Jeff Lewis

Rockland is getting a state-run COVID-19 testing site today, opening at noon in Stony Point at the Patriot Hills Golf Club. Ramapo supervisor Michael Specht says he was surprised RCC wasn’t again chosen as a location as a state site for COVID testing…

Operating hours in Stony Point after today’s noon opening will be Monday through Saturday from 8 AM – 6 PM and you must make an appointment.

To find other sites near you, click here.

Meanwhile, the FDA announced yesterday they are expanding the eligibility for Pfizer booster shots for those ages 12 to 15. At her daily COVID press briefing yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul said it’s encouraging to see younger kids become available for the shots…

The FDA also shortened the time between primary vaccination and the booster dose to at least five months, down from six months. A third vaccine dose was also authorized for kids 5 to 11 years old who have compromised immune systems.

Meanwhile, COVID numbers here in Rockland are heading up again…the number of active COVID cases is up from 8,645 over the weekend to 12,116, and the number hospitalized with confirmed COVID cases is up 32 from 77 to 109.

Top Rockland officials and five unions are seeing more money in the new year. The county settled five-year contracts with staff and maintenance workers with the Civil Service Employees Association, department management, doctors, employees with the United Public Service Employees Union, and jail correction officers. They got annual pay raises, up to 3%. 1,600 employees also got $2,500 in COVID bonuses, the Journal News reported. Rockland County Executive Ed Day says the work county employees did during the COVID crisis has been exemplary and the raises well-earned…

Each of Rockland’s 17 legislators got an additional 15-grand for a total of $64,000 a year; Day got $24,500, making his $211,000 salary among the highest in the region; Sheriff Louis Falco’s pay went up $21,000 to $201,000; and County Clerk Donna Silberman was boosted $13,850 to $170,770.

Ramapo Police arrested an unidentified Connecticut man Thursday and charged him with arson and criminal mischief stemming from a Montebello house fire in November. Police say the 58 year-old Danbury man was arraigned and released on his own recognizance as the charges did not qualify for bail. An Order of Protection was issued for the homeowner and its residents.

The family of a Spring Valley woman who died while in police custody two years ago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Village Police Department. The Journal News reports the family of 53 year-old Tina Davis is claiming police were negligent and insufficiently trained in dealing with a person with mental health issues. Davis died during a confrontation with police. The State Attorney General’s Office cleared the police of criminal wrongdoing last year.