Podcasts about Fishkill

Programs advocate for long-term-care residents When Janice Munson walks through the entrance of a local nursing home, she has a list of names of the aged and disabled residents who have called for help. After those visits, she'll check in with other residents, sometimes asking if they have a physical therapy plan and if they are being taken for supervised walks to maintain their mobility. The answer is often no. "They'll say, 'I know there aren't enough staff, so I don't want to ask.' " Ensuring that residents obtain services is one of Munson's primary roles as a long-term care ombudsman, a position created by the Older Americans Act of 1965. The legislation requires states to provide independent advocates for residents in nursing homes, adult care homes and assisted living and rehabilitation facilities. Munson is among the eight volunteers who, along with five paid staff members, monitor 120 facilities in Region 4, which covers Putnam, Westchester and Rockland counties. Based in Cold Spring and led by Philipstown resident Judy Farrell, the region is one of 15 in the state. Region 5, based in Fishkill, covers Dutchess and five other counties. Nursing homes are the priority; the state wants them visited weekly and other facilities at least quarterly, said Farrell, who is also a member of the Philipstown Town Board. Although physical abuse draws headlines, complaints range from a staff member giving a resident the wrong medication or failing to follow therapy plans to dirty rooms, substandard food and a lack of recreation. Along with residents, the friends of residents and facility staff can report concerns, said Farrell. During the pandemic, when quarantines prevented families from visiting long-term care facilities, Farrell arranged for "compassionate care" visits. In one case, she helped a man unable to get his dying mother discharged to home hospice care. When she arrived home, he called Farrell, crying and grateful. "You can't replace that feeling," she said. "It's greatly satisfying." Arnold Tanner knows the feeling. A volunteer in Region 4, he visits a facility near his home in Sleepy Hollow twice a week. Carrying an iPad filled with notes, he meets first with people in the long-term-care units before introducing himself to newcomers and checking in at the rehab unit. He sometimes gets "a little better feel for the place" from newcomers and rehab patients, who are less reluctant to speak up, he said. Those in long-term care may fear retribution by staff, which is also a source of complaints. Statewide, the ombudsman program received 18,346 complaints during fiscal 2024, including 1,680 to the Cold Spring office. About a third were care-related, a broad category that includes accidents, falls, general requests for assistance and concerns about medications and physical therapy. Another 15 percent were complaints about staff failing to "honor and promote a resident's right or preferences" about healthcare, privacy, visitors and other areas. Many complaints related to food and admissions, including discharges and evictions. "Sometimes people face discharge for nonpayment when they might be eligible for Medicaid," Farrell explained. Complaints occasionally lead to legal action. In 2024, the state attorney general announced a $45 million settlement with Centers for Care, which owns four facilities, including one in White Plains, for "years of tragic and devastating mistreatment and neglect." According to the attorney general, "call bells regularly went unanswered, residents were forced to sit in their own urine and feces for hours, meals were not provided in a timely manner and personal belongings, including hearing aids, dentures and clothing, were often lost or stolen." After making On the Shoulders of Giants, a film about the orthopedics department at NYU Langone that was a Tribeca Film Festival Special Jury Award finalist in 2024, Cold Spring resident Peter Sanders turned to ombudsman programs. In March 2025, he began ...

The exact cause of the country's biggest ever fish kill incident on the Blackwater River near Mallow last August could not be established, according to an independent report from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. To tell us more about this our Environment Correspondent George Lee.

Spazio Aperto will host films, talks, relaxation Voices carry in the two main spaces of the Robert Olnick Pavilion at Magazzino Italian Art, especially in Gallery 2, a 1,000-square-foot cube where sound bounces around until it hits the 31-foot ceiling. Entering the newly opened Spazio Aperto (Community Room) on the lower level, however, visitors experience quietude because of a sound treatment that dampens the decibels. Despite the subterranean location, one wall is a window that opens to a courtyard and lets in a surprising amount of light. "It's an adjunct to the store in the cafe upstairs [on the second floor], but there are more books and magazines downstairs, where people can enjoy a moment of relaxation after their visit," says Luciana Fabbri, the museum's communications coordinator. "It's a place to sit, reflect and decompress." Taking advantage of the space, the museum is ramping up its educational outreach and public events. Nicola Lucchi directs the programming, which kicked off in November with a symposium exploring the career of Japanese glass artist Yoichi Ohira, who moved to the island of Murano near Venice and created stunning designs executed by Italian artisans. The current series is Cinema e Cioccolata: movies and hot chocolate. In part, the festival fills a void left by shuttered local movie theaters, particularly in Fishkill, says Andrea Connor, the visitor services coordinator, although the local fare skews toward niche works such as La Chimera, shown last month, a drama about tomb raiders in central Italy during the 1980s. On Feb. 13, Magazzino will screen Habeus Papam (We Have a Pope), a 2011 film about an identity crisis suffered by the Catholic Church's leader that finds him roaming the streets of Rome in disguise. The romantic Hollywood comedy Moonstruck will play on Feb. 27. "It's a fun romantic film that also explores how post-war Italian cultural identity was reshaped through migration to the United States and represented through cinema," says Fabbri. The final showing, on March 13, is Fire of Love, an Academy Award-nominated documentary about scientists who study active volcanoes up close and personal, including Sicily's Mount Etna and the island of Stromboli. A small army of employees deploys chairs for events at Spazio Aperto, but the spot is usually occupied by a sleek bookshelf, a white rectangular table with eight padded chairs, places to repose that resemble small haystacks and an electric-green modular couch whose components can be manipulated into multiple positions, including flat as a bed. The books on the shelves include Italian and American Art: An Interaction 1930-1980s and Italian Futurism: 1909-1944. The museum also sponsors a robust publishing program distinguished by its brown paper dust jackets. Many of its 18 titles accompanied exhibitions and feature artists and topics relevant to its post-World War II focus. Limited-edition prints by prominent Italian artists line the walls and, in a corner, five panels by students from La Scuola d'Italia in Manhattan emulate the style of Piero Manzoni's Achrome series, six of which hang in the gallery above in an exhibit that ends April 13. To enter Spazio Aperto, which is open during museum hours and for events, visitors pass an exhibition featuring Ohira's exceptional glassworks. For anyone interested in the glass-blower's art, this must-see show runs through May 4. Magazzino Italian Art, at 2700 Route 9 in Philipstown, is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Monday. Admission is $20 ($10 seniors, students, persons with disabilities, $5 ages 5-10, free for veterans, Philipstown residents and members). See magazzino.art.

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New traffic routes coming to Haldane campus Buses and cars will be required to use separate routes for entering and leaving the Haldane campus as part of a pilot program being implemented in April. Superintendent Gail Duffy and School Board President Peggy Clements explained the changes to the Cold Spring Village Board at its Wednesday (Jan. 28) meeting. The traffic changes will coincide with a voter-approved, $28 million capital project set to begin this year. A multi-purpose student center, science lab and classrooms will be added to the high school, while improvements at the elementary and middle school will include a student support center and science lab. "While the architects were developing the plans, they noted that Haldane has an unhealthy mix of car, bus and pedestrian traffic," especially during peak drop-off and pickup times, Duffy said. In addition, a transportation audit conducted by the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and recommendations from two consultants pointed to the need to address traffic congestion, she said. Beginning April 13, only buses will be allowed to enter and exit campus via Route 9D, while cars will be required to enter on Cedar Street and exit on upper Craigside Drive, Mountain Avenue and its feeder streets. "We all know that traffic movement at Haldane is tough," said Mayor Kathleen Foley. "Folks have been thinking for a long time about how to try to make that better and safer." As part of the pilot, Haldane officials have asked the village to increase police patrols during drop-off and dismissal and shift the crossing guard stationed on Route 301 to Orchard Street. During the discussion, the Cold Spring Police Department officer-in-charge, Matt Jackson, raised concerns over how the traffic patterns will affect the movement of emergency vehicles, including ambulances stationed on Cedar Street. Village and school officials plan to meet to fine-tune the proposal. In other business … Foley praised Robert Downey Jr., the Highway Department crew chief, for his planning and coordination with Putnam County and local contractors before the Jan. 25 snowstorm. She also thanked village workers for the many hours they spent clearing streets. The board reviewed a proposed letter addressed to the state parks department requesting a public hearing on the the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, which was released Jan. 7. Trustee Andrew Hall suggested language be added and objected to sending the letter as presented because he said he had only seen the draft the day before. Hahn Engineering, which serves as the village engineer, was authorized to request proposals for stormwater drainage repairs at the corner of Fishkill and Mountain avenues, necessitated by damage caused by extreme amounts of rainfall during the July 2023 storm. Foley said the intersection is a key area in dealing with stormwater that comes off Bull Hill and flows through the village to the Hudson River. The work, which will be funded in large part by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, could begin this spring and is expected to take four to six weeks. Hahn Engineering will call for proposals to inspect the village dock. The first phase will assess the size boats the dock can handle while phase two will determine if any short- or long-term repairs are needed. The dock was last inspected 15 years ago. The mayor has asked trustee Tony Bardes to document for budget purposes docking fees charged by other Hudson River municipalities. Seastreak has yet to submit a proposal for its fall cruise schedule, but a request to dock at Cold Spring has been received from a company interested in providing ferry service between Peekskill, Bear Mountain, West Point and the village. Foley said the proposal will be discussed after the dock has been inspected and docking fees considered. The proposed 64-foot ferry is about half the length of Seastreak. The board unanimously approved a reso...

