News

The Association for the Visually Impaired held their annual White Cane Awareness Day event yesterday at Dominican College in Blauvelt. Executive Director Beth DuBoff says the event has celebrated the achievements of those who are blind or visually impaired since 1964…

Yesterday’s event featured demos of assistive technology, a community resource fair, and the keynote speaker was abstract expressionist painter Busser Howell, who lost 98 percent of his vision at 15 and went totally blind by age 40. His work can be seen at the Rockland Center for the Arts’ “Visions of Awareness” exhibit through November 24th. The center is located at 27 South Greenbush Road in West Nyack. For more info about the Association for the Visually Impaired, visit AVIeyes.org.

A wake was held yesterday for the Pearl River High School student killed in Sunday’s tragic crash on the Route 304 overpass near Crooked Hill Road. The funeral service for 17 year-old Altin Nezaj will be held this morning in Yonkers. Services were also held yesterday for the 15 year-old Brooklyn girl killed in the crash that sent the driver, a 17 year-old from Orangeburg, to the hospital. Saniha Cekic was buried in Millstone, New Jersey, yesterday following services in Astoria, Queens. The driver of the car, 17 year-old Aisha Radoncic, was reportedly in good condition at Westchester Medical Center yesterday, according to published reports. Orangeburg Police say drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the crash. Nezaj was on the Pearl River High School football team, and Saturday’s “Little Brown Jug” game against Nanuet will be played in his honor. If you have any information about the incident, contact the Orangetown Police Department at 845-359-2121. State senator David Carlucci has called on the state DOT to review the area of 304 where the accident happened and improve the guardrails there.

Criminal justice reform legislation set to take effect in January has area lawmakers slamming or defending the new laws. State Senator David Carlucci, a supporter of the reform, says some of the laws could have unforeseen consequences, and changes should be made…

North Rockland and Orange County assemblyman Colin Schmitt says the package was passed during a late-night session with little discussion, and fears it’ll take a tragedy to fix it…

Schmitt says the laws will require local governments to spend lots more than they expected and that could be devastating for them. Western Ramapo and Orange County Assemblyman Karl Brabenec called the laws – quote – “one of the stupidest pieces of legislation this year” which included a long list of criminal charges that would no longer require bail…

Brabanec and Schmitt are looking to get the laws repealed, while Carlucci says they can be amended and fixed.

A Catholic priest from the area has been placed on administrative leave after allegations of child abuse from years ago have surfaced. Published reports said Monsignor Edward Weber, the director of the Priest Personnel Office in the Archdiocese, has served as pastor of West Nyack’s Saint Francis of Assisi parish since 1994, and as regional vicar of Rockland County since 2002. He was also at Saint Sylvester’s in Staten Island in the late 70s and early 80s, and the abuse allegedly occurred during his time there. Earlier this month Cardinal Dolan sent letters to parishioners of the three parishes Weber was affiliated with, and said the administrative leave is not a punishment, and that Monsignor Weber still has “the presumption of innocence.”

Rockland’s county executive is standing by his veto of the proposed “Rockland’s Future” summit passed by the legislature along party lines last month, with Democrats voting for it. Rockland County Executive Ed Day says the proposed summit should have included and been led by Rockland’s Human Rights Commission…

One of the issues the summit would have focused on is over-development in the county, which Clarkstown Legislator Harriet Cornell noted was a hot topic last month at a legislature meeting…

The summit would have also focused on anti-Semitism and other expressions of hate, poverty, and cultural diversity.