Breaking News

Heavy storms rumbled through the region over the weekend. Particularly hard-hit was the village of Upper Nyack in Clarkstown. The storms prompted mayor Karen Tarapata to suspend the village’s noise ordinance law, allowing residents to use gas-powered leaf blowers to clean up debris until 8pm tomorrow night. Tarapata says the Department of Public Works has been placing barricades around downed trees and power lines and is clearing the streets as quickly as possible. O&R is doing the same.

Two Rockland state lawmakers are asking the state legislature to return to session to deal with the financial crisis surrounding the East Ramapo Central School District. This comes in the wake of a new fiscal monitor being sent to the district late last month, along with the decree from the State Education Department that the former East Ramapo superintendent’s original budget plan be enacted with a tax increase that voters already rejected. Legislation filed by Rockland State Senator Bill Weber of the 38th district seeks an infusion of twenty million dollars to East Ramapo so they can meet payroll. Assemblyman Karl Brabenec of the 98th district, covering portions of Ramapo and Orange County, is carrying the bill in the lower house. Brabenec told “The Morning Show” yesterday the district’s transportation funding also needs to be examined, and State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa overstepped her bounds by single-handedly raising East Ramapo’s taxes…

Weber says the Foundation Aid formula is deeply flawed and needs to be fixed. Weber held a public meeting on that very topic on Monday at RCC.

A Haverstraw man faces up to 30 years to life in prison after being charged by the Feds with sexual exploitation and enticement of a minor into unlawful sexual activity. The U-S Attorney for the Southern District of New York says 23 year-old Oscar Lemus is accused of meeting up with minors between the ages of 14 and 16 for sex, in various locations including Rockland, the Bronx and Mississippi. He’s also accused of recording the encounters on his cell phone last summer and earlier this year. If you or you child has encountered Lemus or had any communications with him, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (that’s 1-800-225-5324).

Truck Crash Snarls AM Commute on Thruway
No word of any damage or injuries after a truck struck the South Broadway Thruway overpass yesterday in South Nyack and rolled over, causing massive delays during the morning commute. Traffic was at a near-crawl from the Tappan Zee Bridge past the Garden State Parkway connection.

State Ed. Commissioner Tells ERCSD Board of Ed. to Raise Taxes
East Ramapo School District residents could see their taxes jump after the State Education Commissioner told the school board to hike the tax levy by another 4.38% for this school year. That’s according to the Journal News. The extra money would support the district’s public schools. The district faces major financial difficulties, with the district’s facilities reportedly needing at least $200 million just to make repairs.

A former employee of the 7-Eleven in New City has been arrested and charged with attempting to burn the place to the ground. Clarkstown Police Detective Norman Peters says it all began Friday night around 10pm when they received a call from someone who admitted setting a fire behind the 7-Eleven store at 26 North Main Street. The caller also threatened to destroy the store. Detective Peters says they found 43 year-old Oksana Aleksenko of Monsey by the building where a dumpster was a-blaze, and she was holding a lighter…

Aleksenko was charged with 2nd degree Arson, Reckless Endangerment and other charges. She was arraigned in the Town of Clarkstown Justice Court, bail was set at $20,000. She was taken to the Rockland County Jail and is awaiting her next court appearance.

Four weeks after a Pomona man was shot and killed in Haverstraw, a suspect has been caught. Haverstraw Police and other officials held a press conference yesterday to provide additional details on the incident. They said family members of 18 year-old murder suspect Yandie Martinez of Haverstraw tried to get him to surrender, but eventually Haverstraw Police Chief John Gould said social media accounts and technology were used to pinpoint Martinez’s location in Piedmont, South Carolina…

The incident occurred around 4pm on July 1st, when Martinez and 29 year-old Christian Alvarado got into a fight on Main Street in the Village of Haverstraw. As Martinez chased him, Gould said Alvarado got into his car and drove off. Martinez fired at Alvarado, wounding him in the abdomen and the torso. Alvarado crashed his car into a parked car on Fairmount Avenue as Martinez fled. Though the two knew each other, Gould said the motive for the fight and shooting is unclear. At Monday’s press conference, Rockland District Attorney Tom Walsh said Martinez will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law…

Gould says a weapon was not recovered, it’s unknown how Martinez got to South Carolina, and he wouldn’t comment as to whether this was gang-related. Gould said Martinez was already known to the local police, but those records were under seal, and he could not discuss them. Martinez is being held at the Greenville County Correctional Facility in South Carolina. He’s expected in court there on Monday on a federal warrant charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. He’ll then be returned to Rockland by U.S. Marshals, and he’ll face multiple felony counts, including second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Meanwhile, the investigation continues, and Gould said they are also looking into who may have helped him try to escape, to bring them to justice, as well.