Each faces life in ex-husband's disappearance A federal judge upheld the convictions of a former Beacon couple found guilty in September of killing the wife's ex-husband, who disappeared in April 2020 after dropping off his two teenage daughters following a custody visit. In an opinion released on Friday (Jan. 23), Judge Philip Halpern rejected motions for acquittal or a new trial by Jamie Orsini and Nicholas Orsini, who a jury found guilty of carjacking resulting in death and conspiracy to commit carjacking in the disappearance of Steven Kraft. Prosecutors say they were the last ones to see Kraft before he disappeared on April 28, 2020, after returning his daughters to the West Church Street apartment his ex-wife shared with Nicholas Orsini. His disappearance came six weeks before a court hearing as Kraft sought either sole custody of his daughters or greater visitation. Both Orsinis, who were initially charged in June 2023, claim that prosecutors failed to prove that Kraft was killed. According to Jamie Orsini, surveillance video capturing Nicholas Orsini driving Kraft's car in the City of Newburgh showed evidence of a passenger, suggesting her ex-husband was still alive after he returned their daughters to Beacon. They also claimed that supplies bought from the Home Depot and Walmart in Fishkill before and after Kraft's disappearance — including a tarp, duct tape, painters coveralls and galvanized trash cans — should not have been used as evidence because they were "everyday household items" used in barbecuing and painting, not tools for disposing of Kraft's body as alleged by prosecutors. In addition to rejecting those claims, Halpern ruled against the Orsinis' arguments that the carjacking statute is "unconstitutionally vague" and that the trial court erred by allowing the testimony of two neighbors — one who reported a "foul" smell wafting through her window and another who described an "acrid, awful" smell from two large containers "being attended to by Nicholas Orsini" in the couple's backyard. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison on the carjacking resulting in death charge and five years on the conspiracy charge. In scheduling Jamie Orsini's sentencing for June 16 and Nicholas Orsini's for June 18, Halpern said the evidence "cannot be said to have been insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict." According to that evidence, said prosecutors, the couple began plotting Kraft's murder before he disappeared, buying items that could be used to dismember and burn a body. Police recreated their movements using GPS and cellphone data, along with surveillance video from public and private cameras. Security footage and a store receipt from April 8, 2020, from the Home Depot on Route 9 in Fishkill showed that Jamie Orsini bought a 10-foot-by-100-foot tarp, duct tape and a Tyvek suit and boots, according to prosecutors. Video from the parking lot captured Nicholas Orsini helping load the supplies into the couple's GMC Envoy. That same day, according to the complaint, the pair drove to Newburgh to determine how to dispose of Kraft's car. Data from their phones and video footage tracked the couple driving from West Church Street over the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to the City of Newburgh. Prosecutors said that Kraft, a former U.S. Marine who was 34 when he disappeared, had custody of his daughters from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and noon to 3 p.m. every other Saturday. On the Tuesday he disappeared, Kraft picked up the girls and drove to a Sonic restaurant in the Town of Newburgh and then to his apartment in Marlboro, before returning to Beacon at 7 p.m. Police said cellphone data confirmed that Jamie and Nicholas Orsini followed him to the restaurant. The next day, Kraft failed to show up to his deli job in Marlboro, and on May 4, investigators found his 1999 Camry abandoned at Third Street and Carpenter Avenue in the City of Newburgh. One of the earliest pieces of evidence was surveillance footage showing Kraft's ...

Feedback sought on first parcel of land The state Department of Environmental Conservation is accepting public comments through Jan. 31 on a proposal to remediate a small portion of the abandoned Texaco Research Center site just outside of Beacon. The DEC has broken the 153-acre property, now called Glenham Mills, into nine pieces, or "operable units," that correspond with Town of Fishkill tax parcels. Each will have its own remediation strategy. The first parcel under consideration is also the smallest — a 0.67-acre wooded patch north of Washington Avenue. The Glenham Mills property was the home of a textile mill in the early 1800s. After Texaco purchased the land in 1931, it built a complex where more than 1,000 employees researched and developed aviation gasolines and other petroleum products. By the time the center closed in 2003, Fishkill Creek, which divides the property, had been heavily polluted with petroleum, coal products and solvents. The state has assessed the impact of that pollution on fish and wildlife, the soil and human health. Remedial measures have included decommissioning storage tanks, excavating soil, repairing dams and sparging, in which pressurized air is injected below the water table, forcing gasoline or solvents into the soil, where they are extracted. The groundwater has been tested annually since 2009. "It may look like nothing has been going on, but work has been performed for decades now," said Greta Kowalski, a DEC geologist. Once remediation of Glenham Mills is complete, years from now, DEC will retain oversight through a site-management plan and environmental easements. "It's like the Hotel California," Kowalski said. "You can check out, but you can never leave." Chevron, which merged with Texaco in 2003, has sent proposals to the DEC to remediate most of the operable units. Once a plan is set for the first unit, known as OU-3, Kowalski said the next candidates could be OU-1B, a 15-acre parcel that once had a church, or OU-1E, a 93-acre segment south of Washington Avenue and Fishkill Creek known as the Back 93, which Texaco used for worker recreation. The Back 93 is probably the most attractive parcel for development; a 2021 Chevron report identified two sludge lagoons, three chemical burial sites, a disposal pit and a container disposal site as "areas of interest." More than 26,000 tons of material were removed from the Back 93 in the 1980s. Chevron's proposal for the 0.67-acre OU-3 is to excavate a 225-square-foot area where soil samples revealed semi-volatile organic compounds 6 inches below ground. Volatile chemicals can move from below ground into buildings, but nearby residences on Washington Avenue and Belvedere Road have not been contaminated, the company said. How to Comment Email Greta Kowalski at greta.kowalski@dec.ny.gov. For more information, see Chevron's site at glenhammills.com. Chevron has been trying to sell Glenham Mills since 2020, and there has been a renewed effort recently to market the site to "brownfield" developers, said Alex Cheramie, a company representative. An online flyer does not list a sale price but notes that the property offers an "excellent redevelopment opportunity" due to its proximity to Interstate 84 and Route 52. It is zoned for offices, laboratories and industrial or manufacturing uses. Chevron would like to restore the land to "restricted residential" status, a classification that the DEC says would be appropriate for a public park. During a Jan. 13 public meeting at Fishkill Town Hall, an audience member asked Kristin Kulow, a representative from the state Department of Health, whether she would feel safe living in a house in OU-3 once it is remediated. "Yes, I would, absolutely," she said.

Project designed to increase climate resilience New York State announced on Jan. 2 that it is sending $2 million to the City of Beacon, which will cover about half the cost of fortifying the Melzingah Reservoir Dam against increasingly frequent extreme weather. Melzingah, along with the Mount Beacon and Cargill reservoirs and three wells, provides drinking water for Beacon, parts of the Town of Fishkill and the Fishkill Correctional Facility. The grant is part of $22.7 million awarded by the state to Climate Smart Communities. The Beacon City Council has authorized spending $1.9 million to complete the $3.9 million project, which should go out to bid this year, City Administrator Chris White said. The dam is considered a Class C High Hazard structure, meaning that if it fails, the "uncontrolled release" of up to 58 million gallons of water would likely cause deaths and widespread property damage. In July 1897, the first Melzingah dam did burst, sending a 15-foot wave down the mountain. Three adults and four children were killed. In 1924, the current dam was constructed nearby. Even if the dam held during extreme weather, flooding caused by overflow could cover the Metro-North tracks or Route 9D. The land surrounding the dam is part of Fahnestock State Park, including portions of the proposed Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail. The hazard classification won't change because of the repair work, but the dam likely will no longer be considered by the state to be in "poor" condition, White said. "This is one of the adaptations to make sure that the water supply remains available and that we don't adversely affect the people downstream," he said. The grant, announced by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, will raise the dam's crest and increase its spillway capacity to better absorb runoff during storms, such as the one that hit in July 2023, dumping 8 inches on the Highlands. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted in a study that year that the Hudson Valley could experience such "100-year storms" every 11 to 25 years. The city completed a similar project in 2023 at the Mount Beacon Dam and in 2022 made repairs to prevent leaks at the smaller Pocket Road Dam. Engineering recently began on repairs to the transmission line of the Cargill Dam, which is owned by the city but located in Philipstown. According to the DEC, the remediation will allow the Melzingah Dam to safely handle 50 percent of the "probable maximum precipitation," adjusted for climate scenarios projected for the next 10, 20 and 30 years. Before the award, Beacon had received more than $891,000 in grants through the state's Clean Energy Communities program. This is the first Climate Smart Communities grant for the city. Among other state grants announced on Jan. 2, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, based in Beacon, received $675,000 to restore the sloop's topsides and transom; the City of Newburgh got $6.9 million to create 209 mixed-income downtown apartments and $2 million to build a deep-water pier for river cruise ships; and the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater in Peekskill was awarded $1.78 million to upgrade its HVAC system to create a community cooling center. There were no grants to entities in Putnam County.

