The water was freezing cold but Barbara Noyes and about 150 others at yesterday’s Penguin Plunge were warmed by the energy of the crowd. “Some of the people were just so excited and lit up, lit up that they were helping,” she said. “It was really great.”

Noyes, a Blavelt resident and an officer with the South Nyack-Grandview Police Department, was among 20 or 30 people who jumped into the Hudson River yesterday afternoon as part of a fundraising event for Emma Monahan, a 6-year-old girl from Orangeburg who is severely debilitated. Emma was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis when she was seven weeks old. Hannan wrote a story about her last week, which can read here.

The Penguin Plunge, which was organized by Noyes and Pearl River resident Mike Lynch, raised about $10,000 to help the family with expenses that aren’t covered by insurance, such as building a handicapped-accessible area for Emma on the first floor of their house.

In Tappan, a Cut-A-Thon held yesterday at the Changing Heads hair salon raised about $5,000, said the salon’s owner, Bob Press. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than a dozen volunteers invited customers to get a $30-hair cut. The day’s profits were donated to the family. You can read my story on the event here.

I bumped into Emma’s mother, Anne Marie Monahan, at the salon, who said she was really touched by everyone’s participation. “It was just a very heartwarming feeling when someone doesn’t even know you and they want to help,” she said.

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 elections next month, not a single seat is contested.

The filing deadline for candidates to get on the ballot was Wednesday.

And file the did, in Grand View, Hillburn, New Hempstead, South Nyack, Upper Nyack and Wesley Hills. Thing is, only one person filed for each open seat. Virtually all are incumbents, either having been elected previously or appointed to replace someone who left the seat early.

But not a single challenger signed up to get on the ballot in any of the six villages. Read more of this entry »

Just a reminder that Clarkstown officials are holding their next public forum on developing the town’s comprehensive plan on Thursday, Jan. 24, at the Congers Community Center. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and last until about 9:30 p.m. People are invited to offer suggestions on topics such as housing, recreation, transportation and cultural resources.

The workshop is among several meetings that officials are going to hold in Clarkstown to get input from the public. Town officials said they hope to complete the comprehensive plan in 2009.

In fact, Clarkstown officials plan to spend much of 2008 studying, consulting, planning and evaluating. There’s the energy audit, the mall study, the parks and recreation forums and housing for volunteer emergency services among many other issues the town is looking at.

As Clarkstown Supervisor Alexander Gromack said in a phone interview yesterday afternoon: “2008 is the year of the plan.”

Gobble gobble, I’m back and here with another Week In Review.

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After the break, check out the links to related articles, videos and blogs. Note: These Week In Reviews only show portions of the videos our photo staff puts together, so be sure to view the full videos by clicking the links.

Vinnie Reda, Rockland Republican Committee chairman, took a break from his Cocoa Beach, Fla., trip to read off the names of the Republican candidates vying for Clarkstown seats.

They are: Frank Borelli Jr. and John Miele for Town Board; Wayne Ballard, an incumbent, for superintendent of highways; and Duncan Lee and Thomas Mascola for town justices.

“I’m very exicited,” he said. “I think we have a wonderful selection of candidates.”

Vincent Monte, Rockland Democratic Committee chairman, said the party was still screening candidates for Clarkstown seats.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation’s delegation of “civilian diplomats� is scheduled to arrive back in the states tomorrow. But before they do, you can read about their experience on the FOR site, where they’ve been posting reports. Find it here: The Iran Initiative

Last month, FOR sent the delegation — a diverse group of 24 people — to Iran in an effort to counter what it calls the saber-rattling between the Iranian and U.S. governments.

Iranian-born Leila Zand, co-leader of the delegation and coordinator of the Upper Nyack organization’s Iran Program, said the purpose of the grassroots form of diplomacy was to hopefully humanize Americans, often called “the Great Satan” in Iran, as well as Iranians, considered part of “the Axis of Evil” in America. Read more of this entry »

The people of South Nyack are particularly interested in the fate of the Tappan Zee Bridge. The darn thing’s so close to their homes that they can practically set up toll booths in their back yards.

So it’s no surprise that candidates seeking office in the March 20 elections put the bridge’s future at the top of their watch lists.

Read about South Nyack and other village elections at:

www.lohud.com/elections/airmont

www.lohud.com/elections/chestnutridge

www.lohud.com/elections/grandview

www.lohud.com/elections/montebello

www.lohud.com/elections/pomona

www.lohud.com/elections/southnyack

www.lohud.com/elections/uppernyack

“Ah, the good life, full of fun, seems to be the ideal.”

So go the lyrics to the old standard, and that’s apparently how they feel in one Rockland village (Grand View), where even politicos think that Life’s a Party.

It’s all part of The Journal News and lohud.com’s ongoing coverage of the March 20 village elections.

Here’s the links to the articles that are available:

http://lohud.com/elections/uppernyack

http://lohud.com/elections/airmont

http://lohud.com/elections/chestnut

http://lohud.com/elections/grandview

It’s been said that all politics are local, and there’s nothing more local than your village election.

On March 20, voters in 10 Rockland villages (Pomona, Grand View, South Nyack, Upper Nyack, Chestnut Ridge, Kaser, New Square, Hillburn, Montebello and Airmont) will go to the polls.

Although only Pomona and Hillburn have contested elections, each race offers a chance for residents to let Village Hall know whether they think things are headed in the right direction.

And, don’t forget, in smaller villages there’s always a chance that a write-in candidate could sneak into office. (Brian Miele in Hillburn, anyone?)

This is all a way of announcing that The Journal News and LoHud.com are providing coverage in print and on the Web to keep you informed before you cast your ballot. Each article in the newspaper will contain a link to lohud.com for candidate profiles and other information. The stories will remain on LoHud.com’s Rockland page through Election Day.

Here are the links to the first three articles, which will appear this weekend:

http://lohud.com/elections/uppernyack

http://lohud.com/elections/airmont

http://lohud.com/elections/chestnut

Was on the phone today with Jim Anderson, Upper Nyack trustee running for re-election, and talking on all matters drainage and budget when all of a sudden he stops mid-sentence.

I hear a garbled voice in the background. Some shuffling.

Anderson, who is in his car, begins what strangely sounds like haggling. Numbers are being tossed around, there is the garbled voice again and then Anderson finally shouts, “The rest is my dinner!�

Apparently, he’d been negotiating with a homeless woman.

“She was an old lady with no teeth,� he says. “I gave her five bucks, she needed ten.�

So … (see how that one word is so conversational, good thing I came up with the whole beginning your blogs with the word “soâ€?) … so, been trying to track down a certain mayor running for re-election next month in Upper Nyack to get some candidate information. Been calling and calling the mayor’s office (never got the cell number because, go figure, there are politicians in this world who don’t want to speak to reporters on their down time. Sheesh. I have a life, too, you know. * shaking fist in the air *) and no luck. Finally, I get the e-mail address. I send the questions via the e-mail and get a response. Yay! No more editor breathing down neck. Turns out mayor is in Australia. Mayor answers questions, but more importantly, writes in e-mail: Read more of this entry »