A townhouse was completely destroyed by a gas main explosion today in the Rockland County town of West Haverstraw. Officials say a road construction crew had ruptured the gas main near the property around noon. Workers immediately notified authorities, and volunteer firefighters raced to the area to begin evacuating residents. As two volunteer firefighters were knocking on the door to evacuate a house on Zarriello Lane, it exploded. LoHud.com reports that the volunteers were seriously injured. more ›

At least one Rockland County teen has a good excuse for not cleaning his room: A car crashed into it. The incident occurred in Congers two days ago as 13-year-old Jon Aguila was at home relaxing in his room, when suddenly a Mustang made a dramatic entrance through his bedroom window. "I was next to the wall and everything just fell on me and I was under the car but it didn’t run me over," Aguila, who is fine, recalled to CBS. "I’m lucky to be alive, thank God." more ›

A Rockland County teacher is catching flack for telling her second grade class that Santa Claus isn't real. According to the Post, the "evil educator" made the factually true statement during a geography lesson, after some of her students claimed to know where the North Pole was because "that's where Santa lives." Ah, kids. Everyone knows Santa lives in Boca Raton, and hasn't delivered toys since 1984, when he outsourced his business to a company in Taiwan. more ›

Michael Davitt, who staged a daring direct action protest on the Tappan Zee Bridge Monday, spoke to reporters yesterday outside his Rockland County home, where he tried to explain the motivation for his demonstration. Davitt had been employed by the county for 27 years, working as a mental-health aide before becoming a substance abuse counselor in 2000. But he was suspended in 2008, and ever since he's dedicated his life to exposing the corruption that he claims cost him his job. Here he is talking to CBS 2: more ›

Three years ago, Michael Davitt was fired from his job as a substance abuse counselor at the Rockland County mental health office. And for three years, Davitt has been appearing at legislative sessions and allegedly disrupting meetings by accusing officials of a "cover-up" and corruption. But Davitt's protestations failed to win him his job back (a Rockland County spokesperson tells CBS 2 he "couldn’t perform his duties"), so yesterday he kicked it up a notch by staging a dramatic protest on the Tappan Zee Bridge. They're sure to rehire him now! more ›

Five people were injured this morning when a bus bound for New York City rear-ended a tractor trailer at 5:35 a.m. on the New York Thruway. Lohud.com reports that the accident happened about two miles north of Exit 15A in Sloatsburg (voted the #2 place to live on the East Coast by Money Magazine!). There were 17 passengers on board at the time of the crash, and the five injured riders had to be "extricated" from the bus, which was operated by New York Trailways. more ›

Last year, Dominic Carter was sentenced to 30 days in jail for "punching, choking and kicking" his wife at their Rockland County home. While he was released early, now, an appellate court has overturned the conviction finding, the NY Law Journal reports, "a town justice improperly permitted the prosecution to revoke a deal that would have allowed Mr. Carter to avoid jail time." more ›

A 17-year-old Rockland County student was mauled by a female grizzly bear (no, not that kind) while in the deep backwoods of Alaska yesterday, leaving him in the ICU along with another teenager who was attacked. more ›

Last month, an ostracized Hasidic family in Rockland County were attacked by another orthodox Jew who attempted to burn down their house, all because the family had started to go to a different synagogue. In the end, 43-year-old father of four Aron Rottenberg suffered burns on half his body, and his attacker, 18-year-old Shaul Spitzer, was also hospitalized for burns. Now, Rottenberg is speaking out about the incident, the cloistered Orthodox community, and the Grand Rebbe who has "brainwashed" his followers: "They are so isolated that they have no idea what is going on in the world outside. These people feel they are the world." more ›

The Rockland County man who has been hospitalized with third-degree burns over half his body following a crazy arson attempt last month has filed an $18 million lawsuit against the powerful local rabbi, whom he accuses of ordering the attack on his house. You may recall that Aron Rottenberg and his family have been subjected to violence ever since they left the village’s main synagogue to worship at Friedwald Nursing Home, instead of at the synagogue in town where Grand Rabbi David Twersky presides. And if you leave Twersky's fold for a rival flock, you'd better watch out for wolves, the lawsuit alleges. more ›

