Jeff Lewis

Newly-created rules by the state legislature regarding how local jails are managed has Rockland’s sheriff questioning yet again why political leaders don’t consult him and his coleagues before they make such changes. Rockland sheriff Lou Falco was at a jail administrators conference yesterday in Saratoga, and said, for example, the state now requires them to give inmates extended time out of their cells, regardless of their behavior…

At around the same time, just a 45-minute drive south, New York Governor Kathy Hochul was speaking at the 2022 Division of Criminal Justice Services Symposium in Albany. Governor Hochul said $30 million in state funds would be used to purchase new technologies and body-worn cameras for local law enforcement agencies, and another $20 million for pretrial services in all New York counties outside of the city, which she said would help return more individuals to court by providing them with services and supervision…

Sheriff Falco says the state’s woes with mental health started well before the pandemic, back when the state closed many facilities across New York last decade, including here in Rockland. As a result, jails have become the only place they can get mental health services.

Update (9/30/22 4:47pm): this event at Germonds Park to commemorate the 21st anniversary of 9/11 has been canceled due to impending weather.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s 9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit is coming to Rockland this weekend. The traveling museum is a project coordinated by the Foley Family of West Nyack, along with the 9/11 Education Foundation and the Town of Clarkstown. Supervisor George Hoehmann says it’s an emotionally moving experience…

Tommy Foley was one of the firefighters who lost his life on September 11th, 2001. He was with Rescue 3 and part of the team that went to the World Trade Center that fateful day. You can see the exhibit on Saturday from 11 am to 8 pm, rain or shine, at Germonds Park in West Nyack. For more information on how to support the event, visit www.911educationfoundation.org.

The former deputy mayor of the Village of Haverstraw has reportedly pleaded guilty to grand larceny. That’s according to News 12. They say Rockland’s DA’s office said Emily Dominguez and her sister, Janice, admitted guilt last week. They and their mother were charged with taking over $11,000 in funds and donations from the not-for-profit Rockland Community Foundation. Emily Dominguez was a board member and former president of the group. They’ll be sentenced in January, and their mom is due back in court next month.

Two state troopers received minor injuries over the weekend while they had stopped a woman for a suspected DWI on the Palisades Parkway in Stony Point. Police say it happened just after 5am Sunday morning. While the troopers were sitting in their cruiser waiting for the woman’s car to be towed, they were struck from behind by a 2001 Mazda, operated by 44 year-old Donald Bolling of Middletown. Police say Bolling had a blood alcohol content of .12 and was traveling with a three-year-old in his car. He was arrested and charged with Aggravated DWI-Leandra’s Law and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. He was issued a total of 13 tickets. He was arraigned in the Town of Stony Point Court and sent to Rockland County Jail without bail. He is due back in court tomorrow morning. Neither Bolling nor the child was injured.

An area university just a got a $1.5 million, six-year grant to launch a new program that supports high-achieving, low-income STEM students. Susan Cerra of Dominican University in Orangeburg says the National Science Foundation grant will help fund travel to a scientific conference and senior projects, trips to research-intensive universities, and four-year scholarships starting in the fall of 2023…

Dr. Regina Alvarez, Assistant Professor of Biology, says low-income students often must work multiple jobs to pay for school, and that interferes with their schoolwork. The scholarships help the students focus on their studies.