The Rockland County Republican Committee will hold a rally and open its 2009 campaign headquarters at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in the Clarkstown Plaza shopping mall in New City.

State Sen. Thomas Morahan, R-New City; County Sheriff James Kralik; and County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef will speak. They will outline their vision of Rockland’s future and their [...]

Rockland County turned over four surplus TRIPS buses to Clarkstown today.

Each bus has about 150,000 miles, and are “beyond their useful life…due to the the tremendous number of miles TRIPS logs each day, County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef said.

The county has replaced the buses with new ones purchased using funding from the Federal Transit Administration. [...]

County Legislator Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, has issued a press release noting he is “unsurprised” by the findings of a cancer study in the medical journal “Lancet Oncology.”

He said the study confirmed the dangers of tanning beds and their ultraviolet radiation. It pointed out that the risk of skin melanoma was increased 75 percent when people [...]

Most mornings, I need to make a left turn from Viola Road onto New Hempstead Road in Ramapo.

This has proven to be a dance with danger and frustration as drivers are forced to cut off approaching cars or drive through the traffic light as it turns red. Drivers can easily sit at the intersection for [...]

The Rockland County Republican Committee holds its convention at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Nyack Seaport, 21 Burd St., said the party’s chairman, Vincent Reda.

The party is expected to nominate incumbent County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, who is seeking his fifth four-year term. Vanderhoef, 60, has served since 1994.

Last week, county Democrats endorsed Thom [...]

The Rockland County Democratic Committee will holds its 2009 nominating convention at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Clarkstown Town Hall, 10 Maple Ave. in New City.

Aimee Vargas, the committee’s executive director, said today that the main purpose of the meeting will be to show support for Orangetown town Supervisor Thom Kleiner, who is challenging incumbent [...]

Here’s more information about a forum the Rockland County Town Supervisors’ Association plans to hold next month:

ORANGEBURG — Rockland’s five town supervisors will hold a forum to allow residents to comment on Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc.’s proposal to increase its rates after the state said it would not hold public hearings.
Meanwhile, O&R said it [...]

Gov. David Paterson is to sign a bill today that extends unemployment benefits to 56,000 New Yorkers who otherwise would have received their last checks this week, according to reports.

Assembly members Ellen Jafffee, D-Suffern, and Kenneth Zebrowski, D-New City, have also just emailed us with more details about the help being made available to these [...]

Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, will hold a “Neighborhood Assembly” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Pearl River Library, 80 Franklin Ave. Residents of the 95th Assembly District can share their thoughts and voice their concerns. The district covers Orangetown and parts of Ramapo.

The 29th annual Rockland County Youth Forum and Awards was held last night in Haverstraw.

Kaitlin Dinet and Justin Mathew were each presented with the Joseph A. Myers Outstanding Youth Volunteer Service Award and a $1,000 scholarship made possible by donations from local businesses and residents.

Dinet is a senior at Pearl River High School, a Girl [...]

Thurgood Marshall, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991 and was the first African-American to join the court, is about to be recognized with a day in his honor.

Thurgood Marshall Day is set for Sunday and every May 17 that follows, following the state Assembly’s unanimous approval of a measure that [...]

County Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, has opted not to challenge County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef for the right to run on the Republican line in the Nov. 3 election.

Vanderhoef still wasn’t saying if he’ll seek reelection to a fifth four-year term when I spoke to him today.

Orangetown town Supervisor Thom Kleiner announced last [...]

Sophia Salis Kelter, the long time co-host of WRCR Radio’s “The Steve and Sophia Morning Show,” will soon head off to Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., where she has been hired as a public affairs manager.

Kelter, who goes by Sophia Salis on the show, announced her departure on-air this morning, which brought a number of [...]

New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is scheduled to visit Rockland in an effort to help raise funds for State Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern.

The fundraiser is set for 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 29 at Pretty Penny, the historic home of Helen Hayes, who was, and I think still is, considered the First Lady [...]

The Rockland County Legislature will recognize five local artists whose works have been put on permanent display in the Allison-Parris County Office Building during a ceremony tomorrow.

The event will also recognize Avi Nagin, 17, of Pomona, a violinist who has been named concertmaster of the New York State Youth Symphony.

The gathering will mark the new [...]

Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef will deliver his 2009 State of the County report at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the Allison-Parris County Office Building, 11 New Hempstead Road in New City.

In a press release issued today, Vanderhoef’s office said the county executive would announce “several new initiatives concerning property taxes, housing and jobs” during [...]

Dan Masterson, who has taught English at Rockland Community College for the past 45 years, was named Rockland’s first poet laureate today.

The announcement was made during a ceremony hosted by County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell.

The county decided to create the unpaid position in honor of RCC’s 50th anniversary. Cornell [...]

UPDATE: Legislator Wolfe sent me an email this morning (01/20/09) saying he wanted to “clarify something.”

From the email, verbatim: “You mentioned that I didn’t want to hold a public meeting. That’s not entirely accurate, as both the committee meeting and full Legislature are public meetings and all are entitled to attend and be heard. [...]

I have had some trouble getting Legislator Alden Wolfe’s resolution to post below a break line. Dang ghosts in the machine again. So I’m posting it here.

THIS IS LEGISLATOR ALDEN WOLFE’S RESOLUTION, VERBATIM. ALTHOUGH IT STATES THAT IT IS A DRAFT, WOLFE SAID TODAY THAT IT IS THE RESOLUTION THAT WILL GO BEFORE LEGISLATORS TUESDAY.

DRAFT

Introduced [...]

So to be fair, I’m also posting Alan Levin’s letter to the County Legislature above the break line.

THIS IS ALAN LEVIN’S LETTER TO THE ROCKLAND COUNTY LEGISLATURE, VERBATIM.

To: All Rockland County Legislators:
Regarding: The Proposed Resolution “In Support of Israel…..”I respectfully request that this proposed resolution be voted down or at least postponed during which time [...]

Hey, if it were up to most of us, we’d probably just skip the whole tax thing.

But the state has this thing about getting its revenue, and on time, too!

This year, due to the massive financial challenges now facing the Empire State, the state Department of Taxation will not be mailing any personal income tax [...]

Gov. David Paterson may or may not know who he’s naming to fill Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate seat, but he apparently does know good food.

The gov decided to catch a meal at Restaurant X in Congers last night, arriving about 6 or 6:30 p.m. and staying most of the evening, according to Colleen Scollin, the [...]

Laurence Holland, who worked extensively on local campaign efforts for Barack Obama, will be among a group of 100-plus people headed to Washington, D.C., for Tuesday’s inauguration.

In an email today, Holland said the Rockland County Grassroots Volunteers for Barack Obama has chartered two buses and will head off to the festivities at 2 a.m. Tuesday, [...]

County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack, has named the leaders of the legislature’s main committees.

• Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, D-Wesley Hills, is back as chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, a post he’s held since 2005. 

• Legislative Majority Leader Michael Grant, D-Garnerville, continues to chair the Economic Development Committee.

• Legislator Robert Jackson, D-Nanuet, [...]

Rockland County legislators Ed Day, R-New City, Frank Sparaco, R-Valley Cottage, and Joseph Meyers, D-Airmont, have sent a letter to federal officials to express their support of Israel’s efforts to “secure its borders and make its citizens safe from repeated rocket attacks launched by Hamas against innocent civilians.”

In a statement issued today, Sparaco said, “Hamas [...]