Outages, decreased pressure experienced throughout city A water main break near Fishkill Avenue caused reduced pressure and discolored water in parts of Beacon on Wednesday (Jan. 7), but was repaired by 7 p.m. The city issued a targeted boil water advisory for residents along Fishkill Avenue from Conklin Street to the Town of Fishkill border, including all side streets. If you are experiencing discolored water, run the cold tap until the water runs clear. Photos by J. Simms A new insertion valve was installed. Workers repair the main. After the repair, the site was cleaned up. The break, which occurred in the Groveville area, was "pretty significant," said City Administrator Chris White. The main that broke is an old pipe, and the issue is unrelated to any of the recent work on Fishkill/Teller Avenue, he said. Superintendent Matt Landahl announced emergency early dismissal for Beacon City School District students. Beacon High School dismissed at noon, Rombout Middle School at 12:45 p.m. and the district's four elementary schools at 1:15 p.m. All afterschool activities were canceled.

County executive rejected extra prosecutors Dutchess County legislators voted on Wednesday (Dec. 17) to keep two new prosecutors and an administrative assistant in the district attorney's budget for next year, despite warnings from County Executive Sue Serino about "difficult decisions" ahead. By a quick voice vote, legislators rejected Serino's veto of their bipartisan amendment to add the positions to the $653.6 million spending plan that they passed Dec. 8. Their additions included five new DA positions overall, costing $711,000, plus other amendments that increased Serino's $651.4 million proposal by $2.2 million and the use of reserve funds, or savings, by $7.2 million. In a memo explaining her veto, Serino said District Attorney Anthony Parisi had decided to "walk back" an agreement to hold the positions vacant to offset $300,000 in spending on promotions for 22 of his attorneys. Serino said she sought a compromise: allowing Parisi to keep two of the five new positions, a third prosecutor and a junior accountant approved by the Legislature. Even without the three extra positions, Parisi's office would have 73 employees, compared to 68 when he took office last year, said Serino. "You all share in the responsibility for fiscal sustainability," she said before Wednesday's override vote. "We will need to compromise in the new year to work together to do what's right for our community while minimizing the impact on taxpayers." In a statement released shortly after the override vote, Parisi said the positions were "the five most critical" of nine he asked legislators to add to Serino's draft budget. Without them, the district attorney's ability to prosecute would have been "significantly reduced," he said, citing "growing demands" from the reform of state evidence-sharing rules and ongoing efforts to fight drug and violent crime and elder abuse. "Unfortunately, the county executive's vetoes failed to acknowledge the real-world consequences these cuts would have had on victims, law enforcement and the safety of our communities," said Parisi. All 15 Republicans voted for the amended budget, with nine of 10 Democrats (one was absent) voting against the plan. It anticipates $268 million in revenue from sales taxes, $107 million from property taxes and the use of $34 million in savings - $7 million more than Serino proposed. The tax levy will stay below a state-mandated cap, and the rate assessed on property owners will fall slightly, from $2.17 to $2.10 per $1,000 of assessed value. The budget also eliminates 10 vacant jobs and leaves 17 unfilled. Legislators also rejected a proposal by Serino to end an exemption from the county's 3.75 percent sales tax on clothing and shoes costing less than $110. (Dutchess consumers pay 8.125 percent sales tax, which includes 4 percent for the state and 0.375 percent for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.) Letting the exemption expire as scheduled on March 1 would have yielded $5.4 million in additional revenue, including $133,000 for Beacon under a revenue-sharing agreement, according to Serino. Beacon's share of sales tax collections, which was $6.1 million in 2025, will still rise from 2.35 percent to 2.45 percent in 2026, or about $268,000. On Wednesday, legislators also approved each municipality's share of the $107 million property-tax levy. Beacon property owners will be assessed $4.7 million. After Jan. 1, Serino will have to work with a Legislature led by Democrats, who defeated five Republican incumbents in November to flip the 15-10 majority. Democrat Yvette Valdés Smith, who represents Ward 4 in Beacon and part of Fishkill as the minority leader, is expected to succeed Republican Will Truitt as majority leader.

District had considered police presence The Beacon City School District is not adding a police officer to its security detail, at least for now. Six of seven board members (two seats are vacant) said in a straw poll on Monday (Dec. 15) that they are satisfied with the district's security staffing. The board had discussed hiring a school resource officer, who is typically armed, after Board Member Eric Schetter suggested the position for Beacon High School and possibly Rombout Middle School. On Monday, Schetter, a former 25-year administrator in the Arlington district, was the only voice in favor. "I feel the SRO makes the high school and/or the middle school that much safer," he said. "That's where I've been from the start." The board mulled the idea for several months while hearing reports from Superintendent Matt Landahl on existing security and what a resource officer might do. There are unarmed security monitors at each of the district's six elementary schools, as well as four at Rombout and nine at the high school, including two who work at night. They are supervised by Mark Thomas, a retired Beacon officer hired in 2018 as the district's first director of security. The hire came the year after then-Police Chief Doug Solomon asked the board to let him assign an officer to the district. Thomas works with Altaris, a consulting firm that conducted security audits at each school and assists with emergency planning. Through Thomas, the district works closely with Beacon and Town of Fishkill police (Glenham Elementary is in Fishkill), who do security walkthroughs and provide support during lockdown drills. In 2014 and 2016, the Obama administration issued guidance emphasizing hiring school resource officers for safety and mentoring, rather than for discipline. It urged schools to create agreements that ban SROs from enforcing school rules, but ensure they are trained in child development and de-escalation techniques. In Cold Spring, the Haldane campus has had a Putnam County sheriff's deputy as a resource officer since 2015. Garrison discussed the issue in 2020 and, earlier this year, hired a special patrol officer (SPO), a retired police officer whose role is limited to security and who does not carry a weapon. Elsewhere in Dutchess County, Landahl said on Monday, each of five comparable high schools - Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park, Spackenkill, Arlington and Wappingers - has an SRO. The Poughkeepsie City School District is the only other district with a director of security. And Beacon has the highest security guard-to-student ratio in the county, "by a lot," Landahl said. If Beacon were to hire an SRO, the district would pay the officer's salary and benefits for 10 months out of the year - roughly $100,000, "so we would need to reduce somewhere to do it," Landahl said, noting "there's not a ton of enthusiasm" among building administrators to cut existing security staff. That led Board President Flora Stadler to call for the straw poll: Table the discussion or move ahead? "I would not want to lose that [security-to-student] ratio that we have," Stadler said. Others agreed. "I'm not convinced yet that it's effective, that it does make anything safer," said Catherine Buscemi. "I'm not convinced that there would be an acceptable comfort level for students having a police officer in the school." When the board began its discussion in September, Stadler cited a 2023 University at Albany study that showed SROs are associated with a decline in some forms of violence. At the same time, they were associated with an increase in firearm offenses, which researchers said might be attributed to increased detection. The study also concluded that having a police officer in school leads to an increase in "harsh" disciplinary actions, such as suspensions and arrests, particularly among Black students, male students and students with disabilities. Meredith Heuer, the board vice president, said the district will probably have to revisit the convers...

