Breaking News

Voters in the East Ramapo school district tomorrow will go to the polls again to try to get a budget in place for the upcoming school year. After the last budget plan was turned down by residents last month, the board came back with a new $331.9 million spending plan that increases taxes one percent instead of two percent. Assemblyman John McGowan of the 97th district, covering Orangetown and portions of Ramapo, says a state-run fiscal control board isn’t the best option…

The state fiscal control board bill introduced last month by Rockland Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski ended the legislative session without a Senate sponsor. Meanwhile, the Senate has its own bill, but it ended the session stuck in the Rules committee. The polls in each Ward are open from 7am to 9:30pm tomorrow for in-person voting.

State lawmakers could be called back to Albany for various pieces of unfinished business, and at least one Rockland Assemblyman has a bag packed and at the ready if called. Assemblyman John McGowan of the 97th district, covering Orangetown and portions of Ramapo, says legislative leaders are trying to come up with alternatives for the now on-hold congestion pricing plan…

McGowan says alternatives to get the money that’s been lost, now that the congestion pricing plan has been temporarily shelved, include an MTA payroll tax or adding a new tax to businesses in Manhattan.

The child hit by a minivan in New Square Tuesday night – in the same spot where another died earlier this year – is expected to survive his injuries. News 12 reported the boy, a two year-old, was struck and suffered a head injury near the intersection of Stern Street and Clinton Lane around 7pm Tuesday night after apparently going into the street between two parked cars. Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco says the incident reminds people similar incidents have happened recently in the area a few times…

The 38-year-old driver from New Square reportedly stayed on the scene and was cooperating with Ramapo Police. The incident remains under investigation.

A child is in serious condition after being struck by a minivan in New Square yesterday. That’s according to News 12. They say the incident occurred near Stern Street and Clinton Lane around 7:15 last night, reportedly the same intersection where an 8 year-old was struck by a school bus and killed earlier this year. The child was taken to Westchester Medical Center, and the driver reportedly remained on-scene. No other information was available.

Two Ramapo Police officers suffered minor injuries while they were arresting an allegedly drunken man who was having difficulty getting into the home he lived in. Police say 44 year-old Antonio Aguilar-Oliva had kicked in the front door and smashed windows of the Hillcrest home on Helen Court early Friday morning. Police say they got several calls of a man yelling and breaking glass, and when they arrived he fought with the officers. One of the officers suffered a dislocated shoulder. Aguilar-Oliva was arrested and charged with assault, obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest. He was being held in the Rockland County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Airmont Audited by State Comptroller

The New York State Comptroller’s office has released its findings of a recent audit of a village in Ramapo and found they overpaid for various services. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says in one particular case, the Village of Airmont potentially overpaid a vendor nearly $37,000 for snow plowing services. Additionally, DiNapoli says six claims totaling just over $42,000 did not comply with the Village’s purchasing policy. DiNapoli suggested the village should conduct an independent audit of claims prior to payment. Village officials reportedly disagreed with aspects of the Comptroller’s report, but said they accepted the recommendations and planned to take corrective actions. The audit covered a two-and-a-half-year period from January 2021 to July 2023.

Former Westchester Cop Gets 4 Consecutive Life Terms for Murders

A former Westchester police officer convicted in federal court of killing four men in Orange County eight years ago has been sentenced to four consecutive life terms on Monday. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, says former Briarcliff Manor officer Nicholas Tartaglione beat and strangled one of his victims, and shot the three others execution-style. Tartaglione was found guilty last year in the killing of 41 year-old Martin Luna, 25 year-old Miguel Luna, 35 year-old Urbano Santiago and 43 year-old Hector Gutierrez in April 2016 after torturing them and burying them in shallow graves on his Otisville property. He believed at least one of the men owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars in a cocaine deal. WABC News reported Tartaglione spoke at his sentencing, and denied doing anything wrong and said he was being framed. The judge reportedly called him “a monster” and “delusional.”