Jeff Lewis

Clarkstown’s supervisor knew something was amiss when he wasn’t able to get in touch this summer with the now-former Clarkstown School District’s superintendent of schools as he had been accustomed to. Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann says he is scheduled to meet with the interim superintendent in the near future…

Superintendent Dr. Martin Cox had been called out recently for starting school early, before Labor Day this year, his pandemic mask policy and a diversity and equity initiative. Dr. Cox had been Superintendent of the Clarkstown Central School District since 2016. The board expects to have a full-time Superintendent in place for the next academic year.

Her grandparents would be proud, they immigrated from Ireland to The United States, and now she’s met with Ireland’s prime minister as the head of the State of New York. Governor Kathy Hochul welcomed the head of Ireland’s government, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, to New York City as United Nations week opened yesterday, and said she hopes more visitors will eventually follow…

Martin agreed and is also eager to get things back to normal as well…

The U.S. Monday said airline restrictions will be eased this fall on some international travel for people who have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test. The changes are set to take effect in November.

Here in Rockland, we did lose another to COVID, our total death count is now at 978. The number of hospitalized with COVID is up to 26 and the number of current cases, also up, stands at 864. Another grim COVID milestone has been passsed: more Americans have died during this current pandemic than the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Johns Hopkins University reports more than 675,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19.

The city passed another COVID milestone last week as four major Broadway shows re-opened. Hamilton, The Lion King, Chicago, Wicked and others re-opened for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. The famous TKTS booth in Times Square on West 47th Street, which is run by a non-profit organization and offers same-day discounted tickets, also opened again. WRCR’s Market Analyst Ken Mahoney of Mahoney Asset Management in Chestnut Ridge is also a Tony Award-winning producer. Mahoney says it’s great to see people coming back to the theater, but two things need to happen before Broadway can be profitable again…

Broadway does come with some additional COVID safety precautions, including the elimination of intermissions. Audience members must prove they’ve been vaccinated, and they have to wear masks.

The Haverstraw-Ossining ferry service is back up and running, after being shut down during the pandemic. Rockland County Executive Ed Day says the service will be discounted as the MTA recognizes people who work in the city now have different work schedules…

Before the pandemic there were more than 500 daily riders on the ferry.