The local farmers’ markets send Saturday salutations on clear blue blue days and a bit rainy too. The season of chill mornings and warming days are upon us. Look for both the Suffern and Tuxedo Farmers’ Markets to be open Saturdays until midday this late summer and into the fall, with colorful vendor tables laden with foods and hand crafted goods — soaps, syrups, sauces. There are baked goods, plus farm foods galore, all waiting for you to stroll through and make a selection of something eye catching. Continue Reading

Chuck Stead presents his interdisciplinary Recovery Narrative PhD dissertation to the public at Ramapo Town Hall. / Photo by Geoff Welch

The long story of life in the shadow of Torne Mountain made its way to the Ramapo’s Town Hall when environmental educator Chuck Stead presented his doctoral dissertation to the public last week. An interdisciplinary recovery narrative, Stead’s story is also a history of Torne and Western Ramapo that traces industrial impact on the area’s community and uses ecotoxicology and memoir to weave together a complex story of Ford Motor Company’s toxic legacy in and around Torne Valley. Continue Reading

Following is an article and message from Peter M. Bush, Jacob Sloat descendant and founding member of Harmony Hall, the 1848 Greek Revival house built by Jacob Sloat and now on the National Historic Registry. The article touches on an upcoming episode on HGTV that includes a peek at the house on Johsontown Road of Pat Cannon and popular local musician Dave Keyes and the legend of Cowboy of the Ramapos, Claudius Smith. The Cannon’s and Keyes’s historic house was also used this past year as a setting for the NBC sci-fi show Believe, a dark noirish show that revolves around a catastrophic event similar to the Rapture. Continue Reading

Joshua Goldstein (on the right at the podium) at one of the many Orange Avenue Associates presentations on the proposed apartment complex in downtown Suffern.

The long journey of Suffern’s Orange Avenue luxury apartment project took another turn last week as the Town of Ramapo adopted a resolution that would set the development’s property taxes for up to 40 years. Continue Reading

Randi Colton knows plenty about health and nutrition — things such as how to hydrate the right way and how to eat to feel healthy and happy. Colton also knows how to save lives through CPR. Continue Reading

Soon enough Sunday will roll through the Ramapo Mountains and with it the Highlands Bluegrass Festival at Harmony Hall. Pull up a chair and for a bit of twanging banjo and fiddle whine — a perfect way to welcome in the harvest season. Continue Reading

The sudden headlines of gaming bids in Orange County and other Catskill counties have given way to the slow process of application reviews and a one day Public Hearing set by the New York State Gaming Commission Facility Location Board. Continue Reading

The Sloatsburg Fire Department will help see off the summer season Saturday with plenty of sunshine and a Classic Car Show all day at the village Community Fields. Continue Reading

With the school season just around the corner, it is notable that four Ramapo Central schools were named High Performing Reward Schools by the New York State Education Department. Continue Reading

What do you say to a kid who just discovered his bicycle was stolen the day before his birthday?

Well, if you’re a member of the Suffern Police Department you might play a quiet round of pass the cap with fellow officers and surprise the boy with a brand new bike. Continue Reading