Today’s editorial, explores Rockland legislators’ efforts to launch a Silver Alert program in the county that would help find people who have Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia if they go missing. (The Lower Hudson Valley, as Director of Putnam County’s Office for the Aging William Huestis describes it, a “gray belt,” with a significant and growing population over 65.)

Both Westchester and Rockland have invaluable programs that help protect seniors who suffer from cognitive impairments. Project Lifesaver in Westchester outfits Alzheimer’s patients to tend to wander with a tracking device that is strapped to their wrist. Last fall, an elderly Yonkers woman who had the bracelet for a week was reported missing. She was found, uninjured, within two hours, wandering a half-mile from her home. In Rockland, the county sheriff’s Computer Assisted Rescue Effort program, or CARE, archives school pictures and vital information for children between kindergarten and eighth grade, providing quick access to a recent picture of a child reported missing to be transmitted to all police agencies, as well local merchants, businesses, agencies and other outlets that have signed up for the alerts. CARE coordinator Deputy Sheriff Walt Famular has expanded the program to include vulnerable adults, including those with dementia, Alzheimer’s or  developmental disabilities. “The power of the program is proportionate to the amount of people we can reach,” Famular told the Editorial Board explaining the expansion of CARE in 2007.

The Rockland County Legislature will set a public hearing to discuss the Silver Alert proposed legislation at its meeting 7 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 1). The Silver Alert legislation is sponsored by Legislators Bob Jackson, D-Nanuet; Jay Hood Jr., D-Haverstraw; Gerold Bierker, C-Bardonia; William Darden, D-Hillcrest, Jacques Michel, D-Spring Valley and Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern.

Most people in Ramapo, and Rockland, have heard of Preserve Ramapo, an environmental activist group that has morphed into a ballot line, and has spoken out long and loud against the policies of Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence. Preserve Ramapo’s Web site defines the group as “The not so silent majority.” (Personally, I would have hyphenated not-so-silent, but, that’s the old copy editor in me.) Articles posted include “Upset Over School Taxes? Better Take a Closer Look,” that chronicles East Ramapo Schools Superintendent Ira Oustatcher’s salary, and “St. Lawrence’s Protege Files Complaint Against the Police Union, Department, Town, and Fellow Officers,” but an EEOC complaint filed by a Ramapo rookie officer who was raised in the Hasidic community.

Some have questioned what this type of coverage has to do with land use/smart growth/environmentalism—other stories on the Web site include current environmental and land use issues in Ramapo—but the leadership of Preserve Ramapo has been clear about who they are and what they want—mostly St. Lawrence out.

Now, there’s Reserve Ramapo, which defines itself on its Website as “The Majority that does not cry.” Its articles, often signed by “a Reserve Ramapo Staff Writer” though sometimes signed by Yitzchok Schreiber, chronicles the positive happenings in Ramapo (Maple Avenue Project Nears Completion Ahead of Schedule) or the problems with Preserve Ramapo-backed candidate Bruce Levine, who is mounting a Democratic primary challenge against St. Lawrence, (Bruce Levine’s Late Financial Filing Shows Litte Support for His Campaign.)

No big surprise that two groups with very different (diametrically opposed?) points of view would see things so differently. But here’s what’s interesting. Pretty much everyone who follows local politics knows who the chairman of Preserve Ramapo is: Robert Rhodes. He signs letters to the editor that way; he identifies himself when he speaks out at public meetings that way. And if you click the button on Preserve Ramapo that says “Contact Us,” you are referred to the Web site’s editor, Michael Castelluccio.

I couldn’t find and equivalent button on Reserve Ramapo, and a search for Contact Us found nothing. So, besides Yitzchok — and thanks for signing your name — who is Reserve Ramapo? Their graphics, by the way, are quite pretty. Don’t be shy, take credit for your hard work. Everyone deserves a POV.

Today, amid a busy, crazy, newsy kind of day, I joined many of my colleagues to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of our former colleague and my neighbor, Myra Dembrow. Myra was just 58, so young, with an attitude of a fighter, a challenger-of-all-things, an intellectual giant, a devoted and wonderful mother and a skilled journalist. She worked for The Journal News for some 33 years, as a sports reporter, news reporter, and layout/design editor and more. I worked with her when I was a copy editor some 20 years ago, and then about a decade ago when I was on the metro desk. She was a no-bull, quick-witted worker who meant business and did her job, extremely well, no matter what was thrown at her. She was also a caring friend and wonderful support for a new mom, offering toys, clothes, advice of her easygoing friendly parenting style (and her children Dan and Audrey, and their many friends are true testaments to her success. I know how proud she was..) At her funeral service this afternoon at Congregation Sons of Israel, many recalled her as “irreverent and reverent.” That was Myra. We were all so lucky to know her, her community was better for her presence and devotion, and she taught us all so much with her constant bravery, her insatiable intellect and her fierce love of friends and family—and her fabulously wicked sense of humor.

