Wallkill’s town board formally approved the $125,000 settlement it reached with town cop Dennis Rolon at a special meeting last week.
The two sides reached an agreement last month, as Rolon’s federal civil rights lawsuit was in the hands of a jury. Read about the settlement here.
The settlement was approved by a 3-2 vote. Supervisor John Ward and Councilmen John King and Dan Tulp voted yes, while Councilmen Eric Valentin and Kevin Mulqueen voted no.
The Minisink Valley school board has formally ratified the $25,000 retirement incentive for eligible teachers. Read my story on the incentive here.
The deadline for teachers to apply is March 12.
I’ve written stories about the contract stalemate between Minisink Valley and its teachers, you can read them here and here.
Just an update: after a Feb. 3 mediation session didn’t result in an agreement, the two sides are discussing scheduling one last mediation session. If that doesn’t solve anything, Superintendent Martha Murray told me that the two sides would probably present their cases to a fact-finder, who would then give a recommendation. It’s not binding arbitration, but it’s a step closer to that.
Here’s the memo Wallkill Supervisor John Ward sent out last week to the unions representing town employees.
I’ll have a story on this in Tuesday’s paper.
Wallkill held its annual National Night Out Against Crime festivities Tuesday evening at the Little League complex. There was food, music, games – and one reporter proving that he’s not a very good photographer.
Got this press release from Wallkill police Chief Robert Hertman:
Chief Robert C Hertman of
the Town of Wallkill Police Department announced that on Tuesday, August 4,
2009 between 6:00 and 9:30 pm the Police Department will be holding its annual National
Night Out Against Crime at the Town of Wallkill
Little League Park on
Howard Drive . The first 1,500 people who
enter and participate in the event will receive a free t-shirt. There will
also be food, ice cream, games, music, and demonstrations. The event is free to
all residents. The event is designed to strengthen neighborhood spirit and Police-Community
partnerships; Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; Generate support
for, and participation in, local anticrime programs and send a message to
criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting
back.
Right after she meets with local seniors at the Wallkill community center, Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt will head to the town’s police department Friday afternoon. She secured grant money for the police to purchase two new laptops. Chief Robert Hertman says the laptops will be used for training, incident command and demonstrations.
A press conference is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the police department. The laptops will be on display (but won’t be available for questions).
With the summer travel season upon us and the July 4th weekend just days away, I’ve already starting getting reports of huge weekend backups on Route 17 in the area of the I-86 construction zone.
So for all you weekend travelers, how bad is the traffic in the area? For local residents, are you seeing more spillover traffic on your local roads?
E-mail me at kgoldberg@th-record.com or call me at 845-346-3174.
Minsink Valley superintendent search down to five
The search for a new superintendent for Minisink Valley has been narrowed to five candidates.
The school board will interview the candidates next month before the field is narrowed to three finalists.
Current superintendent Martha Murray, who is retiring at the end of the school year, has said the district should have a replacement named by that time.