Chuck Stead is known around Rockland County as a talker who can tell a particularly poignant tale or fluidly recall an important piece of local history. Or speak convincingly to a roomful of corporate lawyers, town officials and related officials to do the right thing. Continue Reading

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe, with the Sloatsburg Board of Trustees at his back, addresses a Village Hall audience honoring graduating Sloatsburg high school seniors.

Sloatsburg’s Village Hall was filled with smiles and friendly faces Tuesday evening as the community gathered to celebrate another graduating class of senior students. Continue Reading

Dr. Michael Cocilovo and Dr. Gil Rodriguez of New City Chiropractic Center are the organizers of the New City Gladiators, who will compete again on June 1 in the Spartan Sprint in Tuxedo Park / Nyack Free Press

Run steep hills, clamber over obstacles, jump smoking red hot piles of wood. If you miss an obstacle, drop and give 30 burpees. The Spartan Sprint challenge is akin to a Cross Fit workout through a hilly course littered with jumps and walls and other tests designed to thwart all comers — and to make applicants into Spartans. The popular national race comes to the tri-state area at the end of the month with Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1 races at Tuxedo Ridge Ski Center. For those who miss those dates, the race returns to Tuxedo Ridge Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8. Continue Reading

Strip of vacant land that is the proposed site for the Sterling Forest Resort hotel and casino / Photo by Geoff Welch

As the tick tock of the casino review clock winds down to a possible town vote on the issue Monday, Town of Tuxedo residents met Wednesday night to discuss the Sterling Forest Resort proposal. Continue Reading

With Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day on the horizon, the Sloatsburg Library has a few fun events planned. The library’s recent website launch party was a well-attended success thanks to the many local library lovers who made a showing. The site’s nifty calendar event listings, powered by Constant Contact, allows patrons to sign up and register for events with just a click.

The recent Resorts World/Genting Americas proposal for a New York State gaming license to build a resort and casino in Tuxedo at Sterling Forest has sparked great local debate. The development bid may have enormous and lasting implications for the Western Ramapo and Highlands region that includes the Village of Sloatsburg and Town of Tuxedo.

In the following letter, Tuxedo Chamber of Commerce President Bill Sweet, along with the chamber, has encouraged community input on the issue. Continue Reading

Village and Town board meetings can often be fraught with cautious talk and official speak and, well, somewhat sleepy.

The Village of Spring Valley apparently does not suffer from that particular municipal malady. A recent late April meeting descended into name calling and communication breakdown, complete with banging and yelling. Often agenda items move along quickly and quietly, usually to sparse attendance. But with tax dollars and budgets front and center, things can get animated and sometimes heat up in a hurry. Continue Reading

A hazardous materials team works on the overturned fuel truck in Nanuet. / Photo from Brian Duddy, Rockland Fires via Nyack Free Press.

An oil tanker truck traveling the roads of Rockland County tipped over and spilled its fuel contents across Route 59 Thursday afternoon near Nanuet, closing down the major traffic artery for most of the day.

The fuel tanker from NorthEastern Fuel had a 5,000 gallon capacity and was carrying an estimated 3,000 gallons of No. 2 diesel fuel, which splashed out of of the toppled truck. Continue Reading

SUFFERN – The combination of pressures over stolen money, illegal drug use and an ongoing police investigation into a stolen rifle closing in on them led a Suffern man and woman to murder her uncle in the home they shared and then take their own lives by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on Monday, according to Suffern police. Continue Reading

The cards are being shuffled and four lucky winners are gambling on a winning hand in gaming in New York.

The Tuxedo Ridge Ski Center and Genting Americas, part of an international gaming conglomerate, hosted  an afternoon meet and greet at the popular ski center that abuts Sterling Forest and is adjacent to Harriman State Park. Continue Reading