Spending plan passes without Democratic support Dutchess County lawmakers on Monday (Dec. 8) approved a $653.6 million budget for next year along party lines, with Democrats uniting against the spending plan as they prepare to take control of the Legislature next month. All 15 Republicans voted for the amended version of a draft budget that County Executive Sue Serino, also a Republican, presented in November. It anticipates $268 million in revenue from sales taxes, $107 million from property taxes and the use of $34 million in general-fund reserves, or savings - $7 million more than Serino initially proposed. The tax levy stays below a state-mandated cap, and the rate assessed on property owners will fall slightly, from $2.17 to $2.10 per $1,000 of assessed value. The budget also eliminates 10 vacant jobs and leaves 17 unfilled. Legislators rejected a proposal by Serino to end an exemption from the county's 3.75 percent sales tax on clothing and shoes costing less than $110. (Dutchess consumers pay a total 8.125 percent sales tax, which includes 4 percent for the state and 0.375 percent for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.) Letting the exemption expire as scheduled on March 1 would have yielded $5.4 million in additional revenue, including $133,000 for Beacon under a revenue-sharing agreement, according to Serino. Beacon's share of sales tax collections, which was $6.1 million in 2025, will still rise from 2.35 percent to 2.45 percent in 2026, or about $268,000. Serino, who said the changes create "a very large budget gap," now must decide whether to sign or veto the budget, or to reject individual amendments. But Democrats, who will soon take control, have already rendered their verdict. Nine of the 10 Democrats (one was absent) voted against the plan, even though it contains several amendments they proposed. One increases spending for a trust fund for affordable housing from $1 million to $2 million and another allocates $200,000 for grants of up to $25,000 to municipalities for initiatives to combat homelessness. Nevertheless, said Yvette Valdés Smith, whose district includes Ward 4 in Beacon and part of Fishkill, the budget "does not adequately address the affordability crisis that our residents are facing." The Legislature also approved proposals to add $711,000 to the district attorney's office for five full-time positions and $750,000 to the budget for safety and security improvements at municipal buildings. In her budget presentation in November, Serino highlighted $2.5 million for youth programs and $2 million for supplemental ambulance services. Buttressing the county's shorthanded EMS services has been a priority. The budget also funds two school resource officers, a Drone as First Responder Program for the Real-Time Crime Center and a new Elder Justice Task Force. The latter, a collaboration with the Office for the Aging and the district attorney and sheriff's offices, "will investigate, identify, pursue and prosecute those who exploit older adults through abuse, fraud or neglect," said Serino. After Jan. 1, Serino will have to work with a Legislature led by Democrats, who defeated five Republican incumbents in the November election to flip the 15-10 majority. Smith, who had been the minority leader, is expected to succeed Will Truitt as majority leader.

Council expected to hire consulting firm Beacon is wasting no time getting started on the first leg of a proposed 13-mile rail trail from the city to Hopewell Junction. The City Council is expected to vote on Monday (Dec. 15) to approve spending $350,000 to hire a Westchester County firm to design a 3.3-mile section from the Beacon waterfront to the Town of Fishkill line. The trail could eventually connect to the planned Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail and, in Hopewell, the Dutchess Rail Trail and 750-mile Empire State Trail. If the council approves the request, City Administrator Chris White said that Barton & Loguidice, which conducted a feasibility study on the trail for the Dutchess County Transportation Council, could begin design and engineering work as early as January. The city's goal is to put the project out to bid by November and construct the 12- to 14-foot-wide multi-use segment in 2027. "What we've been doing in the last couple of months is figuring out how we can start our piece and accelerate it and go forward," Mayor Lee Kyriacou said during the council's Monday (Dec. 8) meeting. In October, the Barton & Loguidice report recommended a "rail-to-trail" conversion of the abandoned line, which begins at the Hudson River. The line, which has not been active for 30 years, runs through Beacon and along the east end of Main Street before crossing back and forth over Fishkill Creek on its way through the Village of Fishkill and the towns of Fishkill and East Fishkill. The line is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In 2024, Metro-North, an MTA agency, "railbanked" the tracks, reserving its right to revive service, although an agency representative said it had no plans to do so. The Dutchess Transportation report estimated that it would cost $46 million to $56 million to construct the entire trail; Beacon officials anticipate the first segment will be $4.5 million. There are two bridges (near Dennings Avenue and at South and Tioronda avenues) and an overpass at Wolcott Avenue, but otherwise, the paved trail will be "basically a road project," White said. The city has requested a "sizeable" grant from the governor's office to link the project to a proposed development at the Beacon train station that is part of Gov. Kathy Hochul's housing agenda. It is also seeking funds from Dutchess County and two private organizations. In other business scheduled for Monday: The council is expected to vote on an update to the city's fee schedule. Beacon charges fees for dozens of services, including dog licenses, building inspections, record searches and permits for backyard chickens. Not all fees are increasing, and some that are no longer applicable, such as for junk dealers and amusement parks, will be removed. Some fees have not changed since 2010, White said. Council members will consider a request from the developer of the Edgewater apartment complex for a two-year extension to the special-use permit issued for the project in 2018. Phase 2 of the 246-unit development is underway; three of seven residential buildings have been completed. Ben Swanson, the mayor's assistant, will be appointed Beacon's deputy city administrator, a new position. Since he was hired in 2021, Swanson's duties "went from being primarily clerical to really being supervisory and much more executive," White said. His new responsibilities will include coordinating housing and food resources and filling in if White is unavailable. The council will vote on a 10-year renewal of the city's franchise agreement with Optimum, aka Cablevision of Wappingers Falls. The non-exclusive agreement allows Optimum to provide cable and internet service in Beacon in exchange for a franchise fee equal to 5 percent of its gross revenue from the previous year. In 2024, Optimum paid the city $172,393. As in years past, the council will consider $10,000 spending proposals from students in the Participation in Government class at Beacon High School. Emilio Guerra an...

Town Board also approves theater plans The Philipstown Town Board last week banned the storage of large amounts of petroleum products and approved plans for a facility that The Depot Theater wants to build at the Recreation Department off Route 9D. During its Dec. 4 meeting, the board unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning code prohibiting "petroleum storage facilities" whose products "are used for resale or other commercial redistribution purposes." Gas stations and "hybrid petroleum storage facilities" are exempt, but other proposed laws would limit those businesses to the Route 9 corridor between Route 301 and the town's southern border. The change was spurred by fears that an oil spill could contaminate the aquifer that homeowners and businesses rely on for drinking water. Under the former code, Philipstown only restricted petroleum tanks and facilities in environmentally sensitive areas if they held more than 400,000 gallons. In 2023, Krasniqi Plaza, a heating oil business that owns 3626 Route 9, proposed a project with three 29,000-gallon tanks. Its plan spurred Philipstown to pass, in December 2023, a six-month moratorium on large petroleum storage containers. When the town extended the moratorium, Krasniqi removed the storage tanks from its proposal. Another business, Misti's Properties 3070, introduced to the Planning Board in September 2024 a project with a gas station, Dunkin' and convenience store at the former Automar property. Its proposal, which came during the moratorium, is in an area where gas stations would not be allowed under the new zoning. Misti's has not returned to the Planning Board. Dennis O'Brien, speaking on behalf of residents of Glassbury Court on Route 9, said their reliance on wells supplied by the Clove Creek Aquifer, which straddles Route 9 from just south of East Mountain Road South to the Fishkill border, makes it a vital resource. "The Clove Creek Aquifer is much more important than having another gas station on Route 9," he said. Philipstown is expected to pass two draft laws confining new gas stations and "hybrid petroleum storage facilities" - such as home heating oil companies and truck depots - that store up to 25,000 gallons of fuel to Route 9 between Route 301 and Philipstown's southern border and the stretch of 301 between Route 9 and the Nelsonville border. Public hearings were held Dec. 4 but the town delayed a vote until January to correct language defining the southern boundary as "Route 202." Depot Theater The board approved a plan by The Depot Theater, which is located on Garrison's Landing, to construct a multipurpose building at the Recreation Department on Route 9D to consolidate its backstage operations and host programs in set design and construction, costume design and tech and lighting design for middle and high school students. The theater will now apply to the New York State Council on the Arts for construction funding. Once completed, the building would be given to the town. "It will be a wonderful addition to the community," said Supervisor John Van Tassel. In other business… No one responded to the initial request for proposals to succeed the retiring Stephen Gaba as town attorney. A second request will be issued with a Dec. 31 deadline. Van Tassel said he had reached out to law firms. "They said most of the younger attorneys who are coming on board don't want to do meetings at night," he said. It was the final meeting for board members Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, who did not seek re-election to second, 4-year terms and will be succeeded on Jan. 1 by Nat Prentice and Ned Rauch, who ran unopposed. Cotter said that "serving the community that I was born and raised in" has been "an honor." Angell said that there have been mornings when he's read the news and "been worried about the direction of our country. But I think one thing that always helps that worry is working with the local community."

