News

A portion of Route 17 in Hillburn has officially been renamed the “Justice Thurgood Marshall Memorial Highway.” Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice Marshall came to Hillburn in 1943 as lead counsel for the NAACP, and with the help of parents and local activists, desegregated the Brook School for black children and the Main School for white children…

That’s Rockland State Senator David Carlucci on the Senate floor earlier this year. Marshall became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in June 1967 and held the position for 24 years. The governor signed the legislation naming Route 17 after Justice Marshall last week.

A Rockland man has been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the Bronx after he reportedly left his two infant twin children in his hot car, after forgetting to drop them off at daycare when he went to work Friday. Temperatures hit 88 degrees Friday in the Bronx. Published reports said one year-old Luna and Phoenix Rodriguez were pronounced dead near West Kingsbridge Road. 39-year-old Juan Rodriguez of New City, who works nearby at the Bronx Veterans Affairs hospital as a licensed clinical social worker, didn’t discover the children were in the car until after he left work later that afternoon. News 12 reports he was released on $100,000 bail. Neighbors reportedly said Rodriguez is a veteran and well-respected in the community. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family.

He was drunk. That’s the reason, according to The Buffalo News, that Richard LaBarbera, one of the men convicted of killing Pearl River teen Paula Bohovesky in 1980, and just weeks after he was released from prison on parole, is back behind bars. LaBarbera allegedly violated his parole and was being held at the Erie County Jail pending administrative hearings. He had been sent to live in Buffalo after the outcry from area residents who didn’t want him to be allowed to return to Rockland. On Friday, Rockland County Executive Ed Day told “The Morning Show” that behind bars is where he belongs…

Day wants the governor to review recent Parole Board decisions. LaBarbera was released from Sing Sing Prison on July 8th. Bohovesky was murdered in October 1980 as she walked home from the Pearl River library.

A public hearing will be held in September on the Pearl River Transit-Oriented Development presentation that was held earlier this month. Maser Consulting looked at the possibilities for everything in the area surrounding the train station to make it more resident- and visitor-friendly, from the parking, signage, even the benches along the sidewalks. Marcia Schiffman said they suggested in some areas, taking current single-story retail and converting that to multi-story residential with retail at street level…

Orangetown supervisor Chris Day says the plan could help Pearl River modernize, and at the same time, retain its charm…

The first in a series of public hearings will be held September 8th. The entire presentation is on Orangetown’s website, Orangetown.com.