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With the holiday recess approaching, Congress has little time to reach an agreement on President Biden’s $110 billion request for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs. While White House officials and key Senate negotiators appeared to be narrowing on a list of priorities to tighten the U.S.-Mexico border and remove some recent migrant arrivals already in the U.S., Senate Republicans said yesterday not enough progress had been made to justify staying in Washington beyond today. Rockland Congressman Mike Lawler of the 17th district told “The Morning Show” Tuesday the border, Ukraine and Israel are all critical issues for American interests…

Early Wednesday, leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus vowed to oppose the policies under consideration. The Senate last night passed an $886 billion defense spending plan that includes funding for Ukraine, but reportedly not Israel or the border.

A lawsuit may be what’s needed to stop the congestion pricing plan from becoming official early next spring, that’s according to Rockland’s Congressman, Mike Lawler of the 17th district. Lawler told “The Morning Show” yesterday the MTA’s plan is designed to fleece suburban commuters…

Earlier this month, the MTA Board voted to approve the pricing structure suggested by the Traffic Mobility Review Board, calling for $15 tolls for West-of-Hudson commuters to drive below 60th street in Manhattan, along with a number of other fees and higher prices for those without EZ-Pass. The plan is expected to bring in $1 billion for the MTA’s capital plan, and reduce congestion and pollution in Manhattan. The review board thinks they’ll see a 17% reduction in the number of cars, that’s 153,000 fewer each day. A four-month public comment period is now underway, and changes could still be made before it is implemented this spring.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the U-S District Court for the Southern District of New York’s dismissal of a lawsuit that had accused the Town of Clarkstown, Supervisor George Hoehmann and CUPON-Nanuet of thwarting a yeshiva’s contract to buy the Grace Baptist Church and violating the Yeshiva’s religious rights. That’s according to RCBizJournal.com. The $10 million case now goes back to the District Court for further proceedings. RCBiz editor Tina Traster told “The Morning Show” Monday that what was once thought to be a done deal, isn’t over quite yet…

Four years ago, Clarkstown moved to purchase the Grace Baptist Church for $4.5 million, with the deal closing in early 2020. Nothing’s happened there since then. We reached out to Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann and CUPON-Nanuet but did not hear back from either.

With just a few minor tweaks, the Rockland County Legislature last week adopted the County Executive’s $870 million budget for 2024. In a 13-0 vote, the legislature kept County Executive Ed Day’s two percent property tax cut, maintained programs and has no layoffs. The County Executive has five working days after receipt of the amended adopted version to issue any line-item vetoes. The Legislature has until December 20th to override any vetoes.

Indian Point Shutdown to Take Eight More Years
The company that’s overseeing the decommissioning of the Indian Point nuclear plants says the process will take up to eight years longer than originally anticipated, and they’ll have to lay off 130 people right after Christmas. News 12 reported Holtec International made the move late last week, at the meeting of the Oversight Board. In August, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation banning the dumping of radiological waste from Indian Point into the Hudson River. Holtec says the layoffs are the result of the project of transferring all waste from the plant to dry cask storage now being complete. A Holtec representative told Spectrum News the 8-year delay is based on what the company has encountered at other plants it’s been handling, and the possibility of legal action.

Rockland to Host Holiday Ceremonies Monday Afternoon in New City
Rockland County is holding its annual Blessing of the Nativity Creche and Lighting of the Menorah in front of the Allison-Parris County Office Building in New City this afternoon. The Blessing of the Nativity Creche gets underway at 3:30 pm, and the Menorah Lighting starts at 5pm. For more information visit www.RocklandCatholic.com or www.ChabadOfRockland.org. The creche and the 15-foot menorah will be on display outside the front of the Allison-Parris County Office Building.

A New City couple has been arraigned on charges of murdering the man’s grandfather and stealing from him while his corpse was hidden in their home. Rockland County D-A Tom Walsh and Clarkstown Police Chief Jeffrey Wanamaker announced that 32 year-old Constantinos Doonan and 26 year-old Jo-Ann Haughey both of New City were charged yesterday with second degree murder and other charges. They say 85 year-old Constantinos Mastakouris was killed January 29th or 30th earlier this year at their home on Ruth Drive in New City. They say the couple hid Mastakouris’ body in a crawl space in the house, not far from where they slept and near their two young children. They also claim the couple stole from him for about a month and a half after the killing. Representatives from the DA’s office and the Clarkstown Police Department said the body wasn’t discovered until March 19th this year, about six weeks after he was killed, but no word on what caused his death. The pair both face murder, burglary, grand larceny, concealment of a corpse and other charges. They were both sent to the Rockland County Jail and if convicted, face a maximum of 25 years to life in state prison.