Section 1 boys individual swimming trials were held at Felix Festa Middle School in West Nyack on Monday. Relay events will be held on Tuesday at the same location.

Kevin Araujo of Suffern competes in the 100 yard butterfly during the Section 1 swimming trials. Click here to view more photos from the trials.

Did the Orangetown Town Board act appropriately by asking and getting a new civil service exam for police chief after a  retired police sergeant filed a legal action  challenging Chief Kevin Nulty’s appointment 14 years ago?

The retired officer wants Nulty’s appointment annulled.

Orangetown argued Nulty’’s appointment was legal and so were the conditions under which he took the test in Port Chester under civil service law. There was no competition – the basis for the lawsuit in the 1936 Rockland Police Act.

Nulty also is fighting the legal action with his own lawyer. He’s been an Orangetown officer  for 35 years, getting paid just under $200,000 annually.

The test is March 6  and Wednesday is the deadline for the departments captain and five lieutenants to apply to take the exam. Word is all six officers will take the exam.

See Article

The number of people in Rockland coming down with the mumps is continuing to rise.

More than 300 people in Rockland have been diagnosed with the infectious disease as a cluster that started last summer at an upstate camp for Jewish boys has turned into the largest outbreak nationwide in years.

Just about all of the cases are among residents of Monsey and New Square, according to health officials, who are continuing to track the disease.

Read more about the outbreak here.

In case you missed it, here’s a link to my Saturday story about tree loss along the Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail. What do you think?

From left, Jonathan Odgis from Clarkstown South High School and Ron Dollente of Nyack High School compete in the Rockland High School Fencing Championships at West Nyack Feb. 7, 2010.  Over 200 fencers from the region competed in the event.  ( Ricky Flores / The Journal News )

Members of the local community swim in the Hudson during 11th Annual Polar Plunge at Stony Point hosted by the Stony Point Seals Feb. 7, 2010. The event was a fundraiser for two local children with medical problems, Samantha Horneman, 1-year-old, and Lauren Shields, 9.   The guy in the green suit decided to practice his dance moves while in the water.  ( Ricky Flores / The Journal News )

The boys and girls Rockland County Basketball Championships were hosted by Clarkstown South. The North Rockland boys beat Spring Valley 53-48. In the girls game Pearl River beat Clarkstown North 55-40.

See more photos from the games. Boys – Girls

Samantha Camacho finishes a song with a flourish during a rehearsal of Heather Alper’s third-grade class production of “We the People” at Valley Cottage Elementary. The play tells the story of our founding fathers and the making of the Constitution.

See more photos online and in an upcoming Rockland Express

Justin Goetz of Suffern, right, scores a goal under pressure from Tim Taussig of Mamaroneck during their game at Sport-O-Rama in Monsey. Suffern went on to a 10-0 win.

See more photos from the game

Two-year-old Alistair Baino of New City was on hand to watch his grandmother, formerly of the Philippines, take her oath of citizenship during a naturalization ceremony at the Rockland County Courthouse on Friday.