Supports local review of Fjord Trail project New York State has rejected a claim that it should review a proposed renovation of a Route 9D events space tied to the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, rather than the Town of Fishkill. HHFT wants to convert Dutchess Manor into a visitor's center, offices and parking for the proposed trail. The Fishkill Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing on Thursday (Dec. 11) that will continue in January to hear feedback. At its Nov. 13 meeting, the Planning Board spent an hour discussing recent revisions to HHFT's plan for the site, especially concerns about traffic and parking. It also addressed arguments that HHFT should not be allowed to "segment," or separate, Dutchess Manor's restoration from the larger, 7.5-mile Fjord Trail, which is undergoing a state environmental review. Under New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act, segmenting projects to avoid a comprehensive review of its impacts "may result in legal action." In an Oct. 28 letter addressed to the Planning Board, the state parks department said that because the Dutchess Manor property is located within Fishkill, "it is appropriate for the town to analyze the potential impacts arising from its specific land use actions." The agency also said that Dutchess Manor, which is projected for completion in 2027, will have "independent utility" from the trail, which is scheduled for completion in 2031, and support the existing recreational trail system. It added that its review of the overall project will incorporate the visitor center's impact on traffic, parking and community character. Dominic Cordisco, the Planning Board attorney, called the letter "a very clear statement from state parks" and advised the board to focus "on the particulars of the Dutchess Manor proposal - this particular site - rather than the trail." Protect the Highlands, a group that opposes the trail as proposed, has been trying to convince the Planning Board that HHFT improperly segmented the project. Its president, former Cold Spring Mayor Dave Merandy, wrote in a Nov. 12 letter to the board that because state parks is leading the review of the Fjord Trail and is HHFT's "partner" in the project, its position on segmentation "isn't surprising." "That claim is flawed, as argued in the many letters and comments you have received from PTH [Protect the Highlands], PTH members, concerned neighbors and residents of the Hudson Highlands," he said. "We ask that you revisit and carefully consider those letters and comments during your deliberation." Extended discussions about segmentation and the trail's impact on traffic and residents have subsumed deliberations about HHFT's plans for the actual building, which call for demolishing three additions to the original 1868 residence and restoring the structure, which is on the national and state registers of historic places. In addition to a first-floor visitors' center with exhibit space and 181 parking spaces (including 29 for staff), HHFT's proposal calls for a store where hikers can buy snacks, water and other items, said Amy Kacala, HHFT's executive director. Food trucks would be available, along with shuttles to ferry hikers from the parking lot to trailheads. There would also be public restrooms, a lawn for picnicking and events, and new landscaping and lighting. HHFT is asking the Planning Board to approve its site plan and a special-use permit. It will also seek Town Board approval to rezone 14 Coris Lane, an adjacent residence that HHFT bought to use for its offices. HHFT said it expects Dutchess Manor to draw 36,000 visitors annually. In response to questions from Planning Board members about traffic, a representative of AKRF, a consulting firm hired by HHFT, said it projected that 85 vehicles would enter the property each weekday, rising to 154 on Saturdays and Sundays. That would constitute "an acceptable service level," even after the trail is completed, the representative said. At the board's requ...

Committee completes study of Beacon corridor After nearly two years of work, the citizen committee studying the Fishkill Avenue corridor in Beacon this week released a 26-page final report whose broad range of recommendations spans zoning, viewsheds, housing and transportation and is supplemented by more than 100 pages of maps and appendices. Appointed by Mayor Lee Kyriacou in January 2024, the committee was asked to develop concepts and proposals for the northeast section of Beacon, an area that includes Fishkill Avenue (Route 52), Fishkill Creek, residential neighborhoods and former industrial sites. If constructed, the Beacon-to-Hopewell Junction rail trail would follow the dormant Metropolitan Transportation Authority rail line through that part of the city and toward the Town of Fishkill. "This has been a forgotten area of Beacon," said Pam Wetherbee, the City Council member who represents Ward 3, which includes the corridor. "There's so much potential. It's really like a hidden gem." Committee members met monthly, and in March held a public workshop attended by about 80 people. Committee Chair J.C. Calderon, who presented the report to the council on Monday (Nov. 24), said he saw the group's work as a "forensic study" of conditions in the 1.2-mile stretch from Blackburn Avenue (at Ron's Ice Cream) to Prospect Street (at Industrial Arts Brewing Co.). The report isn't meant to be "definitive or final in its recommendations," he wrote in the introduction, but a tool for city leaders, present and future, "to envision a future that encompasses the best interests" of Beacon. Thirty recommendations are spread across numerous categories, some sorted by location, others by topic. Timing runs the gamut, from short-term suggestions that can be taken up in 2026 to longer-term issues that the city will address as it refines a vision for the corridor. Some the city has already taken up. To encourage pedestrian-friendly growth around Fishkill Avenue, the committee earlier this year suggested "quick fixes" prohibiting new self-storage facilities, drive-thrus, gas stations, car washes, auto lots and repair shops. The council banned drive-thrus citywide in May and regulated self-storage facilities in June. Below are notable recommendations; some have been shortened due to space limitations. Industrial corridor (Fishkill Avenue east out of Beacon) Have industrial property owners improve the character of their sites with enhanced landscaping and alternative fencing without chain link or barbed wire. Remove self-storage facilities as a permitted use and consider restricting other "low-value or nuisance" uses. Evaluate the addition of employment-generating or green-manufacturing uses. Mixed-use corridor (State Street to Blackburn Avenue) Create a new Fishkill Avenue zoning district or extend the General Business district. Support uses such as office, retail, multi-family housing, restaurants, recreation and health care. Prevent over-concentration of any single use. Prohibit fast-food restaurants and self-storage businesses. Limit or gradually phase out autocentric uses. Allow buildings up to four stories, provided that the fourth story is recessed to reduce visual impact. Consider limiting height to three stories in viewshed areas. Evaluate Tallix and The Yard sites for infill development. Groveville (the historic neighborhood east of the train tracks) Implement a Groveville Historic District. Upgrade roads to city standards with sidewalks and trail connections. Improve Groveville bridge to enhance pedestrian and bike access to Liberty Street. Integrate housing through higher-density infill development while balancing open space preservation. Housing Retain multi-family housing as a permitted use within the mixed-use area and permit multi-family for future redevelopment proposals for the Tallix site. Regarding affordable housing, the group said that Beacon's existing requirement to designate 10 percent of new developments (of 10 units or ...

Everyone's brains seem to be on high alert in the digital age, although society has become more accepting of mental health struggles and treatment. In this, the third part of a series, we examine the challenges facing seniors. Tina is 94 years old and has attempted suicide twice this year. Once, she stuffed a plastic bag into her mouth. "I couldn't keep it in," said the Beacon resident. "If someone would have forced it on me, it would have worked. But I couldn't. I took it out." Another time, she took a scarf from her closet and tried to hang herself from a door in her apartment. But she slid to the floor. Her daughter called after seeing that attempt on a video monitor connected to her cell phone. "What are you doing?" "Resting," Tina responded. When asked if she was glad that her suicide attempts failed, she said, "Not really. I hated my life." Then she looked up at the ceiling and raised her hands like she was pleading. "Take me," she said. "I'm ready." Tina, who was willing to discuss her mental health struggles only if her real name was not used, is facing many of the typical health problems that come with aging. She and her husband, who is 91, used to enjoy driving to McDonald's in Fishkill for a meal before browsing at shops along Route 9. But a few years ago, her husband began showing signs of dementia, and her children insisted that she stop driving. "They said if there's an accident, we'll be responsible," she said. Dementia has taken a toll on her marriage of 50 years. "We hardly speak," she said. "Just little phrases like, 'Are you sleeping?' and 'You want to eat now?'" Her husband can no longer take out the garbage and is often puzzled by his electric razor. Tina has fallen several times. She traded in her cane for a rollator, a fancy walker with wheels, handbrakes and a seat. She was cheerful at a recent lunch. She enjoyed her food and seemed excited about her dessert, a chocolate bar. She was well-dressed, with nice jewelry. Her makeup and hair were impeccable. "I love to laugh," she said, adding that her life had improved recently with someone coming to her house to drive her and her husband to McDonald's. When it was suggested she seek help for her mental health, she said, "At this age, does it matter?" Tina's reaction is not unusual. According to federal government data, while people ages 65 and older comprise 17 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 22 percent of suicides, with men far exceeding women. One study estimates that a third of seniors worldwide experience symptoms of depression, although clinical depression is far less common. The key factors are well known: isolation, loss and physical infirmity. Dutchess and Putnam counties offer many resources to help older people with their mental health, including support groups and Friendship Centers where seniors meet, go shopping, have lunch and enjoy group activities. In 2023, Dutchess started a program called Friendly Calls, in which volunteers call seniors for conversation. This year, Putnam launched Putnam Pals, a program that pairs volunteers with seniors. "There's nothing better than seeing someone face to face," said Marlene Barrett, director of Putnam's Office for Senior Resources. Suicide Among Older People About 50,000 people kill themselves each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those ages 85 and older have the highest rates, at 22.7 per 100,000, followed by those aged 75-84 and 35-44. The lowest rates were among those aged 65-74 and 15-24. Men ages 75 and older have the highest rates overall (42.2 per 100,000). A study in the Journal of Affective Disorders of adults ages 50 and older in five low- and middle-income countries found that older adults experiencing moderate food insecurity were 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide, and older adults experiencing severe food insecurity were 5.2 times more likely. If you are facing mental-health challenges, call or text 988. Counselors are ...

