Today, the north Rockland community is mourning the death of a 13-year-old girl killed in a sledding accident, and hoping for a full recovery for her friend, also hurt when their snow tube struck a tree at Haverstraw town’s Philip J. Rotella Memorial Golf Course. (Edited 1/21. Thanks, guys.)

Sledding is not allowed there, but it is a popular spot for that exact activity. Bales of hay are often set up, sometimes moved. These facts are repeated by our forum posters, maybe to explain the unexplainable, to somehow alter the depth of grief that is unalterable.

Those are facts: The kids, with a bunch of other kids who have done the same thing over the years, were where they shouldn’t have been trying to have some fun on a snowy day. That does not, though, change the raw, unforgiving truth. A young girl, an 8th grader, a beautiful, warm, friendly child, was killed in a split-second event. This is a tragedy, a great loss.

Look here for a tribute a friend posed on YouTube.

Here is a quote from a friend’s myspace page:

“She was so sweet and smart why her…She was just having a little fun when the accident occurred. …

We all no she had much more to live for and a bright future ahead of her.”

When Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1981, replacing President Jimmy Carter, the event was both historic and tension-filled.

For 444 days, 53 Americans had been held hostage in Iran, a captivity that grew out of an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The standoff between Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist government and the Carter administration was heightened by an abortive U.S. attempt to rescue the hostages, with helicopters crashing in a huge wind storm.

As the end of Carter’s term drew near, it seemed less and less likely they would be freed on his watch.

In fact, it became rather certain they would get their freedom only after Reagan had taken his oath.

Expecting the events might come in rapid succession, we wanted to get both stories in The Journal News in Rockland, then an afternoon newspaper. Being a Tuesday, when smaller newspapers meant shorter time needed to print that day’s edition, I bargained with out production staff for a 2 p.m. press start for papers destined for home delivery. Papers for newsstands were printed at their usual late-morning start time.

As expected, the Carter-Reagan transition took place just before noon. We then waited and sweated in our old composing room in downtown Nyack.

We were monitoring the Washington events on on television and all-news radio in addition to watching our wire services, which back then included the Washington Post, the Associated Press and United Press International.

The first report that the hostages had taken off wasn’t enough. We waited for a confirmation by broadcast media and also the AP.

Sure that the hostages were free, we completed Page One reporting that Reagan had been sworn in, with the hostages freed about 30 minutes later.

The 444-day ordeal, which began Nov. 4, 1979 and spanned the entire year of 1980, was finally over. During that time, nightly updates on ABC evolved into a new late-night news show, Nightline. During their captivity, the hostages missed the February 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Gold Medal performance by the U.S. Olympic hockey team and the eruption of the volcano at Mount St. Helens in Washington.

Five days later, on Super Bowl Sunday, the hostages returned to the U.S., landing at Stewart Airport in Orange County, to be reunited with their families at the Hotel Thayer, on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

In case you missed the Obama Inauguration celebration yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial, here’s your chance to join the singalong with Pete Seeger, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and Bruce Springsteen. Yes, they sang every verse of “This Land is Your Land,” by Woody Guthrie. Note that Seeger spent many years of his childhood living in Nyack and his roots in the Hudson Valley (he still lives in Dutchess) are deep. The 89-year-old is a true American icon, encompassing a living history of the 20th century in his stories, and in his songs. Locally, his activism to restore the Hudson River, with the sloop Clearwater and the Clearwater Festival in Croton, are his gifts to us.

So, his leading the nation in This Land Is Your Land (words here) had my whole family stop and listen, and even sing along (yup, all 6 verses, plus the chorus.)

Try it! Here.

Soon to be President Barack Obama’s search for shovel-ready public works projects need not look any further than the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel that’s part of the Port Authority and NJ Transit project called Access to the Region’s Core.

The tunnel will connect New Jersey to midtown Manhattan’s West Side at 34th Street, doubling the hourly number of trains that can cross the Hudson River. Eventually, the project will provide Rockland commuters using the Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines with a one-seat commute.

The project cleared a major hurdle to getting federal transportation funds when a Record of Decision was filed, thus ending the extensive environmental reviews necessary before the work can move ahead.

What’s important now is that Record of Decision will put ARC in a position to get some of the money Obama is prying loose from Congress as part of the overall economic stimulus  package.

Unfortunately, at least in part because of the inability of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Thruway Authority to get on the same page in the early stages of the Tappan Zee Bridge / I-287 Corridor project, it likely isn’t far enough along to get a boost from federal stimulus money.

Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael Fleischer was visiting with our Editorial Board earlier today and we had a chance to chat for a few moments after the session. When I suggested that a more cooperative relationship between the MTA and the TA might have moved the Tappan Zee project along quickly enough to get stimulus funds, he wasn’t going there. And he wasn’t buying my suggestion that the Port Authority and NJ Transit had better partners and their cooperative spirit moved ARC along more quickly.

He thought it was more a matter of the MTA having so many projects on its plate, he said, like the Second Avenue Subway that it was hard to dive into another when the TZ study began.

The Thruway Authority hopes to get a share of the stimulus money designed to move ahead public works projects to spur employment and use part of the funding to cover costs of the remaining deck resurfacing of the present bridge — work that’s scheduled to resume in the spring.

But the Tappan Zee project — now with the state Department of Transportation as the lead agency — still has a couple of stops before a Record of Decision is released, likely in 2010, according to the study team’s most recent time line.

So, we learn that no news is no news from Simon Property Group, owner of the Nanuet Mall. Staff writer Hema Easley reports today that a year after Simon pledged to unveil exciting renovations to the very quiet (eg, pretty darn empty) mall, there’s been no word. Nada. (See story here.)

I was just at the Nanuet Mall a couple Sundays ago. A shoe store was closing, and they were having a big sale. A friend of mine dragged me there because the deals were “can’t miss.”

I can attest that the place is pretty empty and quiet. Almost downright meditative. The food court is barely half full (though my son notes that as long as they have a Nathan’s, they’ll be OK.) The service focus (barber, dentist, etc.) is such an odd mix for a mall. But, you can really get things you need there, if not things you want.

Ideas for the Nanuet Mall that included creating a “lifestyle center” with high-end stores had been floating around on Simon’s Web site for several years. Simon owns 70 such “community/lifestyle centers.” Then, last February, the plans disappeared. A couple weeks later, it was announced that anchor store Boscov’s was closing. That site is still empty. Nowadays, a section of the expanse parking lot is rented out to the county as a commuter lot.

So what will become of the mall? Will it end up an outlet center (Simon owns the very attractive Jackson Premium Outlets in New Jersey, as well as Woodbury Common, a popular shopping place for Rocklanders.) Could the upscale plan still be in the works? (Simon also owns The Westchester, on the high end, as well as the Galleria at White Plains, not so much. ) Remember that as the Palisades Center was going though its long and often contentious approval process, the mall’s “mission” changed a few times. At one point, it was to be very high end, then it was going to be a big box discount magnet. It’s neither, nor is it both. But, man, is it packed during the weekends, even in this sour, dour economy.

So, what will become of the Nanuet Mall? The recession (yup, I use the “r” word with abandon) will likely stall the already slow plans. But, there was one forum poster’s comment on today’s story that gave me a giggle:

“Squirt” says:

How about knocking it down and turning it back to farmland? We need more local farms in Rockland. Who needs another mall?

So now safety experts aren’t satisfied that we’ve adapted to going hands-free. Now they want us to stop using cell phones all together while driving.

The idea here is to save lives, so you just can’t poke much fun at it, but for one, I think I concentrate more on the road if I’m using a cell phone, just because I don’t want my mind to drift from the road.

But really now. It’s almost impossible for police to enforce the hand-held cell phone ban now on the books in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, three other states and the District of Columbia.

Much like the seat-belt law, it seems to be enforced only when it’s secondary to some other infraction even though it’s a primary offense — something an officer can stop you for with no other cause.

But you seldom see that happen.

We’re a nation of cell phone addicts now, made so by marketing, multi-tasking lifestyles and our thirst to stay connected to family, friends and work.

We make calls for the slightest reason, text at the drop of a vowel and search for directions, movie times or ball scores when we should be focused on just one thing — the road ahead.

It’s risky business, no doubt. But are we ready to give it all up? Texting while driving is nuts and surfing behind the wheel is asking for trouble. But will we stop calling and talking?

Just Sunday night, I called my daughter Kelly while she was on her way back to school at West Virginia University. Yes, she was driving and yes, I called her cell phone.

But I did it because I thought she should know about the snow she might encounter in central Pennsylvania. I weighed the risk ands made the call.

Maybe we need to do more of that before we dial.

But really, how will police enforce an all out ban in the age of Bluetooth?

Better not talk back to the Garmin or strike up a conversation with the OnStar person.

And heavens, don’t ever talk to yourself.

Plenty of interesting stuff in Gov. David Paterson’s State of the State address.

Here’s one of those “Rockland connections” things: Paterson, when discussing his ambitious energy plans for the state, focused on the auto industry’s need for a long-term rechargable battery for electric and hybrid vehicles. Paterson believed upstate New York was positioned to be the place to develop this key product, and talked about an upstate consortium that would work toward this goal.

