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Line down from 3 to 9 p.m. but calls rerouted Dutchess County reported at 3 p.m. on Tuesday (July 15) that its 911 emergency response system was down. It was restored at 9 p.m. The county said the outage was caused by "an issue with a Verizon fiber optic transmission line. Verizon crews from Poughkeepsie and Kingston worked to restore the lines. Incoming emergency calls were rerouted to 7-digit landline numbers without incident during the outage." For future updates, see the Dutchess County Emergency Management page on Facebook or download the Ready Dutchess! mobile app.

Glenn Rockman and his longtime partner, Darron Berquist, love many things about their 3,700-square-foot home off Route 9 in Philipstown (shown above): the quiet woods, the modern architecture, the river views. They also love their electric bill: $21.50 a month. The bills could be lower, but Central Hudson requires a basic service charge to be hooked up to the grid. The one time the bill was higher, it was because they had accidentally left the air conditioning on for 10 days while on vacation. The only gas the home uses is propane in a backup generator. This is all possible because Rockman and Berquist live in a certified Passive House, one of a growing number of ultra-efficient homes whose solar panels generate more power than the owners use. Rockman said they are hooked up to Central Hudson only as a precaution; occasionally, on hot days, the 9-kilowatt solar panel doesn't generate enough power to cool the house. But more often, it's sending electricity to Central Hudson and using a net meter to stockpile credits. Rockman expects to soon replace the backup generator with a whole-house battery that can store the excess production. Budget Busters Federal law could raise electricity costs By Brian PJ Cronin If you're considering making your home more energy-efficient, act now. The federal budget bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 will eliminate tax credits for solar panels, heat pumps, induction stoves, insulation and energy-efficient windows after Dec. 31. It also will eliminate, as of Sept. 30, a tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying or leasing an electric vehicle. The law could lead to higher utility costs because it kills many industry subsidies for wind, solar and large-scale batteries, which made up more than 90 percent of the new energy added to the grid. The REPEAT Project at Princeton University estimates 30 gigawatts that would have been generated by wind and solar annually may be lost. "Renewables are the cheapest source of new electricity generation, with or without the tax credits that the bill phases out," said Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Although the cost of installing solar and batteries has fallen by 90 percent over the past decade, and wind costs have fallen by 70 percent, the bill "will put a damper on new renewable and energy storage investment over the next decade, which is going to mean less new cheap, clean power getting added to the grid, and higher electricity prices," she predicted. At this point, "we can't build enough new fossil plants to fill the void that might be left by killing renewables," she said. Due to supply-chain issues, there's a backlog of up to seven years for natural gas turbines, for example. Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced plans to build more nuclear power plants upstate, but that won't happen immediately: The most recent nuclear plants built in the U.S. were years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. "Renewables and storage are the only resources available to be deployed today at reasonable cost," said Levin. "We won't be able to build new, unexpected, unplanned investments in other types of non-clean energy at least until the 2030s." The budget may mean fossil-fuel plants scheduled for retirement will need to stay open. Over the next few decades, electricity demand is expected to increase by 25 percent, primarily due to the growth of data centers. Relief could come at the state level if New York moves forward with a "cap-and-invest" plan, said Kobi Naseck, director of programs and advocacy for NY Renews, a progressive coalition. The program was announced by Hochul in 2023; corporations that produce more pollution than allowed would pay penalties that fund the state's climate plans and rebate checks for consumers. NY Renews forecasts that a cap-and-invest program could produce savings of up to $2,000 a year for households earning less than $200,000 annually. In Cold Spring, Chelsea Moze...

Westchester buyer to pay $1.8 million for Mase station Beacon officials have entered into a contract to sell the city's decommissioned Mase Hook & Ladder fire station for $1.8 million. The buyer, Michael Bensimon, signed an agreement on June 24 to acquire the property at 425 Main St., including the three-story brick firehouse that has stood there since 1911. Bensimon, who lists a Port Chester, New York, address on the agreement, made a down payment of $180,000. According to the sale contract, which was provided to The Current, he has a 45-day due-diligence period during which the sale can be canceled and the down payment refunded. City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis said he expects the transaction to close by the end of August. Bensimon and his attorney each declined to comment. Dutchess County records show that an LLC with the same Port Chester address owns 475 Main St. in Beacon, next to the Howland Cultural Center. Although Dutchess records incorrectly combine three parcels - the Memorial Building at 423 Main St., Mase at 425 Main and the adjacent municipal parking lot - into one, Bensimon plans to purchase only the fire station property. It is in Beacon's Central Main Street zoning district; Planning Board approval would be required to bring a commercial or residential use to the building. The city will retain the parking lot, which it intends to restripe for a more efficient layout. Bensimon will receive three spaces. Verizon Wireless will retain its lease to place an antenna on the firehouse roof and equipment in a fenced area behind the building. The site is also part of Beacon's protected historic district, which means that substantial exterior changes to the building would require a "certificate of appropriateness" from the Planning Board. According to the contract, Bensimon must apply for permits to begin interior renovation of the building within six months of closing, and obtain certificates of occupancy, compliance or other municipal approvals within 18 months. Mase and the former Beacon Engine Co. firehouse at 57 East Main St. were listed by the city for sale in May. Both became surplus after a $14.7 million centralized fire station opened near City Hall last fall. Accessory dwellings Homeowners earning up to 120 percent of the Dutchess County median household income ($97,273) can apply beginning Monday (July 14) for grants of up to $125,000 to create or upgrade an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Beacon and nine other municipalities in Dutchess County were awarded $6 million earlier this year through a state program designed to help low- and moderate-income residents build ADUs. The program is being administered locally by Hudson River Housing, a Poughkeepsie nonprofit. See hudsonriverhousing.org. The City Council on July 7 also adopted amendments meant to simplify regulations of accessory apartments. The law now permits ADUs in all zoning districts but only on lots with a single-family residence. One of the structures must be owner-occupied, and the ADU cannot be used for short-term rentals such as through Airbnb. A maximum size was removed from the law, but Planning Board approval will be required if the unit is greater than 1,000 square feet and its floor area is greater than 50 percent of the primary building's floor area. No off-street parking is required. Capital plans The City Council on Monday (June 7) unanimously adopted a five-year capital plan that details $29 million in equipment purchases and infrastructure upgrades for 2026 to 2030. The plan authorizes $6.5 million in spending for 2026, a year that will be highlighted by the renovation and greening of the southwest corner of Memorial Park, estimated to cost $400,000. The city plans to resurface the basketball courts, install pickleball courts, construct a softball batting cage and renovate the bathroom at that end of the park for public use. The adjacent skateboard park has been repaved, with new skating elements and an "art wall" installed. Phase 2 o...

Lost meal demolishes windshield Christine Ortiz, the owner of Oh! Designs Interiors on Stone Street in Cold Spring, was enjoying an average Monday on July 7, but there was nothing average about what happened at 4:15 p.m. as she stepped outside for a walk. "I heard a loud crash and thought something had broken, maybe inside the pub" on the corner, she said. At that same moment, Michelle Kupper was next door, sitting at her desk at the Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub, when she heard what she described as "a loud pop." Kupper saw Ortiz walk by and joined her. "What in the world happened to my car?" Ortiz asked aloud, as they stared at the Subaru parked in a shared driveway. The rear windshield was shattered. "My first thought was that a rock had been thrown," Kupper recalled. "Then I thought maybe the heat made it implode." Kupper peered through the broken glass. She spotted something bright orange. "It's a fish!" Kupper told Ortiz. "What do you mean it's a fish?" Ortiz replied. "Are you kidding me?" To be precise, it was a koi. But how did it end up in the backseat of her Subaru? Talon marks indicated the fish had been taken by a raptor, possibly an eagle or hawk. Ortiz felt it was unlikely to have come from the brackish Hudson River; koi are freshwater fish. "I felt bad; I knew someone was missing a pet," Ortiz said. "That's why I didn't post anything" on social media. The mystery of the Stone Street koi would not be solved by Facebook, Instagram or X. It was a story made for the rumor mill and backyard detectives. Neighbors talked to neighbors. Text messages flew around Cold Spring. Residents shook their heads. All but one, that is. "I heard about it through the grapevine," Garden Street resident Alex Wilcox Cheek said, adding that Teresa Lagerman, who lives across from Oh! Designs, had told him the tale after Ortiz texted her. "It sounded like some Garrison Keillor Lake Wobegon story," Wilcox Cheek said. It also sounded close to home. "I know exactly whose koi that is," he thought. Phil Heffernan, who lives on Church Street and has a koi pond in his backyard, was in California when he received a text from Wilcox Cheek. His pond lies just three blocks due east of where the fish met its end. Wilcox Cheek sent along one of Kupper's photos. Heffernan confirmed it was his koi, and that it had a name: Lucy. In 1953, the previous owner of Heffernan's home had built a 4-foot-deep kiddy pool. In 1990, Heffernan converted it to a fish pond that he keeps well-aerated with "supercharged bubblers" for up to 30 koi. "I always had an aquarium as a kid," he said. Flight Risk July 21, 2024: A fish damaged a Tesla parked in a driveway in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, about a mile from Raritan Bay. After the car alarm went off, the owners investigated and found scales and blood on the broken windshield. They suspected the eagles who had a nest in their backyard. July 13, 2021: Building inspectors in Neenah, Wisconsin, found one of their sedans in the city lot on Monday morning with the hood caved in and a carp, probably from Lake Winnebago, lying on the asphalt nearby. Sept. 5, 2016: Lisa Lobree was walking on Labor Day in Fairmont Park in Philadelphia when she was hit in the face by a 5-pound catfish. "I smelled disgusting," said Lobree, who suffered a cut and had some swelling. While he has never seen an eagle near the pond, hawks are common and the week before Lucy was taken he saw a large peregrine falcon in the backyard. Koi prefer the pond bottom, where the water is coolest. But Heffernan said when temperatures surpass 90 degrees - as they did the week Lucy was taken - the water warms and loses oxygen, and the fish surface to gulp air from the atmosphere. "An eagle would not have dropped that fish; they have claws the size of my hands," he said, adding that on that hot afternoon the hawk would have seen "a mat of koi" on the pond's surface. "The hawk's eyes were bigger than his claws and he grabbed the biggest fish he could," Hef...

Seeks to annul approval for Route 9 project The Revolutionary War is over, but a preservation group is continuing its battle over a hotel and retail project planned for Route 9 on a part of a historic site used in the late 18th century as a supply depot for the Continental Army. Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot and two of its members, Brenda and William McEwing, filed a lawsuit on June 27 in which they asked a state judge to nullify the Fishkill Planning Board's approval of Continental Commons. The lawsuit names the town, its building inspector, the Planning Board, the Planning Board chair and GLD3 LLC and Snook-9 Realty, development companies owned by Domenico Broccoli. As proposed, Continental Commons would combine a 90-room hotel with a restaurant, visitors' center and a replica barracks that would house a museum devoted to the history of the Fishkill Supply Depot. Established under Gen. George Washington, the 74-acre Revolutionary War encampment stretched from Philipstown to the Village of Fishkill and parts of what is now Beacon. The 10.5-acre site, which contains a Speedway gas station owned by Broccoli and a burial site that Friends of Fishkill Supply Depot say may contain the remains of war dead, is across Route 9 from Dutchess Mall and across Snook Road from the Van Wyck Homestead, a former headquarters for the supply depot and current home of the Fishkill Historical Society. The plaintiffs contend that the final site plan signed by the Planning Board chair in April is invalid because the developers failed to fulfill two conditions from the preliminary approval in December 2023 - a work permit from the state Department of Transportation and a letter confirming required excavation. They also claim the site plan and a special-use permit issued to the project have expired because the developer failed to meet a deadline to apply for building permits within a year of site-plan approval. The Planning Board granted the developer multiple 90-day extensions, the most recent of which expired June 12. Among the exhibits submitted with the lawsuit is a May email from the state Department of Transportation, in response to a Freedom of Information Law request, stating that the agency had yet to issue a final work permit. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs have made multiple requests to the Planning Board under the Freedom of Information Law for evidence that the conditions of the preliminary approval have been satisfied. Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot and the McEwings also appealed a state judge's decision in 2020 to reject their attempt to overturn the Planning Board's determination that Continental Commons would not have a "significant adverse impact" on the environment or historical resources. Judge Maria Rosa said she did not have the power to "substitute her judgment for that of the agency." The appeal, filed in May 2021, is still active. Broccoli has also gone to court. In March, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit he filed accusing members and supporters of Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot of conspiring to "devalue" the property so they could buy it for "pennies on the dollar." That same month, Broccoli alleged in a lawsuit that statements made in 2023 by Louise Daniele, a former member of the Fishkill Town Board, caused him "reputational harm, substantial emotional distress and humiliation and damage to his key business relationship." In a motion filed May 8, Daniele denied that she defamed Broccoli when she said that Board Member John Forman should recuse himself from votes involving Continental Commons because he rented office space from Broccoli's cousin and the developer donated to Forman's 2012 state Assembly campaign. In June, Daniele filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Scientists install first public monitors Eli Dueker pointed to a projected map of the U.S. covered in green dots. Each represented a sensor used to produce air-quality reports on hot summer days, or when Canadian wildfire smoke blows south into New York. "Notice this Hudson Valley-shaped hole here?" asked Dueker, the director of Bard College's Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities, during a presentation in Poughkeepsie. There were no green dots. Desiree Lyle, who manages the Community Sciences Lab at Bard, explained that the lack of local sensors means that apps must rely on data from elsewhere "and come up with an algorithm that approximates what the air quality might be in the Hudson Valley." This is the problem that Bard is working on through its Hudson Valley Community Air Network (dub.sh/hvair-network). The lab has so far installed four sensors that provide real-time data through justair.app, a website created by JustAir, an environmental justice technology company. The devices, which also measure air temperature and humidity, are located at Bard near Red Hook, Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center in Kingston and the roof of the Adriance Memorial Library in Poughkeepsie, where the June 24 event was held. The program came about after Kingston's Conservation Advisory Council asked Dueker where they could get data on air quality to identify the largest sources of local pollution. Due to the lack of sensors, there was no data. Darren Riley, a computer scientist who co-founded JustAir, had run into the same problem. After moving to Detroit from Houston, where he grew up, Riley developed asthma. His new Michigan neighborhood was within one of the most polluted ZIP codes in the country, and many residents struggled with respiratory health issues even before the pandemic swept through. Riley said that when the community asked local officials to address the air pollution, they kept hearing in response that there was no scientific data to prove that the neighborhood was polluted. He helped create JustAir to obtain it. Along with the four sensors mentioned earlier, Bard has installed about a dozen air-quality monitors made by PurpleAir in the doorways of Hudson Valley libraries. "It's another way that libraries continue to be bastions of knowledge," said Dueker. The data from those monitors is posted by PurpleAir online. There are only a few of the company's sensors in the Highlands, with a notable exception being the tent at Hudson Valley Shakespeare. But they come with challenges. They start at $275 each and are placed wherever someone feels like putting one up; Riley said that he's seen the sensors on back porches next to charcoal grills. And because PurpleAir owns the data, it could disappear if the company shuts down or is sold. PurpleAir charges $500 in annual licensing fees per sensor to allow its data to be posted on a public website such as JustAir. That's a steep price, but over the past few months, the Trump administration has removed an enormous amount of public climate data. "There's no way the Environmental Protection Agency can be with you everywhere you go to make sure that you're safe and healthy," said Dueker. "The only folks who can do that are the people who live and breathe and work and drink water in the town or the city that you live in." During the Poughkeepsie presentation, Riley displayed a map of the JustAir network in Detroit. The sensor readings were shown as brown, reflecting one of the worst possible ratings. "This is what we mean by environmental justice," he said. "For some people, the world is already on fire."