The latest group of volunteer firefighters for Rockland County have graduated, but if a recent lawsuit has any validity, new recruits in the village of Piermont might want to be careful. A father has filed a federal suit on behalf of his 17-year-old son against the volunteer Fire Department there, saying that forcible sodomy is a "prerequisite" for the department's volunteers. more ›

Earlier this week, chaos reigned for one ostracized Hasidic family when they were attacked by another orthodox Jew who attempted to burn down their house, all because the family had started to go to a different synagogue. In the end, 43-year-old father of four Aron Rottenberg suffered burns on half his body. Yesterday, his lawyer held a press conference in front of the house, and ended up in a verbal confrontation with another orthodox Jew who shouted over him, "It's the wrong thing to go against the rabbi." Watch video from LoHud below: more ›

Here in NYC, when Hasidim attack, the violence is usually reduced to running goy cyclists off the road or fisticuffs over Satmar schisms. But up in Rockland County, it's all HDP (Hasids Don't Play). An orthodox Jewish father of four is currently hospitalized with third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body after another orthodox Jew allegedly tried to burn his house down—because he started taking his family to a different synagogue. more ›

Kids do the darndest drugs! Salvia, synthetic marijuana, bath salts. And now they are smoking incense? Over the weekend three people in Rockland County were taken to the hospital after having adverse responses from smoking a legal novelty incense called AM-HI-CO Atomic Bomb. more ›

Giants football great Lawrence Taylor was officially classified as a sex offender today, as part of his sentencing for having sex with an underage prostitute last year. He will be a Level 1 sex offender, which is the lowest level; the Journal News explains, "This means his name, photo, and criminal history will not appear on the sex offender registry in New York." more ›

Well, when they are in a "red suitcase hidden in the rear of a park where both pro-government and anti-war rallies are regularly held," they are! Rockland police blew up the suitcase, found in Nanuet, because, the Journal News reports an X-ray "revealed three cylindrical canisters and something that looked like tools and wires." But it turned out to be two cans of tuna fish and one can of corn—the tools were pliers and a manual can opener. A police officer said, "More than likely, some homeless guy lost his dinner." Better safe than sorry, right? more ›

A Rockland County family filed suit against the New York Archdiocese after a Catholic preschool wouldn't accept their child because she has not been fully vaccinated, according to the Post. The couple — who filed the suit anonymously — claim they are the victims of religious discrimination and are seeking a court order so their 4-year-old can attend the St. Margaret School in Pearl River after the preschool rejected their request for a religious exemption. more ›

Yesterday, Rockland County prosecutor Stephen Moore revealed details about the death of gym teacher Jami Erlich, who authorities say was killed in her Valley Cottage apartment by neighbor Eric Lau. Moore said that Erlich's skull was fractured, "After the beating, he slit her throat almost to the point of decapitation," adding, "We did a search of his apartment. Items belonging to her, including her underwear, were found." Erlich's computer is also missing; it's suspected that Lau, a computer specialist, took it and dumped it while he was evading questioning from the police. Lau, who pleaded not guilty and claims he was at a girlfriend's the night of the murder (but hasn't offered cops the girlfriend's name), is being held on $2.5 million cash bail. more ›

Rockland County prosecutors say that the teacher allegedly killed by her neighbor had walked in on him in her apartment. According to the Journal News, DA Thomas Zugibe said of defendant Eric Lau, "We know he killed [Jami Erlich] in the apartment. It appears she walked in on him inside the apartment while she talked on her cell phone." Erlich was on the phone with her boyfriend; because their conversation ended so quickly, the boyfriend tried to call her back without success and then called 911. Lau, whose past criminal history includes charges of forgery, impersonation, contempt and harassment and a jail sentence for attempted robbery, has pleaded not guilty; he was apprehended last week, apparently fleeing the police in the woods. more ›

Clarkstown police will reportedly charge Eric Lau in connection with the killing of his neighbor, Suffern teacher Jami Erlich. Police had sought Lau for questioning since discovering Erlich's body, which was beaten and stabbed, on Sunday. The Journal News reports that the 32-year-old, who didn't report to work on Monday and Tuesday, "was captured Tuesday night" in New City "after he was chased through the woods by a town officer and a tracking dog after a day-long." Lau's mother told WCBS 2 that her son was a "good man" and "said her son had told her about Erlich moving into the complex but said nothing more about her." more ›

