News

Keep an eye out for bears…the weather is turning colder and they’re due to hibernate, but they may be packing in one last meal or two before they head indoors. Mike is a “Morning Show” listener, and he works at the Rockland Motel on Route 202 in Garnerville, where he says a bear was recently spotted…

Ramapo’s chief of staff, Mona Montal, told “The Morning Show” earlier this month that bear straps, designed to keep bears from getting into garbage cans, are available from Ramapo town hall, and they are very helpful…

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation advises if you see a bear, you should stay calm, make loud noises, shout, or bang pots and pans together to scare the bear away, or, if you see a bear before it notices you, stand still, then move away quietly in the opposite direction. Click here for more bear safety tips.

The financially-troubled East Ramapo Central School District has apparently been sitting on a pile of money, more than $30 million, and area lawmakers want to know how this happened and whether it’s happened before. According to the Journal News, a recent external audit discovered the money, and now demands are being made for the state comptroller to step in and figure it all out. The new Interim Superintendent is blaming the situation on the district’s previous administration. In a statement, Rockland State Senator Bill Weber of the 38th District, a Certified Public Accountant by trade, demanded the state board of education refund the money to East Ramapo taxpayers who had their school taxes raised earlier this year when the district was believed to be in a financial deficit. He’s also calling for a complete investigation.

Fire Dwindling in Orange County

Manpower’s been reduced, hot-spots are fewer, and residents of Greenwood Lake in Orange County are returning home. This after more than a week of fighting brush fires in Sterling Forest. That’s according to News 12. Thousands of acres of woods were destroyed, area schools were shut for days, and a life lost, 18 year-old Ramapo High School graduate Dariel Vasquez, who was memorialized in a funeral service Monday. Rain is in the forecast so that should help, but the work’s not completely over yet. Ground efforts to fully extinguish the fires, which are 90% contained, are reportedly going to continue for a week or more.

Roundabout Partially Opens in Haverstraw

The new roundabout at the intersection of Suffern Lane – Hammond Road – Letchworth Village Road in Haverstraw has been partially opened for vehicular traffic. Haverstraw Police say it’s temporary as construction will continue through the winter, eventually adding the intersection of Thiells Mt. Ivy Road to the roundabout.

A funeral service was held yesterday in Haverstraw for the 18-year-old Parks and Recreation aide and Ramapo High School graduate who was killed last weekend while helping create a fire line at the Jennings Creek wildfire in Sterling Forest. Governor Kathy Hochul commended Dariel Vasquez of Pomona for his bravery in protecting New Yorkers and had ordered flags around the state to be flown at half-staff, in his honor.The fires haven’t come into the Town of Ramapo, but Ramapo supervisor Michael Specht says his town’s police department offered their assistance to Orange County…

Rockland County Executive Ed Day says a fire that sparked up over the weekend at Rockland Lake State Park is under investigation…

No one was injured in that blaze and the blaze was quickly contained. Rain is in the forecast and that should help out, at least somewhat.