HVS goes to source of hit film shot in Garrison During the Great Depression, Thornton Wilder wrote a play called The Merchant of Yonkers, which flopped. Revising it in the 1950s as The Matchmaker, it might also have passed as The Taming of the Scrooge, as miserly and miserable businessman Horace Vandergelder repents at the end. This is the raw material that Broadway impresario David Merrick turned into the musical Hello, Dolly!, which debuted in 1964, won 10 Tony Awards and ran for 2,844 performances (The Matchmaker played 486 times on Broadway). Though the story is set in Yonkers (and Manhattan), producers for the 1969 Hollywood version shot several scenes at Garrison's Landing in part because Vandergelder indicates that the train station is less than a minute from his house. A yellowing window decoration created for the movie set is still preserved on the ground floor of a brick office building that served as an inn during the 1800s, when the play takes place. The Matchmaker is a subversive screed against greed that critiques capitalism, champions adventure (mentioned 17 times) and calls for the redistribution of wealth: Money, says Nance Williamson, who portrays Dolly Levi in the ongoing Hudson Valley Shakespeare production, "is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow." Letting emerging painter Ambrose Kemper (Blaize Adler-Ivanbrook) in on her plan to marry Vandergelder and free up the hoarder's lucre, she says that the value of cash is to trickle "like rainwater. It should be flowing down among the people." The play also explores the toll that work takes on the toilers, unable to live a life with much leisure or pleasure. When Manhattan hat shop owner Irene Molloy (Helen Cespedes) loses herself dancing and imbibing at the fancy Harmonia Gardens restaurant, she says, "to think that this goes on in hundreds of places every night while I sit at home darning my stockings." It's worse for Cornelius Hackl (Carl Howell), chief clerk at Vandergelder's hay, feed and provisions store, who awakens at 6 a.m. and closes shop at 9 p.m. He sleeps in the bran room and only gets Sundays off. When Hackl, 33, asks for another evening to himself after getting an ersatz promotion, Vandergelder (Kurt Rhoads) tells his charge that he should get up earlier and close the shop at 10 p.m.: "If I'd had evenings free [as a young man], I wouldn't be what I am now!" he thunders, with irony. The grueling work schedule hinders Hackl's personal life and he finds it difficult to speak with women in a social setting. In rebellion, he talks his apprentice Barnaby Tucker (Tyler Bey) into playing hooky and heading into Manhattan - vowing not to return until they've kissed a woman. According to the script notes, "farces are notoriously tricky to stage." After spotting Vandergelder (who is visiting the city to propose to Molloy), they duck into her hat shop. Things get hairy when the wayward clerks are inevitably discovered. As directed by Davis McCallum, HVS's artistic director, several scenes feature the stage and house filled with actors screaming, running amok and almost colliding with each other. The book is peppered with witty jokes and pithy insights, but the main comedic thrust rests in the situations and shenanigans. As Miss Flora Van Huysen, upon whose townhouse everyone descends during the wee hours, Katie Hartke channels a humorous Nora Desmond from Sunset Boulevard. Like The Comedy of Errors, the other offering at HVS through early August, The Matchmaker unfolds like a zany sitcom and concludes on a high note: Clerk Hackl finds a wife, the artist Kemper is approved to marry Vandergelder's niece and Dolly gets to spread the manure around. All's well that ends well. Hudson Valley Shakespeare is located at 2015 Route 9 in Philipstown. Tickets are $10 to $100 at hvshakespeare.org or at the door. The Matchmaker runs on select evenings through Aug. 3.

Their comments range from angry to anguished, some typed in all caps and punctuated with exclamation points. An 80-year-old retiree who said his charges from Central Hudson are outpacing last year's 2.5 percent increase in his Social Security check is among the 182 people submitting comments in response to the utility's latest request to increase the rates it charges to deliver electricity to homes and businesses. A single mother who said she lived with two children in a 700-square-foot house while earning $1,400 a month bemoaned the surge in her monthly bill from $100 to more than $200. "If the rates keep going up, I will have to freeze to death together with my teenage sons," she wrote. For the homeowners, renters and business owners who have been railing against Central Hudson's rising costs online and in public hearings before the state Public Service Commission, the frustration goes beyond the company's latest request to raise rates. Its pending three-year plan is lower than the company's original request but would still add $18 per month during that period to the average customer's bill. Those customers, along with residents served by New York state's other utility companies, are paying the most in at least 25 years for electricity, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Utility bills statewide averaged 25 cents per kilowatt-hour in March, compared to 19 cents in March 2015. Nationwide, energy bills are forecast to continue rising through next year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. "It's unbearable for customers," said Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon and other areas served by Central Hudson. "We get complaints all the time about their costs and their service." Extreme Weather Powers Demand Cooling, heating rises as aid disappears by Brian PJ Cronin The spikes in energy bills come as Americans feel the increasing effects of climate change, including more frequent "heat dome" events like the Highlands experienced last week when temperatures reached into the high 90s. Those events spur even greater electricity usage as residents crank up air conditioners and fans to sustain themselves. Don't expect a trade-off from warmer winters, however. Climate change is also manipulating the polar jet stream, pulling colder air from Canada south in the winter. This past winter, those polar-vortex events allowed freezing temperatures to blanket the Highlands, adding higher heating bills to the higher cooling costs residents faced during the summer. These bills aren't just a source of frustration and anxiety anymore. They're literally a matter of life and death. Between 1999 and 2023, 21,518 deaths recorded in the U.S. were attributed to heat as the underlying or a contributing factor, according to a study published in Aug. 2024 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The total number of deaths nationwide doubled from 1,069 in 1999 to 2,325 in 2023, according to the study. In New York state, extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation in a report published in June 2024. Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration fired the entire federal staff responsible for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps more than 6 million families avoid utility shut-offs. A representative from New York's Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance said that the state had already received its LIHEAP funding for the year, but next year is in doubt. Part of this year's funding is going toward the state's Cooling Assistance Program, which will help approximately 18,000 households purchase either an air conditioner or a fan. The application window for the program is closed, but New Yorkers who suffer from asthma may still be eligible. See dub.sh/cooling-help for more information. Customers face costs on two fronts: the rate utilities bi...

Low ridership, cost drive MTA decision Commuter ferry service between Newburgh and Beacon will not return after being suspended since January, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said last week. NY Waterway has operated the Beacon-to-Newburgh ferry under contract with the MTA since 2005, but the company in March announced that its weekday rush-hour service was discontinued indefinitely due to damage at the Beacon dock. On June 23, Evan Zucarelli, the MTA's acting senior vice president of operations, said during a Metro-North committee meeting that the initial suspension of service was triggered by "typical river icing." However, subsequent assessments "revealed significant damage" to the floating ferry dock the MTA attaches to Beacon's pier, "requiring long-term solutions," he said. After reviewing ridership, which had been "steadily declining" prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the $2.1 million annual cost of the service, the ferry will not return, Zucarelli said. An average of 62 riders used the ferry each day in 2024, down from "approaching 250" per day at its peak in 2008, said Andrew Buder, Metro-North's director of government and community relations. Ridership usually doubles over the summer, but last fall did not rebound to match its numbers from a year earlier, Buder said. "Even with that, we don't see a drop in ridership on the [Metro-North] train correlating to the drop in ridership on the ferry," he said. "If those people are still using the train, they're just choosing to get there a different way." Bus service costing $1.75 per ride will continue ferrying commuters between the two cities on weekday mornings and afternoons for the rest of the year, after which it will become free. The MTA has been working with New York State to expand the frequency and coverage area of the service, Zucarelli said. When pressed by an MTA board member, he said the agency would consider implementing free bus service before 2026. Another factor in the decision, Zucarelli said, is that Beacon is "actively developing plans to activate its dock area for tourism," while in Newburgh, where the MTA had been using a temporary dock, city officials are preparing for similar growth in 2027 with the opening of the $14.3 million Newburgh Landing Pier. The MTA's license to attach its ferry dock in Beacon expired June 30, and the agency notified the city that it did not intend to renew the agreement, City Administrator Chris White said. Neal Zuckerman, a Philipstown resident who represents Putnam County on the MTA board, pushed back against the plans during the June 23 meeting. "It is counterintuitive to me that, at the same time you've mentioned that both Newburgh and Beacon are enhancing their waterfront, that we are finding that use of the waterfront is not valuable," he said. Zuckerman said that what's happening on the Newburgh waterfront is "shockingly nice," while Beacon is a "TOD [transit-oriented development] dream, because it was once a moribund, empty area." Then, when Dia Beacon arrived in 2003, "it created an extraordinary resurgence" in a community that, because of the MTA, was "an easy one to get to." Whether ferry service returns or not, restricted access to the dock has hindered the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, which would typically dock in Beacon for at least six weeks out of its April-to-November sailing season. Clearwater has had to reschedule school sails aboard the sloop to depart from either Cold Spring or Poughkeepsie, while some fee-based sails for private groups and pay-what-you-can community sails, which draw about 45 people per outing, have been canceled, said David Toman, the organization's executive director. "Our core - the idea of getting people out on the sloop, out on the water - provides a unique impact that you can't get otherwise," he said. "It is critically important to be in Beacon and be able to serve the community from that access point." Steve Chanks, an art director who lives in Newburgh, often ...

Millions expected to lose coverage In addition to love, health insurance pushed Catherine Lisotta and her husband to marry. The Garrison resident's job in the magazine industry offered coverage after he lost his job. When Lisotta got laid off, the couple turned to New York's health exchange, an insurance marketplace where people without access to coverage from employers, and incomes too high for public insurance, can enroll in a private plan using tax credits that lower premium costs. She never considered going without health coverage. "It would worry me too much," said Lisotta, whose insurance is covering a recent hip replacement that would have cost her over $20,000. "It would be like tempting God." Lisotta and other people using exchanges in New York and other states are now facing changes to health care that are estimated to raise the number of uninsured people by 12 million. Those proposals, embedded in U.S. House and Senate versions of the One Big Beautiful Bill, will cost 7.8 million people coverage through Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office The bill was narrowly passed in the House on Thursday (July 3) after passing the Senate on Tuesday (July 1). President Trump signed it on Friday (July 4). New York's two Democratic senators - Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, voted against the legislation, as did Rep. Pat Ryan, a House Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District, which includes Beacon. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who represents the 17th District, which includes Philipstown, voted for the legislation. New York State predicts that 1.5 million statewide will lose insurance, including 38,400 in the 18th District and 31,200 in the 17th District. The bill's provisions would also affect the health care exchanges in New York and other states established when President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Among the changes, people will have to verify their eligibility before enrolling instead of being allowed temporary conditional eligibility. The bill also changes a provision that allows any immigrant who is legally in the country to be eligible for coverage and subsidies through the exchanges, largely limiting that benefit to green-card holders and barring enrollment for refugees and people seeking asylum. There is also concern that Congress will not extend the more-robust tax credits, and expanded eligibility, approved under the administration of President Joe Biden and expiring at the end of the year. Letting them expire would cost 4.2 million people insurance, according to the CBO. Premiums could more than double in both Lawler and Ryan's districts without the extension, according to KFF, a health policy organization. Christine Ortiz, who owns Oh! Designs Interiors in Cold Spring, is among the insured who has been receiving text messages from the state warning that "federal rules may change your health insurance." She not only uses the exchange, but so do a son and daughter. One of them is also self-employed. "The only reason that we can be self-employed is because of health care," she said. "I have a studio in the village, trying to build my business, and having to not have to worry about health insurance has been such a blessing." Sun River Health, whose 40 locations include one in Beacon, estimates that 20,000 of its patients will lose Medicaid, said Ernest Klepeis, its chief of government affairs and advocacy. As the OBBB has worked its way through Congress, Klepeis has been urging senators and representatives to reject the Medicaid cuts, which include stronger work requirements for childless adults between 19 and 64, and a new requirement that recipients recertify their eligibility every six months instead of yearly. While Republicans say that the changes will only impact people who refuse to work, advocates say that most of the people who lost coverage from more stringent work requirements imposed in Arkansas and Georgia were actually eligible for Medicaid. ...

Maasik out; Cheah withdraws as independent candidate Nat Prentice and Ned Rauch won the two Democratic lines on Tuesday (June 24) for the Philipstown Town Board. Rauch, who was endorsed by the Philipstown Democratic Committee, will appear on the Democratic and independent Philipstown Focus lines. He edged John Maasik by 24 votes for the Democratic line. Ben Cheah, the other candidate endorsed by the Democratic Committee, would have appeared on the November ballot on the Philipstown Focus line but on Friday filed with the Putnam County Board of Elections to have his name removed. In a statement on Facebook, Cheah wrote that, before the primary vote, "there was a lot of speculation that Ned and I would continue on to the November election on an independent line, regardless of the primary outcome. For me, that was never the plan." He said he withdrew because "this is the healthiest choice for both the Philipstown Democratic Party and my own career" and endorsed Rauch and Prentice. Voters had to be among the 3,597 residents in Philipstown registered with the Putnam County Board of Elections as Democrats. Turnout was 31 percent. The Board of Elections said some votes remain to be counted, such as affidavit ballots filed at the two polling sites and absentee ballots postmarked by June 24 that arrive by Tuesday (July 1). The results below are unofficial until certified. Democratic Nat Prentice 631 (29%) Ned Rauch 543 (25%) John Maasik 519 (24%) Ben Cheah 467 (22%) In a statement on Wednesday, the Philipstown Democratic Committee congratulated Prentice and Rauch, thanked all four candidates and said it looked forward "to supporting our candidates in doing the good work." It added that, "as a committee, we are disappointed that our candidate Ben Cheah was not selected yesterday; we thank him for the passion, hard work and thoughtfulness for service to the town he put into this campaign." It will vote at its July meeting whether to endorse Prentice. In a statement on Wednesday, Maasik said, "I'm proud that the non-endorsed candidates combined for the majority of the votes and gave the town a choice in this election." He added: "The community deserved to have an opportunity to see all four candidates at one forum to better understand our similarities and differences, and I wish we could have made that happen." Two Cold Spring residents invited all four candidates to a June 18 forum at their home, but Rauch declined the invitation on behalf of himself and Cheah, telling Marianne Sutton and David Watson that "Ben and I are unavailable on the 18th. With just two weeks remaining until the primary, our schedule is already packed." Watson said about 25 people attended to hear Prentice and Maasik. Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, Democrats elected to the Town Board in 2021, did not seek second terms. John Van Tassel, who is running unopposed for his third term as supervisor, will appear in November on the Democratic and Philipstown Focus lines. Because of a new state law that pushes most town and village elections to even-numbered years, the winners of the two open seats will serve until 2028, or three years, rather than four. At the same time, the supervisor position, usually a two-year term, will be on the ballot again next year. Putnam Valley Jacqueline Annabi, the Putnam Valley supervisor, fought off a challenge for the Republican line from Stephanie Waters. Annabi will face Alison Jolicoeur, the Democratic candidate, in November. Republican Jacqueline Annabi 301 (54%) Stephanie Waters 258 (46%) Putnam County There will be three open seats on the nine-member Legislature, which has eight Republicans and one Democrat (Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley). Each member serves a three-year term. In District 5, which includes the hamlet of Carmel and eastern Lake Carmel, Jake D'Angelo, 23, defeated incumbent Greg Ellner for the Republican line. Brett Yarris will appear on the Democratic and For the People lines...

Who's to blame for these skyrocketing electricity bills? The causes are many: aging infrastructure, economic uncertainty, tariffs, wars, red tape, the failure to build enough renewable energy, inefficient construction, rising demand, the responsibility of investor-owned utilities to generate profits for shareholders and rapidly changing climates, both atmospheric and political. Over the next few weeks, we'll examine some of these causes and innovative solutions being proposed. But to understand utility prices, you first must understand how the largest machine in the world works - one so ubiquitous that although we use it every minute of every day, we hardly notice it. New York's power grid consists of 11,000 miles of transmission lines that can supply up to 41,000 megawatts of electricity. The problem is that the grid is losing power faster than it can be replaced. Fossil-fuel plants are aging out of service. Since 2019, New York has added 2,274 megawatts while deactivating 4,315 megawatts. "It's an old system," said Rich Dewey, president of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the nonprofit tasked with running the grid, on an episode of its podcast, Power Trends. "The expectation that it's going to continue to perform at the same high level that it has, say, for the last couple of decades, is just not reasonable. We're going to need to replace those megawatts" to maintain a reliable transmission system. The state has undertaken several initiatives to boost the energy flowing through the grid. Six years ago, the state Legislature passed an ambitious law that stipulates that New York must be powered by 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040. Last year, 48 percent of the energy produced by the state was zero-emission; nearly all that energy is produced upstate, where solar and hydropower are abundant. The $6 billion Champlain Hudson Power Express, which will carry 1,250 megawatts of renewable energy from Quebec to New York City, and passes by the Highlands buried beneath the Hudson River, is expected to go online in 2026. This week, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced her intention, citing the Build Public Renewables Act of 2023, to construct nuclear plants that will produce at least 1 gigawatt. The site or sites for those plants are expected to be in less-populated areas upstate or in western New York, which would make them subject to the same problem that prevents solar and hydropower from reaching downstate, including the Highlands: a bottleneck where the upstate and downstate grids meet. The $2 billion question If Jeffrey Seidman, a Vassar College professor, sounds philosophical when discussing climate change, it's to be expected. Seidman is an associate professor of philosophy. A few years ago, he began having second thoughts about his chosen field of study. "Watching the world visibly burning, I began to doubt that continuing to teach philosophy was morally defensible at this moment," he said. A career change seemed out of the question - Seidman had just turned 50 - but Vassar's Environmental Studies department is interdisciplinary. So he developed a class called Climate Solutions & Climate Careers. Lately, he has been taking his lectures outside the classroom to clear up misinformation for lawmakers. Renewable energy faces strong headwinds these days, as President Donald Trump's executive orders and proposed legislation demonstrate that he intends to make it more difficult to build wind and solar projects. Before relenting, the federal government briefly halted an offshore wind project that was under construction off Long Island. At a June 3 meeting of Dutchess County mayors and supervisors, Seidman explained the potential of battery energy storage systems (BESS) to facilitate the transfer of renewable energy from upstate to the Hudson Valley. Jennifer Manierre of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) discussed how the state can help ...