It's 2016, and a fire is ripping through a Gap distribution center in Fishkill, New York. When the smoke clears, thousands of Gap T-shirts, khakis, and jeans are reduced to ash. But one analyst sees good news in the wreckage. Gap probably couldn't have sold all those clothes anyway, and that's because the company has lost the pop culture cool that once brought shoppers to it in droves. For the next four years, sales don't improve at Gap and Banana Republic, and Old Navy starts slipping, too. So Gap does something dramatic: It partners with a rapper, a fashion icon, and a lightning rod for controversy — Kanye West. That bold bet won't spark a comeback, though. It'll burn Gap instead.Be the first to know about Wondery's newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to Business Wars on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/business-wars/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Includes more sales-tax revenue for Beacon The budget proposed by the Dutchess County executive for 2026 would lower the property tax rate and provide more sales tax revenue to Beacon. Sue Serino's proposal to the Legislature includes $651 million in spending. Among its provisions, it would eliminate 10 vacant jobs and leave 17 unfilled. (See dutchessny.gov.) Despite those changes, spending would rise by 1.8 percent, Serino said on Oct. 29 in an address to the Legislature. She cited a $6.7 million increase in "state mandates," primarily for daycare, early intervention, and special-education programs, as well as higher costs for salaries and benefits. Revenues would come from $273.8 million in sales taxes, $106 million in property taxes and $23 million in general-fund reserves, or savings. The tax levy would be $224,000 below a state-mandated cap, and the rate assessed on property owners would fall from $2.17 to $2.10 per $1,000 of assessed value. Serino said she anticipates $5.4 million in additional sales tax revenue by allowing an exemption from Dutchess' portion of the sales tax (3.75 percent) for clothing and shoes costing less than $110 to lapse on March 1. (The 8.125 percent sales tax includes 4 percent for the state and 0.375 percent for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority). Beacon's share of sales taxes, which totaled $6.1 million, will rise from 2.35 percent to 2.45 percent in 2026, or an additional $268,000. According to Serino, ending the clothing and shoe exemption would yield an extra $133,000 for Beacon. Democrats criticized the decision to end the exemption, which took effect in 2022. Legislator Yvette Valdés Smith, who represents Ward 4 in Beacon and part of Fishkill and is the Legislature's minority leader, called it a "rash decision" that will hurt working families. "The Republican-led county government's mismanagement of funds - including a luxury clubhouse at the baseball stadium, mindboggling pay raises and failed litigation against New York State - has necessitated this tax increase," Valdés Smith said in a statement. Republicans, who hold 15 of 25 seats on the Legislature, faced criticism for funding upgrades at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, the home of the Hudson Valley Renegades, the New York Yankees' High-A affiliate. They also authorized spending up to $100,000 to sue the state over a state law requiring most local elections to be held in even years, but no funds were spent, according to the county. The state Court of Appeals upheld the law in October, but a new lawsuit challenging its legality has been filed in federal court. Smith said the budget "fails to properly address the EMS [emergency medical services] crisis" and "contains no meaningful funds for our efforts to deal with the housing crisis." In her budget address, Serino highlighted $2 million in funding for supplemental ambulance service to address shortages that have led to long wait times, along with $2.5 million for youth programs and $1 million for the county's Housing Trust Fund, which supports affordable housing projects. Her budget would fund two school resource officers, a Drone as First Responder Program for the county's Real-Time Crime Center and a new Elder Justice Task Force. That collaboration with the Office for the Aging and the district attorney and sheriff's offices "will investigate, identify, pursue and prosecute those who exploit older adults through abuse, fraud or neglect," according to Serino.

Applicant argued project would be 'low intensity' The Fishkill Planning Board earlier this month voted unanimously to deny an application to build a 51,500-square-foot self-storage facility just outside of Beacon, ending more than three years of review. The project sought to construct a two-story building with 333 self-storage units on a partially wooded, 4.7-acre parcel at 1292 Route 9D, between Van Ness Road in Beacon and Interstate 84. It would have required a special-use permit because the site is in Fishkill's restricted business zone, which does not permit self-storage facilities. To receive the permit, the Planning Board had to determine that the use is "substantially similar" to others allowed in the district, such as hotels, restaurants and offices. The board's attorney, Dominic Cordisco, explained during its Oct. 2 meeting that the application failed to meet any of the four criteria required to establish similarity: consistency with the town's comprehensive plan; consistency with the intent of the restricted business zone, which limits uses adjacent to neighborhoods; no adverse impacts to public health and safety; and no greater intensity of traffic, parking, noise and other impacts than allowed uses. Because it failed the substantial similarity test, the application was ineligible for Planning Board review. "It is, in effect, a denial, but it is the process that is laid out in the [town] code," Cordisco said. Cordisco said that the applicant had argued that a self-storage facility would be "low intensity" compared to uses allowed in the zone, "but that's not the test. The test is whether it's substantially similar and compatible with the district." Many residents, including from Beacon, had opposed the project. Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou last year asked the town to investigate alternative entries, saying that southbound drivers on 9D would likely make illegal left turns or U-turns to get into the facility. Kyriacou and others predicted that traffic would increase on nearby residential roads as drivers turned around to get to the site. To allay concerns, project officials said they would post directions online and petition GPS providers to use routes avoiding residential streets. A consultant hired by the town said that self-storage businesses are typically located in commercial or industrial zones. There is a self-storage facility on Route 9D, about a half mile from the proposed site, and another nearby on Route 52. After voting, Planning Board Chair Jonathan Caner noted that 1292 Realty LLC's request for a refund of $30,820 in application fees had been referred to Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra. Albra said on Thursday (Oct. 23) that the request was denied because, according to Cordisco's review, the costs incurred by the town and its consultants were "reasonable and necessary given the procedural and substantive issues and concerns posed by this application," including, in June, the unusual step of the Planning Board authorizing the town planner to finalize an environmental impact statement on the project.

Records detail hundreds of accidents Julia Stalder first thought the object emerging from the darkness on April 11, 2024, and hurtling toward the windshield of the Toyota Highlander she steered south on Route 9 looked like a "big black boat." It was, in fact, a Chevrolet SUV being driven north by a Garrison man. As it rolled into Stalder's path, she turned right toward the shoulder to avoid the impact and save two lives: hers and a then-11-year-old daughter riding in the back. With the Highlander shuddering from the sudden braking as it headed off the road, south of Skyline Drive outside the Cold Spring Mobile Home Park, "I thought, 'I am going to die in this moment; this is how it ends,'" said Stalder. Both she and her daughter are survivors, however, of one of the nearly 500 one- and multi-vehicle crashes that occurred from 2020 to May 2025 on the serpentine, 14-mile stretch of Route 9 between South Mountain Pass and Carol Lane, where cars and trucks often exceed the 50 mph speed limit and residents confront tight windows when trying to enter from side roads that bisect at sharp angles. Those accidents, which fell last year after rising in 2022 and 2023, range from minor fender-benders to head-on collisions and rollovers. They are chronicled in traffic reports and data obtained by The Current through a Freedom of Information Law request to the state Department of Transportation (DOT). Some information is missing. For example, the 2025 reports do not include one for the crash near Graymoor that killed a Beacon man, Norton Segarra, on Jan. 17. But the reports and data show that, along with the deaths of Segarra and three other Highlands residents since 2020, nearly 200 people have been injured and businesses and residences lining the route have suffered property damage. More than 25 percent of the mishaps occurred at or near seven intersections: Fishkill, Indian Brook, Old Albany Post North, Snake Hill/Travis Corners and Stone Ridge roads, and Routes 301 and 403. According to reports from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office deputies and state troopers responding to the incidents, most stem from drivers following too closely or driving at unsafe speeds, swerving to avoid deer or other animals, and/or failing to yield. For years, elected officials and residents have cited some of those behaviors in a litany of letters petitioning DOT for remedies. While the agency has refused to lower the 50-mph speed limit, it is installing a long-sought-after light where Snake Hill and Travis Corners meet Route 9, just south of the entrance to the Hudson Valley Shakespeare campus at the former Garrison Golf Course. It was at that intersection that Jacob Rhodus of Beacon collided with a motorist who turned left onto Snake Hill Road just as he passed through the intersection while driving south on Route 9. Less than 3 miles north, a driver who took to a shoulder in July 2023 struck Daniella Benavides as she retrieved trash cans from the end of the driveway of her house along Route 9. She and her husband, whose children are 3 and 6 years old, are selling "because we can't live on this road anymore," said Benavides. "We feel unsafe living on the property." 'I remember seeing the sky' Even before being struck, Benavides had concerns. In the five years that she and her husband have lived on the northbound side of Route 9, just south of the Garrison Volunteer Ambulance Corps, at least two vehicles have crashed into the stone wall at the end of their driveway. They've witnessed three accidents in the past year, she said. On July 14, 2023, as she walked to the end of the driveway to retrieve trash cans, Benavides noticed that traffic had slowed - because of a school bus or car stopped while waiting to turn left into a driveway, she believes. About four cars south, Benavides saw a Toyota turn into the shoulder. As it headed toward her, she realized, in a "weird, slow-motion moment," there was no time to move out of the way. "I remember seeing the sk...

