Posted on 04 November 2013 by Editor
Collage of Rockland County Executive campaign messages.
The end is finally in sight for the Rockland County Executive candidates’ long winding race. After nearly 20 years, the county will say a collective hello to a new leader Tuesday evening.
Tuesday, November 5 is Election Day. Sloatsburgers and those in Poll Districts 4, 15, 39, & 48 cast ballots at the Sloatsburg Municipal Building. Polling opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Ramapo Central Schools are closed on Election Day.
Posted on 03 November 2013 by Editor
With all the campaign yard signs and personalities in the current Rockland County election, it might be very easy to miss another important feature of Tuesday’s ballot — six proposed NY State constitutional amendments.
The usual rule of thumb on constitutional amendments proposed is to be wary, very wary. Some group or business association has spent shiny pennies to help wind a proposal through the state legislature, past the governor’s desk and onto the ballet. Bet on it. Continue Reading
Posted on 02 November 2013 by Editor
It’s that time of year where we shake hands with time and early morning risers are greeted with sunshine. But the days do shorten. Thank Richard Nixon and OPEC. This time change thing feels so unnatural. Nevertheless, if you want to be on time with everyone around you, set your clock back Sunday morning, November 3, at 2 a.m. Continue Reading
Posted on 02 November 2013 by Editor
November has arrived like a lamb, and it being a very good month, get out this weekend and enjoy the weather. Temperatures are expected to dip into the 20s at night soon.
It’s All Souls’ Day today, traditionally the day to visit those gone relatives at the cemetery in commemoration of the dearly departed. Continue Reading
Posted on 01 November 2013 by Editor
A brouhaha over library services has erupted north of these parts in the Town of Monroe over Kiryas Joel’s relationship to the Monroe Free Library — and the extended Ramapo-Catskill Library System which serves Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, and southern Ulster counties.
As first reported by The Photo-News’ Nancy Kriz, the New York State Board of Regents “approved an amendment to the Monroe Free Library’s charter which now excludes the Village of Kiryas Joel from its service area.”
The bone of contention between the library and village relates to years-long non-payment of taxes for library services rendered. According to Monroe Library Board of Trustees President Sandra Keltai, Kiryas Joel has not paid library taxes since 2005, when the village negotiated a tax-exempt status so that it could build its own library — which was never done.
Kriz reported that an amendment to the Monroe Free Library’s charter means residents of Kiryas Joel loose ” borrowing privileges at the Monroe library or any other public library in the Ramapo-Catskill Library System.” The Monroe Free Library currently serves residents in the Town of Monroe. The new charter would articulate the library’s service area as “coterminous with the Town of Monroe, including only the Villages of Monroe and Harriman.”
Kiryas Joel is a tiny, densely populated one square mile village in the Town of Monroe that was settled primarily by members of the Satmar Hasidic sect. According to 2008 U.S census figures, Kiryas Joel just notched out Carbondale, Illinois for the place with the highest poverty rate in the country.
Kriz’s article has created quite a discussion in the comments section, from outrage to nuggets of interesting information.
Monroe Free Library photo courtesy of The Photo-News.
