Mercyhurst lacrosse player Tom Eighmey played most of the noontime game in which his team, from Erie, Pa., beat Dominican College 9-3.
That should have made it a pretty good day. Of course, there was that little detail of an almost eight-hour bus trip from Orangeburg back to Erie.
But first, there was lunch with teammates, coaches, friends and family who drove from all around the region to see the game.
When the team arrived at Dominican’s Hennessy Hall, they found they weren’t alone.
The gym was overrun with Rockland residents getting their hair trimmed to the scalp as part of the annual St. Baldrick’s Day fundraiser for childhood cancer research. There was blasting music and lots of hoopla.
Eighmey, a defenseman, gobbled some lunch and then raced around the Hennessy Center lobby, hitting up anyone associated with Mercyhurst—and a few people who weren’t—to gather what he could—$75—for a donation.
Yep. Eighmey, whose hair fell to just below his jawbone, was getting clipped for the first time since August. But this would be a lot more radical, said the junior majoring in elementary special education.
And he loved every minute of it, laughing and joking with teammates, who passed up seconds to watch a young woman from BOCES clip their buddy clean as they stayed a comfortable distance away.
It wasn’t something he planned to be doing today, he said, although he had tried a few times to donate his locks to Locks of Love only to find they weren’t quite long enough.
When he realized the St. Baldrick’s event was going on, he decided it looked like a good cause. He was the 168th person of the day to make a donation and take a seat in a row of barber chairs.
He held on to his beard, though, even with teammates rubbing their own chins as they looked on, hoping he’d take the hint.
“I’d have let them take the beard off, but the bus was waiting,” Eighmey said as the others boarded for the ride to western Pennsylvania, where the ex-Syracuse native now lives.
Was he figuring to take some ribbing on the ride back?
“Yeah,” he said, “but I’ll handle it.”
The folks back on campus will have to get a quick look because he’s planning to let it grow back.
“I like it long,” he said, even if short sounded good for a good cause.

So, last night I decide to go to the League of Women Voters of Westchester and Rockland’s forum on the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor’s future at Kendal on Hudson, a very nice retirement community tucked into a bucolic section of Sleepy Hollow. On the way there, I turned too soon (and went right when I shoulda gone left) only figuring out my mistake when I was well into the Rockefeller State Park Preserve. My only consolation was, I’d heard much of the early information a few times, and Project Team leader Mike Anderson of the Department of Transportation arrived even later! He got lost too! That cheered me up for some reason — a DOT guy got more confused on the roads than I did! Of course, he charmed his way out of it after he walked in late (and smiled graciously when he found  Cheryl Winter Lewy, chair of the Westchester County Planning Board, giving his PowerPoint on the project.) Anderson, by way of apology, told the crowd, “Now I know why it took me so long to find the place. It’s such a lovely place and you want to keep it to yourselves.”

Well, the presentations were worthwhile, and the audience, mosty residents, asked some really great questions and made some spot-on statements. But, afterward, it only got worse. I turned the wrong way on Route 9 (again!) and found myself in Ossining. Nothing against Ossining, I just wanted to get home. So, I head south again, and by the time I get to the bridge, the Route 9 southbound entrance was closed for night construction. So I had to take the jughandle (eek, a Jersey flashback) to the Route 119 entrance the the highway. Then I got to wait. And wait. And wait. Then I pass the guy with a torch working on something in the superstructure area (and yes, I think all the traffic should be pushed over all the way, and for a long way before, to keep Thruway workers safe, for the record.) So, that “overnight construction” that is almost standard these days on the TZ added about 30 minutes to my wayward, far-flung trip.

All that to attend a meeting about the Tappan Zee Bridge. Sigh.

So, we are down to the wire with the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor public comment period, which ends Monday. The Project Team has said it will announce the preferred public transportation alternative for the corridor (Bus rapid transit, commuter rail, a combination of one of those with light rail in different sides of the 30-mile corridor…) The so-called “multi-modal” decision will deterimine if the project will favor a rebuilt or replaced Tappan Zee Bridge. So after a decade, we may know some real information in May.

Well, this morning’s pothole-induced traffic tieup just gives a daily newspeg to the ongoing saga.

Since I joined the Editorial Board in September 2006, I’ve spent plenty of time looking at maps, wading through reports, and going to various meetings about the TZ/I-287 overhaul plan. And, I had paid attention before, and even attended meetings as a resident who lives darn close to the bridge and highway. And you know what? I still feel like I need to know more before trying to say what’s right for the region. (Especially because the best alternative for Orange County, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam and beyond may not be the same one.)

