TIMELINES 10/5/17

Death and Funeral of Nyack Stained Glass Artist Robert Pinart

Robert Pinart, a renowned stained and dale de verre glass artist, passed away in Nyack Hospital on October 1 due to respiratory failure. Pinart worked in the United States from 1951 until his retirement in 2008. Many of the churches, synagogues and hospitals in Rockland County and beyond have glass windows designed by Pinart. Pinart was known as the best glass colorist in the United States – designing glass windows for over 140 institutions and private residences throughout the country. In 1993 Pinart received the very first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Stained Glass Association of America and had been selected as one of the inaugural ten Senior Advisors for the American Glass Guild. Funeral arrangements were handled by the Hannemann Funeral Home in Nyack, NY. A graveside service took place at Gethsemane Cemetery in Congers, NY on Tuesday.

State misspends $1.1B charity-care fund, study finds

According to a new analysis by Empire Center health policy director Bill Hammond, a $1.1 billion-dollar state program to reimburse hospital charity care is shortchanging hospitals that serve poorer patient to the benefit of those that serve more affluent populations. The Indigent Care Pool (ICP) was created under the 1996 Health Care Reform Act as a means of reimbursing hospitals for care provided to patients without health insurance, using funds raised by the state’s taxes on health insurance policies along with federal aid. However, Hammond found a negative correlation between the overall poverty of a hospital’s patients and how much funding is received from the ICP, meaning hospitals that treat fewer poor patients are being reimbursed more generously. He also noted that ICP made payments to four hospitals that sustained no net loss on treating uninsured patients, in part because the program does not differentiate between patients who can’t pay their bills and those who pay cash.

John Green Historic Designations

So far, the John Green Preservation Coalition has gutted the interior of the house’s modern fixtures and additions, leaving bare its original wooden floorboards and sandstone walls and walls repaired with concrete. The John Green House was added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places earlier this year, which allows the group to compete for grants and will bring more public attention to the property. The group has secured a $130,000 grant — its largest to date — from the New New York Bridge Community Benefits Program. The group has previously raised $20,000 through small donations. This grant will be used to replace the roof and rehabilitate the building’s structural supports. Though the group has raised about $150,000, the final price of renovation will cost approximately $1 million. As the organization continues to seek funding for the project, there is no timeline for when the house will be completed. For more information about the John Green Coalition, visit www.johngreencoalition.org.

RCC President First 100 Days

Rockland Community College’s president Michael Baston is approaching his first 100 days. Though RCC’s completion rate of just under 50 percent is higher than the 39 percent rate among other SUNY schools, Baston hopes that each and every one of his school’s 7,000-plus students are “focused and remain committed to the idea of finishing what you started.” Full-time students from New York pay around $4,586 annually or $2,293 per semester, while out-of-state residents are charged around $9,172 or $4,586 per semester. Meanwhile, the average cost for tuition at private colleges and universities in New York averages more than $35,000, according to U.S. News & World Report. Baston hopes to create internships for students at small businesses in Rockland, building a stronger connection with K-12 schools as well as St. Thomas Aquinas, Nyack College and Dominican College and ensuring that RCC continues to offer programs that meet the needs of the region.

“Rise” to film at Union restaurant in Haverstraw

“Rise”, a new series by NBC, is set to film at Union Restaurant and Bar Latino in Haverstraw, on Friday. The doors will be closed, giving actors and crew total access to the storefront. However, since Friday is typically a busy night, Union will be holding a pop-up, making Union-style dishes at UNoodles, owned by Union and located down the street. “Rise” is the latest project from Jason Katims, writer and executive producer of “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood,” and Jeffrey Seller, producer of the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.” “Rise” is described on the NBC site as “a heartening new drama about finding inspiration in unexpected places.” The series revolves around how a teacher, Lou Mazzuchelli (Josh Radnor of “How I Met Your Mother”), takes over his school’s drab theater department and re-energizes a working-class town. Rosie Perez and Marley Shelton also star.

Unabomber Movie

“Unabomber: How the FBI Broke its Own Rules to Capture the Terrorist Ted Kaczynski,” is set to become a movie. The story is told by Jim Freeman, who was the FBI special agent in charge of the task force; Terry Turchie, his assistant; and Donald Max Noel, supervisory special agent. For nearly two decades, Ted Kaczynski confounded law enforcement while perpetrating a series of increasingly sophisticated bombings that killed three and injured dozens more.It was Freeman and Turchie who helped bait the trap that would ensnare the Unabomber, and Noel who held Kaczynski at gunpoint during his April 1996 arrest in the icy hills that surrounded his tiny cabin.

Don Bracken’s History Publishing Company has optioned the book to the independent studio IM Global, with director Rob Lorenz on board to start the project in January. Bracken started History Publishing a decade ago when he was 72. Although his titles have won awards having one of his projects headed for the movies is “a big deal,” he said.

CBS Fires Vice President Who Said Vegas Victims did not Deserve Sympathy

CBS has parted ways with Hayley Geftman-Gold –  the network’s now-former vice president and senior counsel – after she said she was “not even sympathetic” to victims of the Las Vegas shooting because “country music fans often are Republican.” A CBS spokeswoman told Fox News that Geftman-Gold violated the standards of the company as her views expressed on social media were deeply unacceptable. Geftman-Gold’s attorney, Carrie A. Goldberg, stated that her client and her family has been bombarded by online death threats, and begs that people respond to her statements without creating more violence. Geftman-Gold issued an apology statement on Monday night. In part of it, she states, “My shameful comments do not reflect the beliefs of my former employer, colleagues, family, and friends. Nor do they reflect my actual beliefs — this senseless violence warrants the deepest empathy. I understand and accept all consequences that my words have incurred.”

Bigger than Brexit: Catalonia Could Split from Spain Next Week

Catalonia, a province within the dominion of Spain, held a referendum on independence in defiance of government orders. Additional reports find that Catalan leaders will formally declare independence next week. The European Union was rocked by the Brexit vote; however, Europe’s economy will likely fall further as rumors of civil war abound. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont earlier told the BBC that his government would ask the region’s parliament to declare independence after tallying votes from last weekend’s referendum, which Madrid says was illegal. The constitutional crisis in Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy, has shaken the common currency and hit Spanish stocks and bonds, sharply raising Madrid’s borrowing costs. On Wednesday, the Ibex stock index fell below 10,000 points for the first time since March 2015 as bank stocks tumbled. In a sign of the nervous public mood, Catalonia’s largest bank, Caixabank, and Spain’s economy minister sought to assure bank customers that their deposits were safe.

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