Among Gov. David Paterson’s 2009-2010 budget proposal were some boosts, too. One was a $1.1 million investment in outreach to make sure returning military veterans and their families get the government services to which they are entitled. It would include a mobile unit to travel the state.. (Click here for  highlights of Paterson’s budget plan.)

Rockland Veterans Service Agency Director Jerry Donnellan welcomed Paterson’s veterans investment. He noted that a mobile unit is especially important in upstate New York where it takes hours to reach a VA hospital or clinic, instead of the several options within an hour Rockland veterans can use.

Donnellan pointed to his two-year struggle to get names of returning veterans from the federal government so he can support them when they return home. Any help at the state level to connect veterans with their advocates will help. “If the governor can impress on the incoming president that this is a good idea,” he said of getting him information on new discharges so he and his counterparts can help them get all the benefits and support they’ve earned. “The technology is there … send me the people coming out that have ZIP codes that match Rockland’s,” Donnellan, a Vietnam veteran, said. With such early and local support, he said, “They’re going to get treatment sooner, they’re going to get their benefits sooner, if they have an illness, they will get treated sooner.” That will benefit them, and their community.

I spent a couple hours today visiting the Summit Park Hospital and nursing home facility, including the special Alzheimer’s floor, the soon-to-be dialysis treatment unit, the regular hospital and the nursing home. I also got to peek at the auditorium, the volunteers’ offices, the physical therapy and occupational therapy rooms, and, got to meet Fiona, the very sweet Golden retriever who hangs out with patients and staff, and seems to make everyone happy.

Leading the tour was Hospitals Commissioner Richard Maloney, who offered to show me various places, and I said yes each time. It seemed to make sense to get as much of a view of the facility that the county wants to spend $140 million to rebuild. I also took a look at various rooms (they are set up differently, depending on if they are in the hospital floor or nursing home, because there are different needs). I asked questions (some that politely couldn’t be answered because litigation) about the furniture, which I observed was now bolted to the wall, especially dressers and freestanding closets. A patient died in August after a closet had fallen on her—it was the third closet to fall, though no one else had been injured in the previous incidents, according to reports. The dressers, too were bolted, which residents whom I visited with had told me.

This tour was very informative, and Maloney and other staff were responsive to any requests. As I’ve said in earlier posts, I had wanted to get a tour because the closet incident had stirred up much controversy. Also, the county’s plan (now on hold for a year, with the state’s blessing) to build a modernized hospital/nursing home is a huge project—I wanted to understand their needs more clearly. I had requested a tour, but my requests had been declined, citing privacy issues of patients. After more requests, I was told to contact the Law Department. My calls were not returned. I then made a request to County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. That morning, Maloney called and offered me the tour.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never checked to see if a community levied a hotel occupancy tax before booking a room for a vacation, a business-related trip or any other travel.

If I’m going to Disneyworld, I’m not booking 30 miles away to avoid a tax. In fact, I’m probably not going to be aware of the tax until I see my bill when I check out. I’ll expect it to be there and will be shocked only if it doesn’t turn up.

So I find it hard to believe that adding a county hotel occupancy tax will put a damper on the tourism trade around here or keep business travelers from booking a room close to their meeting or sales call.

If I’m dropping in on a business here to make a sales pitch, I’m not likely to sleep in another county just to save the company a few bucks, unless, of course, it’s my own company.

It’s kinda like the argument that a mortgage transfer tax was going to put the brakes on the real estate market. It took a lot more than adding a few hundred dollars in tax to the price of a home that might have been more than half a million dollars.

If someone wants to buy a house — or book a hotel room — they’re going to be making decisions on a long list of factors way ahead of what taxes might be involved.

I do have one problem with the county looking to an occupancy tax as a revenue source, though.

It’s just not a very reliable revenue source.

Like the mortgage tax, if people aren’t buying homes because of an economic downturn, chances are people aren’t traveling as much and business may be cutting back on travel, too.

That means the county would have two revenue streams dry up instead of one in tight economic times like now.

No respectable journalist I know would throw his shoes at a politician, let alone the president — although, heaven knows, some of them deserve it.