The chatter is on over a recent candidate’s debate for Democratic Spring Valley mayoral candidates. Six are running on the Democratic ticket, and five are Haitian-American. So, a Haitian Creole local access cable talk show held a debate at Finkelstein Library, in Creole. The one non-Haitian candidate, Bernard Charles Jr., who was not invited, called the event exclusionary.

Mayoral candidates county Legislator Jacques Michel and village Trustee Demeza Delhomme defended the Creole debate. Michel told staff writer Suzan Clarke that it was not unusual for various ethnic groups to hold discussions — on politics or on other issues — in their own language. Village Deputy Mayor Noramie Jasmin, also a Democratic mayoral hopeful, said she found the Creole debate ill-considered and  didn’t attend because ” I’m there to unite, not to divide,” and she also had a prior engagement. Also running in the Democratic primary are village Trustee Margareth Jourdan and Vilar Fonvil. Former Spring Valley Mayor Allan Thomspon is on the Republican ticket.

Our forum posters saw the debate plan as exclusionary:

I totally agree that the language issue here is clearly one of exclusion. … Maybe the new SV mayor can get stimulus funds to get everyone Rosetta Stone English lessons.

As I Haitian myself, I 100% against a debate in creole. English is what binds those who live here together.

I want to personally thank those 5 idiots for helping me decide who to vote for.
Mr. Charles, you have my vote sir and my support.

Today’s Community View by Rockland Business Association President/CEO drew comments. After all, it’s about Indian Point, which continues to be a hot-button issue in the Lower Hudson Valley. Samuels’ basic point? Well, here’s the “nut graf,” editor-speak for the sentence or sentences that summarize the essence, and context of the story or the “why it matters” statement:

Samuels says:

From a business standpoint, shutting down Indian Point’s 2,000 megawatts of safe, clean power would have a serious impact on our entire regional economy.

I’m not against nuclear power – but keeping this thing on the Hudson – one of largest fish (and so food) breeding estuaries in world is nuts. Even if the plant is safe there were things like 9-11 plane that flew right over and also the engineer from there that killed himself and his family. It’s too risky.

I retired from 30 years with Con Ed.I know just what a “power pocket” the Hudson valley is. Aside from the ex-Con Ed power plants in NYC ( whose power exclusively serves NYC), there is NO generation in this area.
No generation, that is, except Indian Point.
Shut IP down, and you’re looking at 3 or 4 blackouts a year, forever.

Indian Point helps clean the Hudson up, by not using diesel oil, coal, or any other “dirt fuel”, which would end up in the river. Nutcase phobias won’t help us survive Mr. Obama’s Great Depression II, but a smoothly running Indian Point will.

2007 FILE PHOTO: Indian Point nuclear power complex in Buchanan, as seen from Tomkins Cove, across the Hudson River.

If you want to stir up some talk in Rockland, say these four words:

Hudson—River—Drinking—Water.

Wowee. You’ll get a response.The concerns over United Water’s plans to tap the Hudson to supply drinking water for Rockland has many concerned not just about the water quality (United Water has assured Rocklanders that they have the ability to make the water potable) but also the energy costs, the environmental impact on the river and the slippery slope of an unlimited natural resource that many fear will lead to unbridled development.

Even at a recent backyard barbecue with members of my spouse’s basketball team, the United Water plan was the talk of the evening — and that was in southern Orangetown, not near the Haverstraw site where the plant would sit.

Now, in Haverstraw, the issue gets mixed into the dwindling tax ratables in the once-industrial town that has been slammed by Mirant tax challenges and is about to get it again with another round of assessment challenges to the Bowline plant. The water treatment plant (United Water seems to prefer that to “desalination plant” for the site that will treat the brackish water of the Hudson near Haverstraw Bay) would be sited on 9 acres at a former town landfill. It’s estimated the facility would provide approximately $5.5 million in tax revenue to the town when it’s fully operational; it is expected to go online by 2016.