City says it was not notified or involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers raided a residence on North Elm Street in Beacon on the morning of Friday (June 20), according to a statement issued by Mayor Lee Kyriacou. City officials said they do not know who ICE detained. It is unclear whether a judicial warrant was presented or the nature of any charges. ICE did not respond to a request from The Current for information. "I want to make clear that at no time leading up to this incident did city staff, including our Police Department, have any notice of or involvement in ICE operations," Kyriacou said. "As a city, we remain committed to our safe, inclusive community policy, to preserving rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and to avoiding any policies which engender fear among law-abiding families." The mayor said his office had been informed about the raid by residents and that Police Chief Tom Figlia confirmed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation that an ICE operation had occurred. Figlia said this week that ICE returned the following day (June 21), but he did not know if anyone was detained. Mayor's Statement Earlier today, my office was informed by several residents of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in the City of Beacon. I want to make clear that at no time leading up to this incident did city staff, including our Police Department, have any notice of or involvement in ICE operations. As a city, we remain committed to our safe, inclusive community policy, to preserving rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, and to avoiding any policies which engender fear among law-abiding families. Our city's police chief was able to confirm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after the fact, that an ICE operation occurred in Beacon earlier this morning. At this time, the city has no information as to the identity of the individual who was arrested or detained, the nature of the charges, or whether a judicial warrant was presented or not. The City of Beacon also has no information as to the current location of the person who was arrested or detained. Our Police Department is actively seeking further information regarding the situation at this time. Lee Kyriacou, Mayor, City of Beacon Andrew Canaday, a Beacon resident, wrote in a comment posted below that he witnessed the raid. "ICE, the FBI and what appeared to be one police officer (not from the City of Beacon) staked out the house, parked at different locations along the street around 6 a.m., presumably to apprehend him on his morning commute," he wrote. The federal agents were armed and wearing body armor, Canaday wrote. He declined further comment. Once news of the action circulated, hundreds of residents in Beacon and surrounding areas created an "unofficial neighborhood watch," according to one participant who asked not to be identified. They are concerned that ICE is "confronting and taking our community members from their homes without due process," the person said. Volunteers have circulated pocket-sized cards with phrases such as "I do not give you permission to enter my home" and "I choose to exercise my constitutional rights" in English and Spanish. A second card offers tips for bystanders, such as how to observe safely, when to speak up and how to document what they see if witnessing a person being detained. Joseph Lavetsky, an immigration attorney in Beacon, said that people who have been in the U.S. for less than two years, or who don't have proof that they've been in the country for more than two years, are the most at risk because they could be subject to expedited removal. If a person is detained, they will be held pending a bond hearing in an immigration court, he said, which would not take place in Beacon. The nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group has created Designation of Standby Guardian forms for at-risk immigrants who have children to file in Surrogate Court or Family Court. Lavetsky noted that D...

Finance chief says loan hobbles contractor Putnam's finance commissioner is recommending that the county spend $4.7 million to pay off the loan used to acquire its golf course in 2003 and rebid the contract to run the operation. Michael Lewis told the Legislature's Audit Committee on Monday (June 23) that the county would save $477,000 in interest with the early payoff of the tax-exempt bonds whose proceeds were used to buy the former Lake MacGregor Golf Course in Mahopac. He also presented an alternative in which the county would use $1.7 million to pay off a portion of the bonds, saving $175,198 in interest, when they are eligible for redemption on Jan. 15. In addition to saving on interest, retiring the bonds would release the county from IRS rules that have proved "restrictive" for Homestyle Caterers & Food Services of Yorktown Heights, the company hired to provide beverage and food service for golfers and events. Those rules mean that Homestyle cannot "claim ownership, claim depreciation and/or amortization deductions, investment tax credits or deduct for any payment" related to the golf course, according to Lewis. Because of the restrictions, Putnam also owns the drink, food and pro shop inventory and is responsible for the cash-handling, said John Tully, the commissioner of general services. Without those rules, a company holding the golf course contract would own the inventory and simply pay Putnam a share of the revenue from the course. In addition to Homestyle, Putnam contracts with Troon Golf to run and maintain the golf course and its pro shop, and a third company hired "to protect our interests and make sure that those two other contractors are playing nice in the sandbox, and that they're coordinating events and all things together," said Tully. "There would be a benefit to the county to only have one person or one entity to deal with, and that entity could be one of the three operators that are there today or somebody new," he said. Putnam spent $11.35 million in 2003 to purchase a 375-acre property, which included the money-losing golf course and its banquet facility, the former Mahopac airport and Hill-Agor Farm. The county took the money from $40 million it received under a watershed agreement signed with New York City but later had to repay $5 million to the fund. Since the purchase, the county has spent millions more on upgrades, ranging from repaving the parking lot to renovating the clubhouse. The upgrades included making the facility accessible to people with disabilities to settle a lawsuit filed in 2016 by Westchester Disabled on the Move Inc. Homestyle has also faced accusations. A 2018 report by the Journal News centered on catering contracts that appeared to show that the campaign of then-County Executive MaryEllen Odell and a nonprofit founded by Legislator Amy Sayegh and directed by an Odell assistant were charged less than other groups for events at the course. Odell's campaign denied the accusation. Sayegh is now the Legislature's chair. In 2022, the Legislature voted to use $400,000 of Putnam's $19.1 million in federal pandemic relief funds to renovate the golf course's restaurant, despite a $272,000 profit the year before. Putnam reallocated the money after being told the golf course project did not meet eligibility guidelines. Legislator Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley, has repeatedly called for more disclosure about the golf course finances. "I like the idea of saving money," she said on Monday. "But I think, for the public's interest, we need to review everything from the inception of the golf course."

State will provide funds for breakfast, lunch Haldane students will receive free breakfast and lunch at school in 2025-26 thanks to a newly created state program funded largely by the federal government. The Universal Free Meals program, included in the state's 2025-26 budget, will provide breakfast and lunch at no charge beginning in the fall, said Carl Albano, the interim superintendent. About half of the district's 800 students in kindergarten through 12th grade buy meals in the cafeteria, and about 150 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. In Garrison, meanwhile, the district included funding in its 2025-26 budget to offer lunch to its 200 students in kindergarten through eighth grade but has encountered obstacles. Garrison students bring their lunches except on Friday, when they can purchase pizza provided by the eighth-grade class as a fundraiser. The district budgeted $150,000 to pay for upgrades to its kitchen and for staff to launch a pilot lunch program in the fall but has had trouble finding another district to partner with. Because Garrison's kitchen is not currently equipped to provide meals, the district hoped to have Hendrick Hudson in Montrose send lunches from its high school cafeteria, said Superintendent Greg Stowell. The plan was to sell meals for about $6 on weekdays except Friday, when the pizza fundraiser would continue. About two weeks ago, he said, the plan fell apart when Hendrick Hudson High School joined the Universal Free Meals program, which has requirements that complicate partnerships. Hendrick Hudson is also going through personnel changes among its food-service supervisors. Stowell said Garrison is trying to determine how much it would cost to partner with another district and provide Garrison students with free lunches, a decision that would need to be made by the end of July. If the district becomes subject to the regulations of the Universal Free Meals program, it would have to serve meals five days a week and could not have the Friday pizza fundraisers, which last year raised $8,000 for eighth-grade programs, including a class trip. The Beacon school district has provided free breakfast and lunch for all its students since January 2024 through a different state program called Community Eligibility Provision, said Anthony Rollins, its lunch director. To be eligible, a district must show that 25 percent of its students would qualify for free or reduced lunch under the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, which were established in 1946. Rollins said the Beacon district, which has 2,600 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, serves 900 breakfasts and 1,700 lunches a day.

New Beacon vegan joint already has a following Despite running a pizza place, Mickey Dwyer is not sick of pizza. "I don't get to eat enough of my pizza, actually," he said while sliding a sausage and peppers pie into the oven at Trixie's, the pizzeria he owns and operates. "I keep selling out and then I'm bummed that I don't have any left for myself." Dwyer sells out despite a lack of advertising and his pizzeria being impossible to stumble upon. It's located in the rear of 144 Main St. in Beacon, next to a semi-secret soccer field. Its unlikely location keeps the rent cheap, which comes in handy since it took Dwyer and friends a year to get the former guitar repair shop up to code before he could open. Trixie's, named after his family's late chihuahua, had a soft opening in April that went so well Dwyer's never had a chance to have an official opening. Pizza orders open online on Wednesdays in 20-minute slots for Thursday, Friday and Saturday pickup. They fill quickly; Dwyer can only fit four pizzas at a time in the oven. "I like the time slots so I can tell how many pizzas to make," he said. "There's less food waste. And the pizza is just gonna come out better. I understand that everyone in Beacon wants to eat at 6:15, but if I made pizza for everybody at 6:15 then some are going to be undercooked. This way I can give every pizza the same amount of attention." There's one other thing that makes Trixie's unique: Everything is vegan. "I can't use 2 pounds of cheese as a crutch to cover up 'mid' pizza," he said. The sausage is made of a meat substitute; Dwyer adds sage, garlic and fennel. The mozzarella is cashew-based, and what looks like parmesan is a potato starch-based substitute that's not available in stores. Even the hot honey is vegan, made from apples and chilis. If potato-starch cheese doesn't sound appealing, rest assured that Dwyer, who grew up in Wisconsin, is picky about cheese. "All the cheese that the New York pizzerias use is made in Juda, Wisconsin," he said. "You might not think we know a lot about pizza in Wisconsin, but we know a lot about cheese." Dwyer himself isn't vegan but guesses most of his customers aren't either. "Vegans make up less than 6 percent of the population, so you're going to go under unless you make something that appeals to everyone," he said. Beacon's vegan doughnut shop, Peaceful Provisions, is an example of this. "Nobody cares that it's vegan - they just care that it's a delicious doughnut." Before he had the Main Street space, Dwyer used the commercial kitchen at Peaceful Provisions to make 100 pounds of dough on Wednesdays. He said the Saturday doughs, with their longer ferment, had more complex flavors, although he admitted he may be the only one who noticed the difference. With all the dough now made at Trixie's, the dough for each pizza gets a two-day cold ferment. "That means every pizza takes three days start to finish," he said. "Everybody thinks that pizza is fast food, but good pizza is slow food." Dwyer began making pizza as a hobby soon after he moved to Beacon in 2016. Around the same time, he and his wife began eating less meat and dairy, and creating a vegan pizza that didn't taste like a vegan pizza recipe became an obsession. Dwyer bought an old coffee trailer and sold pizzas from his driveway. At Trixie's, Dwyer is working on building a small outdoor patio and has applied for a beer and wine license. He's also finally with a food distributor so he no longer must drive back and forth to Adams and ShopRite for ingredients. This month he hired his first employee. "She'll be taking orders and talking to people," he said. "I was spreading myself too thin. I'd be talking to customers and answering their questions, and the pizzas would be in the back, burning. Now I'll just be able to focus on the pizzas. I can make more, and I can make them faster." Trixie's Pizza, behind 144 Main St. in Beacon, is open 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday...

Hudson Valley Shakespeare rolls with the punchlines Highbrow and lowbrow collide as history and pop culture are run through a blender in the production of The Comedy of Errors at Hudson Valley Shakespeare. The play opens with a few notes of The Godfather theme, rewinds to the Big Band Era, then fast-forwards to 1950s rock 'n' roll. There's also a bawdy "Star-Spangled Banner" joke, another one associating "wee wee" with "yes yes" in French and three kick-line dance numbers. "That's the good thing about doing plays that have no copyright or family members alive - you can do anything you want," says director Ryan Quinn. Movement fuels the madcap mayhem: The opening scene unspools like a silent film that animates a long backstory monologue by Kurt Rhoads as Egeon. The actors sway on deck as their ship goes down, a segment choreographed by Susannah Millonzi and punctuated by Sean McNall running around in a gleaming-yellow fisherman's bucket hat. It's funny to watch Zach Fine as the servant Dromio of Syracuse get chased. Or just stand and make strange faces, eat popcorn and shake his legs. After Fine's scene-stealing appearance with the ribald French joke, national anthem quip and dose of Robin Williams, the audience on June 22 erupted with applause. Quinn added a dash of Guys and Dolls: the more menacing characters and two female roles deliver the Bard's words with faux Brooklyn accents. As Luciana, Helen Cespedes channels the renowned squeak of Adelaide from the 1950s play and Katie Hartke (Adriana) joins the fun as cases of mistaken identity erupt into chaos. The flaw to Shakespeare's logic is that each set of twins shares the same names. And, to keep the ruse going, they must be dressed in the same garb. Nonetheless, Luis Quintero (Antipholous of Syracuse), plays a low-key foil to Fine's Dromio as a happy-go-lucky chap who finds himself in maddening situations. As the other brother, Antipholous of Ephesus, Anand Nagraj presents a blustering blowhard who amalgamates the Wicked Wolf and Ralph Kramden when the hijinks get out of hand. The cast metes out more beatings than a Three Stooges film and Quinn leans into slap-schtick territory. At one point, cast members play-slap the entire audience and even the stage manager hurls water balloons at Antipholous of Ephesus. Tactful ad-libs, mostly from Cespedes, add to the playfulness and lack of pretense. One of Shakespeare's early works (circa 1594), with rhyming lines that sometimes flow like rap, The Comedy of Errors is funny not so much because of the words but in the situations. That means it's up to the actors to put it over. As written, the Dr. Pinch scene is staid, but McNall's manic depiction of an exorcism elicited howls of laughter. After arriving in what looks like a moon buggy with two white-coated helpers in glittering goggles, he gesticulates wildly and unleashes otherworldly noises. Holy water is splashed about like kindergartners in a kiddie pool. Beyond the funning and fighting, Quinn focuses on family. In one subtle, recurring gag, after the Syracusans are introduced, they walk up the hill behind the stage, and the servant Dromio tries to hold his master's hand but is swatted away. The gimmick occurs a few more times, but at the end, both Dromios in near-identical costumes clasp hands with vigor as they exit stage rear, reunited. And it feels so good. Hudson Valley Shakespeare is located at 2015 Route 9 in Philipstown. Tickets are $10 to $100 at hvshakespeare.org or at the door. The Comedy of Errors runs on select evenings through Aug. 2.

Pipe Band registers Highlands 'sett' A distinctive look can establish pride and set a group apart, whether it's Yankee pinstripes, the golden helmets of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame or the iconic painting scheme of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. For the Hudson Highlands Pipe Band, what distinguishes it from other bands is its tartan, or "sett," which became official when it was listed last year in the Scottish Register of Tartans, established by the country's Parliament in 2008. "For years, we wore the Royal Stuart tartan," says James Hartford, the band's pipe major. Red is its dominant color, making it popular with fire departments. The local pipe band, established in 2005, was originally associated with the Cold Spring Fire Co. but later became Cold Spring Pipes and Drums and, more recently, the Hudson Highlands Pipe Band. Hartford, an architect, designed the tartan with help from Aeneas Eaton, a graphic designer who sometimes plays bass drum with the band. Each of its colors represent an aspect of the Highlands' history or geography, Hartford says: blue for the Hudson River; amber for the mountains and foliage; red for iron industries, including mines and West Point Foundry; blue-grey tones for West Point; and two white lines for the railroads that flank the river. A tartan can have three to five variants. The Hudson Highlands tartan features the "Hunter" version, historically associated with stealth because it can blend in with woodland surroundings. The band also considered "ancient" and "contemporary" variants that feature muted and vivid tones, respectively. Creating the tartan inspired considerable debate among the band's 25 members, Hartford says, particularly over the colors. Hartford says the group reached consensus once he explained the rationale behind each color. The fabric, a heavy wool, was produced by Lochcarron of Scotland. The first kilts arrived in the fall. In the U.S., tartan and plaid are often used synonymously, but while a tartan is a plaid, not all plaids are a tartan. Tartans have the same pattern of stripes running vertically and horizontally, creating overlapping square grids. Plaids are not necessarily identical in both directions and can vary in size, pattern and color. Tartan is also usually woven in a two-over-two twill pattern, creating an illusion of new colors when the original hues are blended.

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Scheduled for June 28 at John Jay High School Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican whose district includes Philipstown and parts of Dutchess County (not including Beacon, which is represented by Rep. Pat Ryan), has scheduled a town hall for Saturday (June 28) at John Jay High School in Hopewell Junction. It is the fourth of four town halls he said he would hold, following those in Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties. Tickets are available online at eventbrite.com. The event begins at 6 p.m. In the list of conditions for ticket requests, Lawler's office writes: "Unfortunately, due to security concerns and threats made against the congressman, his family and our staff, there will be additional security measures put in place to ensure everyone's safety…. If our office has information indicating that you are actively planning to disrupt the Town Hall, or if you have disrupted prior Town Halls, you may be denied entry." According to the other terms, attendees may be asked to provide proof of residency in District 17; no bags, signs, noisemakers, bullhorns, megaphones or face coverings will be allowed; questions can only be asked by the person whose ticket is called and must be limited to 30 seconds; and except for members of the press, no flash photography or audio or video recording will be allowed.