But I prefer to do my shoe-throwing at the television at home, usually while watching professional sports events.

The last two seasons, I’ve worn out dress shoes, sneakers and deck shoes — mine and those of unsuspecting family members — just hurling them at the screen during late-inning meltdowns by the Mets.

In fact, I threw a few Sunday night. And the targets weren’t Cowboys.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be along for the ride when the Sloatsburg Memorial American Legion Post 1643  escorts Santa Claus through the village to distribute holiday gifts to children who come out to greet him  when he stops on their streets.

It’s a tradition that spans more than 50 years, with the Legion members driving their railroad locomotive-style vehicle through the roads with the Sloatsburg Fire Department’s bells and sirens leading the way.

The elf’s work begins at 9:30 a.m. on Grant Street, with another stop on Lincoln Street a short time later. there will be other stops around the village through the morning and — after a brief lunch break — right through until 4 p.m.

You can read all about the joy Santa and the Legion spread on Sunday.

Some Rocklanders were none too pleased that Ryan Karben, the former state assemblyman, spent 10 hours in jail to fufill a two-day sentence, part of a plea arrangement for his guilty plea to a violation of driving while ability impaired, down from a misdemeanor DWI charge.

So, here’s some comparisons of notable people who have had their jail terms trimmed:

• Paris Hilton served 23 days of a 45-day sentence for reckless driving and a probation violation.


• Actress Lindsay Lohan spent 84 minutes in the Lynwood jail in suburban Los Angeles on her minimum 24-hour sentence. The jail term was part of a plea bargain stemming from two California DUI incidents.


• Nicole Richie tops that: She spent 82 minutes in the same Lynwood facility, sentence was 96 hours (four days), that was reduced to 90 hours for “time served” when she was arrested. Richie pleaded guilty in July 2007 to a misdemeanor DUI charge in a deal with prosecutors that helped her avoid a potential year in jail because it was a second driving-under-the-influence conviction. Her first DUI was in 2003.

For those who don’t see the parallel, here’s one: Rockland County Sheriff James Kralik said that it is the practice of the jail to release nonviolent offenders during the morning hours of their last day of incarceration in order to get them out of the system and to prevent overcrowding. Hilton, Lohan and Richie all stayed as guests of the L.A. County Jail, in their Lynwood detention facility.  Due to jail overcrowding problems, L.A. has an early release policy for nonviolent offenders.

Any other parallels? Well, yes, they pretty much are all public figures. Karben is now a deputy village attorney in Spring Valley. He abruptly stepped down from his state office in 2006, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family (he and his wife have three girls). The resignation came as he was being accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a male intern, allegations he has declined to address. He was one of the youngest people in New York to ever hold public office when his political career started at age 18—so he’s not only been in the spotlight, but he’s often jumped into the spotlight.

So, compared to others, Karben actually served a significant portion his sentence.

Yesterday they moved the famed “Survivors’ Staircase” into its final position to be part of the memorial being planned for the former World Trade Center site.

The staircase was the escape route for many who survived the Sept. 11 terror attacks and its preservation has been a goal throughout the recovery and rebuilding process at Ground Zero.

That’s laudable, in its way, but more important would have been preserving the ashes of those who perished there. Instead, they were trucked to Staten Island and rather than being segregated an treated with respect, they got plowed into hills of household trash.

The net result is that the loved ones of World Trade Center victims — particularly those whose remains have never been identified — are forced to mourn at what amounts to a garbage dump rather than a sacred burial place.

Families have fought for years for nothing more — a proper burial place for their loved ones’ remains away from the Fresh Kills Landfill that has been their resting place. They’ve offered alternatives sites, but the city, state and even federal courts have rejected their efforts.

Instead, they see a stairway, as important as it may be, protected and  preserved,  reinforced, moved and replaced.

In a Dec. 4 post, I talked about a visit I had with Summit Park nursing home residents. We met downstairs in the round chapel because they wanted to make clear their support for the staff at the facility after the tragic death in August of a 90-year-old patient who died from injuries she sustained after a closet fell.

