The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 27

section Friday September 8, 1995 Rockland Journal-News Obituaries B2 Stony Point D3 Money B6 Rockland. Man ns stabbed sis Edd Foiget statistics Ripken just likes baseball 'To do your very best day in and day out. That's all I've tried to do. Cal Ripken Jr. Garnerville woman charged, held without bail about 1:45 p.m.

and found Santiago standing in the street and the victim bleeding on the ground outside the house. Santiago's three boys, who police described as ranging from preteen to teen-age, and a friend of theirs, were inside the home and witnessed the stabbing, Ragni said. He said a relative was caring for the children last night at the home. St. The victim, who police would not identify, was in stable condition last night in the emergency room at Nyack Hospital.

"I don't believe his injuries are life-threatening," said Officer Stephen Ragni. "It landed just above the heart area." The couple had a turbulent relationship, according to police and several neighbors. Ragni said police were called By Henry Frederick Staff Writer GARNERVILLE A woman was charged with attempted murder yesterday after she plunged a butcher's knife into her boyfriend's chest in front of her three children and their friend, Havers-traw town police said. Police charged Eddma Santiago, 31, with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault. The incident, they said, took place in her home at 50 Main it nsr) KSf-A life r1 "I'm shocked to death," she said.

"I've never seen anything like this on this street before." But several other neighbors said the couple had been fighting occasionally for the last year, though things were pretty quiet this summer. Santiago was arraigned before Justice Thomas Zugibe who ordered her held without bail at the county jail in New City. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Ha-r verstraw town police at 354-1500. Audit reveals a rebound Independent report: Orangetown finances' are bouncing back By Greg Clary Staff Writer ORANGEBURG An independent auditor's report on Orangetown's finances last night confirmed a financial turnaround that incumbent Supervisor Jack Cassidy has been trumpeting throughout his re-election campaign. Les Storch, of the White Plains auditing firm of Bennett Kielson Storch Company, presented the draft audit at the town board meeting, estimating that the final look at the 1994 numbers will be ready within two weeks and won't differ much.

"It's been a rebound, no question about it," said Storch, who estimated his firm has been auditing the town's books for two decades. "Somebody is being very careful with what's being spent." The turnaround represented a change of $1.4 million from a $690,549 deficit at end of 1993, when Cassidy took over, to a $750,469 surplus at the end of 1994 about $800,000 came from spending cuts. The remainder some $600,000 came from increased revenues. Figures for 1995 were not part of the audit because the budget year is not completed. "The fact that the Town of Orangetown has a 10-percent fund balance shows it has regained a strong financial condition," Storch said.

The auditor said the healthy financial picture would translate into a good rating from bond raters, which means lower interest Ragni said police had been called to Santiago's home many times on complaints made by her and the boyfriend who have lived together for two years. He said the victim is not the father of Santiago's children. "He was out for a day or two," Ragni said of the victim's absence from the home, which apparently led to the near-fatal argument in the street. Katherine Ambrey, a neighbor, said she was not aware of any problems. them were asked why not at the toll booths.

1 Some 65,000 people have tags in this region, which includes drivers from Rockland, Orange and Westchester counties and New New Jersey. "A few people said they just never received them," Cardillo said. Statistics were not available on how many had not. The new white tags were mailed only to those whose E-ZPass accounts are up to date. Good service Others went to the Thruway E-ZPass Center for various reasons yesterday.

"I was angry when I came in, but it wasn't bad at all," said Mi-chael Sanchez of Chestnut Ridge, who went in seeking a refund. "They were very polite." Sanchez had replaced his old blue tags with the white ones too early. That meant he couldn't use his E-ZPass account as he made two round trips across the river each day. Frequent Tappan Zee Bridge E-ZPass commuters pay $1 rather than $2.50 per trip, so Sanchez figured he was out $3 a day for five days. "I didn't read the instructions properly," he said.

Guess what? The Thruway Authority refunded the $15 to him. I Start photoPeter Carr LINING UP: E-ZPass customers wait at the E-ZPass Service Center in Spring Valley yesterday, when the new white E-ZPass tags went into effect. New E-ZPass tags fake effect It begins for some on a dusty field in Montana. For others, it is the hard macadam of inner-city playgrounds. Still other children get their first tastes on well-manicured lawns in suburbia.

For Cal Ripken it began on the baseball fields and sandlots of Maryland, graduated to RICHARD GUTWILLIG Baltimore Memorial Stadium and has for the past 2,131 games continued at major league stadia throughout the land. As we celebrate the Baltimore Orioles shortstop's contin-. uous-game streak, let us consider why it is so remarkable. Forget the statistics, the numbers of other shortstops who have come and gone since Ripken began his streak May 30, 1982. Forget those thousands on the disabled list and all the other numbers that have boggled our minds these past few days.

Remember Cal Ripken the man, not the machine. Remember his words: 'A love of the game of base-ball, a passion for our team and a desire to compete on the highest level." Cal Ripken Jr. is a man, in every positive sense of the word. He is, for a nation sorely lacking in this quantity, a role model we can admire. A man who hasn't been flawed by greed, substance abuse or the too-late realization that previous lifestyle choices weren't the best.