Deadline is Monday (June 23) Although other home-energy assistance programs offered by New York State have closed for 2024-25, the application for cooling assistance such as an air conditioner or fan is still open, although the deadline is Monday (June 23). Eligible adults who are over the age of 60 and meet income requirements can receive up to $800 per household for the purchase and installation of an window or portable air conditioner or a fan, or $1,000 for an existing wall-sleeve unit. You may be eligible if: Your household's gross monthly income is at or below the current income guidelines for your household size as posted in the table at otda.ny.gov/programs/heap (e.g., for a family of four, the maximum monthly gross income is $6,390) or You receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, Temporary Assistance (TA) or Code A Supplemental Security Income (SSI Living Alone), or You received a regular benefit greater than $21 in the program year or received a regular benefit equal to $21 during the program year and reside in government subsidized housing with heat included in your rent, and Your household contains at least one individual with a documented medical condition that is exacerbated by extreme heat, or Your household contains a vulnerable member based on their age (60 years or older, or under age 6) which meet all other component eligibility criteria, and A member of your household is a U.S. citizen or qualified non-citizen, and You do not have a working air conditioner, or the air conditioner you have is five years old or older, and You did not receive a HEAP-funded air conditioner within the past five years. To learn more, Dutchess County residents can call the Department of Social Services at 845-838-4800 and Putnam County residents can call the Department of Social Services at 845-808-1500. For information about other home-energy assistance programs, see otda.ny.gov/programs/heap. Air conditioners are also available to from New York State to residents with persistent asthma who are members of the Essential Plan. Persistent asthma means you experience asthma symptoms (such as shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing attacks, chest tightness or chest pain) much of the time or need a daily medication for asthma to control symptoms. Units are available until Aug. 31, or until funds run out. Installation cannot exceed $900 for a window or portable air conditioner or $500 for a standing floor fan. For an existing wall sleeve unit replacement, installation cannot exceed $1,100. Cash benefits are not available. See info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov.

Wet weather spoils plans, but heat is on the way Today (June 20) is the first day of summer, but if you feel like you've been stuck inside more often than not during the last seven soggy weeks of spring, it's because you probably have. Jesse Stacken, a weather monitor who is part of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), has recorded rainfall at his Beacon home 31 out of 50 days since the beginning of May. He's seen measurable precipitation 14 of the last 15 weekends, dating to March 16. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 3.72 inches of rain is normal for May in Beacon. Stacken measured 10.29 inches, "so we doubled it and then some," he said. Normal rainfall for June is 4.47 inches; Stacken's gauge had seen 3.54 inches through Thursday, including a Wednesday downpour that dumped nearly an inch in 45 minutes. In Philipstown, CoCoRaHS monitors Joe Hirsch and Heidi Wendel have measured 24.12 inches of precipitation from Jan. 1 through Thursday, including 8.66 inches in May and 3.23 in June. During the same year-to-date period last year, the Nelsonville residents had seen 26.78 inches, with 4.33 inches falling in May 2024 and 1 inch in June through the 19th. The rain has flooded fields and set production back at Common Ground Farm in Wappingers Falls. In addition to losing about 200 feet of kale - a third of what had been planted - and tomatoes to flooding, Rhys Bethke, Common Ground's farm manager, said it was difficult this spring using a tractor on wet, compacted soil. "If you can't get the fields prepared in time, you don't have crops in time," Bethke said. Fungal and bacterial infections have also been more common because they thrive in wet conditions. Foot traffic, particularly on the weekends, has been down on Main Street in Cold Spring, said Fran Farnorotto, the owner of The Gift Hut. "There are a lot of things that are impacting sales," she said, "weather being one of the issues." Ben Noll, a meteorologist who grew up in Orange County and now lives in New Zealand, tracks weather for The Washington Post. He noted via email this week that rainfall in the Hudson Valley has been close to average in 2025. January through April saw below-average precipitation, but May was the "big, wet standout." June could end up having above-average rainfall, as well, he said. And while it's felt cool lately, temperatures in April, May and June were slightly warmer than the long-term (1991 to 2020) average. But because the climate is changing quickly, Noll said, people have grown accustomed to above-average temperatures. When conditions are more "old normal" than "new normal," it may feel cooler than it really is. "The polar vortex, which is responsible for keeping cold air locked up in the Arctic, has been more disturbed than normal this year, allowing strands of cold air to surge southward in the central and eastern United States with greater regularity," Noll said, adding that the same pattern led temperatures to reach near 80 degrees in Iceland in May, a record for that country. "That pattern is finished now and we're about to see a big, warmer and more humid change in our weather." Indeed, we are. Temperatures are expected to reach 98 degrees on Monday and Tuesday. Rombout Middle School in Beacon will dismiss students at 11:15 a.m. both days; the district's four elementary schools will dismiss at 12:10 p.m. The Regents week schedule at Beacon High School, which is air-conditioned, is unchanged. Here's why extreme heat is coming. The jet stream is about to be pushed north of the U.S., Noll said, creating a "heat dome" effect. "This essentially lumps our weather into the same basket as Florida, Texas and the rest of the South," he said. Noll's outlook for the rest of summer is hot and humid, especially at night, "because of extremely warm ocean temperatures in the western Atlantic and Gulf." He predicts that downpours will never be far away, although "I expect there to be plenty ...

Project raises concerns about flooding A proposal by the Hoving Home in Garrison to relocate a section of Philips Brook is projected to reduce flooding along Snake Hill Road but is raising concerns that it will aggravate overflows on Avery Road and raise water levels downstream. Sondra Shah, a water resources engineer with Inter-Fluve, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Beth Greco, Hoving's president and CEO, on June 10 introduced an application for a wetlands permit to the Philipstown Conservation Board. Shah said that, using a $1 million state grant, the Garrison treatment program for women plans to remove a 10-foot-high dam built to create a swimming pond and shift 800 feet of the brook flowing across its property between Avery and Walter Hoving roads north. Despite multiple repairs, the dam and the stone walls constraining the brook as it heads west to Constitution Marsh have suffered extensive damage from storms, which are occurring more often, said Shah. Water released by the dam's failure could damage downstream properties, making the structure a risk to public safety, she said. "There's leakage through the dam, failure of the masonry and the reservoir is filled with invasives like knotweed and phragmites," said Shah. Along with the dam, some sections of the stone wall will be removed, as will one of the footbridges crossing the brook and one of its three weirs. Dirt excavated for the new channel will fill 300 feet of the brook's existing pathway and the two remaining weirs. Inter-Fluve has applied to the Army Corps of Engineers to release some of the sediment impounded by the dam downstream. The new channel will be wider and shallower than the existing one. Boulders will be placed along its bed to create "step pools" - areas of deeper water whose goal is to slow the water's flow and reduce erosion of the banks. The pools also provide "resting stops" for fish and oxygen-rich water during periods of turbulence, said Shah. Inter-Fluve, which is also seeking a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, will cover the new bank with native plants. In addition, said Shah, the reconstruction will avoid two areas of "archeological sensitivity" identified in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office, which considers the property eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. According to Inter-Fluve, modeling shows that the project will reduce flooding on Snake Hill Road without increasing the risk of flooding downstream of the site. "Rivers are supposed to flood, and that's typical, but this [existing] channel with the stone walls is highly undersized," Shah said. While flooding along Snake Hill Road is projected to lessen, the configuration will send "additional flow" to a culvert on the Avery side of Hoving's property, according to project documents. It will also raise the brook's elevation downstream by 1 inch during a 10-year storm and 2 inches during a 100-year storm, according to Shah. To address Avery Road, Hoving has received $200,000 to redesign a town-owned culvert and is planning to apply for another grant to underwrite its reconstruction, said Greco, adding that Hoving is "not going to flood our downstream neighbors. We won't do the project. We'll figure out something else, if we can't." Andy Galler, who chairs the Conservation Board, requested that Inter-Luve create additional modeling to show how the reconfigured brook will affect residents living below Avery Road - "probably across Route 9D." Two Avery Road residents, Marianne Sullivan and her husband, James Hoch, also expressed concerns. In addition to more flooding on their street, Sullivan worried that releasing the sediment impounded by the dam would harm trout downstream. Hoch said that heavier flooding on Avery could damage the septic fields of its residents. Hoch said that he felt "comforted" while reading the project documents before the meeting, but "now I'm a little worried, because I see this as movi...

Cold Spring fan hooked for decades The blockbuster Jaws was released 50 years ago today (June 20), and although Cold Spring resident Courtney Clark wasn't born until a decade later, it didn't stop her from becoming a megafan of the ocean thriller. "I've watched it at least 100 times," she says. Based on a novel by Peter Benchley and directed by Stephen Spielberg, Jaws is set in the fictional New England island community of Amity, where a great white appears at peak tourist season, terrorizing residents and visitors. After the predator has claimed three victims, Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and shark hunter Capt. Quint (Robert Shaw) head out in the fishing boat Orca to confront the menace. The hunt does not go well. Clark first watched Jaws when she was 10, in Pleasantville, when her family rented the video. "My mom finally decided I was old enough," she recalls. "I was scared, but I didn't appreciate all the nuances I've come to love about the film." Within a year, Clark saw it again, in a friend's darker, scarier basement. By her mid-teens, she was hooked, watching it about three times a year. That habit continues four decades later. "I watch it as much as my husband Dan will tolerate," she says with a laugh. Clark says her favorite line in the 124-minute film is when Quint, aboard Orca, offers a toast to Hooper and Brody: "Here's to swimming with bow-legged women." She can recite much of the movie's dialogue from memory, except for Quint's "Indianapolis" speech. In the monologue, one of the movie's most gripping scenes, Quint recounts in grizzly detail the story of the USS Indianapolis, which was torpedoed by the Japanese near the Philippines in July 1945 during World War II and sank in 12 minutes. Only 316 of 890 sailors survived in the shark-infested waters. Clark feels the movie, which cost $9 million (about $54 million today) to make and grossed $478 million worldwide ($2.9 billion), stands the test of time, even after half a century. "It's always as exciting as the first time I watched it," she says. "Even though I know every scene and what's coming, it's still shocking. I still find details I hadn't noticed before. "I love its style, the '70s, the outfits; it's a little slice of life of that time," she says. "It's so perfectly made; every shot is like a work of art." Her favorite scene is when the shark attacks young Alex Kintner in a rubber raft near the beach. "The camera pans, you see people walking by, and it keeps going back and forth between Brody's face and the water. The feel of that scene is amazing." Her scariest scene: When they find fisherman Ben Gardner's boat, badly damaged by the shark. Hooper goes into the water, and Gardner's head pops out from a hole in the side of the boat. Her favorite character: "Brody, Quint and Hooper are all incredible, but I relate most to Hooper; I appreciate that he's a marine biologist." Events behind the scenes also captured Clark's imagination. "The making of Jaws is as iconic as the film," she said, adding that The Jaws Log, by Carl Gottlieb, the film's screenwriter, details what went on during filming, most of which was on Martha's Vineyard. Clark finds it especially amusing that producers toyed with trying to train a shark to play the central character, rather than building a mechanical double. Gottlieb's book describes how residents coped with a movie crew disrupting life on the island and how the filmmakers dealt with a fake shark that rarely functioned as planned. Ironically, those difficulties may have contributed to the movie's success. There were so many problems with the shark, nicknamed "Bruce" after Spielberg's lawyer, that it appears on screen for only four minutes. "The fact that they had such limited footage makes it much more suspenseful when you actually see the shark," Clark says. Unlike many critics and fans, she enjoyed all three sequels: Jaws 2, Jaws 3 and Jaws: The Revenge, with Michael...

Editor's note: Beacon was created in 1913 from Matteawan and Fishkill Landing. 150 Years Ago (June 1875) A Matteawan judge fined three drunken young men from Newburgh $25 [about $730 today] for throwing coal at pedestrians. According to the Matteawan correspondent for The Cold Spring Recorder: "This village is a very peculiar place and most miserably governed. Our people support over 60 gin mills - most of which are running full blast on the Sabbath." A Fishkill Landing resident was selling his trotting stallion, Nicotine. The body of a female newborn was found in the back of the ladies' waiting room at the Fishkill Landing train depot. John Falconer, of the Seamless Clothing Co. in Matteawan, was building a second factory to make Brussels-style patterned carpets. Commodore Thomas Ramsdell installed a buoy between Low Point and the Fishkill Landing dock to mark a sandbar where vessels often went aground. Three Matteawan boys were brought before Justice Schenck for playing ball in the street. One was fined $1 [$30] and the others were dismissed. A Fishkill Landing trustee obtained arrest warrants for three men accused of racing their horses on Sunday, in violation of village ordinance. A bull and three cows died on a farm near Fishkill from an unknown disease. Before dying, the animals threw back their heads and walked in circles for 12 to 14 hours. Smith Van Buren, a Fishkill Landing resident who was the son of former President Martin Van Buren, was confined to the Hudson River Hospital for the Insane in Poughkeepsie with dementia. [Van Buren died the following year, at age 59, and is buried at St. Luke's Church.] George Peattie, while drunk, came into Drewen's barbershop in Fishkill Landing and attacked James Gogswell as he sat in the chair. Zebulon Phillips, 80, a farmer near Fishkill, was killed when he fell off his roof, which he was repairing. 125 Years Ago (June 1900) James W.F. Ruttenber, editor of the Newburgh Sunday Telegram, was found guilty of publishing an obscene newspaper based on gossip printed in his Feb. 4 issue. The jury deliberated for less than 10 minutes. Ruttenber had been indicted in Dutchess County because the Telegram was distributed in Fishkill Landing and Matteawan. The judge sentenced the editor to 15 days in jail and a $15 fine [$575]. The offending paragraphs, by an unnamed Fishkill and Matteawan correspondent, included a report that "a Landing girl sent word to a young man in town that he could see her disrobe for 10 cents. Of course, the young man was unnerved by so sudden and cheap an offer. Still, there is no telling what she will do next if he doesn't accept her proposition. Take her up, George, before she changes her mind." He also wrote: "Poker as it is played on Cedar Street does not always require a pocket full of money. I am told that the females in the house are sometimes put up as an equivalent." Clarence Chatham Cook (below) died at his home at Fishkill Landing at age 72. The Harvard graduate gained fame in 1863 with critical articles on American art in the New York Tribune. "He treated most of the work of American artists with merciless sarcasm and injured his influence by his extreme verdicts," according to one obituary. Cook later caused a stir when he suggested that many of the statues from Cyprus in the newly opened Metropolitan Museum of Art were fakes. He created an art periodical, The Studio, and in 1878 published a book, The House Beautiful: Essays on Beds and Tables, Stools and Candlesticks. Two brickyards at Dutchess Junction employed about 100 Black men who migrated each year from Virginia and North Carolina. They ate in squads of 25, with one man appointed to cook in a camp kettle. Many brought their fiddles and banjos from the South. The residents of Fishkill Landing voted to install sewers. James Greene, of Fishkill Landing, was admitted to West Point as an alternate after a candidate from Kingston failed the entrance exam. He was the son of Maj. Henry A. Greene, w...

Fishkill wants water, sewer and smaller units New York State is reworking its development plans for the former Downstate Correctional Facility just outside of Beacon, including a 15 percent reduction in housing at the 80-acre site, after negotiations with the Town of Fishkill. Supervisor Ozzy Albra said in an email to residents on May 30 that he and other officials have met with Empire State Development and Conifer Realty twice since the state awarded development rights to the Rochester firm. The result of those meetings, he said, is that the mixed-use development will have about 1,100 housing units, 200 fewer than first reported. The town is also pushing for municipal benefits such as the extension of water and sewer facilities to the site, Albra said. The state development agency announced in June 2024 that Conifer, which has offices in New York, New Jersey and Maryland, had been selected to convert the former maximum-security prison into a residential campus with community space. The project was said to support Gov. Kathy Hochul's campaign to build 15,000 housing units to address a statewide shortage, as well as recommendations made by the Prison Redevelopment Commission, an advisory panel the governor created to consider repurposing closed prisons. The first phase of construction in 2026 was to include 375 housing units, with at least 20 percent set aside for households earning less than 80 percent of the area's annual median income ($97,056). Albra at the time called the idea a "bad deal for the taxpayers" that, if built as proposed, would overwhelm Fishkill. A Conifer representative this week confirmed the reduction in housing units. Muammar Hermanstyne, its vice president of development, said in an email that Conifer had signed a contract with New York State "giving us site control." If a preliminary proposal is approved, he said, Conifer could bring an application to the Fishkill Planning Board as early as this fall. Hermanstyne did not respond when asked who would need to approve the preliminary proposal, writing only that Conifer looks forward "to providing more details as we continue working with the community and local officials." An Empire State Development representative seemed to contradict part of Hermanstyne's statement, calling Conifer the project's "conditional designee." The company is finalizing a development plan with Empire State and the Town of Fishkill, "at which point a binding development agreement can be executed," the spokesperson said. Until them, the state's request for proposals at the site "will continue to be an open procurement." Hermanstyne said Conifer has agreed to limit construction to 2½-story buildings because the nearest fire department, in Glenham, does not have a ladder truck. In a statement released last year, the Glenham Fire District, which for years served Downstate prison through a contract with New York State, said its boundaries would need to be expanded to include the redeveloped site. The department relied on tanker trucks because the surrounding homes use wells for their water, while Beacon provided water and sewer service at the prison. Until Conifer and the state "figure out proper fire coverage," the project "isn't going to go anywhere," Albra said on June 3. In addition to asking New York State to extend municipal water and sewer service to the site, the supervisor said he will advocate specialized housing, such as for seniors or veterans, and smaller units, to keep from overwhelming Glenham Elementary, which is part of the Beacon City School District. In a letter to Hochul last July, the Beacon school board said its four elementary schools, including Glenham, are "already at or near capacity." While the district lost 675 students between the 2012-13 and 2023-24 academic years, according to state data, recent initiatives to reduce class sizes would suffer from a sudden influx of students, officials said. Citing Hochul's support of walkable communities, Fishkill al...