In Dutchess comptroller race, incumbent faces challenge from legislative chair When Dan Aymar-Blair, the Dutchess County comptroller, first told his mother he was running for the position, she responded: "I'm so proud of you, honey. What is that?" The anecdote got a laugh from a dozen residents gathered at a Hyde Park library town hall last month, but it also captures the central challenge for Aymar-Blair, a Beacon resident and former City Council member, in winning re-election to a full term as comptroller: persuading voters to care about an office so little-understood that even his mother needed an explanation. His Republican opponent, Will Truitt, the 30-year-old chair of the Dutchess County Legislature, faces a different challenge. To win the race, he must mobilize a GOP political machine that has enabled Republicans to control Dutchess - the Legislature, the county executive's seat, the sheriff's office - for nearly all of the past three decades. The vote should be close. Although there are about 20,000 more registered Democrats in the county than Republicans (75,000 to 56,000), another 12,000 voters are enrolled in smaller parties and 60,000 have no declared party affiliation. Control of the office has repeatedly flipped between parties. But Republicans have historically been more effective at turning out voters in off-year elections like this one. In recent presidential years, Democratic turnout in the county is around 70 percent; in recent off-year local elections, that drops to below 45 percent, according to data from the county Board of Elections. "It's a truly purple county," said Michael Dupree, who chairs the Dutchess County Democratic Committee. Aymar-Blair won in November by fewer than 1,000 votes in a special election held during a presidential election year, a contest that occurred because Democrat Robin Lois resigned to become deputy comptroller of local government and school accountability in Albany. Gregg Pulver, a Republican who had chaired the Legislature but lost his seat, was appointed to the role. The narrow margin meant the outcome hinged on absentee ballots. When it comes to the question Aymar-Blair's mother asked, however, the two candidates have very different answers. "This office is an essential part of checks and balances," Aymar-Blair told the group in Hyde Park, part of a series of non-campaign events he has held in libraries to explain what his office does. The comptroller, he told the group, serves as an independent watchdog responsible for scrutinizing budgets, contracts and capital projects. Truitt, who was elected to the Legislature when he was 20, frames the job differently. To him, the comptroller is akin to a chief financial officer, someone who works in step with the county executive and Legislature, keeping the government "one united team." "Anyone here who's ever worked in small business knows if you have a CFO [chief financial officer] - a comptroller - who's working to undermine the rest of the team, you are going to fail," he told supporters at a fundraiser at a donor's home in Fishkill last month. A self-described "Energizer Bunny," Truitt bounded through the crowd of 170 supporters and more than two dozen Republican elected officials, giving hugs, shaking hands and pausing for quick huddles with campaign aides. The event, advertised as offering "$250 hot dogs, $500 burgers and $1,000 steaks," delivered on its promise of red meat on the grill and in speeches. Speakers at the fundraiser railed against the brainwashing of the young in academic institutions and warned of growing Christian religious persecution across the country. The crowd paused for a moment of silence for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, assassinated days earlier, and Truitt vowed to uphold the political firebrand's legacy. Dutchess GOP Vice Chair Doug McCool whipped up the crowd: "Truitt!" he called. "Will do it!" the crowd bellowed back. Truitt hopes these officials, donors and rank-and-file Republicans wi...

Actor performs 10 characters in play Duane Boutte says his solo show, Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker, is the most physically challenging role he has tackled. He sought help from a chiropractor and burrows so deep into the script that, during performances on Bannerman Island, he remained impervious to howling winds and plummeting temperatures. "I don't notice it at all," he says. Boutte's outdoor run, where the house behind the stage doubled as a convincing castle, ended earlier this month, but he will reprise the drama at St. Rita's Music Room from Oct. 24 to 26. Jim Helsinger's adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel premiered in 1995. It requires Boutte to portray 10 characters, including three women, and develop distinctive vocal timbres for each. It helps that he's a voice and text coach for The Acting Company's national tours of Great Expectations and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Beginning in 2018, the Bannerman Castle Trust produced a version of the story by Crane Johnson designed for a small cast. Then it imported a troupe from Kingston to perform the 1927 script that wowed Broadway and informed the 1931 film with Bela Lugosi. This year, Kelly Ellenwood and Neil Caplan at the trust decided to produce Helsinger's take and reached out to Sean McNall at Hudson Valley Shakespeare to find a director and actor. In 2023, Boutte had appeared in HVS's productions of Henry V and Love's Labor's Lost. Hired by the trust to direct, he lobbied to act instead and recruited Christian Conn, an actor living in Fishkill, to replace him offstage. Based on the template created by the 1927 play and subsequent movie, many tales in the vast canon of vampire stories omit Stoker's first act, when Harker, an English lawyer seeking to finalize the contract on a country estate south of London, travels to Transylvania to meet the mysterious buyer. Like Stoker's 1897 novel, the exploits unfurl through letters, diary entries and a newspaper clipping. The first act, which features Harker and Dracula (along with a Romanian woman and three vampirettes), discloses a chunk of backstory. Other characters like Dr. Von Helsing, who reveals a font of facts about the count, appear after Harker returns to England. The stark stage setting on Bannerman Island included a desk, a side table, two trunks, three chairs and a chaise lounge. Dry ice effects simulated smoke wafting from Dracula's coffin. Through body language, facial expressions, eye movement and vocal inflections, Boutte conveys the terror of hanging from a 1,000-foot precipice and the cat-and-mouse chase pursuing Dracula through the streets of London, evoking visceral and emotional reactions like the old radio dramas. His portrayal of Renfield, a psychiatric patient who eats insects, included bulging eyes, nervous tics and manic expressions. Boutte also elicited a few laughs with Quincy Morris's Texas accent and the deadpan salutation, "Your Friend, Dracula." At the island's closing show, Boutte received a standing ovation and the crowd buzzed over how he remembered so many words. "I played the Archbishop of Canterbury in Henry V, who reeled off long lists of names, which I had a hard time with because it's not tied to anything that is going on," he says. "But [in Dracula], the action is so clear that even though there are a lot of lines, the story stimulates the memory." St. Rita's Music Room is located at 85 Eliza St. in Beacon. Tickets are $35 at dub.sh/dracula-st-ritas, or $40 at the door.

Barry Fox, Deputy CEO of Inland Fisheries; Tom Ryan, a Director of the EPA with responsibility for environmental enforcement; Rick Officer CEO of the Marine Institute; Timmy Dooley, Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and the marine.

During the week, Countrywide went to the lower reaches of the river catchment and talked to a few people who describe the Blackwater as part of their lives.