Want to find out more, or express your ideas about the plan? Here’s the place with the information. This has all kinds of details about the environmental review, the alternatives (or options) etc. But, it also makes clear the more you know, the more you realize there’s so much more to know.

Another way to find out more is go to tonight’s informational presentation on the future of the Tappan Zee Bridge and Interstate 287 corridor from 7:30 to 9:30 in the Gathering Room at Kendal on Hudson, Routes 9 and 117 in Sleepy Hollow. The event is hosted by the League of Women Voters of Rockland and the League of Women Voters of Westchester, and the Project Team leader will be there, along with many members of the various task forces that have been studying the project.

For Western Ramapo residents, there’s a public forum to discuss the project’s mass transit options hosted by county legislators Joe Meyers, Alden Wolfe and Doug Jobson, in partnership with Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee. The meeting, at 2 p.m. April 13 at Suffern Village Hall, comes after the public comment period is closed, and that’s too bad. A lot of residents on this side of the county haven’t paid attention, figuring the big impact will be in the Nyacks and Tarrytown, when Suffern and Hillburn could see major impacts, as well. This meeting would have given Western Ramapo residents a chance to get some information and join the discussion with the TZ/I-287 Project Team, which will make the bottom-line decisions.

Today, County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef presented eight Rocklanders with medals for their service in the war on terror. There are more men and women worthy of such recognition, and support from the county, but the local government needs to know who they are to honor and support them.

Rockland’s Veterans Service Director Jerry Donnellan has been trying to get information from the state Department of Veterans Affairs to forward him contact information for newly discharged veterans in Rockland. New York state veterans leaders have declined to turn over such information, citing federal privacy laws. That’s certainly a disconnect. It seems so logical that if we want to offer veterans as many opportunities for support and benefits, we’d want to ensure a local connection. It’s another offer of assistance. It seems, considering what we ask of people in military service, all levels of government should be prepared to offer support.

“War is beyond my reach; the veterans aren’t. But I can’t help them if I can’t identify them,” Donnellan wrote in a letter to the editor earlier this month.

So, if you know someone who has returned from a tour of duty to Iraq or Afghanistan, mention that the county Office of Veterans Affairs can help them out, whenever they need it.  (Click on this link or call the office at 638-5244.)

County Legislator Ed Day, a former NYPD Chief and Commander of Detectives, has been helping out at the sheriff’s department a little these days.
The New City Republican issued a press release today saying he “has formally requested that the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department review and assess the merits of procuring the cutting edge ‘Child Exploitation Tracking System’ software, also known as CETS, in order to enhance Rockland County’s investigative efforts against those sexual predators using the internet to victimize our youth.”
Late last month, Day was announcing a formal proposal that the sheriff look at using and inmate reimbursement software program called “Pay For Stay” that is used by some Midwest counties to get county jail inmates to pay for some of their expenses.
Rockland County Sheriff James Kralik, in both of Day’s press release (Ed’s a press release expert, btw) expresses interest in the ideas and thanks the legislator for his help.
Now, Ed Day is interested in lots of issues. And, he’s a real idea man—that’s hardly a bad thing. He’s well-known for his frenetic schedule and his accessibility to constituents. And law enforcement is his bread-and-butter. But, well, is he missing the uniform?

Now that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has announced his resignation, and that Lt. Gov. David Paterson will take over the ship of state on Monday, I’ll post a brief conversation I had yesterday with Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, who was on the GOP ticket in 2006 for lieutenant governor.
Vanderhoef often crossed paths with Paterson on the campaign trail, and in previous discussions about that experience, Vanderhoef had expressed a positive impression of his former political foe. “He’s very amiable, even in our two-hour debate, it was the proper tone for a debate … he talked about how they were going to pay for things and state policy,” Vanderhoef said during a call yesterday as we anticipated Spitzer’s resignation at some point, pushing Paterson into the governor’s seat.
“He has a wit and a good sense of humor and he’s likable; those are good traits that can be helpful to him in his new test if he becomes governor.”
Vanderhoef pointed out that the lieutenant governor is used to smooth over legislative relations, a switch from the job Paterson will soon find himself in. “Now, he’s there to argue his case for executive budget-making. The differentiation is, he has to provide the executive leadership and not the diplomatic leadership.” The Republican would not comment on whether he believed Paterson was up to that task, but has contrasted his former political adversary’s amiable approach with Spitzer’s steamrolling attitude.
Prior to today’s announcement, Vanderhoef had said Spitzer, as a candidate and as attorney general, emanated a certain attitude. “There’s a set of rules for him and he’s always operated that way.”
After today’s Spitzer press conference, Vanderhoef’s press release made the proper note that it was a “sad day” for our state, and offered his pledge of cooperation with the soon-to-be governor.

