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 on the Railroad Avenue corridor.

• Haverstraw village: $100,000 for new sidewalks, curbs, roadway, lights and other improvements on Main Street between Broadway and First Street.

• South Nyack: $100,000 to upgrade a storm drain system on Cedar Hill Avenue between Anna and Franklin streets.

• Haverstraw town: $75,000 for improvements to the pool deck at Bowline Point Park.

• Suffern: $50,000 for the construction of sidewalks and curbs on Ramapo Avenue from West Park Place to West Maltbie Avenue.

• Hillburn: $50,000 to help pay for a water system upgrade. The village has the oldest water pipes in Rockland.

• Piermont: $1,000 for a curb cut on the sidewalk at the public library, making the facility accessible to the disabled.

Image courtesy the U.S. Treasury Department, via the Associated Press.

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Piermont condo owners have threatened a lawsuit over taxes for more than a year. Last week, they followed through with that threat.

Representatives of three condominium complexes filed suit against the village for an astonishing $85 million dollars. They argued that Piermont is unfairly taxing them by making them pay for services that they get and pay for privately through their condos. That includes snow removal, road maintenance, paving projects and hydrants.

Lawyer Dennis Lynch thinks the village should consider some kind of special taxing district for condos to mark the difference in services.

The village’s side of the argument is that the condo owners drive through village streets and use sidewalks in the village just like any other homeowner and should pay those taxes.

What do you think?

Here’s the full story: Condo owners sue Piermont

Ric Pantale closed his popular video store, Piermont Pictures Video, earlier this month after fighting a losing battle with Netflix. Pantale, known around Rockland as something of a film guru, was kind enough to provide some final words of advice to his fans. Here is a list of 10 of his all-time favorite movies, with a brief explanation in Ric’s own words.

“Since I have the wonderful luxury of picking 10 films that are my favorites, I will pick two from every genre,” Ric says. Here they are:

WESTERN

Rio Bravo (1959) – Whenever I get blue, I pop in this western and it instantly makes me feel better. Who could ask more than John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Ricky Nelson. You wouldn’t think so but the three of them blend in perfectly to make this an all time classic. The plot is simple (like westerns should be) and the camaraderie is Howard Hawks at his best.

Shane (1954) – When I first saw this beautiful Western I was knocked out. The story is the classic example of good versus Evil. Alan Ladd is perfect as the strong silent stranger who helps a rancher’s family. The ending still makes me teary.

HORROR

The Haunting (1963) – Shot in shadowy Black & White and nary a drop of blood in sight, this movie will scare the shackles out of you. It’s all about camera angles, sound and wonderful acting. It holds up well today, is still the best haunted house movie.

The Cat People (1944) – Another movie without blood, but can scare you silly, just by the power of suggestion. Shadows here are much scarier than the actual thing, and so much more intelligent than today’s blood and gore fests that try to be scary but aren’t.

SCI-FI

The Thing from Another World (1951) – A scary Frankenstein type of monster that kills for blood in a secluded environ of the North Pole …sounds scary, and it is… The monster just won’t listen to reason and only thinks of earthlings as food. I watched the skies for a long time after this one.

Alein (1979) – Still the best Sci-Fi movie ever. The mood, (again secluded), the sound and the Alien itself are wonderful in perpetuating Goose bumps.

COMEDY

A Fish called Wanda (1994) – The movie still cracks me up because of it’s insane sense of dark humor. Everyone is pitch perfect with half an American cast. You can see this over and over and still laugh at it’s over the top humor.

The Jerk (1977) – I know it’s crude, I know it’s over the top, but the movie is downright funny. Steve Martin in his screen debut has never been funnier. You have to see this with an open mind, but it is funny never the less.

DRAMA ACTION

The Last of the Mohicans (1992) – Daniel Day Lewis is a great Hawkeye, in this highly stylized version of an old classic. The music that blends in seamlessly with the great action is perfect. Highly romantic in theme, both men and women loved this one.

Glory (1989) – Still the best Civil War film ever. Still the best war film ever. It’s the heartbreaking story of the 54th all black brigade. The movie is so authentic looking, you would swear you stepped back in time. (Rockland County has a connection because some of the soldiers are burried in a overlooked cemetary next to the Palisades Center.)

One more for good luck?

The new 3:10 to Yuma is a wonderful western that shouldn’t be missed. It is so good to see a Western again and to see the great American Western landscape, used to perfection. The movie is an instant classic and even is better in every way to the original (something you don’t see every day).

Meet Rockland’s newest reporter: Hannan Adely.

Hannan joined The Journal News/LoHud.com in 2003 and will cover Orangetown and its villages — Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View and Piermont. (And all the hamlets — Blauvelt, Orangeburg, Palisades, Pearl River, Sparkill, Tappan, Upper Grandview — I hope I didn’t forget any!)

She replaces Gerald McKinstry, who moves to the other side of the river to cover several Westchester municipalities and cut his daily one-way commute by a good 20 miles or so. Hannan’s commute gets shorter, too — she lives in New City.

Hannan covered government and community issues in Yonkers, her hometown, before coming over here to Rockland.

Before she joined The Journal News, Hannan wrote about theWarren County, N.J., for The Star-Ledger and also covered the north Bronx, and politics in Central America.

You can reach her at hadely@lohud.com or 845-578-2439.

This year, it seems, the Piermont Pier has become a veritable wildlife refuge. Or, at least, a vacation destination for visiting wildlife.

The latest critter spotted at the Pier has been a harbor seal.

Back in January, it was the snowy owl, an unusual visitor to our relatively southern climes (compared to its usual stomping grounds of the Arctic).

Then in February, there was the ivory gull, said to be a first for Rockland (a snowy owl already had made its way to Rockland about 15 years ago, according to the Rockland Audubon Society.

I guess word is getting around to the critters of the north that the Piermont Pier is the place to be.

If you happen to spot the seal and get a photo, let us know. And if you spot another interesting critter out there, let us know that, too.