Is the tax argument relevant? Environmentalists and others say no. The idea of drinking water from the Hudson (from a plant that sits across from Indian Point) has many people concerned. Several environmental groups have banded together to form the Rockland Coalition for Sustainable Water. That group points to various issues, from pollution to the high energy use for reverse osmosis, that they see as problematic with a Hudson water treatment facility. There’s concern that water rates will skyrocket because of the high cost, especially in energy use, of water treatment, let alone the opposite trend of using instead of conserving energy.

Then there’s the philosophical issue of development vs. resources. Now, all Rockland’s water comes from within its boundaries, and during dry weather, we struggle with shortages. But, many say, it’s a natural way to curb development. If there’s not enough water to support growth, that growth will be curbed. The Hudson, though, represents an unlimited source of water. If that’s tapped, development could be unlimited. Other infrastructure, especially roads and sewers, won’t be able to keep up.

We’ve been getting plenty of letters for and against United Water’s planned water treatment plant. (Here’s two recent letters: Ambry reservior a better solution backs the former long-term water solution plan, Stony Point’s Ambry Pond. Water conservation won’t do it alone backs using the Hudson as a solution to Rockland’s cyclical water shortages.)

This week, Haverstraw Town Planning Board weighs United Water’s request to build the water intake line and pumping station, part of its planned pilot plant along the Hudson. The company has said it wants to use a pilot plant to test methods and get information on drawing Hudson water, cleaning out contaminants and desalinating the water to make it potable.That, they say, will help them create a more efficient treatment plant.

Are you convinced that a Hudson River plant is the right move to fix Rockland’s water needs? (BTW, United Water is required to address long-term supply needs as part of a negotiated settlement when it sought a rate increase in 2006. That’s what this treatment plant does.) Are you concerned about drinking water from the Hudson, when people are limited in the kinds and amount of fish the can eat from the river? Do you think that the issue of energy use should be weighed, or the tax base that could be built for northern Rockland?

Finally! Staff writer Ben Rubin reports today at the county and Volunteer Fire Association Tappan have come to a settlement regarding curbing the county placed in front of their Washington Street firehouse driveway during a revitalization project in the hamlet. (Story here.)

This has gone on for two years, and put a freeze on finishing the project, leaving a big hole, construction barrels and police tape, creating an eyesore in an otherwise lovely project to spruce up the historic Orangetown hamlet.

Firefighters say that curbing impedes their response time, because it stops many volunteers from pulling into the lot at one time when there’s an alarm (plenty of Rockland firehouses have this flat-curb construction for this very purpose, including the one in my neighborhood). The firefighters accused the county of trespassing. In March, a  state appellate court decided that the offending curb should go but it seems the relationship between Tappan firefighters and the county was testy enough to put off a deal until now.

It should have been clear from the moment  firefighters pointed out the problem that a different approach was needed. But for two years, county officials were digging in, and firefighters were making sure local residents knew who they thought was to blame for the construction mess.

As for the nice talk now? As Rubin noted in his article, the settlement stipulated that public comments by either side should reflect a “positive attitude” about the resolution.

Don’t forget, firefighters have filed a federal lawsuit accusing county officials of altering county maps in attempt to take away firefighters’ land.

We’ll see where the rest of this goes, but for today, it looks like the curbs will finally be altered to fit the firefighters’ needs, a move that should have been made some two years ago.

FILE PHOTO: Raymond Slavin, president of the Volunteer Fire Association of Tappan, stands outside the hamlet’s Washington Street station March 16 where a street curb has caused much controversy.

The U.S. Education Department has re-set its guidelines for schools’ response to the swine flu, saying the schools should stay open unless “high numbers” of kids come down with H1N1 virus. (See story in today’s USA Today here.)  It’s a big change from last spring, when 700 schools first closed for two weeks, acting on guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control. The CDC later changed that, and said parents should keep sick kids home for a week instead and schools shouldn’t close.

Other guidance offered? Educators should set up a room for kids to wait to be picked up if they exhibit symptoms. And, students should be kept home 24 hours after their fever subsides, rather than the earlier recommendation a week. The new timeline was called “more practical” by CDC Director Thomas Frieden, who also said that if the virus becomes more deadly, things would change.

Such recommendations are serious business. Though this isn’t policy, but rather guidance, local health departments and schools pay close attention to help them determine how to handle such complex decisions.