Dominic Carter, NY1's senior political reporter and host of "Inside City Hall," appeared in Rockland Family Court, denying charges that he repeatedly assaulted his wife. And Marilyn Carter also told the judge that her husband did not beat her—actually, she says, it was a day laborer whose name she doesn't know. more ›

According to the NY Post, NY1 senior political reporter and host of "Inside City Hall" Dominic Carter is due in Rockland County Family Court, because his wife had repeatedly accused him of "punching, choking and kicking her in their suburban home... Cops were called to the Carters' Rockland County house four times in the last two years for domestic disputes, police records show." more ›

As if taking the stand was not difficult enough for a woman who accuses her father, a rabbi, of molesting her for years, yesterday she had to face him as he cross-examined her at the trial—Rabbi Israel Weingarten is representing himself. more ›

Spotted: The Jonas Brothers were at a mall yesterday seeing a movie. But it wasn't just any movie—it was their movie, The Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, which opened Friday and will give you plenty to roll your eyes about when it comes in as the weekend box office's Number One movie in a few hours. And it wasn't just any mall—rather, it was a surprise appearance at their mall, as in the mall that they grew up going to, the Palisades Center, just across the Tappan Zee Bridge in Nyack. The JoBros said that they often went to movies at the Palisades "so the fact that we're coming back here is really, really, really cool." We're not exactly sure why they'd travel from their hometown in Wyckoff, New Jersey to a mall that's three times the distance to the nearby Garden State Plaza (where TJB:T3DE is playing once an hour.) But who are we to question the trustworthiness promise rung teenage pop stars? more ›

On Tuesday, Kola, a one-year-old pit bull mix, had successfully chased away a burglar who attempted to break into her family's New City, NY home. When her owners came home, they discovered a "window was broken" and "muddy footprints in the house." Nothing was taken but Kola, who was rescued from a dog-fighting ring and adopted by the Rosen family earlier this year, was missing! And the Rosens were especially worried since Kola has an infected leg and needs medication. Last night, the pup surfaced in NJ. Someone found her tied to a pole at a Costco and took her to a shelter, where Mitch Rosen ID'd her and took her home. more ›

In case there has been any ambiguity up until this point, Michael Mele is not a nice person. One of his employees at the Quizno's he manages in Orange County recounted to the Post today about how her boss berated her, screaming into the phone at her for revealing to police where he lived when they came by investigating the disappearance of Laura Garza. more ›

Should forcing a black student to have their legs and feet bound and crawl under classroom desks be part of a lesson plan? Apparently that's what Rockland County middle school teacher Eileen Bernstein did last month to simulate what it was like on a slave ship. However, one student (whose family descended from slaves) who didn't volunteer but had to demonstrate anyway was extremely distraught. According to the Daily News, Bernstein apologized to the girl and her mother, but said she had done the demonstration before. A superintendent added, "We don't want to discourage creativity. But this obviously went wrong because the student was upset." But the girl's mother, Christine Shand, isn't convinced; she told WCBS 2, "There are other ways to demonstrate slavery. There's movies, you don't actually have to grab two kids and like put shackles on them." more ›

Yesterday state officials announced that they have chosen to forgo plans to repair the Tappan Zee Bridge and instead intend to build an entirely new one. The new bridge would also include new a new commuter rail line to link up with Metro North and high-speed bus lanes at a total cost of $16 billion. more ›

Henry Logue made almost $100,000 in salary and overtime last year, but continued to live in a paint shed at state-run Rockland Psychiatric Center, according to the Journal News. Apparently he had been living there for three years--even registering his car there--all while his wife lived in a home 3 miles away. more ›

The man accused of pretending to be a Park Avenue gynecologist apparently had an accomplice. The Daily News reports that, according to sources, Monsey resident Zalman Silber "tricked one woman into undergoing a pelvic exam by saying his friend, the Rockland County police officer, was a doctor who made house calls." Sources also say the cop ended up conducting the exam in Silber's house--with Silber watching. more ›