The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 15

SECTION 0 A.M. Report 2B "Rockland. lotteries 2B Obituaries 4B Opinion 6B She Journal News Wednesday, July 17, 2002 Briefing E. coli foiled in beef from BJPs West Nyack store recalls meat after second incident Jane Lerner The Journal News As a result, the Massachusetts-based company is sending letters to 131 customers who bought the 90 percent-lean ground beef at the store between May 8 and 13 and warning them not to eat it, BJ's spokeswoman Nancy Sodano said. "We are voluntarily recalling this product because it may contain E.

coli she said. Customers can return the meat to the West Nyack store for a refund. between the middle of May and early June. The cause of that outbreak has not been discovered. Local and state inspectors began investigating the BJ's in West Nyack early last month after a 6-year-old Orangeburg girl and her 11-year-old neighbor developed symptoms of food poisoning.

Both had eaten hamburgers at a family barbecue made from the same package of ground Please see BACTERIA, 2B package of meat bought at the West Nyack store on May 12 was contaminated with E. coli. Genetic tests to see if the two positive findings came from the same strain of bacteria are not yet complete, Rockland Commissioner of Health Dr. Joan Facelle said yesterday. "One would speculate that it is likely that it would be," she said.

The strain is not the same as the E. coli that sickened 24 Monsey residents mostly children The company also has stores in Yorktown Heights and Para-mus, NJ. But the voluntary recall is being limited to the West Nyack store, Sodano said. That decision was made at the suggestion of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, she said. Officials from the department were unavailable for comment yesterday.

The Rockland Department of Health was told by state investigators Monday that a second A second package of ground beef sold at BJ's Wholesale Club in West Nyack has tested positive for the deadly E. coli bacte ria, health officials said yester day. I AGS-! AN Spirit of the Irish Stones at the memorial hold the names of all 32 Irish counties. Great Hunger '-if'" memorial in NYC honors immigrants Andrea Rubin The Journal News Golf course likely to get OK But some residents in Stony Point still have questions Laura Incalcaterra The Journal News STONY POINT Final approval for the town's new golf course is likely to be granted on Aug. 2, a move that would allow the final portions of the links to be completed, town officials said last night Before approval can be granted, however, members of the Town Board have to be satisfied that all concerns raised by the public about the impact of the course have been properly addressed, Town Supervisor Steven Hurley said.

But it was clear during last night's special Town Board meeting that Hurley and the other three board members in attendance liked the answers they NEW YORK A memorial for the Great Irish Hunger was dedicated yesterday to the many who perished, those who survived and those around the world who continue to go with Oh1 ft. ROCKLAND Emergency siren tests scheduled for today Testing of Rockland's emergency-warning sirens is expected to continue today in Stony Point near the intersection of Bolsontown Road and Franck Road. The 51 signals across northern Rockland are being upgraded, to be activated in case of an emergency at the Indian Point nuclear power plants. The sirens are tested only on weekdays between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. and between 3 and 4 p.m.

through September. Sirens in Stony Point were successfully tested yesterday near the intersection of Gate Hill RoadRoute 210 and Blanchard Road at 3:30 p.m. and near the intersection of Crickettown Road and Youngstown Court at 3:50 p.m. Little League All-Star Tournament to benefit ARC For the third consecutive year, proceeds from the annual Rockland Little League All-Star Tournament will go to Rockland ARC. The event is sponsored by the New City Little League and this year has been renamed the Annual Bill Berletic Jr.

All-Star Tournament to Benefit ARC. The money raised will be used to provide services to people with developmental disabilities and their families. Bill Berletic the son of a Little League coach, died in a car accident in November 2001. The tournament, which runs from Friday to July 25, features 11- and 12-year-olds from teams throughout Rockland. Last year, the event raised $4,000 for ARC.

Low-income seniors eligible for free produce at markets Low-income Rockland seniors can receive free fruits and vegetables at farmers markets in Haverstraw, Nyack, Spring Valley and Suffern until the end of October. People over the age of 60 living in Section 8 housing, receiving Supplemental Security Income, food stamps, public assistance or HEAP, also known as Home Energy Assistance Program, or who have a monthly income of less than $1,492 (single) or $2,011 (married), are eligible for a free booklet of coupons worth $20. The coupons can be used to buy produce at any participating farmers market booth. They cannot be used in a grocery store. The coupon booklets are available through the Clarkstown, North Rockland, Nyack, Pearl River, Ramapo or Thorpe senior centers; the Martin Luther King Multipurpose Center in Spring Valley; and the Community Outreach Center in Monsey.

There are only a limited number of the booklets remaining. The program is administered by the county's Office for the Aging. Free handbook helps find services for mentally ill A new handbook, "How to Help When a Person with Mental Illness is Arrested," is available to family members and social workers free of charge. It provides a directory of treatment services for mental illness and substance abuse, vocational, residential and support services, as well as key criminal justice system telephone numbers. The guidebook is a joint effort of the state chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally 111 and the Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project It was customized for Rockland by a group of mental health, substance abuse and criminal justice professionals and people who have relatives with a mental illness.

