the embezzled funds – something prosecutors say Stoll had started to do – secretly -- before his crime was discovered.
JOHN GRANT FUNERAL TOMORROW AT ST. PETER’S CEMETERY IN HAVERSTRAW.
Visiting hours wind up this evening at McGowan Funeral Home in Haverstraw for John Grant. Rockland’s first county executive died over the weekend at age 78 after a long illness. Grant will be buried tomorrow following a 10 a.m. funeral mass at St. Peter’s Church in Haverstraw.
05-11-10
EAST RAMAPO SCHOOL BUDGET & BOARD VOTE TODAY
East Ramapo’s controversial school budget comes up for a vote today. The $198-million package carries a tax increase of five to ten percent. But at the same time, it would bring large-scale teacher and staff layoffs, eliminate some school programs, and close Hillcrest Elementary School. Nevertheless, a coalition of students, teachers and parents is calling for a “yes” vote – in order to avoid an austerity situation that would mean even more cut-backs. Also up in today’s East Ramapo vote are three school board seats. Incumbents Stephen Price and Suzanne Young-Mercer are running unopposed. Moses Friedman and Antonio Luciano are vying for the third seat. The rest of Rockland’s school districts hold their budget votes next Tuesday, May 18th.
AIRMONT SIGNAGE LAW RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN 2007 ELECTION CASE
A federal judge says the village of Airmont violated a former county legislator’s rights during his 2007 re-election bid. U.S. District Court judge Stephen Robinson ruled yesterday in favor of Pat Withers, who’s now a Ramapo town board member. Robinson found Airmont’s signage code unconstitutional on grounds that it singles out political signs for stricter treatment than others. Withers, whose signs were ruled too big and ordered removed, lost that Democratic primary to Joseph Meyers, who went on to win election. Airmont officials defend the village’s signage code but say they’ll revise it in light of yesterday’s ruling.
DAY CALLS FOR MEDICAID SPENDING REVIEW
County Legislator Ed Day says Medicaid spending in Rockland is way out of line. And the New City Republican wants the legislature to make a full review. Day says Governor David Paterson is trying to meet the state’s economic crisis, in part, by skirting a cap on how much of the state’s Medicaid costs can be imposed on local governments. Rockland’s Medicaid bill reportedly amounts to about 110% of the county’s share of local tax revenues.
SPRING VALLEY DEMONSTRATION TO PROTEST ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW
Opponents of Arizona’s tough new immigration law will march in Spring Valley this weekend. The demonstration – at Memorial Park – is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday. The Arizona law allows police to stop and question anyone they suspect MIGHT be an illegal alien. Opponents say that’s an open invitation to racial profiling. And they, including organizers of Sunday’s march in Spring Valley, want the federal government to institute what they feel is more humane immigration reform.
|
