| Rockland schools for substance abuse counselors merge
Two Rockland schools that train students to become credentialed alcohol and substance abuse counselors have merged. The CASAC School of the Rockland Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Dependence and the Addiction Counselors Training Program of Rockland County will now operate as the Rockland Chemical Dependency Studies Institute out of the new Haverstraw Center in Haverstraw. "We've had two competing agencies that are now bringing together the finest leaders and instructors in the field under one roof," said Debbie Maidman, operations manager of the new school. "They are coming together with the same mission, the same focus." Accredited counselors who graduate from the school work in outpatient and inpatient treatment centers, the criminal justice system, schools, department of social services and department of transportation evaluations, rehab and halfway houses.
Church has plans for big campus
The Life Christian Church in West Orange is gearing up to move its growing ministry from two separate locations in town to a sprawling campus off Northfield Avenue. The multicultural, nondenominational church has plans to consolidate its Harrison Avenue worship center and its Ridgeway Avenue ministry office and family life campus-based operations into a seven-acre site that a developer donated to the church as part of a complicated land swap to gain new municipal open park space. But some township residents have expressed concern about the church's Peace Over Addiction Through Healing substance abuse program that features weekly recovery meetings for people struggling with recovery issues. For now, however, the church has submitted an application with the township planning board only for approval to construct 3,500 square feet of modular offices on the site, at Northfield Avenue and Vizcaya Boulevard, across from the Jewish Community Center.
Music legend Judy Collins copes with tragedy by helping others
Whenever the music landscape of the 1960s and '70s is revisited, one name invariably makes the short list of artists who made a difference. That would be Judy Collins, the extraordinary soprano singer-songwriter (two Grammy Awards and membership in the Grammy Hall of Fame for "Both Sides Now"), classical piano prodigy, guitarist, filmmaker (nominated for an Academy Award in 1975), feminist, political activist and author of memoirs and fiction (nine books in all). But there have been darker sides to her life. In the early days Collins, now 67, struggled with bouts of alcoholism and drug abuse, bulimia, depression, suicidal thoughts and stints in rehab centers. In 1992 her son, Clark, committed suicide at age 33. In 2003 you wrote Sanity & Grace, in which you shed light on the subject of suicide.
Change in liquor laws proposed
A Sunday trip to a bar for drinks with friends or a quick errand to a liquor store for a bottle of wine or six-pack of beer could be in Lexington's future. The Urban County Council is discussing a dramatic change in Fayette County's Sunday liquor laws that would allow any retail establishment with a liquor license to sell alcohol on Sundays. The proposed change in law would allow bars, liquor stores, restaurants of all sizes and grocery stores to sell alcohol on Sunday. It would apply to beer, distilled spirits and wine by the drink, as well as package sales. The sale hours haven't been determined yet. Currently, Sunday alcohol sales in Fayette County are limited to the by-the-drink sale of malt beverages, distilled spirits and wine between 1 p.m. and 11 p.m.
A&E's 'Intervention' cuts to the quick on addiction
Those of us who love A&E's sick documentary series ''Intervention'' still become anxious before each new episode. Then, after a hiatus, the wariness tends to turn into something closer to blank terror.
Just when you are feeling pretty good, in other words, like you do not even need a new ''Intervention'' and could go about your television life in a measured, temperate way, taking it one day at a time and surviving if not quite cold turkey then at least just on the occasional rerun, back it all comes: the new addicts, the gruesome histories, the sores, the rosacea, the needles, the wily liars and then, at last, the catharsis of the confrontation that is the program's reason for being.
So, it is back. ''I could probably do as much as you could give me,'' Coley, a logger and crystal methamphetamine addict, said on last Friday night's episode, the first of four new ones.
Crown rests in Pickton trial: Defence says its case will only take three weeks
Jurors in the Robert Pickton case have so far been forced to contemplate revolting testimony about a woman butchered while hanging from a hook, about casual conversations regarding the best way to kill prostitutes and about apparent confessions. The ghastly allegations, heard during the seven months it took the Crown to present its case, were made by witnesses who hung out on Robert Pickton's farm and counted him as a friend. But their lifestyles also provided the defence with openings to attack their testimony and their credibility. The Crown wrapped up its prosecution of Pickton yesterday, handing the case over to the defence, which contends Pickton did not kill the women or even participate in their deaths. Jurors have heard 98 witnesses since the trial began in January and they were warned then to be prepared to sit for a year.
The debate over halfway houses: There's little middle ground for advocates, opponents
Ricky Martin believes his residential alcohol and drug recovery program, called Alpha House for Men, is a good fit in Gainesville neighborhoods. Mike Head has been sounding the alarm about a so-called halfway house he discovered near his family's Christopher Drive home. The controversy over homes turned into recovery businesses comes to a head Tuesday. City Council will hold a public hearing and first vote on Martin's requests to rezone 1084 Riverside Terrace and approve a special-use permit for 680 Hillcrest Ave. He has been operating Alpha House at both addresses for months. The hearing, which also involves other land-use applications, starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Georgia Mountains Center. Yet, it might only be the start. The planning board, which split over Martin's requests, has a hearing Aug.
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