Philipstown organization gets a triple boost Seamus Carroll and his wife, Marie Wieck, began shopping at Foodtown in Cold Spring when it opened in 2003 following a fire that had destroyed the previous supermarket at the location, the Grand Union. Like other customers, they started accumulating 10 points in Foodtown loyalty awards for every dollar spent. The points could be redeemed for grocery gift cards. Three months ago, the couple became the first Foodtown customers to reach 1 million points, according to the store manager, Mike Wilson. Carroll said they decided to push for 1 million in 2008, when they hit 100,000. "It became a family joke," he said, noting he would scold his daughters if they cashed in points to get discounts at the checkout. "I told them we were saving for 1 million; they laughed at that." When they hit the mark earlier this year, Carroll sent a photo of the receipt to his daughters, who live in England and China, respectively. They responded with smiley faces, he said. This week, Carroll and Wieck donated their points to the Philipstown Food Pantry, which operates on Saturday mornings at the First Presbyterian Church in Cold Spring. The pantry redeemed the points for $1,150 in Foodtown gift cards. The supermarket donated another $350 in cards for an even $1,500. "We thought this would be a way to leverage the gift cards, prompting others to donate," Carroll said. "It's a reminder that you can give points to the food pantry [at the customer service desk]; I'm sure people forget this option." The food pantry will receive another unexpected gift on Saturday (June 14) when Donna Anderson delivers a $1,017 donation from Philipstown Senior Citizens of Putnam County, which disbanded at the end of 2024. Food Insecurity Widespread Even amid wealth, many people struggle to make ends meet. An annual report by the United Way known as ALICE (for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) "is an alarm bell for what we see every Saturday" at the Philipstown Food Pantry, said Kiko Lattu, its coordinator. In May, the pantry provided food and other necessities to an average of 71 households each week. The United Way argues that the federal poverty level does not accurately reflect the number of people struggling financially to meet basic needs. Using census and other federal data, it calculated for its latest report, released in May, that 38 percent of Cold Spring/Philipstown and 35 percent of Garrison households don't earn enough to cover the costs of essentials such as housing, food, transportation, health care, child care and a basic phone plan. "Even more troubling, 51 percent of seniors and about two-thirds of single-parent households in Putnam County are likely struggling," Lattu said. In Putnam County, the United Way calculated that a single adult needs at least $54,180 annually to meet basic needs, or $135,660 for a family of two adults with two children in child care. In Beacon, the United Way calculated that 42 percent of the city's 8,367 households struggle to meet a basic survival budget for Dutchess County of $40,296 for a single adult with $114,996 for a family of two adults and two children in child care. By contrast, the federal poverty level is $14,580 for an individual and $30,000 for a family of four. Anderson, who served as president for the final two years, said the club was formed in 1974 and at one time had more than 100 members. But by last year, the remaining members voted to dissolve the club and donate its fund balance to the pantry because many seniors suffer from food insecurity. Anderson was a vocal advocate for establishing a county senior center at the redeveloped Butterfield Hospital site. After the Philipstown Friendship Center opened there in 2018, she said the need for a seniors' group diminished. On June 1, a Nelsonville family - Karen and Ryan Peters and their daughters, Callie and Sadie - set up a table outside Foodtown to solicit donations for the pantry. In less than three ho...

Plans for environmental education complex in doubt An ambitious plan to transform an abandoned paperclip factory at Dennings Point in Beacon into an environmental education complex is in doubt because Clarkson University has left the site. A representative from the state parks department, which partnered with the university because it owns the land, confirmed last week that Clarkson, which operated the Beacon Institute of Rivers and Estuaries (BIRE) at the site, "elected to leave the facilities" in October. Clarkson had operated its BIRE Water Ecology Center in a renovated, 19th-century brickworks building and started transforming the factory into the Beatrice G. Donofrio Environmental Education Complex. A representative from Clarkson said that the university "concluded the multi-year research we were doing at Beacon and decided to withdraw from the site." Clarkson said BIRE will continue to provide programming to K-12 schools. The Water Ecology Center, which hosted lectures and classes, has sustainable features such as a green roof, natural ventilation and composting toilets. It received LEED Gold certification as an adaptive project. State parks said it has not determined what it will do with the two buildings, although it does plan to update the HVAC in the Water Ecology Center. The agency is also responsible for the repaved walkways, new benches and informational kiosks installed last fall. Clarkson announced its intention in May 2020 to transform the paperclip factory into the Donofrio complex. The exterior shell was completed in 2021, the same year that BIRE moved from its offices at 199 Main St. in Beacon into the Water Ecology Center. In 2022, state parks announced it would make a $3.2 million investment in the site; a representative from Parks said on Friday (June 13) that because the project did not move forward, those funds were reallocated. However, state parks has since completed a $1.2 million project to improve the steel structure and add solar panels to the roof. When the project was announced in 2020, Michael Walsh, then the president of BIRE, said the former factory was in good shape. "The majority of the building is salvageable," he said. "The concrete floor meets 100-year flood standards, and the structural seal is sound."

Fields questions about Social Security, military parade Rep. Mike Lawler, whose district includes Philipstown, held a town hall on June 8 at Mahopac High School, the third in a series of four he has promised constituents. After being introduced by Kevin Byrne, the Putnam County executive, Lawler spent two hours fielding questions about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed the U.S. House, 215-214, with Lawler's support and is being amended by the Senate. In addition to tax cuts and an increase to the cap on deductions for state and local taxes, the legislation contains changes to programs like Medicaid and food stamps that are expected to lead to a loss of benefits for some enrollees. Lawler also fielded questions about Social Security, cuts to foreign aid and the estimated $45 million price tag for a military parade being held in Washington, D.C., on Saturday (June 14), which is President Donald Trump's birthday. Below are some of Lawler's statements and a review of statistics he cited. "We [New York] spend 83 percent more on Medicaid than the average of the other 49 states." According to data from KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation), Medicaid spending in New York totaled just under $98 billion in 2023, second only to California. The spending was 83.77 percent more than the average for the other 49 states. However, the average does not account for each state's population. Wyoming, for example, has 588,000 residents, compared to 20 million in New York. It also means using costs in states that, unlike New York, opted out of a provision in the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid so that more people qualify; the federal government pays 90 percent of the additional cost. Alternative methods to measure Medicaid spending among the states include per-capita or per-enrollee. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, New York ranked fourth in per-capita Medicaid spending in 2022 ($11,203), behind North Dakota, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. The national average was $8,919. New York placed third among states in Medicaid spending per enrollee in 2021 ($9,688), according to KFF. Virginia and Minnesota had the highest per-enrollee spending. "If [the Tax Cut and Jobs Act] expired, it would have been about a $4,000 increase in taxes on the average family in our district." The Tax Cut and Jobs Act, passed in 2017 during the first Trump administration, expires this year. If it is not extended by Congress, taxes will increase in the 17th Congressional District, on average, by $3,530, according to the Tax Foundation, a think tank founded in 1937 that analyzes tax policy. Drilling down to specific income levels with a calculator created by the Tax Foundation (dub.sh/tax-calculator), annual taxes would increase by $933 for a single person without dependents who earns $50,000 annually, and by $2,622 for an individual earning $100,000. Taxes would increase by $5,091 annually for a married couple with two children and a household income of $150,000; the same couple earning $250,000 would owe $9,320 more. Those scenarios omit 401(k) contributions and other deductions, but the calculator can adjust for those, as well as other household sizes. "There are over 3 million people in this country who are able-bodied adults, without dependents, who refuse to work." Lawler is referring to Medicaid coverage. A provision in the House's version of the One Big Beautiful Bill requires that able-bodied recipients between ages 19 and 64 who don't have dependents work at least 80 hours monthly or be participating in a "qualifying activity," such as job training. The work requirement would increase the ranks of the uninsured by 4.8 million people by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Although the CBO did not specify why people would lose coverage, Republicans have equated the figure with people who chose not to work. According to the KFF, 64 percent of the 26.1 million adults between ages 19 and 64 receiving Medic...

Philipstown also approves zoning for solar Philipstown is planning to bill the Garrison Landing Water District's nine users for the first time in over a decade and require them to reimburse the town for some of the $2 million it has spent buying water and digging a new well. The Town Board has scheduled a public hearing for June 24 on a proposal to borrow $500,000 for the Garrison Landing Water District, whose residents and businesses are receiving water from the new well drilled and connected at town expense when the existing wells failed. Philipstown also purchased water for the district and repaired leaks in its system to the extent that it has "basically repaired every single water line in Garrison Landing at this point," Supervisor John Van Tassel said when the board met on June 5. Now it is looking to recoup some of those expenses through the bonding, which will be repaid by water district users. "We will stretch the bond payments out for as long as we can to make it easier for them, but they will ultimately be responsible for paying back a good portion of this," Van Tassel added on Wednesday (June 11). Part of the proposed borrowing will fund meters. The existing meters have not worked in 15 years, said Van Tassel. The town did not have money for the meters, he said, and had been mistakenly told that state law prohibited billing users more than the $20,000 annually they've been paying collectively since the town acquired the system in 1998. "We will come up with a flat rate for residential use, we're going to come up with a flat rate for commercial use, and then there will be a rate per gallon for the water usage," said Van Tassel at the June 5 meeting. "Everybody will pay their fair share for water." A state audit released in May calculated that Philipstown spent $2.4 million between 2018 and 2023 to fill Garrison Landing's water needs, shrinking its general-fund balance from $1 million to $53,137. Annual expenses for the district rose during the same period from about $85,000 to $975,000, "the most significant factor of the town's financial decline," the audit said. Solar guidelines The Town Board on June 5 approved zoning for private and commercial solar systems. Under the guidelines, property owners who want to install roof- or ground-mounted systems for personal use can do so if they follow the regulatory process required for accessory structures, such as garages. The zoning limits the height of panels on pitched roofs to 8 inches, flat roofs to 2 feet or the height of parapets, and ground-mounted solar systems to 12 feet. Panels must have anti-reflective coating and ground-mounted systems cannot be larger than 5,000 square feet and must be shielded from neighbors. Commercial solar farms are allowed everywhere except the Ridgeline Protection District and only in the Scenic Overlay District with a special permit. The guidelines specify that solar farms, "to the greatest extent possible," be installed on industrial properties; Superfund sites that have undergone environmental cleanup; mining sites; abandoned parcels; landfills; parking lots; and the roofs of commercial buildings. In addition, companies building community solar projects, which allow residents to buy shares of the electricity they generate, must target Philipstown residents for subscriptions, particularly low- and moderate-income households. Requests for variances can be made to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Solar farms capable of generating up to 5 megawatts of electricity need 7-foot-high fencing with a self-locking gate to secure the mechanical equipment. Systems over 1 megawatt need a plan for decommissioning, removal and site restoration.

Concert will benefit Beacon exchange program Ten years ago, singer and actor Kelly Ellenwood lost her voice after contracting whooping cough, an ironic twist because for four years she played the part of an opera prima donna who began singing like a frog in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. To help regain the vocalizing, in 2016 she joined Stephen Clair (guitar) and Kathleen Bosman (violin, viola) to perform songs by German American composer Kurt Weill and French chanteuse Edith Piaf. On June 22, at 6 p.m., the Saint Rita trio (supported by Nate Allen and Brad Hubbard) will perform a program called Lost & Found at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon featuring deep cuts and popular songs from the pair's repertoire. The show is a benefit for Beacon High School's German American Partnership Program, established in 2022 with support from the German founders of the Beacon-based software firm Docuware. It brings foreign students to Beacon in October. On June 28, to complete the annual exchange, 18 Beacon teens and two teachers leave for Munich. Ellenwood, known for getting things done around town, got the call and implemented the nuts and bolts with the Parent Teacher Student Organization. This year, with help from the U.S. State Department and the Goethe Institute in Manhattan, the school district took over responsibility for its administration. Growing up in Nebraska, Ellenwood studied in Finland as an exchange student and aimed to be a diplomat, but the arts beckoned. There is no German language program at Beacon High School, she says, but "last year, a bunch of students, led by Skylar Clair, started a German study group and some of the kids are going this year, so this is changing lives." Rita, "patron saint of the impossible," says Ellenwood, is also the name of a new 100-seat music venue at the KuBe Art Center that she and her family plan to open with trombonist Dick Griffin on July 19 in the former high school's band room. Relevant to the concert, Piaf is said to have asked friends "to pray for Saint Rita, patron saint of lost causes" before her death from liver cancer in 1963 at age 47. The June 22 show will include Piaf's most popular song, "La Vie En Rose," which sold 1 million discs in the U.S. when released as a single in 1947. After Mack David translated the lyrics into English in 1950, eight artists charted with it, including Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. Weill fused pop and classical music and collaborated with Ogden Nash, Bertolt Brecht and Ira Gershwin, among others. His hits include "Mack the Knife," "Bilbao Song" and "Alabama Song" (covered as "Whisky Bar" on the first album by The Doors). "We do a down-and-dirty version" of the latter, says Ellenwood, which is saying something because the song is about "prostitutes looking for the next trick - sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll - in 1930." The Howland Cultural Center is located at 477 Main St. in Beacon. Tickets are $20 at dub.sh/saint-rita-show.

Garrison filmmakers examine the question The team behind Ironbound Films leans into its religious roots. "We met at a Jewish sleepaway camp as kids - it's such a part of our identity," says Jeremy Newberger, one of three director/producers at the documentary film and commercial video office located at Garrison's Landing. "Part of the crisis du jour is that the far right and the far left are united in their hatred of Jews. We were taught to embrace our Judaism and love for Israel." Ironbound's most recent film, released this year, is Fiddler on the Moon, about Jewish astronauts. According to their cheeky marketing copy, which Newberger says was inspired by Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, the film "finally answers the question that has plagued scientists, theologians and comedians for millennia: Will Judaism survive in space?" Many cities, small and large, host Jewish film festivals; over the summer, the crew will screen the 30-minute documentary in Dayton, Ohio; Toronto; Rochester; Berkshire, Massachusetts; and Tampa. They also screen films for Jewish organizations, camps and foundations. At first, the trio, which includes Seth Kramer and Daniel Miller, tackled secular topics like climate change (The Anthropologist), talk show host Morton Downey Jr. (Evocateur) and dying languages (The Linguist), but a friend who worked for Major League Baseball suggested they cover the Israeli national baseball team, made up mostly of American Jews. Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel led to a second film about the club's experience at the 2021 Olympics, Israel Swings for Gold. After completing Yung Punx, a doc about a band of 8- to 12-year-olds who headlined at the Warped Tour, Ironbound produced Blind Spot, an examination of antisemitism on college campuses. "We're all in our 50s, and there comes a time when you realize that you got away from your faith," says Newberger. "Doing the baseball film got us reconnected to the values and religion we grew up with. It hit us. We identified." Ironbound has filmed on nearly every continent (including on the Pacific Ocean island of Kiribati). Funding comes from business clients, angel investors and grants from the National Science Foundation. Now in production is a documentary about David "Mickey" Marcus, the only person buried at West Point who fought for a foreign country. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, handpicked Marcus to establish the nascent nation's army in 1948 during the war for independence. Killed by friendly fire, Marcus was the last fatality of the conflict before the United Nations implemented a truce between Israel and its neighbors. "When you think you've heard it all, you come across Mickey Marcus, who is an incredible but little-known figure," says Kramer. "On its own, the story is a winner: Before he went to Israel, he helped put mobster Lucky Luciano away, drafted surrender papers for Italy used for all the other Axis powers and helped define the term war crime for the Nuremberg trials." The film will investigate why Marcus' name recognition is limited and how the 1966 Hollywood biopic, Cast a Giant Shadow, starring Kirk Douglas, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra, flopped at the box office. For more information, see ironboundfilms.com.