So what’s taking Gov. Eliot Spitzer so long to find the door?
It can only be that he’s trying to cut some deal related to his involvement with a prostitution ring.
That’s pretty sad, right up there with Bill Clinton’s finger-wagging denial of having sex with a White House intern.
Clinton looked us all in the eye and flat out lied to every one of us only later to be forced to admit an inappropriate—and wrong, he would add—relationship outside his marriage.
No, Spitzer hasn’t lied to us. But even his sketchy statement yesterday, with his wife by his side, contained an admission of “acting in a way that violates my obligations to my family and violates my — or any — sense of right and wrong.”
He went on to apologize to the public, saying he had promised us better.
Indeed, he had.
And an overwhelming percentage of voters bought the promise and hoped for reform, a reshaping of state government that hasn’t been in touch with residents’ needs for decades.
Instead, we got ego-driven hubris that created even stronger logjams in Albany.
We got missteps that embarrassed the state almost from the oath of office.
And yesterday we all got humiliated, watching another very private, personal tragedy played out in public because an official thought the ruled didn’t apply to him.
That’s a lesson many have learned the hard way at Spitzer’s hand in his days as attorney general.
How quickly the teacher forgot.
Delays now can only mean he’s twisting and turning, trying to find a back door, a loophole, that can provide some level of escape.
Considering how rigid he once was as a prosecutor, it’s wrong for him to hope someone will offer him a break.
It’s time to just go.

Does the public deserve answers from Gov. Eliot Spitzer?
Most certainly we deserve leadership. Spitzer gave a brief statement of apology this afternoon in New York City, “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public whom I promised better.” He said he would “dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family” and had canceled his public schedule for the day.
“The sheriff of Wall Street” who morphed into a “steamroller” of a governor, ended his one-minute press conference by saying, “I will report back to you in short order,” then again thanking attendees and high-tailing it out of there. As he walked away, he was repeatedly asked if he was resigning; Spitzer walked quickly strode out, and a metal door slammed behind him.
The governor, he of quick temper and dogged pursuit of corporate wrongdoers, has admitted a mistake. He has let down his family. He has not, though, let us know if our state leadership, hammering out a budget plan that will certainly pinch many, has, well, a leader.
In short order, indeed, today, the governor must either answer all questions, or resign. We don’t get it both ways, and neither does he.
Sources have identified Gov. Spitzer as “Client No. 9” who was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month.
How much time does Spitzer need to mend his personal life? That is a question for his family, and frankly, it’s none of our business.
How much time should he get to determine his political future? A New York minute. The state can spare no less for a leadership vacuum.

Are you heading to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pearl River Sunday? Be prepared: It’s going to be chilly (40 degrees predicted high) and though stepoff time is 1:30 p.m., if you forget to “spring ahead” in the early morning hours, it’s 12:30 p.m.

Think those factors will slow down the crowd that has topped 50,000 some years? Nah! And now, with TOR now running its 92 bus on weekends, and weekend service on NJ Transit, there’s more ways to get to the parade, according to this article by JN transportation writer Khurram Saeed.

I hope to make it, if I change my clock, bundle up, find a parking space. Oh, yeah, and wear green.

What do Riverspace Arts in Nyack and the Tappan Zee Bridge/Interstate 287 Project Team have in common? Ambitious plans, great skepticism.

After attending Monday night’s Riverspace Arts discussion about a very early-in-the-stages plan to overhaul of a 4-acre area downtown, I was approached with optimistic, pessimistic and just plain skeptical comments that anything this big, this, could it be, sensical, could actually happen?

Like the discussion about the TZ Project Team open houses, the ambitious plans were often met with disbelief that it could happen at all. Or, the reaction was that the plans was going be shoved down Rockland’s throat and would be one that wouldn’t fit our county’s needs. Maybe so, but to minimize the chances, shouldn’t we be in there, helping shape the change?

Sure, both carry significant price-tags that, so far, have lots of money questions left unanswered.  Yet, “experts” in both situations insist the current status is unworkable. (With the bridge, we see that with the work crews every day.)

Now, these are very different projects, for very different purposes. Yet, for both, it’s interesting how hard it is to start a discussion when we get stuck in wrapping our minds around big change. I’m sure we’ll find out how that works in November, too.