LoHud has a report on a a child who attends Jesse Kaplan School in West Nyack being diagnosed with the drug-resistant staph infection known as MRSA. This is the first known case in Rockland. The school is run by Rockland BOCES.
Schools throughout the Lower Hudson Valley have been paying extremely close attention to the infection, called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. My district recently sent home a letter explaining the measures being taken to not only combat the bacteria (making kids wash sports uniforms, etc.) but also to educate children about hygiene. Gym teachers have been giving lectures on personal hygiene (not a bad idea in middle school); signs about not sharing germs are being posted around schools (always wise for elementary grades). Other districts are taking similar measures.

I’m like many parents — I’m a rather reasonable person, even somewhat level-headed, until it comes to my kids. What I see the schools doing in relation to MRSA seems to be a good balance. It’s a very serious health risk. Yet, adults want to be careful to avoid making children completely paranoid. Let’s hope the child recovers quickly and that this one case is a fluke.

Schools are knocked for just about everything. Too much, too little. It’s always easy to look back and criticize. I guess at this point I am grateful the schools moved fast to take “preventive measures” and hope that work pays off.

Now that election endorsements are being published, we’re ready to receive letters from candidates who weren’t endorsed. It’s their turn to get in a word — or 250, the maximum letter length.
We want to publish those letters. We want every office-seeker to have an opportunity to discuss his or her ideas. Those who receive an endorsement, however, don’t get a letter published. We figure they’ve had their say, even though some of them would disagree.
So, candidates, it’s a limited window. We need your responses soon. Send them to letters@lohud.com.
And, to every candidate: Thanks for running. It’s a big time commitment, it’s an emotionally taxing experience, but it’s what makes democracy work.

State Sen. Thomas Morahan was late for dinner last night in Albany—something that’s not all that unusual for a legislator when there’s business being conducted.
But this was different.
The Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State were holding their annual awards banquet last night at The Desmond Hotel in Colonie, not far from the Capitol. The senator and I were both recipients last night, but Morahan’s chair at a table right in front of the stage was empty when the time came for the presentation to him as as “Legislator of the Year.”
They skipped over him and moved on to one or to other presentations before his arrival—just as dinner was hitting the table.
He was held up because the Senate had been in session until about 8:30, mostly to deal with Gov. Spitzer’s plan to permit the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.
They rejected it overwhelmingly.
When the time came for Morahan’s award, the emcee had to stop to ask people at a rear table to quiet down.
They were singing “Happy Birthday” to someone at their table as dessert was served.
After the Morahan citation was read, he stepped up to offer some comments.
The first words out of his mouth were, “Are there any anniversaries? Any other birthdays?”
The crowd of more than 500 burst into laughter.
In the eyes of Jawonio Executive Director Paul Tendler, Morahan is a champion of the cause of creating independence and improving the lives of those with developmental disabilities.
It was clear the other cerebral palsy agencies around the state feel the same.

Endorsement hearings are moving along. We are interviewing all County Legislature candidates and challengers, as well as town supervisor and town board candidates. We also will interview those running for mayor and trustee for the villages of Haverstraw and Spring Valley.
The meetings usually take an hour, sometimes less. We don’t let candidates debate; we ask questions and they take turns answering. We limit some responses. We have a lot to talk about in these meetings, and we don’t much need the social niceties, we need information. And we need to get on to the next batch of candidates.
The only day we fell behind was yesterday — of course, that was the day we scheduled four hearings.
First meeting of the day: County Legislature District 6. Bruce Levine, Alden Wolfe and Judah Lerer. Multiple candidates need some managing, and these are three candidates who know the issues, and can talk. Really talk. OK, some talk more than others. OK, Levine talks the most. (He said it first; but the other two are hardly shrinking violets.)
As we walked out to the lobby, a half-hour late, District 17 candidates were next. Connie Coker and Paul Valentine were outside chatting amiably. As Coker greeted her current colleague, Levine, and her former colleague, Wolfe, Levine said he was likely the cause of the overtime session. Coker laughed and said if she had known he was before her, she wouldn’t have worried about showing up on time, and would have called Valentine and let him know not to rush.
Today (so far) we’re right on time.

This is a little bit of a catch-up, but with blog problems interrupting, and endorsement hearings ongoing, I haven’t had a chance to comment on this until now.

