Kathryn Harrison first lit up the literary world with her memoir The Kiss, a controversial tale of seduction and desire that bared her private life to the world. With the explosive don’t look-don’t look-I must look incestuous story of life with father came much public scrutiny. Harrison responded by doing what writers do — continued to write. Continue Reading

New York State Assemblyman Karl Brabenec takes his oath of office before an audience of Sloatsburg Elementary students on January 16 / Photo courtesy Ramapo Central Schools

Sloatsburg Elementary students got a front-row glimpse of government in action as witnesses of the ceremonial swearing-in of New York State Assemblymember Karl Brabenec in their school gymnasium on January 16. Continue Reading

The Suffern track teams flexed a bit of early season muscle at the annual Suffern Indoor Invitational meet last week. The Mounties hosted schools from all over the Rockland County and the Hudson Valley at Rockland Community College on Friday, January 16, with the girls team taking first place while the boys finished third. Continue Reading

Hudson Valley Honor Flight is helping fly WWII veterans to Washington, D.C. for day trips to various national monuments.

It’s been 70 years now since the U.S. officially entered WWII, after declaring war on Japan the day after Pearl Harbor in 1941. Continue Reading

Cottages designed by noted architect Bruce Price dot the hamlet district in downtown Tuxedo.

Traces of Tuxedo’s orginal DNA dot the town along the Rt. 17 corridor, all leading up to Tuxedo Park, of course.

The village that became Tuxedo Park was founded by tobacco tycoon Pierre Lorillard IV as a vacation and recreational outpost for well-heeled New York society too tired to make it up to Newport, RI. Continue Reading

Arcadis began preparation for continuing environmental remediation work in Torne Valley at the site of a former sand quarry. Torne Mountain is seen in the distance. / Photo by Geoff Welch

Before Torne Valley was a Superfund site, parts of it were used as a sand quarry, with the sand deposits part of the valley’s natural aquifer — now classified by NY state as a principle aquifer and used as a major regional water supply. Back in the 1950s, pockets of the valley were dug through along Torne Brook for natural resources. Those sandy areas eventually became a graveyard for paint sludge brought in from the former Ford Motor Company plant in Mahwah, NJ.  Continue Reading

Just a few years ago, Sloatsburg Elementary School had several bustling after school programs, including Homework Club and the Family Resource Center. Both programs were geared toward providing homework assistance to elementary school students but were lost in the 2013/14 school district budget cuts. Continue Reading

The last few weeks of the 2014 school year saw Suffern High School students suffering through the flu. There was coughing, congestion and many other misery related signs and symptoms. Continue Reading

View of the Ramapo River as it washes over Sloats Dam in Sloatsburg, NY, with Mill Pond’s higher flat surface behind the roiled white water.

The Village of Sloatsburg has an industrial and commercial history going back to the mid-1700 Dutch settlers that included Stephen Sloat, who built Sloat’s Tavern. That original structure is still in existence at the rear section of the current Sloat House.

Mostly, the manufacturing history of the area centers on the power provided by the Ramapo River. Continue Reading

The day of the long shadow is here. Winter Solstice. The celebrated shortest day of the year, where sunlight skims low over the sky in the northern hemisphere, the earth’s axis teeters away from the sun and into the longest night and winter we go. Continue Reading