For a copy, call 356-2358. STONY POINT Battlefield curators seek lighthouse memorabilia Officials at the Stony Point Battlefield are seeking information about the Stony Point Lighthouse in photographs, postcards and oral histories to improve the in A 1 1 i I 1 out food. The relationship between the Irish famine and New York City is strong, said many dignitaries on hand for the dedication, because more than 848,000 Irish fled their country for the city during the height of the hunger. "So many of our people came to this city with nothing but the breath in their bodies, the memory of death and the hope of the desperate," Irish President Mary McAleese told the roughly 400 people gathered. "Generations of their children have prospered, and we in Ireland are immensely proud of the success of our Irish family here." Many Irish immigrants helped build New York, said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Irish immigrants helped make the police and fire departments strong, he said. "They built the subways and the bridges and the skyscrapers," he said. "The spirit of Ireland will always have a home in the city of New York." The Great Hunger began in 1845, when a blight destroyed Ireland's potato crop. The famine lasted through 1852 and claimed at least 1 million lives. The $5 million memorial is in Battery Park City, at North End Avenue and Vesey Street Originally, the memorial, just one block west of the World Trade Center site, was to be dedicated on St Patrick's Day.

The Sept 11 terrorist attack caused the ceremony to be postponed. "I think there is great significance that it turns out that this was the site of the memorial," said former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, adding that he attended many funerals honoring Irish Americans who were killed trying to save others at the World Trade Center. "You taught us, you helped us, you guided us," he said. Tou've given so much to New York." About 48,000 people of Irish descent live in Rockland, according to the 2000 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the 1990 U.S. census, the last year for which figures are Please see IRISH, 2B fx i were hearing from the consultants hired to help the town build the course. Board member Fred Bohlander was absent Representatives of the Albany-based Clough-Harbour reviewed the comments made by the public during a hearing last month, along with written comment that was later submitted on the consultant's environmental impact study of the course. The consultants summarized residents' concerns and discussed ways the town could address them. One of the issues that has generated the greatest concern is the use of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides on the course.

Course neighbors who rely on wells for their drinking water are concerned that toxic chemicals used to keep the course green and pest-free could contaminate their wells. Steve Wilson and Ed O'Hara of Clough-Harbour told the Town Board last night that such chemicals would be used only as a last resort Eight test wells have been installed on the course to help monitor surface and groundwater, said Frank Getcheu, a hydrologist and vice president with the Ramsey, Leggette, Bras-hears Graham, a groundwater and environmental engineering services firm. The company works with Clough-Harbour. Getchell told the board that details regarding an ongoing groundwater monitoring program were being developed. The monitoring would allow the town to establish baseline information about the current condition of groundwater, and put the town in a position to know if the water was being affected by chemicals used to treat the course.

Frank Collyer, a course neighbor who relies on a well, said last night that he felt the consultants and board had "skirted a lot of the issues." He said more details were needed regarding many concerns raised by the public, including the need to do tests to ensure there would be no disastrous effects from all of the chemicals to be used on the course. Collyer is also a member of the Stony Point Action Committee for the Environment or SPACE, which has been critical of the town's handling of the environ-Please see GOLF, 2B terpretation of the 1826 Stony Point Light, the oldest lighthouse on the Hudson River. Anyone wishing to donate or loan artifacts, share stories about the park or volunteer at the battlefield should call site manager Julia Warger at 786-2521. Photo by Robert F. RodriguezThe Journal News Ann Marie Moloney of Harriman takes a tour of the Great Irish Hunger memorial yesterday at Battery Park City in Manhattan.

Moloney's parents immigrated to the United States from Ireland. Smoke detector credited with saving lives Fire official: Blaze in Sloatsburg could have been deadly OBITUARIES Carlson, Sandy, of Congers Culver, Felicia of Haverstraw jatkoff, Hyman, 76, of Boynton Beach, Fla. Lauer, William Frederick, 81, of Charlottesville, Va. Devine, Matthew Francis, 68, of New City McAllister, Virginia, of Pearl River DePatto, Phyllis, 74, of Suffern Short, Mary Rose, 101, of Lynbrook, N.Y., formerly of Tappan Hugh, Garriety, 83, of Valley Cottage Obituaries, 4B like it might have been part of a large estate at one time." No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is being investigated by the Sheriffs Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The Sloatsburg Volunteer Ambulance Corps was on standby at the scene.

"This one was a success story, especially for smoke detectors," Wren said. "Without the detector working, there might have been fatalities at this one." Reach John Kryger at jkrygerthejoumalnews.com or 845-578-2461. they didn't," Wren said. "They gave it a quick dash of water and went inside and put the fire out" Sloatsburg volunteer Fire Chief John Bonkoski called on the Tuxedo and Suffern volunteer fire departments to help control the blaze. Volunteers from Hillburn were on standby in Sloatsburg for any other fires.

Wren said the apartments were on the second floor of an old carriage house, a wood-frame, bam-like structure once used for horse-drawn wagons and carriages. "The buildings were set back behind other buildings off the street" Wren said. "It looked der, could have been deadly if a tenant hadn't been alerted to the fire by a smoke detector. "A tenant said a smoke detector woke him up and he called 911 and he had just minutes to evacuate himself and his elderly father," Wren said. The tenant also alerted others living on the second floor and everyone was able to get out" Wren praised the work of volunteers from the Sloatsburg Fire Department "There was a lot of fire blowing out the second floor and they could have attacked it from the outside and driven the fire back into the building, but John Kryger The Journal News SLOATSBURG Fire officials are crediting smoke detector for the safe evacuation of several tenants yesterday morning in a carriage house fire.

County Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. said the 5:02 a.m. blaze on Orange Turnpike Route 17 near the Tuxedo bor ON THE WEB WWW.THU0URNALNEWS.COM TSSS9E UQU Wei OeU-0ervtae4tatlgfy iu Hurtle CJQLJ Reliable sebvjfe TP QyAfcl.