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The demolition of the old Tappan Zee Bridge gets underway this morning. Traffic between exits 11 and 9 on the Thruway – that’s Route 9W in Nyack and Route 9 Tarrytown — will be stopped for about an hour starting at ten AM today. The Hudson River’s main navigation channel will be shut down, as well, from 8:30 to 11:30. Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann says truckers who may not be aware of the shutdown could end up stuck on the highway, or worse, end up on a road they shouldn’t be on…

Rockland Sheriff Lou Falco says his department will be assisting with the operation…

Controlled Demolition of Maryland, the company handling the takedown of the bridge, says there won’t be any impact on the environment. Some debris will reach the river bed, but salvage crews will clean it up. The explosion will sound like a set of fireworks, and pet owners should keep their pets indoors or leashed during the demolition.

No one suffered any life-threatening injuries after what was described in published reports as a “shoot-out” in Spring Valley Sunday night. News 12 reported shots were fired around 10 Sunday night near the Stop One Food Mart on E. Eckerson Road following an altercation. No word yet on any arrests.

Three men face felony gambling and money-laundering charges following their arrest Friday in Orangetown. Published reports said 65 year-old John Andriello of Pearl River, 48 year-old Brian Levine of Garnerville and 60 year-old Marco Minuto of Old Tappan, New Jersey, ran an organization that made millions for years taking bets on sporting events. LoHud.com said officials found evidence in the men’s homes. All three were arraigned in Orangetown Town Court, released, and are due back in court in March.

Both houses of the state legislature voted to enact several pieces of legislation in a package that would make voting in New York easier on several fronts. One would allow 16 and 17 year-olds to pre-register to vote. Rockland State Senator David Carlucci sponsored two of the bills that passed the Senate…

Al Samuels, the head of the Rockland Business Association, yesterday questioned why 16 and 17 year-olds should be considered mature enough to take part in the voting process if they are forbidden from other activities that require higher minimum ages…

Other proposals in the package include the ability to vote by mail, holding federal and state primaries on the same day, and a plan to update campaign-finance laws that would limit contributions by LLCs. The package still needs the governor’s signature. Samuels will likely address this and other issues when he is the featured speaker at the RBA’s monthly luncheon on Thursday at Crown Plaza in Suffern. For more info visit RocklandBusiness.org.

The Rockland County Office for the Aging and the local chapter of the AARP are hosting their monthly meeting tomorrow. Lou Morris of the AARP says the featured guest speaker, Douglas Goodell, is an area photographer who’s produced a coffee-table book called “Nature’s Paradise: Costa Rica”…

The presentation is free and open to the public. It is being held tomorrow at the JCC in West Nyack at 12:30. For more information click the link below.