Normally when I go to County Legislature meetings I am given a full arm workout in the form of a hefty stack of papers that make up the agenda and the packet of background paperwork for each item.

Okay—they weren't that heavy. But the Legislature must have needed some pretty intense staplers for those things. They [...]

Working for a morning paper, the Rockland County Legislature meeting lasted long after my deadline last night. When I left around 9:30 p.m. or so, the Legislature was only halfway down a long list of people who had signed up to speak on the so-called "flow control" proposal that would give the Solid Waste [...]

Legislator Ed Day's proposal to request the State Legislature suspend state and county taxes on gasoline during the summer hasn't been referred to the full Legislature.

The proposal died in committee last week with four "ayes" and three "nays." Proposals need six "ayes" to make it out of committee.

Day, R-New City, also the Legislature's minority leader, [...]

The battle continues… Dum, dum DUM!

Okay, not it's not that bad. But there has been a running theme this year of the Legislature complaining that County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef has been less than forthcoming with information, something his office says just isn't true.

Last month, at the April 30 Government Operations Committee meeting Legislator Ed [...]

Legislation has passed both state chambers to declare Friday as Thurgood Marshall Day in the state.

The measure was sponsored by State Sen. Thomas Morahan,  R-New City, and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, to honor the Supreme Court justice for his contributions to the civil rights movement.

Marshall visited Rockland in 1943 to call for desegregation of a [...]

Ramapo Town Clerk Chris Sampson has formally announced that he will challenge Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, in the Democratic primary for Jaffee's seat this fall.

Sampson was one of several area Democrats who said this winter they were interested in the seat. The others were County Legislature Vice Chairman William Darden, Suffern Mayor John Keegan, [...]

Legislator Gerold Bierker, C-Bardonia, has a penchant for really going to bat for causes he feels are not only worthy, but not getting the attention they deserve.

During budget season you often hear him trying to wrangle more money out of the budget for certain organizations, most notably the Hi-Tor Animal Care Center and Project Turning [...]

My daily commute to The Journal News' Rockland office takes me down Route 17 in Orange County. For the past few days road crews have been working on an overpass near Monroe.

I was driving along, cursing getting stuck in construction traffic during an already long commute, when I saw one of Patrick Withers' campaign signs. [...]

I attend most of the County Legislature's meetings, held the first and third Tuesday's each month. They are interesting for the most part, but can get a little dry.

Well last night was anything but. A simple public hearing and subsequent vote on a law to mandate recycling programs for plastic bags turned into an all [...]

County officials are holding a meeting from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday to get input from the public on the county's initiative to create a free wireless network.  The meeting will be held in the Raso Room on the fourth floor of the Palisades Center in West Nyack.Rockland has already contract with Civitium, [...]

Orangetown police said a commercial van owned by Local Tofu was reported stolen around 8:30 p.m. tonight from 100 Nyack Center. The blue Ford E350 Econoline van had a refrigeration unit on the top,  New York plates 62356JX. Police had no description of the suspect or suspects. The words Local Tofu were printed on the van's [...]

Dozens of members from the county's unions attended County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef's state of the county address tonight, many standing against the back wall after not finding any available seats.

The unions, the Civil Service Employees Association in particular, have been a noticeable presence in recent months during high profile meetings, including the budget presentation.

Vanderhoef, [...]

County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef will go before the County Legislature at 8 p.m. tonight to deliver his annual state of the county address.

Being traditionally protective over the speech's content, his office has leaked nothing about any bombshells or new ideas. The only previews Vanderhoef, a Republican, would give was the affordable housing would be [...]

U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel's office announced today that the Internal Revenue Service would open sites and be available by phone to assist residents who are eligible for the upcoming economic stimulus payment, but who don't regularly file an income tax return.

On Saturday, the IRS will assist residents with the 1040A form that residents are filing [...]

In an interview today about his upcoming state of the county speech, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef said that he's done waiting for the County Legislature to collaborate with him on the Housing Opportunities Commission, which would study and implement plans for affordable housing for Rockland's middle income residents.

It's a proposal he's requested for [...]

Legislator Joseph Meyers' resolution requesting Congress to review and amend the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, also known as RLUIPA, will go up for a vote before the full Rockland County Legislature on Tuesday night.

The measure has passed through two committees. The resolution was Meyers' first as a county legislator, though [...]

Minutes after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned over his purported role in a pricey prostitution ring, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, a Republican, issued the following statement:

"This is a very sad day, but it marks a new beginning for New York state," he  said. "The Spitzer tenure is now over, and the Paterson tenure now [...]

Legislator Joseph Meyers' resolution to request that Congress review and amend the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, also known as RLUIPA, has passed on Legislature committee and has one more to go before going to the full body.

The resolution, which does not request legislators take a stance on the merits of [...]

You learn something new every day. When perusing the new Legislature bio of Joe Meyers, D-Airmont, I stumbled across this snippet of info: Meyers is an identical twin, 11 minutes old than his brother, Alan.

Maybe I'm slipping because I've covered Joe for the last year and I never knew that.

Also did not know he taught [...]

County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef can have a lot of fun with his state of the county address this year. It's scheduled for April 1—April Fool's Day.

Oh the possibilities—he could announce that he's John McCain's running mate. He could announce a new initiative to dissolve the five towns (actually, some in the county would applaud [...]

I was pleasantly surprised today to find that the Rockland County's Veterans Service Agency Web site has been completely re-designed.

Gone is the drab, county-issue page that most of the departments are using. In it's place is a patriotic, user-friendly site with downloadable forms and links to newsletters and support groups.

The site even offers a link [...]

In Rockland, at least.

Today, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef proclaimed Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 as Knights of Pythias Day in Rockland County.

The international fraternal order has an active branch in Rockland County that performs various acts of community service, including the donation of supplies, coats and scholarships to residents in need.

For more information on [...]

They should for anyone dining tonight at Del Arte Restaurant in Orangeburg.

As part of a fundraiser to support breast cancer research, County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, Rockland Community College President Cliff Wood and Orangetown Town Board Member Denis Troy, among other notable Rocklanders, will be serving food starting at 7:30 p.m.

The John Carollo Cooking Class [...]

You really can't make this stuff up.

Clarkstown police were called to the Palisades Center tonight after it was reported that a man stole 100 bras from Victoria's Secret. The theft happened around 7:30 p.m. and police got only a vague description. The bras were estimated at $4,000 in value.

So many jokes…

County Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, is scheduled to give his first report as minority leader at tomorrow night's Legislature meeting. I haven't gotten any hints yet as to what might be in it (I don't think its finished yet.) But keep an eye on Friday's paper for details.

The Legislature is meeting on a Thursday [...]