Well, believe it or no, there’s a Rockland connection (isn’t there always?) William Henry Hand, a South Nyack native, experimented with lead acid battries and came up with a design that lasted up to 15 years. It was used in sea rescue boats during World War II, as well as by first responders locally. He had a lab at his S. Franklin Street estate. (It was at one time the only residential site to be named a state Superfund site after DEC testing turned up lead leaking into the soil. The site was remediated.)

According to a 2003 feature article, Hand closed the lab in 1964 and had never patented his inventions, including the storage battery. Hand also has been credited with other inventions, including inventing a plastic that his then-boss, Thomas Edison, used to reduce background noise for is own invention, the phonograph.

So,  Paterson’s onto something: New York’s got the history of breakthrough inventions. Maybe someone kind find Hand’s notes on his battery and get a jumpstart on positioning New York as the power behind hybrid autos.

I was just updating yesterday’s post about impending school delays, but it was getting a little unwieldy. So, here’s a continuation of the updates:

WEDNESDAY (LATER) MORNING UPDATE: OK, now my school district closed for the day, citing road conditions. Looks like  a “wintry mix” in the weather forecast. Most other schools (at this point) are on a two-hour delay. Libraries and other facilities are posting opening at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. or 1 p.m., trying to hedge their bets when the ice and slush will be cleaned up. Which school district/library/etc. made the right decision? Time will tell. It’s pretty easy to find fault with these calls—imagine having to be the person who has to make the choice.

WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Not much in the way of snow where I am, but plenty of ice. The sidewalks are sheets of ice as I discovered during the early morning dog walk (there may be a two-hour school delay, but there’s no such thing as a dog-walking delay.) So, make a bigger pot of coffee and let the kids sleep in. All Rockland public schools are on a two-hour delay; what else can you do?
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Snow is coming, snow is coming! It’s looking like this is going to be the winter of oddly timed snowstorms that will upend evening plans and/or send schools scurrying to decide whether to close before the weather has turned. Not a drop of snow and already, after-school activities have been canceled. Last snowstorm, Dec. 19, had schools closing before any snow had fallen. This time, the snow starts in the early evening, and so superintendents will be up at 4 a.m. watching weather reports and making one of the most controversial decisions that comes with the job—whether to delay the opening of school or shut for the day. No matter the decision, there will be a group of unhappy (and likely vocal) parents. Also, if another snow day is used tomorrow, districts will have used up two snow days already, and January’s not near over. I guess that long spring break may not end up being so long, after all.

One thing that won’t be canceled, though, is tonight’s reorganizational meeting of the Rockland County Legislature. I checked with Chairwoman Harriet Cornell’s office and was told the 7 p.m. meeting is on schedule.

We’ll see tomorrow if there’s a school delay or a cancellation. Either way, bundle up, watch your step and be patient. Snow happens.

The late-in-the-game cuts to the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has hit Rockland hard, because, well, we are blessed with a lot of state parkland.

Today, Laura Incalcaterra reports on the local impact of state park cuts here.

Because the biggest (spending) season for state parks — summer and fall — are over, the cuts ordered by Gov. Paterson stick out much more because most of the budget’s already been spent. There’s been plenty of complaining, says Eileen Larrabee of the state parks agency, which she sees as a good sign, in a way. “We love that people love our parks,” she told me this afternoon. “We love our parks.”

The local impact of cuts include snow closures on Seven Lakes Drive that will mean western Rocklanders who use the road as a direct link to the Sloatburg area to Stony Point will have to go the long way. Cutting down on winter snowplowing also means parking lot closures at Nyack State Beach (the Hook) where there’s no on-street parking. So walkers have to walk much farther for their Hudson-side stroll.

At Rockland Lake, parking lots are closed to save on plowing, with only Lot 1 at the north entrance open. The bathrooms closed early, too, and seasonal staff were let go early because of the budget cuts.

But, porta-potties are being brought in for the Knickerbocker Ice Festival at Rockland Lake on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25, the launch of the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial. Yup, we’re celebrating 400 years on the Hudson with a big party that uses porta-potties, while nice (heated) bathrooms are locked up for the season.

Oh, well, what’s a broke state to do? Larrabee says the parks agency is open to ideas from local communities. “On the upside, it’s encouraging to hear the important role that parks play in … communities,” said Larrabee, trying to sound optimistic.

BTW, the Knickerbocker Ice Festival should be scupturific. Check this out; and make sure you look at the gallery. It looks like a lot family fun. Just uh, go before you go.