I said in that post that I had wanted to meet upstairs to see the facility, but the resident who arranged the meeting, Mark Watkins, informed me that “the administration” had declined, so we all met in the chapel. I again requested a tour of the facility, which houses the county’s nursing home as well as acute-care hospital.

Today, after  conversations with and phone messages to various county officials, I received a call from Hospitals Commissioner Richard Maloney, who will be giving me a tour next week.

I want to see the facility for many reasons, not the least of which, the county executive is championing a plan for a new facility—that would be funded through the sale of $140 million in bonds. The new two-story building would better meet the needs of a modern hospital and nursing home. That’s a pretty major undertaking for the county, and I would like to see what exactly is being talked about. The state has approved the project, and then this year granted a one-year extension at the county’s request.

That, and the incident that led to the death of Sister Mary Daniel (Mary Murray), along with the complaints and praise that followed, gave me the impetus to keep asking for a tour. I hope I can gain an idea of what goes on at the county facility without disturbing the lives of those who live there.

After the tour, I’ll report back.

I went to Finkelstein Memorial Library in Spring Valley last night. Just before 7 p.m., I walked in the door (after having to park in the lot across South Madison). I walk in the door and see a line, about 10 deep, of people waiting to check out books. Waiting! To check out books! Wow!

Finkelstein’s Director Bob Devino said the library’s usage, always tops in the county, has grown. He noted that libraries get a boost in a bad economy. “It’s historical,” he said, and noted he’s seen it first-hand. “Ever since I’ve been in the library business, every time there’s been a hiccup in the economy, our circulation goes up. ” It makes sense, he says. “We’re essentially giving away free books.”

Here’s the proof: In November, 34,294 people came in the library, 403 people signed up for library cards last month. In way of comparison, 624,068 items were circulated by Finkelstein from January through October this year, compared to 615,379 items in all of 2007.

All this happened in spite of the fact that library has trimmed back on services after its $6.6 million budget plan was defeated at the polls. The library cut hours this year, (they close at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. on Fridays, and are open 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays, instead of 9-5 p.m.) They also limited the number of items that can be checked out per card—12 items can be checked out at any one time; it used to be 50 items. That decision was made to control the amount of items going out, since the budget cuts included buying fewer copies of new books, magazines, CDs and other items.

With all the cuts, “we anticipated our circulation would go down and our visits would go down, and that is not the case,” Devino said.

By the way, I was at Finkelstein to speak this year’s Teen Leadership Rockland group about media literacy. Teen Leadership Rockland is a community leadership training program run by our local Cornell Cooperative Extension and Leadership Rockland. I muddled through discussing media, newsgathering, fact. vs. opinion, with a group of 15-year-olds. They were very sharp on the issues, polite, and tried to stifle their yawns.

The deck repair on the Tappan Zee looks great and feels great as you head from Rockland to Westchester — until you hit the plates.

I wasn’t expecting the heavy metal plates to still be in place on the eastbound bridge this morning and they came upon me before I had the opportunity to slow from about 50 mph, which isn’t exactly fast when there’s little traffic.

Then, thump. Plate number one. And again. Bump. Plate number two. And again, and again and again.

Five plates in close succession and five jolts to the front end, not to mention my spinal column.

I had to be done with them, I thought, but no — there were two more and, a little further on, still another pair. The last not only provided a thump and a bump, but they added a little jingle.

Loose washers rattled as I crossed the plates, providing a little unexpected and unnerving  musical accompaniment.

Making the return trip, I entered the bridge thinking the westbound ride had to be smoother.

And it was, until I hit four large sets of heavy-duty plates just west of the superstructure.

More bumping and thumping.

Word was last week that plates were being moved and asphalt was being used to ease cars up and across the plates.

There was no sign of that today.

If I were using the bridge four or five days a week — as I did for years — I’d be campaigning for the Thruway Authority to provide an annual front-end adjustment for my car.

Given the length and extent of the problems with the plates, that would be a fitting holiday gift for everyone who has averaged  16 or more EZ Pass trip a month during the deck project.

But don’t turn blue waiting for that gift to arrive.

Instead, you can expect the same advice as always — Maintain your usual speed and hope for the best!