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Amy Vernon joined The Journal News in 2000 as education editor for the Westchester and Putnam editions. She came to Rockand as metro editor in 2001. Raised on Long Island, Amy is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and has worked in South Florida and the Phoenix metro area. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, two sons and very understanding mother-in-law. She watches entirely too much television, but is trying hard not to let her children do the same. She is as big a fan of Curious George on PBS as she is of many of her favorite "grown-up" shows. Reach her at avernon@lohud.com or 845-578-2425.
E-mail Amy Vernon at avernon@lohud.com
Here's the latest Week in Review podcast. Beneath the video are links to the related stories, as well as links to downloadable PDFs of each article (the links expire once our articles move into the paid archives) and video, where available. Thanks for stopping by.
Download:
Fleetwood Elementary cheating: link here, pdf here.
Immigration forum: link here, pdf [...]
Unhappy with your property tax assessment?
The state has released a packet that explains all the criteria for challenging your assessment, as well as the forms you need to fill out to do that. You can download the pdf here. (Hat tip to the town of Ramapo for disseminating this info.)
As promised earlier, here's a full list of Rockland's recipients of 2008 Community Development Block Grant funds:
• Spring Valley: $250,000 for the reconstruction of a park at Jay Street and Kennedy Drive.
• Ramapo: $150,000 to construct a handicapped-accessible pavilion and restrooms at Manny Welder Park.
• West Haverstraw: $100,000 for sidewalk replacement, lighting installation and landscaping [...]
This morning, county officials are announcing which programs throughout Rockland will receive money through the Community Development Block Grant program.
Commonly known as CDBG (hey, it's a lot shorter!), the grants are from the federal government's Department of Housing and Urban Development and distributed through the county Office of Community Development. HUD established the program in [...]
The Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice is holding an extra vigil tonight, marking the 4,000th death of in the U.S. military since the war in Iraq began.
The vigil will run from 7 to 8 tonight at the corner of Cedar and Main streets in downtown Nyack, next to the Riverspace Theatre. (It's suggested that [...]
New York state is relatively unusual in that you, the voter, get to have a say in school budgets.
Enough people turn out and say no to the budget, and the school district has to go back to the drawing board or adopt what is called an "austerity" budget. I put that word in quotes because, [...]
In the coming days, we will be moving this and other LoHud blogs to a dedicated server that will provide more stability and better troubleshooting capabilities than what we currently have. Please bear with us during this transition. Some features may not be available during this time. We will reincorporate them as soon as possible. [...]
You've seen the "Images of America" books, I assure you. Probably every time you've ever walked into a big-box bookstore like Barnes & Noble or Borders.
They're those books with sepia-toned images on the cover meant to evoke a time, long ago, when all was well with the world and things were great and hunky-dory [...]
Don't get me wrong, I understand that the March village elections generally lack much drama. Often several are uncontested and with the staggered terms and several other villages holding their election contests in the fall, just a few villages hold an election each March.
But, really, this was a bit much: Of the six villages running [...]
The good folks on our data desk put together PDFs of the vote totals for each candidate in the Super Tuesday primary by town and Congressional district. You can download Rockland's here.
In addition, you can see how things went Tuesday in both Westchester and Putnam.
Photo by Peter Carr/The Journal News.
Over in the right-hand sidebar, under our coverage of the 35th annual March for Life, we have a new poll.
New York state, it sometimes feels, has elections every five minutes.
Here's a look:
Feb. 5Â —Â Presidential primary
March 18Â —Village elections (though some villages have fall elections)
May 20Â —Â School board and budget elections
Sept. 16Â —Â Primaries for the November general [...]
Staff writer Christina Jeng was tied up this week, so her colleague and fellow blogger, Sarah Netter, stepped up to bring you the Week in Review podcast.
Download:
And, as usual, here are links to the appropriate stories:
Monsey group fined for mess after chicken ritual
Schumer visits cadets at West Point
Special Report: Our Schools, Our Money
Haverstraw resident charged [...]
It's December, and that means we're gearing up for the annual Year in Review, a look at the 10 biggest news stories in Rockland in 2007.
The main criteria we look at is that the news has to be Rockland-specific, so the war in Iraq would not qualify, but news regarding the criminal military case stemming [...]
I know it's probably crushing to find out that Christina Jeng was taking much-needed time off this week and wasn't able to do this week's Week in Review podcast. But transportation reporter Khurram Saeed graciously volunteered and worked with photographer/videographer Peter Carr to produce this week's installment.
After the break, there's a list of links to [...]
Every year, in conjunction with the League of Women Voters of Rockland County, we publish a Voters Guide with information on most candidates and any propositions Rockland voters can expect to find on the November ballot.
I say "most" because not every candidate responds to the League's (repeated) requests for a response to their questionnaire. And, [...]
Next week, Wyeth will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Pearl River plant, which traces it roots back to 1860. If you or members of your family worked for Wyeth or its predecessor companies (American Home Products, Lederle), we’d like to hear from you.
To share your thoughts, [...]
Looks like he won't be running for Town Board this November.
Karben sent out this e-mail today:
I'm thrilled to share with you the news that I have accepted a position as a Managing Director of Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations (FHGR). I'm excited and energized about working with this team of talented professionals on behalf of some of [...]
This morning, Rockland County Legislature candidate Alden Wolfe held a news conference to tie his opponent, Legislator Bruce Levine, to the Spring Valley mayor’s hiring of illegal immigrants for a government public works project.
Reporter Steve Lieberman attended the news conference. Here's his account of the news conference and a discussion afterward with Levine:
Levine, the village [...]
Reporter Jane Lerner the other day spoke with our broadcast partner, RNN, about the Deer Mountain Day Camp being sued for refusing to allow an HIV-positive boy to attend a basketball camp there.
Here's the story:
Download:
Transportation reporter Khurram Saeed talked to RNN about the FAA's decision to hold a Town Hall-type meeting in the county about a plan to route hundreds of planes a day over Rockland. Check it out here:
Download:
As most anyone reading our paper in the past week or so knows, we've been covering the story of the mayor of Spring Valley having hired illegal immigrants to do work on a building that's part of the downtown revitalization project.
Reporter Suzan Clarke was interviewed last week by our partners at RNN and explained how [...]
How do you find and keep babysitters?
For an article about the difficulties of finding and keeping a babysitter, staff writer Rebecca Baker is looking to talk to parents who have found their ideal babysitter. You can e-mail her at rebaker@lohud.com.
Thanks!
Meet Rockland's newest reporter: Hannan Adely.
Hannan joined The Journal News/LoHud.com in 2003 and will cover Orangetown and its villages â€" Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View and Piermont. (And all the hamlets â€" Blauvelt, Orangeburg, Palisades, Pearl River, Sparkill, Tappan, Upper Grandview â€" I hope I didn't forget any!)
She replaces Gerald McKinstry, who moves to the [...]
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. Lead paint was found on some Thomas & Friends wooden trains and accessories, I read on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website yesterday after a friend forwarded me an e-mail about the recall.
Like just about any house that's home to a 3-year-old boy, we have Thomas the Tank [...]
Seniors who need transportation to medical appointments within the county can get a voucher for up to $6 each way. The county's Office for the Aging is sponsoring the program and is contracting with the Rockland Taxi Company to provide the service.
Vouchers can be picked up at the office, in Building B of the Dr. [...]
