Jeff Lewis

The town of Orangetown yesterday approved a deal with the village of South Nyack to bring three officers from the Village police department, including chief Dan Wilson, into Orangetown’s department and purchase some of their vehicles and equipment. At a special meeting yesterday afternoon, Town Attorney Robert Magrino said there was a slight wrinkle that initially delayed the deal…

South Nyack’s last day as a village will be March 31st, but the police department is disbanding as of midnight on January 1st. South Nyack residents voted to dissolve the village last December.

The New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square will be a much smaller affair than New Yorkers are accustomed to, and will have many COVID restrictions in place. Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday that in addition to requiring proof of full vaccination with valid photo ID, attendees will have to wear masks during the all-outdoor event. On Wednesday, Governor Kathy Hochul said she thought the event could go on as it had in years’ past, but said, ultimately, it’s a local decision…

Normally 58,000 people show up for the Times Square Event but this year’s celebration will keep it limited to 15,000 people, and you won’t be allowed into the area until 3PM, much later than past years.

An Orangeburg company is working with American Forests and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s educational program, Project Learning Tree, to help teach kids here in Rockland and across the country the important role forests play in fighting climate change. Nice-Pak’s Global Director, CSR and Sustainability, Deb Fillis Ryba, says “Project Learning Tree” has a curriculum available this spring for local teachers, community leaders and residents, and Nice-Pak employees, to teach kids in Kindergarten through high school about the connection between trees and human health…

The three-year program will plant 150,000 trees throughout the U.S. It’s part of Nice-Pak’s commitment to the international campaign to grow one trillion trees worldwide by 2030. For more information about “Project Learning Tree” visit their website, www.PLT.org or www.1T.org.

A Rockland County corrections officer will get probation in exchange for his guilty plea yesterday to misconduct charges. Rockland D.A. Tom Walsh says 35 year-old John Kezek pleaded guilty to Tampering with Public Records and Official Misconduct charges. He originally faced 78 separate counts. Walsh says Kezek admitted to making false entries into the records maintained at the jail, and he confessed to exposing himself to a female inmate while on the job two years ago. News 12 reports Kezek will get five years’ probation when he is sentenced next March. Kezek was the second officer caught in the investigation. Rockland Sheriff Lou Falco says another officer pleaded guilty to official misconduct and promoting prison contraband earlier this spring…

39 year-old Christopher Taggart got two years of probation in April. He also resigned.