Administrators in the Pearl River School District are reportedly on the hot seat for comments they allegedly made on a hot mike at the end of a recent board meeting. News 12 says the Tuesday meeting had ended but the live-stream continued, and several administrators were reportedly heard making comments about some parents and the way a student was dressed. Superintendent Dr. Marco Pochintesta called the remarks “regrettable” but said personnel matters would be handled internally.
Mixed Signals from Area Business Community
The business climate is hurting bad, or doing well, depending whom you ask. Tina Traster is the publisher of the Rockland County Business Journal, and says she sees lots of “for lease” and “for sale” signs on Clarkstown’s main thoroughfares…
Clarkstown’s Intergovernmental Relations Coordinator Jeff Gillies says though there are certainly those businesses, particularly restaurants, that are struggling, there are dozens of projects that show signs of progress…
Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann says several companies are building or re-doing their establishments on the Route 59 corridor…
Among the new projects being developed is a car dealership for the former Bob’s furniture store, and White Castle is getting a makeover.
Rockland Health Department Gets 1,300 COVID Vaccines, Death Count Holds Steady
The Rockland County Department of Health got 13-hundred doses of the Moderna vaccine this week. 700 of them are going to those in phase 1b that qualify as essential workers. That includes police, firefighters, teachers, college professors, and grocery store employees. The other 600 doses of the vaccine are designated for New Yorkers over the age of 65.
The Rockland yellow COVID zone, which had touched a portion of each of Rockland’s five towns, has been lifted by the governor. A decline in hospitalization rates prompted the move. In his press conference yesterday, the governor said the holiday surge we experienced from November to January has subsided. Yellow zones restricted activity at restaurants, high-risk businesses and religious gatherings.
COVID-19 by the numbers now, here in Rockland, the death count remained steady this morning at 833. We’ve got 78 hospitalized confirmed with coronavirus, and 2,641 active cases. Our total case count is 33,769, that’s 237 more than Wednesday.
New York Tries Again to Make Adult Pot Usage Legal, Gov Touts Financial Gains in Budget Speech
How do you plug a major deficit in the state budget? One way, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said in his budget presentation last week, is to regulate and tax marijuana and theoretically raise about $350 million…
But an area lawmaker says don’t toke up just yet. Rockland Assemblyman Mike Lawler says the issue should be put up to debate, and he wants the governor to remove it from the budget entirely…
Ramapo supervisor Michael Specht says even though New Jersey has already voted to legalize marijuana, he and the police department have not spoken yet about how to handle any border issues…
Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco says Albany isn’t considering the financial toll legal marijuana is likely to have on local municipalities, including increased car accidents due to the effects of drivers high on pot…
The deficit is projected to be around $15 billion.
Rockland Business Leader Concerned Over Some Biden Administration Policies
An area business leader is concerned about the new presidential administration and their policies towards business. Al Samuels is the CEO of the Rockland Business Association, and says President Joe Biden’s signing of an executive order to cancel the Keystone XL oil pipeline expansion project, for example, could be problematic…
Bloomberg Business says Biden’s move is a 180-degree shift from former President Donald Trump’s goal of accelerating drilling permits and opening up more places for oil exploration.