News

The owner of the New Jersey 7-Eleven has been ticketed for selling homemade sanitizing spray that burned four children in River Vale. 47 year-old Manisha Bharade was charged with endangering the welfare of children and deceptive business practices for allegedly mixing and packaging the mixture in spray bottles for sale in her store. 14 bottles were sold at $2.50 a-piece, some of them have been turned over to police, who do not believe she was trying to hurt anyone with the concoctions.

Rockland now has six confirmed coronavirus cases, and some have led to the closing of three East Ramapo Schools until the end of the day next Friday the 20th. Hempstead Elementary School, Pomona Middle School and Ramapo High School are shut down due to exposure, and the entire district and the admin building remain closed today as sanitizing continues. Spokesman Scott Salotto says it’s unclear whether any other schools will need to close…

A one-mile radius around ground zero in Westchester, Young Israel synagogue in New Rochelle, is being contained by the National Guard, called in yesterday by governor Andrew Cuomo…

Schools, houses of worship and other large gathering places there are temporarily closed. State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker says the strategy there has shifted from containment to mitigation…

And along those lines, though Saturday’s New York City Half Marathon has been cancelled, and the New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center, originally set for April, has been rescheduled to August 28th through September 6th, there are no plans to cancel the St. Patrick’s Day Parade next Tuesday. “Jeopardy” said they’ll do shows without a live audience. The major sports leagues are keeping everyone but the players and staff out of their teams’ locker rooms. The rock band “Pearl Jam” cancelled the first part of their North America Tour, and now Rockland and Westchester state senator David Carlucci has pulled the plug on his coronavirus town hall in West Nyack in favor of a teleconference instead…

The teleconference gets underway tonight at 6pm. To participate, dial 518-455-2828 and use participant code: 167-038. Video of the teleconference will be made available on Senator David Carlucci’s Facebook page.

Additionally, coronavirus concerns have led the town of Ramapo to cancel criminal court March 12th and March 17th, traffic court March 12th, March 16th and March 18th, and civil court on March 18th. Notifications of new court dates have been sent out. Call the court if you have any questions. All other Ramapo court calendars, including the civil calendar on March 16th, will take place as scheduled. Rockland Pride Center in Nyack has suspended all support groups, events, and drop-in hours. You can still call or email them if you need anything. The Suffern Central School District will be dismissing early on Friday to review strategies in case any buildings need to be closed. They say Friday’s Suffern Middle School musical production, “Singing in the Rain,” will go on as planned. North Rockland will be closed Friday,

If you are concerned about symptoms or travel, call the Department of Health’s coronavirus hotline at 1-888-364-3065. Click here for the Rockland County Health Department’s coronavirus website.

A leading national teacher diversity mentoring program has partnered with an area college to help address the teacher diversity gap in the nation’s classrooms. Susan Cerra of Dominican College in Blauvelt says 20 students from the East Ramapo School District in the “Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers” program toured the campus and participated in a workshop to learn more…

For more information about the program, visit their website, http://www.tstt.org.

Hempstead Elementary School, Pomona Middle School and Ramapo High School in the East Ramapo School District are closed due to confirmed cases of coronavirus. Students at each school tested positive. Those three schools are shut through March 20th. All East Ramapo schools and the administration building remain closed today. The numbers across the country, state and county continue to rise as testing results return – New York now has the most cases nationwide. Rockland’s sheriff has reportedly suspended inmates’ visitation to prevent coronavirus from hitting the jail population. People have been making runs on hand sanitizer, so to combat price gouging, the governor announced yesterday the state would be putting the prison population to work to make sanitizer and provide it free to schools and other government institutions. In his press briefing yesterday, Andrew Cuomo said the hysteria and panic surrounding coronavirus is unwarranted, but certain groups, including the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, should be careful…

The governor is also calling for a paid sick leave quarantine bill, and he’s looking to the state legislature to pass that quickly. He’s hoping that would encourage people to stay home if they need to. Clarkstown supervisor George Hoehmann says as of now there are no plans to close anything in town……

Rockland and Westchester state senator David Carlucci is hosting a free informational session with Crystal Run Healthcare and the Mental Health Association of Rockland County for those who are concerned about the virus. It’s being held tomorrow at 6pm at Crystal Run Healthcare at 2 Centerock Road in West Nyack. If you are concerned about symptoms or travel, call the Department of Health’s coronavirus hotline at 1-888-364-3065. Click here for the Rockland County Health Department’s coronavirus website.

A New Jersey boy suffered burns to his arms and legs after he used what police say was a “spray sanitizer” bought at a 7-Eleven in River Vale yesterday. Police there issued a safety alert and seized any remaining bottles. Police Lieutenant John DeVoe says they believe the spray bottles were only sold at the River Vale 7-Eleven, but an investigation continues. If you bought the sanitizer from the 7-Eleven in River Vale, call the police at 201-664-1111.