He represents everything that once was so good about the game. He appreciates the game he plays. It is a game, albeit a well-paying one these days. Baseball to Cal Ripken is not about petty squabbling with ownership, back-biting in clubhouses, managerial assassinations. We're talking values here.

Modesty, work ethic, preparation, training, perseverance. If there is one professional athlete in the 1990s who exemplified getting a "bang for your buck," it is Cal Ripken Jr. In a time when major league baseball is badly foundering, Ripken has elevated the sport back to a status we once all took for granted. The rank it enjoyed during Lou Gehrig's heyday. The whole baseball world gave Cal Ripken a coast-to-coast standing ovation.

A role model Why has this man had such an impact? Perhaps he is, for some, the kind of son you'd like to have. Certainly for Kelly Ripken and their children, Rachel and Ryan, he is the husband and father we remember from early -nondysfunctional family sitcoms. I'm not sure we should label Ripken a hero. Admirable, honest, role model are better terms. Is it heroic to go to work every day? What of the school teacher, toll collector or power company lineman who hasn't missed a day in 25 or 30 years? We haven't had many role models recently.

Ripken certainly is one. He is not only a model for our youth but for adult America as well. He gives of himself off the field as much as on. Ripken is recipient of the Lou Gehrig and Robert Clem-ente Awards for his charitable the game and ceremonies Wednesday night raised $2 million for research on amyotrophic "lateral sclerosis, the disease that claimed Gehrig. Ripken is everything that is and' should be right with the game many of us, deep down, still love.

Ripken is why they played "One Moment in Time" Wednesday night as he circled the ballpark, first on foot, later by car. A moment we have waited for more than 13 years. A moment many of us thought would neyer come. A moment to be savored and treasured. A moment we shall not soon Columnist Richard Gutwillig can be reached at 5 78-2433.

3 J0' I People queue up at service center for new ones By Kate Boylan Staff Writer SPRING VALLEY Yes, Brenda Eccles said as she climbed the stairs to the Thru-way E-ZPass Service Center, she had received her new, white E-ZPass tag in the mail. With the center just around the corner from her house, Eccles decided she might as well turn in her old, blue E-ZPass tag in person rather than by mail. Eccles pulled open the center's door to see a line a dozen deep and four customers at the service windows. Suddenly, the mail option looked better. She left.

Yesterday was the first day for New York State Thruway commuters to use their new E-ZPass tags in the cars and apparently many wanted them. The lines were impressive, according to Matthew Shums-ky, one of the 65,000 E-ZPass commuters in Rockland, Orange and Westchester counties and New New Jersey. He had dropped in Wednesday to find E-ZPass lines all the way down the stairs. The immediate change allows Rockland E-ZPass custom- mi A high percentage of people were using them (the correct tags) on day one.1 John Cardillo, Thruway Authority spokesman on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from Brooklyn, Cardillo said. Eventually, other bridges and tunnels will be added.

When the entire system is complete, the new tags can be used all over New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A lot of usage Yesterday on the Tappan Zee Bridge and at the Spring Valley toll booths, the new technology worked well, Cardillo said. The old tags didn't and weren't supposed to. The Thruway Authority found 85 percent of the people going through the toll booths were using the correct white tags. "That's a good sign that a high percentage of people were using them on day one," Cardillo said.

Those who weren't using if 5 FORE! A car drives by golfers at the pHl- jmffi rates and ultimately lower taxes. "Lower interest rates even one percent over the course of 20 years, could mean a savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars," Storch said. Town officials said the audit was undertaken partially to ensure the town is ready to borrow money it's committed to spending most notably almost $4 million for the Tappan affordable housing project. Town resident Gail Raffaele asked why, if the numbers were so good now, there had been a nine-percent increase in taxes last year. Cassidy corrected the number to six percent, at which point Councilman Robert Bergman AUDIT continues B2 'T2 Staff photoPeter Carr Broken windshield, cable TV raise hackles Staff photoPeter Carr OUT WITH THE OLD: The old blue E-ZPass tag has been replaced by the white tag, which took effect yesterday.

ers to use their tags not only here but in the Albany area. And as early as next year, drivers will be able to use E-ZPass between here and the Albany area, said John Cardillo, Thruway Authority spokesman. Until then, motorists will have to stop at the Woodbury exit in Orange County to pick up toll tickets. Starting later this fall, motorists will be able to use E-ZPass off the Thruway as well. People visiting relatives on Staten Island can use the tags lot worse.

"My son almost ran off the road," Leitner said. "He had a hat on so the glass didn't get in his eyes. It was like a bomb exploding in his face." Leitner has decided to take the golfer, Kenneth Stadt, to small claims court. But she's still not sure who's to blame. Rotella and town attorney Purdy could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Ramapo, which also has a town golf course, would "look to WATCHER continues B5 Watcher By Denlse Valentl Staff Writer Golf and cars don't mix Barbara Leitner is teed off at the town of Haverstraw. Recently, her son James was driving past the town golf course on Route 202 in Thiells when a golf ball came crashing into his windshield. She approached town Supervisor Philip Rotella after whom the golf course is named to find out how she could collect the $400 it cost to repair the damage. "They said they're not responsible," Leitner said. "And they said it costs too much money to build a higher fence there.

This is a dangerous situation and they should do something about it." Leitner's son was OK after the accident, but it could have been a -r" Rotella Golf Course in Mount Ivy yesterday..