A few weeks ago, the state Department of Transportation announced that it would rethink, and scale back, its plans for a much-needed replacement of the James A. Farley Memorial Bridge in Stony Point.
The news was remarkable for many reasons: It saved some property that many in town considered important to their history. It actually was a plan that fit the town’s needs and desires, rather than a state agency’s predictions and designs.
But, the really amazing part was that when people rallied, and participated in the process by speaking at public meetings and writing letters, a state agency responded.
Refreshing, huh?
And, we really do need to acknowledge that the Stony Point Action Committee for the Environment (SPACE) did very significant heavy lifting on this. Their push to get people to turn out and speak up, and their belief that the system can work is what made it work.
It seemed so odd at the time that residents, many of whom were likely the ones to be stuck in traffic on Route 9W, were the ones pushing for a more modest, and smaller crossing. They didn’t see the need for a bigger, wider bridge across Cedar Pond Brook.
Good for town residents, who, instead of picking from two DOT plans, sought a better alternative. Good for Town Supervisor Phil Marino for listening, and agreeing with his constituents. Good for SPACE for pushing not for the better of two alternatives, but for the best possible outcome.
Yes, we are aware that there’s now plenty of politicking going on among, between, against and around these different factions as Nov. 6 nears. But on this, even with politics always lurking under the surface, it’s important to acknowledge the work, and success, that happened in Stony Point.

Grammar is a funny little thing.
Preserve Ramapo has sent out a notice to its supporters announcing an Open Space Rally tomorrow night to push the town to dedicate open space purchases as parkland. Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence has said it’s not necessary, because the way the open space was purchased already gave it protection. A Journal News editorial, Belts and suspenders on open space, urged the extra step of parkland dedication by the town.
So, where’s the problem? Read the following excerpt from a Preserve Ramapo e-mail:
“… Why does St. Lawrence continue to refuse to dedicate these properties?
… You can ask the Supervisor yourself tomorrow night (Wednesday Oct. 10) at the Open Space Rally at Ramapo Town Hall. Join Preserve Ramapo and the Journal News who insist that the dedication of these lands makes sense.â€? (I added the bold.)
Whoa! We don’t rally. So, maybe it’s just poor sentence structure. A Journal News editorial did back the parkland designation. Or maybe it’s an intended implication that The Journal News is part of this rally.
If you are interested in the rally, it’s at 7:15 p.m. tomorrow, Ramapo Town Hall on Route 59.
If someone is there from The Journal News, it will just be to cover it, not to participate.

Tomorrow, we start candidate endorsement hearings. It’s always a pretty big undertaking, but this year, it’s busy, busy, busy. We’re also working on getting various information from candidates e-mailed in. News reporters are making sure the election database is complete.

Here’s some funny conversations I’ve had with candidates:

One asked if I had called his challenger. I said no, but I was about to look up his number and contact him. He said, “Oh, I think I have it. Hold on.” Then gave me the number of the guy who is trying to unseat him. Very nice.

Others have asked if they would sit in the same room with their challengers. Yes. It’s not a debate, with and Editorial Board member moderating the discussion, but yes, all in one room at one time. Some didn’t like this. Oh, well.

And, of course, one sent in an e-mail asking if he could fax his responses to the four questions we are asking candidates for their profiles. We state in the instructions, and during all conversations, that these have to be e-mailed in. It just puzzled me that he would want to fax something that he got from a web site, then would print out, and send an e-mail to find out how to fax, when he could just send the responses in that e-mail. Color me puzzled.

It’s gonna be a long election season.

Well, election planning is in full swing. We’ve set and published a list of endorsement interviews. We also have information here for candidates, including the four questions that we will post with candidate profiles on LoHud.

Of course, there’s always a learning curve. Here’s the silliness we’ve already encountered (and, well, yeah, we brought it upon ourselves to some extent.)

• Candidates e-mailing in the four questions without their name or office sought anywhere on the e-mail. And no, you can’t always tell from the e-mail address. So, we’ll add a line reminding candidates to include their names and office sought on future notices.
• Confusion about questions sent out over the summer by the League of Women Voters. Not the same thing. This is a different animal. Answer these questions, please. If you don’t you won’t have your information complete for our readers (and voters.)
• Some candidates have said they don’t have e-mail. No, I’m not kidding. We will only accept question responses via e-mail. This is a huge undertaking that we hope will help voters be informed and empowered. Streamlining submissions to come only via e-mail is one way we can actually get this accomplished. Go the library. Ask a kid. There are ways to get access to e-mail.

Other problems, questions, concerns, comments? I’m listening.