Monday afternoon and evening the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a public hearing on the permit application for the proposed Patrick Farm development along Rt. 202 at Rt. 306 between Pomona and Wesley Hills. The proposed multi-family housing project involves 497 large scale homes, including 410 multi-family apartments on a 200 acre property. Continue Reading

What happens when a hometown turns on its newspaper? Well, The Journal News is finding out these days as an editorial decision has gathered national headlines and harsh criticism. The now infamous interactive map of pistol permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties has nearly everyone, from average readers to advertisers to Rockland officials across the spectrum, including the sheriff himself, lining up to throw stones.

Suffern Middle School students are using videoconferencing to learn about the ultimate act of bullying — genocide. In a project closely tied to the sixth-grade curriculum, Barbara Biddy and Jennifer Fruhling’s sixth-grade classes are taking part in the One Million Bones project, a social arts project promoted by NYC-based nongovernmental organization Global Nomads, Students Rebuild and CARE International to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. Continue Reading

The Journal News stepped into a visceral thicket of American beliefs when an article on gun ownership by Dwight R. Worley, published on December 23, included a map of people who have pistol permits. The article had the ominous headline: “The gun owner next door: What you don’t know about the weapons in your neighborhood.” Continue Reading

Winter Solstice morning Friday brought an odd warm rain that created flash flood warnings and fast water throughout Rockland County. The Sloatsburg Volunteer Fire Department was out in the early downpour responding to a call on Sterling Mine Road that turned out to be a false alarm. Just as the trucks arrived back at the village station, at approximately 8:30 a.m., the department got another emergency call regarding a partially submerged vehicle adrift in the Ramapo River. Continue Reading

There’s a new Tudor-style bus shelter going up in Tuxedo, complete with shiny copper trim and spacious windows. Eventually, the bus stop will feature a $10,000 town clock.

Times Herald-Record reporter John Sullivan recently wrote that “the chateau,” as one Tuxedo resident called the shelter, will cost the town $63,000. According to Sullivan, Tuxedo Supervisor Peter Dolan, a member of the Tuxedo Local Development Corp. that spearheaded the project, said that the shelter is part of an effort to promote a municipal identity and replaces the worn-out open roadside shelter that was located directly across from the Tuxedo train station. Continue Reading

The ancient calendar is calling, and so is the Ramapo Saltbox house at the end of Torne Valley Road in Hillburn. The Saltbox Environmental Research Center (ERC) has sent out an open invitation to gather for a holiday party and traditional Solstice Celebration on Sunday, December 23 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

You bring the food and drink, and the Saltbox will provide music, stories and offer year end wishes to the four corners — as well as relief, should time continue after the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar. Continue Reading

Students were thinking pink this fall and figured out creative fundraising activities that brought in the dough — for a good cause.

Students at Suffern Middle School and Suffern High School mounted a series of events for cancer awareness, screening and treatment that collectively raised more than $8,500. Continue Reading

This evening provides a chance for the Sloatsburg and Tuxedo business communities to mix it up as the Tuxedo Chamber of Commerce holds its Annual Holiday Mixer at Tuxedo Junction, located smack in the center of town. Doors open at 6 p.m. Continue Reading

It’s now stamped and official. The smoldering mulch pile operated by Perfect Cut at the Tuxedo Public Works Department property on Long Meadow Road in Sterling Forest caused the March fish kill along Warwick Brook. The mulch pile, and perhaps those pesky beavers.