News

A New City volunteer firefighter and Clarkstown North High School graduate who lost his hands and parts of both legs due to flu complications last year recently visited his old firehouse and is talking about getting back on the job. Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann says while the community has done much for Willy McCue, he’s done just as much for himself, as he always has…

McCue contracted the flu in January last year and had been in and out of hospitals, finally returning home back in October following a stint at Helen Hayes for rehabilitation.

A quick-thinking New City CVS employee Wednesday helped keep a 72 year-old Pomona woman from spending thousands on gift cards for a scammer. The cashier had just hours earlier been briefed by Community Police Officer Jackie Kennedy on this very scam. Clarkstown Police Detective Peter Walker says it started early Wednesday afternoon with a phone call from a scammer posing as “Social Security Agent Johnson,” and told her she was the victim of a laundering scheme and her Visa credit card would be cancelled imminently…

Clarkstown Police praised the quick response of the New City CVS staff and urged others to continue their vigilance.

A 23-year-old Spring Valley man has been arraigned on second degree murder charges in connection with the fatal stabbing of another man in Hillcrest last month. Jose Alejandro Icu-Madrid had fled to Boston before being brought back to Rockland. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted in the death of Jairo Danilo Sandoval del Cid.

A Rockland state representative is glad legislation that would have made recreational marijuana legal in New York State has been pulled from the budget process. Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee says how the state moves forward with the plan needs more discussion…

The head of the Rockland Business Association, Al Samuels, is also pleased the governor took the controversial legislation out of the budget…

Governor Andrew Cuomo now hopes to have a separate law passed by June. New Jersey lawmakers, meanwhile, could vote to legalize marijuana as soon as Monday.

Rockland now has 151 confirmed cases of measles. If you think you have the measles or need the vaccine, contact your healthcare provider. For information on the measles, click here, or call the State Department of Health’s toll-free Measles Information line at 1-888-364-4837. The County Health Department says the best way to help protect yourself and the community is to remain up-to-date with your measles vaccination.

Anyone who visited the following locations in Spring Valley and Monsey may have been exposed to measles:

Target in Spring Valley Marketplace, 50 Spring Valley Market Place, Spring Valley, NY 10977, between Sunday 3/10/19 at 8:00 am and Monday 3/11/19 at 1:00 am, and between Monday 3/11/19 at 8:00 am and Tuesday 3/12/19 at 2:00 am. (The RCDOH has been unable to narrow the time of possible exposure at the Target in Spring Valley Marketplace despite multiple attempts to reach the infected individual).

All Fresh Supermarket, 19 Route 59, Monsey, NY 10952 on Tuesday, 3/12/19 between 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Atrium Plaza, 401 Route 59, Monsey, NY 10952, on Tuesday, 3/12/19 between 2:30 pm – 5:45 pm

Designer’s Spot, 401 Route 59, Monsey, NY 10952, on Tuesday, 3/12/19 between 2:30 pm – 5:45 pm

TOR Bus – Loop 2 Eastbound that traveled on Tuesday, 3/12/19 between 3:55 pm and 6:06 pm from the Atrium Plaza in Monsey, NY

International Taxi that drove from near 5 Twin Avenue in Spring Valley, NY to near the intersection of Sunrise Drive and Monsey Blvd. in Monsey, NY on Wednesday, 3/13/2019 between 3:15 pm and 5:30 pm

These times reflect the period that the infected individuals were in these areas and a two-hour period after they left the areas, because the virus remains alive in air and on surfaces for up to two hours. If you were present at these locations during these times, especially if you are in any of the following high-risk groups, contact your health care provider by phone right away (call before going for care):

Pregnant
A child under 6 months of age
Immunocompromised or immunosuppressed (when your body can’t fight disease)
Have not been vaccinated against the measles
Were born before 1957 and are immunosuppressed