Tour guide continues Seaman saga Robin Lucas does her homework to enhance her Beacon walking tours, which center on ghosts. Her tales reveal horrors that took place at the Matteawan State Hospital, ostensibly for insane criminals, and belie the notion that the facility offered "moral treatment," in vogue through the 1950s, with a gentle experience for patients in a stress-free, routine environment. Building on her first video, The Abraham Seaman Tragedy, Lucas returns with two sequels that feature a cadre of then-famous inmates. Part 3 intimates that Nellie Seaman, committed in 1907 without trial for allegedly shooting her husband, exacted revenge in 1913 by conjuring a storm to torment her enemies. Lucas also released a video about the city's Omnibus War in 1876, which features characters from the Seaman saga and chronicles a period of "mob law" and "roisterous" drunks as two horse-drawn carriage companies competed for business. The videos include revealing photos, zippy narratives and contemporary newspaper accounts. "I want people to hit the stop button and read a little, although what appeared in print muddies the water because a lot of it was hearsay and twisted into a point of view," she says. "The facts were there to be manipulated." A prevalent theme in the Seaman series is the railroading of women into the Matteawan hospital to "shut them up and put them away," says Lucas. In 1908, Jennie Blunt wounded lawyer Charles Sanford in Brooklyn for drugging and raping her, she said. A New York Times headline read: "Shot at His Desk by a Crazy Woman." The authorities declared her insane and she ended up at Matteawan. "There were all these accusations of wealthy men committing sexual crimes and getting away with it," says Lucas. "Just like the Jeffrey Epstein and Diddy cases, so far, no list has ever been made public." Though Matteawan guards sometimes abused their power, the job could be dangerous: In 1906, killer Lizzie Halliday (known as "the worst woman in the world") stabbed nurse Nellie Wicks 200 times with a pair of scissors. Inmate Dora Schram, who served alongside Seaman and was released in 1911, claimed that the "actively unkind" nurses acted like "savages," which led patients to "hit back whenever possible," making everyone in the prison "all crazy together." For Lucas, who contends that her historic home in Beacon is haunted, the videos augment her walking tours, "otherwise we would be standing outside for four hours," she says. "In my ghost tour, you have to suspend some disbelief, but I found facts surrounding all of this, put it together and laid it out, like, 'Look what happened, what do you think?' " For more information on Beacon Walking Tours, see beaconwalkingtours.com or call 845-440-5300. Lucas' videos are posted at youtube.com/@BWT7773.

250 Years Ago (June 1775) British troops in New York City were evacuated to transports anchored in the harbor. A small group of Sons of Liberty confiscated five wagonloads of royal weapons. Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler of New York and George Washington, the newly appointed commander of the army, left Philadelphia for New York City. Addressing fears of military rule, Washington reassured the New York Provincial Congress that, after the establishment of liberty, he would return to private life. On June 26, Washington and Schuyler crossed King's Bridge into Westchester County. The next day, slowed by well-wishers, they made it only as far as New Rochelle, where Schuyler headed to Albany and Washington toward Boston. 150 Years Ago (June 1875) John Cox, the flagman at Garrison's station, was suspicious of banks and paper money. On a Thursday night, while John was at work, five masked men pushed through the door and bound Mrs. Cox and the couple's two sons, ages 14 and 20. After ransacking the house, they left with a box of silver and gold coins valued at $1,100 [about $32,000 today]. Two tramps at the station were arrested after the Cox family said they resembled the suspects - one with a dark complexion, an ugly face and a bad eye and another who was "more honest-looking." Signor Sebastian, a circus performer, broke his leg at a Friday performance in Cold Spring when he was thrown from a horse while riding bareback seated in a chair. He was taken to the Pacific Hotel and, a few days later, returned by train to his home in New York City. A few weeks later, a baggage-car fire on a sidetrack in Connecticut destroyed all the troupe's baggage and musical instruments. Shortly after midnight, Thomas McAndrew, the watchman at the lower railroad switches, heard a noise and found two men standing at a broken door on a freight car on the sidetrack. When the larger man put his hand into his pocket and threatened to shoot, McAndrew dropped him with a shot to the neck. The man - who said his name was McKinseynally - was taken to Town Hall, where Dr. Murdock removed the bullet. Three people held solid-silver life passes for the Hudson River Railroad: John Jervis, the first chief engineer, his wife and Gouverneur Kemble of Cold Spring, the founder of West Point Foundry and an early supporter of the railroad. Commodore Foote and his sister, Eliza, "celebrated Lilliputians," performed at Town Hall. The Indiana natives claimed to be the smallest people in the world and were as well-known in their time as Tom Thumb. A six-horse team delivered a 7,530-pound load of bedplate to Sunk Mine for its steam-powered machines. The Methodist Episcopal Church held its annual Strawberry, Ice Cream and Floral Festival. The Recorder noted that a new state law made it illegal, punishable with a fine of up to $10 [$290], to mutilate shade trees near schools, churches, public buildings or highways. "It is well known that people from the farming districts are the principal offenders," the editor wrote. "They come into town to do some business and seek a comfortable shade for their teams. All right, so far; but how about the shade next year if the horses girdle the trees while standing thereat?" A reader complained to The Recorder that people were taking water by the barrel from the Main Street pumps to irrigate their strawberries and gardens. After the first baseball game of the season on Vinegar Hill between a club from West Point and the Kellogg team (which the latter won, 22-19), the Newburgh Telegraph said the Army boys lost only because of the "considerable partiality shown by the umpire who, of course, proved to be a resident of Cold Spring." The Recorder retorted that the visitors lost because they did not score enough runs. On a Tuesday at noon, while Isaiah Jaycox of the Highlands was driving at a good speed down Main Street seated atop a cord of wood, a front wheel on his wagon fell off as he passed High Street. Passersby lifted the corner of the wagon with...

Accuse president of meddling with scholarships Nearly all the members of a board overseeing the prestigious Fulbright scholarships resigned Wednesday (June 11) in protest of what they call the Trump administration's meddling with the selection of award recipients for the international exchange program. A Philipstown resident, Sophia Ptacek, earlier this year lost her Fulbright fellowship to spend nine months working on industrial decarbonization and air pollution reduction for a Colombian government ministry. "I'm holding on to hope that it could still happen," said Ptacek, who grew up in Garrison and Cold Spring and attended the Poughkeepsie Day School. "But I am in limbo. It's sad." Ptacek last year completed a dual master's program at Yale University in environmental management and public health. She also was selected for a Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, part of a U.S. State Department international exchange and education program suspended by the White House in February. Ptacek wanted to help reduce air pollution in Colombia. "There's quite a lot of manufacturing and heavy industry, and as a result, a lot of air pollution that has public health impacts for communities near these plants," she said. The Fulbright board resignations were first reported by The New York Times. A statement published online by members said the administration usurped the board's authority by denying awards to "a substantial number of people" who already had been chosen to study and teach in the U.S. and abroad. Another 1,200 foreign award recipients who were already approved to come to the U.S. are undergoing an unauthorized review process that could lead to their rejection, the board members said. "To continue to serve after the administration has consistently ignored the board's request that they follow the law would risk legitimizing actions we believe are unlawful and damage the integrity of this storied program and America's credibility abroad," the statement reads. Congress established the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago to promote international exchange and American diplomacy. The highly selective program awards about 9,000 scholarships annually in the U.S. and in more than 160 other countries to students, scholars, and professionals in a range of fields. All but one of the 12 board members resigned, according to Carmen Estrada-Schaye, who is the only remaining board member. "I was appointed by the president of the United States and I intend to fill out my term," Estrada-Schaye said. Award recipients are selected in a yearlong process by the State Department and other countries' embassies. The board has had final approval. The recipients who had their awards canceled are in fields including biology, engineering, agriculture, music, medical sciences, and history, the board members said. All the board members who resigned were selected under former President Joe Biden. The State Department, which runs the scholarship program, said they were partisan political appointees. "It's ridiculous to believe that these members would continue to have final say over the application process, especially when it comes to determining academic suitability and alignment with President Trump's Executive Orders," the department said. "The claim that the Fulbright Hayes Act affords exclusive and final say over Fulbright Applications to the Fulbright board is false. This is nothing but a political stunt attempting to undermine President Trump."

Individual visited Mahopac tavern while contagious The Putnam County Department of Health issued a health alert on Wednesday (June 4) for an exposure to measles on May 28 at Arturo's Tavern in Mahopac. Anyone who visited the location between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on that day should call the Health Department at 845-808-1390 and ask to speak to a nurse. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red/watery eyes and a rash. Symptoms may start 7 to 14 days after contact with the virus. Measles is caused by a highly contagious airborne virus that spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. The Health Department said the individual is no longer contagious but that it wants to locate anyone who may have encountered the person while contagious to avoid its spread. The individual contracted the illness while abroad, Public Health Director Rian Rodriguez said in a statement. "An infected person can spread measles from four days before to four days after the rash appears," he said. "Fortunately, the positive individual was only in one local establishment while considered contagious. Measles is not a foodborne illness although the virus can live for up to two hours in airspace after an infected person leaves the area." New York now has 13 confirmed cases: six in New York City and seven elsewhere, including Putnam. There were 1,088 confirmed cases in the U.S. as of May 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 738 across 35 counties in Texas. Two elementary school students in West Texas and an adult in New Mexico have died. Each was unvaccinated. Other states with outbreaks - which the CDC defines as three or more related cases - include Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. There are also outbreaks in Ontario, Canada (1,888 cases since October), Alberta, Canada (628 cases) and the Mexican state of Chihuahua (1,693 cases and three deaths). At the same time, according to a Johns Hopkins University study published on Monday (June 2), childhood vaccination rates against measles fell in the years after the pandemic in 78 percent of 2,066 U.S. counties in 33 states with available data. The study compared average kindergarten rates from the 2017-20 school years to averages from 2022-24. Where data wasn't available, the researchers used a comparable rate. New York State requires students to be vaccinated. The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Kevin McConville was seeking second term Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville is ending his campaign for a second term because of health issues, the Sheriff's Office said on Thursday (June 5). A Republican, McConville was elected in 2021, defeating incumbent Sheriff Robert Langley Jr. with 57 percent of the vote. The sheriff, who lives in Philipstown, had filed to run in November on the Republican and Conservative party lines for another 4-year term. He began his career in law enforcement as a Cold Spring police officer and rose to become chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police force. He ran unsuccessfully for Putnam sheriff in 2009 as a Democrat and in 2013 as a Republican. Andres Gil, who chairs the Putnam County Republican Committee, said on Thursday that he learned of the decision the day before and that it left him "heartbroken." In a letter sent to the committee members, he said McConville and his family were the primary concern. "We are grateful for his leadership, his accomplishments and, most importantly, his friendship," Gil wrote. "Anyone who has ever met Sheriff McConville knows that he is truly a remarkable human being who will give you the shirt off his back when in need." In terms of a replacement, the Republican Committee's leaders are "exploring all available options as we are identifying and reviewing the process to substitute a qualified Republican candidate" for the November ballot, said Gil. "It is going to take us a little bit of time to make sure that we are dotting our i's and crossing our t's," he said. McConville is scheduled to receive the Conservative of the Year Award on Thursday (June 12) from the Putnam County Conservative Party, which did not immediately respond to an email about its plans, if any, for a new candidate for its ballot line. There is no Democratic candidate, but Larry Burke, a Cold Spring police officer and formerly the officer-in-charge, is running as an independent on the Serve & Protect party line. A general objection to his nominating petition was filed on May 30 with the Putnam County Board of Elections by Cindy Trimble, a member of the Philipstown Republican Committee. But no specific objections were filed by a June 5 deadline. Burke, 59, has worked in law enforcement for 37 years, including 26 years with the New York City Police Department. He joined the Cold Spring department in 2013 and served as officer-in-charge for seven years, until 2024. Burke has also been a volunteer firefighter with the North Highlands Fire Co. for 12 years.

Council considers next five years of capital projects Beacon's five-year schedule of capital projects, presented to the City Council on May 27, includes more than $6.5 million in equipment and infrastructure upgrades planned for 2026. The city updates a five-year plan annually; it includes projects scheduled for the coming year, along with conceptual blueprints for the four subsequent years. Council members must approve capital spending for the coming year by the end of July. A public hearing on the 2026 plan is scheduled for June 16. The most visible project will likely be the renovation and greening of the southwest corner of Memorial Park, estimated to cost $400,000. The city plans to resurface the basketball courts, install pickleball courts, construct a softball batting cage and renovate the bathroom at that end of the park for public use. The adjacent skateboard park has been repaved and will have new skating elements and an "art wall" installed. Phase 2 of that work, including new lighting, is expected to cost $57,500. The parking lot in front of the skate park will be reconfigured, with tree cover added, and numerous trees will be planted in that corner of the park. Further improvements being considered for Memorial Park, if budget allows, include exercise stations and tennis courts. In addition, the city could contract with a food truck to cater to teenagers and young adults. "We've heard over and over again that they're not always welcome in a lot of the restaurants, and they can't afford the local places," said City Administrator Chris White. "People say they don't have a place to go, and the thought is that might be a place to go." Earlier this year, the city was tentatively awarded a $3 million federal grant to rehabilitate Beekman Street. If the funding comes through - confirmation is expected this month - the city plans to spend $245,000 next year on design and engineering. Later, in addition to repaving, crews would repair sidewalks, crosswalks and curbs and add sidewalks where there are gaps. A bike lane would be added on the uphill side of Beekman. The most expensive project planned for next year is the $1.6 million construction of a water storage tank on Mount Beacon. Other high-dollar expenditures include a vacuum truck for the Water Department ($670,000), the ongoing milling and paving of streets and installation of Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible curb ramps citywide ($500,000), replacement of a sanitary sewer pump station near Monell Place ($400,000) and a street sweeper for the Highway Department ($340,000). The city anticipates using about $1.73 million of its savings on the 2026 projects, which, if approved by the council, would leave a combined fund balance between the general, water and sewer funds of more than $15 million. State and federal aid is expected to contribute $1 million, while $200,000 from a recreation fund that developers pay into will be applied to the Memorial Park improvements. The city would borrow the rest, $3.59 million, through bonds. Notable expenditures in subsequent years include nearly $3.5 million to complete the Beekman Street project in 2028 and $1.6 million in upgrades to Seeger Riverfront Park in 2027, although timing there will depend on whether a transit-oriented development at the Metro-North station proceeds, White said. Replacement of aeration tanks at the wastewater treatment plant is expected to cost $2.6 million in 2028. As in the 2024 plan, the five-year schedule pushes a $5.25 million community center to its last year, now 2030. White cautioned that for it and other long-term projects, such as splash pads at Riverfront and Memorial parks and a new municipal pool, "we're not sure how they fit right now, or, frankly, how we afford them." Realistically, he said, a community center could cost up to $15 million and, Mayor Lee Kyriacou added, that's only if the city upgrades the Recreation Department building at 23 West Center St. "This is $10 million ...

Women organize film, theater fest in Garrison Inside the dynamic duo at the helm of Theatre Revolution, "I'm the brawn and she's the brain," says Nora Matz about her collaborator, Gabrielle Fox. After a beat, Matz quips: "Well, I'm also half the brain." "True, but I am zero percentage brawn," Fox replies. The team writes and produces plays and films but also presents what's become an annual weekend festival of work by women artists. Glass Ceiling Breakers begins tonight (June 6) at the Philipstown Depot Theatre in Garrison and continues Saturday and Sunday. "This is a good way to elevate female voices and those of other marginalized groups, especially in theater and film, where we're still not well-represented," says Matz, who lives in Garrison. The two created Theatre Revolution in 2016 to oppose Trump administration policies, says Matz, so it's fitting that members of the Beacon Rising Choir, which gelled after the Woman's March in Washington in 2017, will close out the weekend with a performance. All the plays and most of the festival's movies are written by people who identify as female. The bare minimum criteria for film submissions is two women in the key roles of writer, editor, producer, director or cinematographer. Five short plays, which run about an hour back-to-back, will be presented each day, but only tonight's performances will be followed by a discussion with the playwrights. Four live in Westchester County and one in Rockland. Writers produce their own vignettes, supplying props and set pieces. Fox is presenting "Artistic Integrity," which she says lasers in on "a generational clash of playwrights about the future of human creativity." Four film blocks of about 75 minutes each will showcase a total of 24 shorts culled from 200 worldwide submissions, followed by Q&As with the filmmakers. Three blocks will screen on Saturday and one on Sunday, followed by a closing-night mingle and the Best of Fest Awards. On Saturday at 3 p.m., the Depot Theatre will host a free panel discussion, "A Conversation with Women in the Business," featuring director C. Fitz (a Los Angeles resident best known for her documentary Jewel's Catch One) and filmmaker Annetta Marion, whose two most recent short films are Welcome to Theatre and The History of Carol, about censorship in education. Theatre Revolution tries to select pieces that give voice to other marginalized groups, but "there are misconceptions," says Matz. Attendees at past festivals sometimes got confused when film and play topics veered from women's liberation or strident politics. "The festival showcases women's talent; it's not necessarily about feminist topics," says Matz. "We have horror, drama, comedy and the whole spectrum of life, like all other plays and films." The Philipstown Depot Theatre is located at 10 Garrison's Landing. Tickets are $17 for each film block and $27 for the short-play performances. See depottheater.org.