And, at least in Rockland, the earlier guidelines were implicated in a dramatic incident in South Orangetown Middle School. According to authorities, a father became enraged by a form letter from the Rockland County Health Department about swine flu that had been sent home to parents by South Orangetown Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell. The guidelines, including not closing schools, were explained in the communication. The boy’s son attended the school and had been ill with flu-like symptoms. The man held the superintendent (whose office is in the middle school) at gunpoint, and according to Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe, threatened to shoot Mitchell in the heart if he didn’t close the school because of the flu outbreak and rewrite a Health Department letter. Mitchell wrestled the gunman to the floor and disarmed him, police said.

The man is charged with second-degree kidnapping, first-degree criminal use of a firearm, second-degree burglary, third-degree burglary, first-degree coercion and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer has laid the groundwork for a psychiatric defense.

FILE PHOTOS: Top, Police respond to South Orangetown Middle School after a parent held the superintendent at gunpoint on June 8. Authorities say he was upset with a letter sent out by the school about H1N1 flu.

Above, South Orangetown Schools Superintendent Ken Mitchell, who was held at gunpoint, but wrestled the gunman to the floor and disarmed him, police said.

Plenty of stories in the region impact us in Rockland in a profound way. The July 26 crash on the Taconic State Parkway that killed eight is certainly one of them.

The news yesterday that the driver, Diane Schuler, was both drunk and stoned, brought back all that community talk. Every person I talked to — letter-writers I called, my neighbors, the woman in the supermarket line, the county legislator at last night’s Rockland County Legislature meeting — all commented on the shock, the anger, the betrayal so many felt hearing that  Diane Schuler had a BAC of .19 and high levels of THC in her bloodstream. (News story here.) She and her 2-year-old died, as did her three nieces. Her 5-year-old son was critically injured. Also killed were the three Yonkers men riding in the vehicle she slammed into, head-on.

Tomorrow at 1 p.m., The Journal News/LoHud.com Editorial Board will try and broaden the conversation with an Editorial Spotlight discussion on drunken driving in general, what this case may tell us in specific, and how we can, if we can, make our roads safer.  Joining us will be Rockland County Court Judge Charles Apotheker, who oversees the county’s Drug Court, which recently added those accused of DWI. Drug Court offers drug (and now DWI) offenders an opportunity to avoid jail by pleading guilty and entering into a rigorous program of treatment, counseling and monitoring. If they are successful, graduation from the program means the charges are either dropped or greatly reduced.

Also on the panel will be William Knack, a psychologist in Chappaqua who specializes in families and alcoholism, and Joan Bonsignore, executive director of the Westchester County chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. We are still inviting panelists, and I’ll update here as we confirm.

LoHud.com viewers can contribute questions via Cover It Live, to the right of the Livestream video.

JOURNAL NEWS FILE PHOTO: Flowers and a small wooden cross rest near the accident scene on the Taconic State Parkway on July 28, two days after the crash that killed 8.

It was a recipe for disaster: A roadway bridge that carries traffic from a huge condominium complex and residential areas in Valley Cottage to Route 59 and the New York State Thruway needed major structural repairs. Its closure would mean traffic would have to head the other way, and traverse hilly, windy roads that traveled through residential areas unaccustomed to much daily traffic.
The road had to be closed. The traffic had to be diverted. And it worked. In fact, it worked very well. The New York State Thruway closed the bridge on July 8, and opened the roadway three weeks ahead of schedule, on Saturday (news story here). During the closure, detours were well-marked and manageable. Even though traffic delays are expected as work continues, it’s a terrific summer treat.
Some smart decisions that eased the pain: The work on the 54-year-old bridge was timed for school summer vacation, so school buses were mostly spared and any traffic mix from Nyack High, along the detour route, was minimized. Clarkstown Police were on hand during the beginning of the project and at busy times to minimize confusion. Because time is money, the Thruway Authority contractor used double shifts and more expensive materials, including quicker drying cement, to speed up the $1.9 million project. Nearby residents seemed to take the miles-long detour in stride, some saying they altered work hours to avoid heavy travel times.
The Thruway Authority deserves a nod for its planning, and neighbors deserve a thanks for their patience. Let’s hope that everyone keeps up the good work over the next few weeks, as lane closures are expected during the last stages of the project.

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Mountainview Avenue Bridge in Nyack in June, before it was closed for repairs. It carries traffic from Valley Cottage over the Thruway and to the Thruway entrance or Route 59.