KIRYAS JOEL – Some 1,900 years ago Jewish religious sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai died, and he instructed his disciples to celebrate his life each year on that date.

The tradition is still carried out to this day around the world including at the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel where the Wednesday night sky was lit brightly with a giant bon fire, a tradition, as an estimated 30,000 men danced and sang in what is billed as the largest party of its kind in the United States.

The Lag BaOmer celebration, which is held annually in the village, was cancelled the last two years because of COVID-19.

(video: Mark Lieb, Rockland Video Productions) 

Smaller celebrations than the giant one in Orange County, were held in neighboring Rockland County.

State Police provided extra security for the large event to assist the village public safety department.

The celebration went well into the late-night hours.

HIGHLAND – A pursuit by State Police in the Highland area has resulted in a crash involving several vehicles on the Mid-Hudson Bridge shortly after 7 on Wednesday morning.

Several ambulances were called to the scene to attend to injured parties.

Police were mum on the details of the incident all day amid speculation the multi-vehicle crash may have involved a fatality.

Traffic on both sides of the bridge connecting Highland and Poughkeepsie was backed up for hours during rescue and investigation.

LIBERTY– Saturday is World Fish Migration Day and this weekend the shad will start their run up the Upper Delaware River from the Port Jervis area through Sullivan and Delaware counties.

To mark the occasion, The Upper Delaware Scenic Byway and the Delaware Company, managers of the Fort Delaware space will hold the first shad festival – the Festival of the Founding Fish.

John Pizzolato, former chairman of the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, is co-founder of the weekend-long festivities.

“It’s happening in the ocean; it’s happening in other bodies of water all over our country. The shad are particularly interesting because they go from freshwater to saltwater very similar to an eel or a herring. They have this very long lifespan and that’s their sort of spawning time,” he said.

The Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association is promoting this event along with a number of other activities in the region this weekend.

KINGSTON —Ulster County lawmakers have voted to overhaul and improve the county’s ethics law ending four years of discussion in an effort to strengthen it.

“Over the past four years, the same core team of legislators has worked together toward a common goal,” said Democratic Chairwoman Tracey Bartels. 

The new law compels more stringent financial disclosure and expands upon the financial disclosure required of county government officers, employees, consultants and commission and advisory board members—whether elected, appointed, paid, or volunteer.

The law now requires filers to disclose if they have served as an officer of a political party, candidate’s campaign committee, or a political organization within the last five years. It also requires filers to disclose if they have served as an officer of a not-for-profit organization within the reporting year.

Under the new law, three members will be appointed by the county executive, one will be nominated by the chair of the county legislature, one by the majority leader, and one by the minority leader. The seventh member will be nominated by the Board of Ethics once all other members have been seated. All Board of Ethics appointments must be confirmed by the legislature.

Republican Minority Leader Ken Ronk he is “thrilled that we have gotten a bipartisan agreement on the new and improved Ulster County Ethics Law. Without proper ethics, the public can never have faith and confidence that their government is working in the best interest of all citizens.”

KINGSTON – Three Democrat elected officials based in Ulster County have called on the state Public Service Commission to take immediate actions while it investigates Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation and its parent company, Fortis headquartered in Canada.

Senator Michelle Hinchey of Saugerties, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of Kingston and Ulster Executive Pat Ryan of Gardiner asked the PSC to suspend the rate increase set to go into effect in July and restrict any rate increases until the closure of the investigation. 

They also asked the Department of Public Service and the PSC to seek and apply penalties against the company and order Fortis/Central Hudson to directly compensate residential and small businesses throughout the service territory, and that the state requires transparency.

The state agency is currently investigating the utility’s customer information system implementation, which has result in several serious billing errors.