Seeks own lawyer for ethics case A Putnam legislator accused of ethics breaches in a complaint filed by the county attorney over her son-in-law's attempted purchase of a government-owned property is suing to stop his office from choosing who will represent her. Toni Addonizio, who represents Kent on the Legislature, alleges in a lawsuit filed May 30 in state court that Putnam's Law Department approved her request for a county-funded lawyer but "has outrageously and improperly" asserted that it has the right to choose who will defend her against the complaint filed by Compton Spain, who heads the department as county attorney. Both Spain and the county are named in the lawsuit, which says that Addonizio asked the department for "a counsel of my choosing" when notified that the Putnam Board of Ethics scheduled a hearing on the complaint for April 28. (Amid the dispute, the hearing was canceled.) Addonizio's request for a county-funded attorney is based on a state law, adopted by Putnam, that requires it to defend employees in federal and state civil cases for "any alleged act or omission" occurring while they are working. Municipalities are exempt from the requirement if they are the ones bringing the case against an employee. The law also entitles an employee to choose their attorney if the chief legal officer of a municipality, such as a county attorney, or a judge determines that a conflict of interest exists. In response to Addonizio's request, the Law Department said its insurer verbally concluded that she was ineligible for legal assistance but, "after careful review," it would select one of the firms from its list of contractors - Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux - to represent her. The department also said that Addonizio could choose to pay out-of-pocket for an attorney who is not on its approved list. "There could not be a more patent conflict of interest than the complainant in a politicized ethics proceeding selecting the accused's attorney," said Jeffrey Gasbarro, who is representing Addonizio in the lawsuit. Spain's 191-page complaint, filed with the Board of Ethics in June 2024 and also forwarded to the Attorney General's Office, accuses Addonizio of failing to disclose that her son-in-law, Byron Voutsinas, was the buyer initially agreeing to purchase a county-owned property at 34 Gleneida Ave. in Carmel. According to Spain, Voutsinas sought to use Addonizio's influence with the Legislature to include parking spaces from a nearby county-owned lot in the sale. He also claims that the agreed-upon price, $600,000, represented a "veritable windfall" from a recommended listing price of $900,000 and market studies valuing it as high as $1.2 million. Spain's office moved to void the contract, arguing that Voutsinas failed to satisfy conditions for the sale to be finalized, including getting the Legislature's approval, which never occurred. After Voutsinas filed a claim accusing the county of breach of contract, Spain successfully petitioned a judge to have the contract canceled. During a May 2024 meeting of the Legislature's Rules Committee, then chaired by Addonizio, lawmakers accused the Law Department of filing the petition without first getting their approval. Addonizio "spoke frequently and freely on the matter," but should have recused herself, said Spain. The Legislature's former counsel, Robert Firriolo, defended Addonizio in a response to Spain's complaint sent to the ethics board. He also accused Spain of failing to disclose, when asked on his employment application about criminal convictions, that he was found guilty in 1993 of criminal contempt of court. A judge found Spain guilty under state Judiciary Law, which does not classify the charge as a misdemeanor. Because the penalty can include jail time, Firriolo argues it is equivalent to a misdemeanor as defined under state Penal Law.

New Cold Spring store honors spirit of late shopkeeper Brown letters taped to the door of Segundo Beso boutique in Cold Spring read, "Be More Doucette," a nod to Stephanie Doucette, who championed keeping industry footprints "as light as a kiss." The Spanish name of the new store, which fills a space at 65 Main St. formerly occupied by Doucette New York before Doucette died suddenly in May 2024 at age 52, translates as "second kiss" - a reference to what Doucette described as her mission to "rescue forgotten fabrics." Melinda Huff, a friend and collaborator of Doucette's, plans to maintain that mantra by saving offloaded spools of fabric marred by machinery errors and other imperfections from landfills. The store also stocks designs by other like-minded creators. "It's my personal mission to keep Stephanie's spirit alive at Segundo Beso, not just by giving new life to discarded fabric and material, but also paying forward her disarming kindness and honesty," Huff says. In a back workshop filled with tape measures, sewing machines and other accoutrements of the trade, Huff and her partners make alterations, experiment with prototypes and create custom outfits. The changing area's curtain is a canopy of sewn-together blue jeans. Seeking to broaden local relationships, she jumped at the chance to partner with the Garrison Art Center on a juried group exhibit, Urban Jungle, which includes 13 pieces, including six sculptures, displayed throughout the store. Many businesses in Beacon and Philipstown display work by local artists, but this one offers more gravitas: Last week's opening attracted a crowd that spilled onto the sidewalk and filled up the benches outside. The partnership emerged after Catherine Graham, executive director of the art center, attended a marketing workshop sponsored by the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce and met matchmaker Michael Dardano. "For years, I've been trying to get nonprofits and private businesses together, and this came about pretty fast," says Dardano, who runs BuzzPotential, a social media and marketing firm in Westchester. The exhibit includes items that evoke a jungle groove, like the manipulated photo "Spring Growth" by Sandra Belitza-Vasquez, and "Wandering Flowers" by Vivien Collens, a series of five sculptures that brighten a picture window. Many artistic items lean into a gritty city vibe, like the touched-up photo "Red Firebox - Bklyn" by Mitchell Brozinsky, which captures a graffitied streetscape in Greenpoint long before the Yuppies moved in. The mossy yellow grunge on the building and the gray sidewalk looks like it could be scraped off. Philipstown resident Jane Soodalter's close-up photo of rusted machinery presents the illusion of rough texture rising from the surface. A wall-mounted, mixed-media piece by Maxine Feldman suggests an urban street grid. The sculpture "Modern Ruins" by Lisa Knaus, who teaches at the Garrison Art Center, sits in a precarious location, ripe for getting knocked over or being mistaken for goods on sale. (The store carries accessories beyond clothes.) Covered with melted glass that looks like bright glaze or colorful paint, the brick and other components are attractive. Knaus makes clay objects and dislikes throwing things away. After her car windshield shattered, she found a use for the shiny pile. The work fits with the store's exposed brick decor, but for Knaus, the material contains symbolic meaning. "I'm really into bricks," she says. "For me, using the glass is a bling-like way to connect with the history of civilization." Segundo Beso, at 65 Main St. in Cold Spring, is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday to Monday. See segundobeso.com. Urban Jungle continues through July 13.

Federal cuts threaten AmeriCorps program For more than 10 years, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference's stewards have built and maintained trails, removed invasive species and prevented an untold number of hikers from hurting themselves. "We've plotted it out on a graph, and during the times when the trail stewards are on duty, the need for EMS [emergency medical services] is almost completely eliminated," said Hank Osborn, a Philipstown native who is director of programs for NYNJTC. This is most noticeable at Breakneck Ridge, he said. Before the Trail Conference assigned stewards to the trailhead, local first responders assisted with two or three rescues every weekend. That may change this season because of cuts to AmeriCorps by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, although a federal court on Thursday (June 5) issued a preliminary injunction to prevent them. The initiative typically provides stipends for living expenses for about 50 volunteers to assist the Trail Conference each spring. Essentially a domestic version of the Peace Corps, the 30-year-old program also offers educational funding for volunteers, such as financial aid for college and the repayment of student loans. This year, the Trump administration cut funding right before the stewards were scheduled to begin, Osborn said. Volunteers around the country were told to pack up and go back home. State grants have allowed NYNJTC to retain about half of its original crew, and the Trail Conference has launched a fundraising campaign to keep the rest. A matching grant of up to $50,000 is in place through Saturday (June 7), which is National Trails Day. The money raised so far will provide stipends for stewards at Breakneck every weekend through mid-October, Osborn said. The lower section is closed because of construction of the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail's Breakneck Connector, scheduled to open in 2027. But the upper sections are open, and stewards will be stationed at the flagpole after the first ascent and at key intersections of the Ninham, Wilkinson and Undercliff trails. "They'll continue to greet visitors, teach Leave No Trace principles and help people figure out the best routes to take so that they don't accidentally stumble into the construction zone," he said. At the Breakneck trailhead, the stewards made sure visitors knew what they were getting themselves into - a rocky, steep ascent. If they arrived ill-prepared, such as by wearing flip-flops or not having water, stewards directed them to a more appropriate hike. "They keep people who shouldn't be going up Breakneck from ever getting hurt or lost," Osborn said. Usually, Breakneck stewards spend their weekdays on trail maintenance. But with fewer stewards, the crew instead will help with rebuilding trails at Harriman State Park damaged in the July 2023 storms. Despite the partial closure at Breakneck, Osborn expects a busy season. "With all of these changes at the federal level, it appears that the need for nature and to get out into the woods for people is more important than ever before," he said. To donate to the National Trails Challenge, see dub.sh/trails-challenge. For information on volunteering, see nynjtc.org/trail-crews.

District would pay $30K to $42K per vehicle annually As it waits to learn whether it will receive grants to purchase four electric buses, the Haldane school district is considering whether it should lease instead. Under state law, all new school buses must be zero-emission starting in 2027. Districts must be fully electric by 2035. Haldane is considering a partnership with Highland Electric Fleets, a Massachusetts company that leases electric school buses. Emily Parish, a manager with the firm, traveled to Cold Spring on Tuesday (June 3) to make a presentation to the school board about its "turnkey fleet electrification services." Electric buses typically cost $400,000 each, or three times a bus that burns diesel. Parish said Haldane would pay between $30,000 and $42,000 a year to lease each bus, depending on the amount of grant money the district receives from state and federal sources. In addition to the buses, Parish said that Highland Electric would provide charging stations, electrical capacity, electricity, bus management software, driver training and maintenance assistance. The buses would be driven by district employees and housed on campus. The vehicles would be provided under a "capital lease," which under state law is capped at eight years. (Legislation has been introduced to extend the limit to 12 years, which is the typical lifespan of a school bus.) Haldane voters would have to approve the contracts. "For a small district like Haldane to attempt the transition independently would be very difficult," said Carl Albano, the interim superintendent. "They have the knowledge, and it minimizes risk." Adam MacNeil, Haldane's director of facilities and transportation, said that, given the district's inexperience with electric buses, partnering with a firm like Highland Electric "allows us to focus on other things." "We have never outsourced our transportation," noted Board President Peggy Clements during the meeting, calling it a source of pride. "The district has done a very good job of buying buses and maintaining" buses. She added that the transition to a lease agreement "is another kind of risk." Highland Electric has assisted Haldane with grant applications, including a bid to obtain $170,000 for each bus from the federal Environmental Protection Administration. The district can also apply for state grants. Parish said she was optimistic the EPA would continue its bus grants despite the cost-cutting and turmoil in Washington D.C. "Hopefully we get some news in the next couple of weeks," she said. Highland Electric said it has contracts with 130 districts across the country to manage some 900 buses, although it does not yet have any agreements in New York. Parish said her firm is also pitching the Scarsdale district on its services.

Eclectic mix of musicians to perform at Howland Of the 14 saxophones, from tenor to contrabass, Brad Hubbard gravitated to the baritone. "It's my voice and just a different animal for me," he says. The instrument facilitates honking - the twisted mouthpiece resembles a gooseneck. Hubbard plays several woodwind instruments, but when the New York City Ballet orchestra selected a piece from West Side Story with a baritone sax part, or if Woodstock-based Americana mainstay Professor Louie & the Crowmatix wants that low-end presence, he's a go-to. Though he graduated from a classical music conservancy that eschewed jazz, Hubbard enjoys bending genres and playing unlikely styles. "When I first came to New York, I got hired by a country guitarist because I knew all the old songs, though I can't sing a lick," says the North Carolina native, whose voice still resonates with a faint twang. "I'm grateful for my education, but it's taken my entire professional career to recover from it in some ways." On Sunday (June 8), Hubbard will perform at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon at Composers Concordance, an annual confluence of eclectic musicians. Nine composers, five of the players and conductor Gene Pritsker created works specifically for the concert. (They call themselves the CompCord Ensemble.) "This is about as 'winging it' as classical music gets," says Hubbard. The instrumentation (including members of the B3+ brass trio) consists of horn, trumpet, piano, clarinet, bass trombone and, of course, baritone sax. Roger Aplon, one of the three poet narrators, and pianist Debra Kaye live in Beacon. The concert is an offshoot of the New York City-based collaborative Composers Concordance, which presents a packed schedule of performances. Hubbard has participated in all six of its concerts at the Howland Center. Though classical music and the jazz-oriented sax make strange bedfellows, he points to famous crossover musicians who fused classical training with other forms, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and bass player Edgar Meyer, who jumped from Beethoven to country. Bluegrass banjo player Bela Fleck and jazzman Wynton Marsalis, who recorded three trumpet concertos by Haydn, Hummel and Mozart in 1983, arrived at classical from other genres. Hubbard also recalls the Kronos Quartet's stirring string arrangement of "Purple Haze," by Jimi Hendrix, in 1986. Like jazz, "there's plenty of space for improvisation in Baroque music," a precursor to the classical period, along with "many compositions called 'theme' and 'variation,'" he says. "The continuo [underpinning bass or cello lines] are also open to alteration and interpretation." Hubbard got his start in the 1990s with the New Century Saxophone Quartet before branching out. In addition to teaching at the Beacon Music Factory, he honks with the Funk Junkies and Hot Wrk Ensemble, which plays original music along with Beatles and Dolly Parton covers. On Saturday (June 7), the Hot Wrk crew will perform at the Kingston Public Library with Beacon violinist Gwen Laster. Blame Google (or human nature) for the creative spelling. According to Hubbard, "people are weird - so weird that all kinds of crazy stuff comes up [when searching for 'hot work'], none of which has to do with music." The Howland Cultural Center is located at 477 Main St. in Beacon. Tickets for the show, which begins at 5 p.m., are $20 at dub.sh/CompCord2025 or $30 at the door. Tickets for seniors and students are $10.

Municipalities to share resources The Putnam Legislature on Tuesday (June 3) approved the county's participation in a blanket agreement calling for its six towns and three villages to share road equipment and personnel. The agreement covers road maintenance, repair and construction, and weather emergencies such as snowstorms and flooding. Participants agree to share vehicles and other equipment and allow access to their highway facilities. According to a draft of the proposal, the goals are efficiency and cost savings. Thomas Feighery, the county public works commissioner, told the Legislature's Physical Services Committee last month that the pact is the first intermunicipal agreement of its kind in the state. "We're pretty excited about it," he said. Richard Othmer Jr., the highway superintendent for Kent, pitched the proposal to the Cold Spring Village Board in April. He said it will eliminate the "ridiculous amount of paperwork" needed for separate agreements with each municipality. "I consider it like NATO," said Othmer, who cited the cooperation between Kent and East Fishkill during major flooding in July 2023. "Let's create one document that we all sign, and we're all for one and one for all." Philipstown has yet to sign the agreement. Kathleen Foley, Cold Spring's mayor, said on Wednesday (June 4) that the village attorney is reviewing the proposed contract but the board supports "signing in principle and, in fact, is happy about this move to share services. It just makes sense." While Nelsonville does not have a highway department and contracts for road maintenance and services like snow and ice removal, its board approved the agreement last month. "The spirit is amazing, and the effort put in to do this is great," said Mayor Chris Winward. Secret purchase Legislators on Tuesday approved a request from the Sheriff's Office to use $531,563 in seized assets to fund an unspecified equipment purchase for its emergency response team. When the Protective Services Committee took up the request last month, Sheriff Kevin McConville asked its members to discuss the purchase in a closed-door session "due to the sensitive nature of the procurement." Before calling for the executive session, committee Chair Paul Jonke said he had an "offline conversation" with McConville and decided that "discussion of the nature of this procurement would imperil the safety of our officers." On Tuesday, Jonke said the equipment "would make our law enforcement personnel safer when they come upon a scene where there's a crisis" but did not offer specifics. Under state Open Meetings Law, legislators can hold closed sessions for matters they determine "will imperil the public safety if disclosed." Election security Legislators approved $56,000 to replace a chain-link gate at the entrance to the Board of Elections' property in Carmel with one that opens and closes automatically. A security assessment of the property, which also hosts a Sheriff's Office facility, flagged the gate as a risk. In addition to being in disrepair, it must be left open during snowstorms for plowing, according to the county. The Board of Elections building was renovated last year with a new roof, landscaping, siding, drainage and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility and signs. D.A. bonuses A portion of a $266,192 grant from the state Department of Criminal Justice Services awarded in 2024 to implement reforms to evidence sharing with defense attorneys will fund bonuses at the district attorney's office because the D.A. says the reforms increased workloads by nearly 30 percent. The Legislature approved $60,000 in bonuses, with each prosecutor receiving $4,000 to $10,000 and the chief of staff getting $5,000. District Attorney Robert Tendy wrote in his 2024 annual report, released in February, that grant money is also used for personnel retention, on-call stipends, equipment, training and travel expenses. About a third of the DCJS grant was shared with local law enforc...

