TIMELINES, May 21, 2015

Sloatsburg accident claims life of popular Orange County man

A two-vehicle accident on Sterling Mine Road in Sloatsburg on Monday resulted in the death of a 40-year-old Orange County resident known for his presence in the Piermont community.

Stefan Connolly of Warwick was killed at around 2:40 a.m. when his vehicle drove over the road’s double yellow line and hit a garbage truck head-on, according to Ramapo Police. An investigation into the crash is ongoing, but police have stated they believe the incident was purely accidental.

Connolly, a graduate of Ramapo High School, was highly popular as a nightlife fixture in Piermont, where he worked as a bartender at the Turning Point and the Tequila Sal Y Limon, the latter of which he co-owned. Connolly also had plans to open a brewery in Warwick.

Cycle accidents leave one dead and one injured

A 52-year-old cyclist was hospitalized on Saturday after he was struck by a car leaving a driveway in Pomona on the same day a hit-and-run resulted in the death of another cyclist on Thursday.

The unnamed cyclist was traveling down Route 202 when he collided with the car at the intersection with Camp Hill Road at around 5:10 p.m. The incident, which remains under investigation, left the cyclist with injuries to his leg, shoulder, ribs and head for which he was taken to Nyack Hospital.

Another accident at Old Route 304 and Cypress Street claimed the life of Alfred Zalvidar of New City on Saturday. Zalvidar was struck by a vehicle at 2:10 a.m. and taken to Nyack Hospital with serious injuries to his head, leg and body. Zalvidar died from his injuries on Monday.

The vehicle was allegedly driven by Robert Faist, 32, of New City. Though Faist drove off after the collision, police were able to positively identify his Jeep by debris left behind at the scene, was arrested at 11:15 p.m. on Saturday and charged with a felony count for leaving the scene of an accident.

The collisions on Saturday are the second and third cyclist-related accidents this month. Before them, Alan Taylor, 62, was killed on May 5 after he was killed by a driver who was allegedly impaired by drugs.

On eve of summer, Tallman Park still without pools

Tallman Mountain State Park has been without a pool for years. As summer approaches yet again, change does not appear on the horizon.

A 10-year lease agreement between the Palisades Interstate Park Commission and Tallman Recreation LLC expired recently, meaning recent efforts to reopen the pool have not met with success. Before the collapse of the agreement, Tallman, a private company contracted to renovate and operate the facilities, had succeeded with renovating the property and signing up members.

However, Tallman ultimately dropped their efforts after state regulations hampered progress and the corporation’s managing director Cheryl Mujica died in January 2014 at the age of 47.

The pools were drained by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission due to budgetary reasons in 2009 and have remained unused since then. Though the facilities sit on a scenic spot by the Hudson River and the park itself draws 400,000 visitors a year, the pool had suffered from dwindling attendance and financial difficulties long before its closure.

School board budgets pass across the board

Rockland’s latest round of elections saw largely windfall results for 2015-2016 school budgets in all of the county’s school districs, including East Ramapo where the school budget was approved in a narrower but still decisive vote.

Most of the elections passed by wide margins. The closest vote in East Ramapo cleared a $218 million budget which includes a 1.3 percent tax increase. Voters in the East Ramapo School District approved the budget by a margin of about five percent, with 5,200 “yes” votes overcoming 4,193 “no” votes.

East Ramapo also re-elected two current members of their school board and added another. Yonah Rothman and Jacob Lefkowitz retained their seats on the board while Juan Pablo Ramirez won the seat vacated by former school board member Eliyahu Solomon.

Other ballot propositions, including a capital reserve fund in Nyack and $1.35 million in renovations at Pearl River High School, were also approved. In what has proven to be a voter revolt, however, a proposed $850,000 turf replacement at Suffern High School’s athletic fields saw a close defeat with 1,376 “no” votes beating out 1,103 “yes” votes.MSNBC criticized for tweet about injured cop

MSNBC found itself at the receiving end of criticism this week over a tweet that appeared to mock a police officer who was dragged by a suspect’s car.

The tweet, posted on May 15, read, “’Does it count as a police chase if you drag the cop along for the ride?” The post was in response to body cam footage which showed an officer making a traffic stop when the suspect suddenly pulled out, briefly carrying the officer with him in the process.

Twitter users responded with strong criticism of the network, prompting MSNBC to remove the offending tweet. The network later apologized, calling the material “inappropriate” and stating that it should not have been posted.

Sharpton’s daughter hikes up mountain after sprained ankle, sues city anyway

The daughter of Rev. Al Sharpton unknowingly undermined her own $5 million case against the city of New York when she hiked up a mountain with the sprained ankle which spurred the suit.

Dominique Sharpton filed suit against the city for falling in a crosswalk at the intersection of Broome Street and Broadway in Soho on October 2, 2014. According to the suit, she still suffers debilitating pain from the fall.

However, Sharpton later posted a picture on her Instagram showing her and a friend atop a mountain in Bali, Indonesia after an evidently difficult climb. Sharpton also boasted of the difficult climb in the picture’s description, factors which could significantly hamper her case.

However, Sharpton’s counsel continues to maintain she has a case. According to John Elefterakis, the attorney is representing Sharpton in the suit, Sharpton sustained serious ligament and tendon tears and has not yet returned to her condition prior to her trip in Soho.

This is not the first time Sharpton has been spotted in apparently good form. In December, Sharpton was sighted in high heels, months before the April 29 suit was filed.