There are four Democratic candidates for two open seats on the Philipstown Town Board - Ben Cheah, John Maasik, Nat Prentice and Ned Rauch. They will compete in a primary on June 24 for the two Democratic lines on the general-election ballot in November. Cheah and Rauch, who were endorsed by the Philipstown Democratic Committee, also filed independent nominating petitions and will appear on the November ballot on the Philipstown Focus party line regardless of the primary outcome. There are no candidates from other parties. We asked each candidate to answer four questions in a total of 500 words or less. The responses are below, presented in alphabetical order by last name. For information on voting and a link to reader endorsements, see below. What in your background makes you the best candidate? Ben Cheah: I believe that a great board member brings passion, dedication, teamwork and expertise - and I'll bring all of that to the Philipstown board. Ten years ago, my wife Megan and I chose to raise our two sons in Philipstown. We love this community and feel lucky to call it home. Both of us have always been active volunteers. I've served on the Philipstown Recreation Commission, Cold Spring Planning Board (current), as Cub Scouts Pack 137 treasurer and on the Putnam County Industrial Development Agency board. Running for Town Board feels like a natural next step - one I'm genuinely passionate about. I'm especially focused on the challenges of rising costs and tightening budgets. I plan to be hands-on with budgeting and long-term planning to help keep costs and taxes under control. I bring to the table an MBA in finance from New York University's Stern School of Business; 25 years of project management and executive experience in the film and TV industry; and a strong creative background in sound design for film, with credits on Men in Black, The Big Lebowski, The Birdcage and The Wire. John Maasik: I've lived in Philipstown for over 20 years: 10 in Cold Spring and 10 in Garrison, where my wife and I raised our two sons. I've spent thousands upon thousands of hours volunteering with community-based organizations, including the Philipstown Recreation Commission, Philipstown Soccer Club, Friends of Philipstown Recreation and Scouting America, in addition to participating in the Haldane turf field effort and the Garrison School Safety Committee. I also helped launch events such as the Castle-to-River Run and Winter Carnival, raising thousands in non-taxpayer dollars and donations for town programs. These efforts have helped me build strong relationships across Cold Spring, Continental Village, Garrison and Nelsonville. Professionally, I've led large teams and managed multimillion-dollar budgets in the private sector, experiences that have shaped my ability to listen carefully, act with integrity and lead without ego. The values that guide me most deeply come from my family's story. My parents were Estonian refugees who fled Soviet occupation after my grandfather was killed by the Russians. My grandmother brought her three children to the U.S. in search of safety, freedom and a new beginning. I was raised with a deep respect for civic responsibility, community and the promise of American democracy. Nat Prentice: Experience, experience, experience. I have had a career in finance and investments. I grew up in Garrison and moved back here 25 years ago. Since moving back, I have attended most of the Town Board's monthly meetings, so I know the commitment that is required to address Philipstown's challenges and opportunities. I helped create the Town's 2007 Comprehensive Plan, and in 2018 I was appointed chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee that published an update adopted in 2021. Working on the plan meant partnering with a multitude of people from the North Highlands to Continental Village. I know the town's goals and priorities really well. In addition, I work with emergency services (commissioner, Garrison Fire District; me...

Another list includes Dutchess, Putnam counties The U.S. government's list of "sanctuary jurisdictions" that includes hundreds of communities, both red and blue, is confounding critics. They have noticed the list - which includes Beacon, Dutchess County and Putnam County - included misspellings, communities with small immigrant populations and those with strong support for cooperation with federal authorities. Jessica Vaughan is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors anti-sanctuary policies and started publishing a list of sanctuary jurisdictions 10 years ago. The CIS list is different from the government's but includes Dutchess and Putnam counties. The center says its list, most recently updated on May 30, includes "cities, counties, and states have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] - either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, denying ICE access to interview incarcerated aliens, or otherwise impeding communication or information exchanges between their personnel and federal immigration officers." "That's one thing that I feel is missing from the [government's] list is some documentation as to why they're appearing on the list," Vaughan said. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) list is part of the Trump administration's efforts to target communities, states and jurisdictions that it says aren't doing enough to help its immigration enforcement agenda and the promises the president made to deport more than 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal authorization. What are the stakes? The DHS and the U.S. attorney general said they will send official notice to the 500 jurisdictions "regarding its defiance of federal immigration law enforcement and any potential violations of federal criminal law," according to an executive order from President Donald Trump. The list could be updated when the administration receives new information, but those that remain on the list could face serious financial consequences, including suspended or terminated federal grants and contracts by the Office of Management and Budget. It is not clear what legal actions the government will pursue. How was the list made? In response to questions, DHS reiterated that it was compiled using a number of factors, including whether the localities identified themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions, how much they complied with federal officials enforcing immigration laws, if they had restrictions on sharing information with immigration enforcement or had any legal protections for people in the country illegally. The agency noted in an email that the list will be updated regularly. But experts said it was difficult to understand the criteria. "It seems quite arbitrary because not all of these states or specific jurisdictions have a policy that limits cooperation with ICE," said Nithya Nathan-Pineau, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. How did communities that support Trump's policies end up on the list? Several communities said they have been outspoken supporters of the president and his stringent immigration policies and do not understand why they have been included. Among them: Shawano County, Wisconsin; Alexandria, Virginia; and Huntington Beach, California. Jim Davel, administrator for Shawano County, thinks the administration may have confused the county's vote in 2021 to become a "Second Amendment Sanctuary County" that prohibits gun control measures with it being a safe haven for immigrants. He said the county has approved no immigration sanctuary policies. What is a sanctuary city? It is generally understood to apply to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. DHS said it considered "factors like complianc...

This newsletter is the second of two delivered this year to all of our Patron and Guardian members as a special benefit for your generous support. Senior Editor Leonard Sparks revisits a special report that he and Michael Turton did in 2023 to provide background on their reporting about the ongoing opioid addiction crisis. The story was a follow-up to a series we published in 2017. The resurgence of opioid overdose deaths in New York state after a downturn in 2019 is not just embodied in statistics, but also in obituaries. Libby Funeral Home in Beacon posted Jonathan Bateman's obituary soon after his death on Oct. 8, 2022. Because he lived in East Fishkill, I did not include his family's tribute in the obits I compile each Friday for our website. But some of the usual "tells" - a young age (30 in this case) and died "suddenly" and "at home" - identified him as a possible overdose victim. A year later, as I searched online for local people who had lost someone to an overdose, an interview that Yvonne Bateman gave to Spectrum News about her son's death appeared. I found two non-working numbers in her name during an online search, then learned on Facebook that she volunteered for Fareground, the Beacon organization that stocks tiny pantries and community refrigerators with free food. Someone from the organization passed along to Yvonne my request for an interview. Within two weeks, I stood in her living room, taking the photo that appeared with our story and scanning a wall filled with pictures from Jonathan's too-short life. Those images - spanning childhood to adulthood - deepened his family's tragedy and the scale of loss that is worsening as fentanyl spreads and new poisons like xylazine emerge. When Yvonne told me about her strolls with Jonathan along the Walkway Over the Hudson, I decided to begin the article with that image. Those moments seemed, for both of them, an island of hope after so much struggle. Jonathan's death months later says a lot about the nature of addiction and the lethality of fentanyl. What is the solution? I prefer "What are the solutions?" Too many people believe that abstinence is the solution, or that addiction medications are the solution. It's OK to have more than one, as well as an open-minded approach to a problem as complicated as the humans it afflicts. Seeking the perspective of someone with years of recovery, I read about the struggles of Terasina Hanna, the program manager at the Walter Hoving Home in Garrison, in her online bio. She agreed to a phone interview, and I drove to Walter Hoving several days later to photograph the California native and tour the program's central building, a Tudor mansion. Many of her full answers from our interview had to be condensed or left out of the article, like when I asked Hanna to describe addiction. "It was a constant of trying to get clean and failing," she said. "And then there's this shame that goes on you because you keep failing and you can't stop." I've interviewed many recovering addicts and alcoholics. I usually ask about the moment that changed their lives - the one where they decided to seek help. Sometimes they credit moments of introspection in jails or prisons, and other times, sudden flashes of reality when it's clear that death is the only outcome and the pain of getting sober is less than the pain of continuing. Hanna, now sober eight years, began her journey after another stint in jail, when she decided to try Walter Hoving's program in Pasadena. "You just have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired," she said. During the tour, I followed her up upstairs, where she showed me offices and then a room with rows of computers. Before the screens, women tapped away on keyboards doing their treatment assignments. For them, treatment is not an end in itself but a first stop on a long journey. Staying sober and rebuilding lives depends on the decisions people make when they leave treatment. One of the most important, said Hanna, is d...

County executives dispute federal designation Officials from Dutchess and Putnam counties say they should not be listed with New York State and other localities, including Beacon, on a roster of jurisdictions the Department of Homeland Security accuses of "obstructing" the Trump administration's effort to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The list, released on Thursday (May 29) to comply with a presidential order, includes more than 500 jurisdictions, including New York state, 15 of its counties and 12 of its cities, identifying them as "sanctuaries" for immigrants who live in the country without authorization. [Update: the list was removed by DHS as of June 1 but is archived here.] Those states and municipalities, including Orange and Westchester counties and Newburgh and Poughkeepsie, are accused by the DHS of "deliberately and shamefully obstructing" federal immigration enforcement and protecting "dangerous criminal aliens." The agency demands that they "immediately review and revise their policies to align with federal immigration laws," but also cautions that the list is subject to change and "no one should act on this information without conducting their own evaluation" of the municipalities. Many municipalities have disputed their inclusion on the list, including Putnam and Dutchess counties. On Friday (May 30), Kevin Byrne, the Putnam executive, said: "Let's set the record straight: Putnam County is not a sanctuary county and never will be on my watch as county executive. We have consistently worked with our partners in law enforcement and encourage the continued collaboration and sharing of information with all federal, state and local law enforcement." Despite Putnam being named by DHS as a sanctuary jurisdiction, Byrne also on Friday posted on Facebook a video in which he accuses "liberal journalists at the Wall Street Journal," which published a story about the agency's announcement, of "inaccurately" adding Putnam to the list "before gathering all the facts." He added that "the bias media is wrong and needs to get the facts straight." In Dutchess, County Executive Sue Serino said on Friday that the county has contacted its federal representatives - Sens. Kirsten Gillebrand and Chuck Schumer and U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan - "for further clarity" and help getting the county removed from the list. "It is unclear how this list was developed, as DHS has not contacted us with any concerns, and the Dutchess County Legislature has never adopted any resolution relating to sanctuary jurisdiction," said Serino. On Monday (June 2), Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou read a statement at the City Council meeting: "It is absolutely not the case that the city is deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws. While the city has yet to receive any formal communication from the federal government, we remain confident the city is abiding by all applicable state and federal laws and judicial orders. Our city and our Police Department remain committed to protecting public safety, and any statements to the contrary are misleading and inaccurate." Neither Dutchess or Putnam has approved policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and Dutchess sued New York City in 2023 when it began contracting with hotels in the Hudson Valley to house immigrants. That same year, Byrne and the Putnam Legislature adopted a resolution declaring the county a "rule of law" jurisdiction and pledging cooperation with federal immigration officers to identify "arrested felons and gang-associated" individuals suspected of being in the country illegally. Beacon restricted its role in immigration enforcement during the first Trump administration, when the City Council in April 2017 unanimously passed a resolution declaring the city to be "welcoming, safe and inclusive." Its resolution deliberately avoided the word sanctuary (Trump had threatened to withhold funding from "sanctuary cities") but said that city employees and...

Recovery from crash called 'miracle' Laura Timmons always believed that her teenage daughter would recover from the traumatic brain injury she suffered in the car accident on Route 9 that killed another Haldane High School student in December 2023. During Theresa Timmons' 15-month rehabilitation at Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla, Laura Timmons chronicled each "big thing" in her daughter's recovery: the first time she swallowed drinks and food; the first time she responded to questions with gestures; and progressing to writing and talking. "I knew in my heart we would get there, and I never felt any negative," said Laura Timmons, whose family owns Homestyle Bakery in Nelsonville and Peekskill. Her faith received another reward on Thursday (May 29) when Theresa, wearing a shirt filled with signatures from well-wishers and supported on one side by a cane and the other by Laura's boyfriend, Mike Raguso, walked across Blythdale's lobby on her way home for the first time since the accident. A gauntlet of family, friends and Blythedale staff and patients clapped and cheered as Theresa headed through the front door. Outside, Theresa began crying as staff assembled around her to take pictures and say goodbye. First responders from the Continental Village Fire Department, Cortlandt-Peekskill Paramedics and the state police assembled to escort the ambulance carrying her home to Garrison. "Awesome," said Theresa, now 17, when asked about Thursday's sendoff and returning home. "I felt like someone famous." Katherine Ingrasci and Mary Kate Filos used the word "miracle." Ingrasci, a speech-language pathologist at Blythedale, said that Theresa could not eat or talk, and breathed using a tracheostomy tube inserted in her neck when she arrived at Blythedale. Theresa had "a lot of things to overcome" during the hospitalization and made tremendous progress from initially communicating solely through gestures, said Ingrasci. One day, "I walked in and she looked up at me and said a full, beautiful sentence," said Ingrasci. That progress owed much to Theresa, who Filos described as a "fighter" and hard worker. Filos also credited the family and friends who supported Theresa's recovery by donating money, visiting and sending cards and gifts. "They had somebody at the bedside around the clock; Theresa was never alone," said Filos. "So we bonded not just with mom, not just with dad, but with so many extended family members and friends." Also attending the sendoff were some of the Continental Village firefighters and paramedics who responded to the tragedy: a Dec. 15, 2023, car crash on Route 9 that claimed the life of Vlad Saban, a 17-year-old Haldane High School senior, and left Theresa, then 16 and a junior at the school, in critical condition. Chief Joseph Maffettone said in September 2024 that firefighters responding to the accident found "complete wreckage." Attacking the doors and bottom of the wreck with cutting tools, they found Vlad already deceased and Theresa in the rear - unconscious and laying on her left side, protected in a "cocoon," according to Maffettone. "There was a complete tunnel around her," said Maffettone, whose family has been buying baked goods from Homestyle for years and knew the Timmons family. "How she was positioned, it was amazing." Jennifer Hunt, a paramedic with Cortlandt-Peekskill Paramedics, described Theresa's physical condition as "multi-system" trauma. "She had anything and everything that could possibly be wrong with a patient going on," said Hunt last September. "We had a lot of decisions to make in a very short timeframe." Hunt said that she and a colleague, Richard Blackley, sedated Theresa and inserted an endotracheal tube, which is used when patients cannot breathe unaided. With her breathing stabilized, they decided to drive Theresa to Westchester Medical Center rather than wait for a helicopter that had been standing by. By February 2024, Theresa was responding to commands...

Writer to discuss 'walking memoir' in Beacon Craig Mod's first book tour across America has so far been a resounding success, much to the confusion of bookstore owners. "All the bookstore people have been freaked out," he said a few days after his stop in San Francisco had a line all the way down the street an hour before the event began. "Booking this tour has been difficult, because in their experience, if they don't recognize the name of the author, they're going to get seven people." Mod will finish up his tour promoting Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir at Binnacle Books in Beacon on June 6, in conversation with Beacon resident Sam Anderson, a reporter for The New York Times Magazine. Although this is his first title for a major publisher, Mod has built a following with his lavishly designed, self-published books, online newsletters, photography and travel writing about Japan. "I have absolutely no sense of who's out there reading my stuff since I'm kind of alone and isolated on the other side of the world," he said. "People are shaking as they bring me books to sign. It's bizarre, but everyone has been so sweet." Mod grew up in a Northeast town that was slowly being hollowed out with drugs and violence in the wake of local factories closing. Once he graduated high school, he knew he needed to get as far away as possible. With scholarships, homestays and the exchange rate at the turn of the millennium, Tokyo was the cheapest option at the time. Mod found in Japan what he'd been missing back in America. "There was an overwhelming shock of seeing people being taken care of by a greater whole," he said. After buying a used camera, Mod fell into two of the central tenets of his work: photography and exploring Japan on foot. He began with long, late-night walks throughout Tokyo. "I'd be in this kind of romantic haze of listening to all these lives and these families functioning," he said. "Tokyo is so transparent. If you walk in certain neighborhoods, you just hear everything." He befriended John McBride, an older Westerner with an encyclopedic knowledge of local history. Accompanying McBride on walks led to Mod making longer journeys across the county on his own. Things Become Other Things recounts in words and photographs one walk in 2021, during the pandemic, when he traced the historic 300-mile Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes across the Kii peninsula south of Kyoto, with McBride emailing him historic details along the way. "Most of the inns I stayed at, I was the only one there," Mod recalled. "It felt like the end of the world." The desolate landscape of the Kii peninsula reminded Mod of his hometown, both filled with poverty, loneliness, trash-strewn yards and hostile dogs. But Japan's safety net and tight-knit society means that the people Mod encounters don't fall through the cracks. Central to this is yoyū, which is often translated to mean "breathing room." In Things Become Other Things, Mod defines it as "the excess provided when surrounded by a generous abundance. It can be applied to hearts, wallets, Sunday afternoons and more." Mod said he began to truly understand the term when he started walking with McBride. "It's the space in your heart to be able to accept someone or something else without being stressed out by it," said Mod. "John is a person of essentially infinite yoyū. "As the political climate has changed in America, it feels increasingly like folks are being pressed against the wall," Mod said. "Political decisions are being made from this lack of openness or empathy. It emphasized what it meant to feel yoyū in the Japanese countryside. It's hard for folks who don't live in a place that has that to imagine what it feels like to look around at everyone you pass by, and know that if some medical calamity hits them, they can't fall that far." Binnacle Books is located at 321 Main St. in Beacon. The event begins at 7 p.m.