Beacon orders removal from two locations The City of Beacon and an anti-hunger organization headquartered in Fishkill are at odds after the city removed the nonprofit agency's two community refrigerators. Fareground, which was founded in Beacon in 2012, collaborated with Binnacle Books and Beacon 4 Black Lives in 2020 to place a refrigerator at 321 Main St. Stocked four times weekly, the self-serve fridge was accessible 24/7 with the understanding that users "take what you need and leave what you can." A second refrigerator, managed by Mutual Aid Beacon but routinely stocked by Fareground volunteers, was placed at the city's Recreation Center, at 23 West Center St., a year later. Food for the fridges was donated by the Regional Food Bank Hudson Valley, Beacon Natural Market, the Wappingers Falls Hannaford grocery, local farms and other sources. Fareground also hosts 15 Tiny Food Pantries with dry goods in Beacon, Wappingers, Newburgh and other municipalities. Free marketplaces are held throughout the region, including at 9:30 a.m. on the last Friday of the month at Memorial Park in Beacon (except for November and December). A weekly Friday dinner program was launched at the First Presbyterian Church (50 Liberty St.) in January. The community fridge program landed on the city's radar in June, when building maintenance forced Fareground to move the Main Street fridge. The organization asked to move the unit to Polhill Park but City Administrator Chris White and Nick Ward-Willis, the city attorney, said an unmonitored food source on municipal property could lead to liability issues. Fareground temporarily moved the fridge to private property at 23 Cliff St. There, White said this week, neighbors complained, which led Building Inspector Bryan Murphy to investigate. Murphy found that the fridge violated two city laws - one prohibiting the storage of numerous items, including appliances, auto body parts, animal shelters, trampolines and swing sets, in the front or side yard of a lot or on an open front porch; and another meant to protect children from abandoned refrigerators or other appliances with tight-fitting doors. After Murphy's review, White asked Fareground to remove the Recreation Center fridge by the end of October, but when the administrator visited the site on Sept. 24, he said during Monday's (Oct. 6) City Council meeting, he found "squalid conditions" and had the appliance removed immediately. White showed council members photos of dirt and mold, rotten and expired food, including a tray of pasta with an Aug. 1 date written on the lid. He also shared pictures Recreation Department staff said had been taken over the last 18 months of a tattoo machine with ink and needles, bags of prescription medication, a bedside urinal and an open box of female condoms that had been left at the site. "You're allowing anybody, at any time, to put anything in this fridge," White said. "There wasn't a bit of food in there that was suitable for human consumption." He said the city is willing to discuss partnering with Fareground on an alternative food distribution model that is "cognizant and respects food safety," but unregulated community refrigerators are too risky. Several community members criticized White on Monday for taking what they said was unnecessarily aggressive action. "I don't care why it was removed," said KK Naimool. "I care about how it was removed, and we need something to fill that gap." Kara Dean-Assael, a co-founder of Fareground, emailed White, Mayor Lee Kyriacou and council members Monday night to dispute the city administrator's report. She argued that White had removed the refrigerator without warning and "weaponized" photos that city staff had hoarded of unclean conditions. She asked the council to reconsider the city code, which "is really about people leaving things that look 'junky' on front and side yards. This is not what community fridges are. They are community anti-hunger resources that are regularl...

After dead fish washed up at the Tongaat River mouth last month, residents demanded answers. We sit down with Siza Water to unpack what caused the contamination, why it wasn't detected sooner, and what's being done to prevent another spill. Radio Life & Style on Facebook · The Morning Show Sponsor: Excellerate Security

Naoise Ó Muiri, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay North; Ciaran Ahern, Labour TD for Dublin South West; Pa Daly, Sinn Féin TD for Kerry; Christina Finn, Political Editor for The Journal

There has to be an explanation for the fish kill as even dog lovers are afraid of letting their pets near the river that visited carnage on fish life John Ruby from Mallow Trout Anglers Club tells PJ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Lee, RTÉ Environment Correspondent, discusses the findings of an investigation into a fish kill in County Cork.

Federal government settles over land claims In a settlement with the federal government, eight Dutchess and Putnam County landowners, including five in Beacon, were awarded $1.06 million in compensation for property taken for a proposed 13-mile rail trail - apparently the first resolution in a slew of similar lawsuits. Metro-North, which acquired the dormant Beacon Line in 1995, is negotiating to relinquish the tracks to the state for a Beacon-to-Hopewell Junction trail. It would wind from Beacon's train station for 4 miles around the city's southern perimeter before running parallel with Tioronda Avenue and the east end of Main Street. The entire Beacon Line is 41 miles long and stretches to the Connecticut border. The eight plaintiffs are represented by Lewis Rice, a law firm in St. Louis that specializes in rail trail "takings" cases. Four own homes on Tioronda Avenue and another is the limited-liability company behind the condos at 1 East Main St. The property under and adjacent to the tracks was seized in February 2024 under the National Trails System Act, which allows abandoned railroad lines to be converted to parks. A feasibility study commissioned by Dutchess County and released in August recommended tearing out the unused tracks between Beacon and Hopewell for $46 million to $56 million rather than installing a path alongside them. Landowners adjoining the corridor can claim swaths of land likely lost in the 19th century, when railroads that needed the corridors purchased or condemned the land or acquired easements, according to Steve Wald of Stewart, Wald & Smith, another St. Louis law firm specializing in rail-trail property cases. The firms argue that modern owners are "predecessors in title" who "have the same rights as the original landowners." The plaintiffs in this case and similar ones elsewhere in the country say that, in the event of a conversion of use to something other than rail access, they should receive "full possession and control" or be compensated. If a court agrees, appraisers determine the amount of land lost, as well as any damages related to loss of privacy and/or security from the trail construction. More than 80 abandoned railroad lines in New York state have been converted to trails, including the 13-mile Dutchess Rail Trail that stretches from Hopewell Junction to the Walkway Over the Hudson and the 12-mile Putnam County Trailway between Baldwin Place and Brewster. More lawsuits are pending. Stewart, Wald & Smith has at least three outstanding cases that name 260 landowners. In Beacon, their clients include the Elks, Lank's Automotive, Lori Joseph Builders, Levi Reavey Sr. and Whitefield Properties. On Aug. 21, Lewis Rice filed a lawsuit on behalf of G.P. Beacon LLC at 578 Main St. and property owners in Fishkill and Pawling. On Sept. 17, Stewart, Wald & Smith filed a claim for owners in Fishkill, Hopewell Junction, Pawling and Poughquag.

John in Walden, NY, called Mark to let him know that there's a Cracker Barrel in Fishkill, NY, that you can travel to! Richard in Pennsylvania calls Mark to let him know he has an idea for Curtis Sliwa that could swing voters his way.

John in Walden, NY, called Mark to let him know that there's a Cracker Barrel in Fishkill, NY, that you can travel to! Richard in Pennsylvania calls Mark to let him know he has an idea for Curtis Sliwa that could swing voters his way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brian O'Connell, RTÉ Reporter

Brian O'Connell, RTÉ Reporter and Timmy Dooley, Minister of State for Fisheries and the Marine

A massive fish kill on the River Blackwater may be the worst in Ireland's history. Up to 30,000 trout, salmon, and eels have died along a 30-kilometre stretch, with birds and other wildlife now showing signs of illness. As anglers raise the alarm, experts await test results to uncover what's poisoning one of the country's most important rivers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The blackwater fish kill - it's a lot worse than anyone thought - and please don't eat the dead fish...Could you do CPR - 96FM & the ambulance service are getting together to teach you...Oasis fans say Croker was a gig for the history books & lots more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eric Weisfeld is a Yankees fan from Fishkill, New York. His love of baseball started when his father introduced him to the Yankees and took him to his first game at Shea Stadium. Eric shares stories from his years of Yankee fandom, the players and moments that left a lasting impression, and how he and his son are now chasing all 30 ballparks together. Find Eric Online: Website: burgersbaseballmore.comFacebook: Burgers,Baseball & MoreInstagram: @burgers_baseball_and_moreFind Baseball Bucket List Online:Twitter: @BaseballBucketFacebook: @BaseballBucketListInstagram: @Baseball.Bucket.ListWebsite: baseballbucketlist.comThis podcast is part of the Curved Brim Media Network:Twitter: @CurvedBrimWebsite: curvedbrimmedia.com

Aaron McElroy reports on a number of fish kills in recent weeks.

On the latest episode of Bass Cast Radio, Thomas and I sit down with professional angler David Miller to discuss the devastating fish & grass kill sweeping the USA & how we can reach out to our politicians to stop it—an eye-opening episode for any angler or even just someone who loves being outdoors, enjoying our water. Become a Patreon Member ACMTackle OnlineDISCOUNT TACKLEBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bass-cast-radio--1838782/support.

Sean Long, Southwestern Director with Inland Fisheries Ireland, discusses an investigation of a significant fish kill in Cork on Wednesday.

In this blockbuster episode, Luis and Angelo turn to world-renowned psychic Dr. Lauren Thibadeau for insight into one of New York State's most baffling unsolved murders.  On February 5, 1997, Rich Aderson was involved in a minor car accident with another motorist on I-84 near Fishkill, NY.  After pulling over, an argument ensued and moments later, Aderson was fatally shot with a .40 caliber handgun.  Before dying, he managed to call 911 and provide a chilling account, including a description of the shooter, the vehicle make and model, a possible New Hampshire license plate, and a stunning claim – the shooter said he was a cop.  Police quickly zeroed in on Manchester, New Hampshire, probing possible connections to local law enforcement.  Yet nearly 30 years later, no one has been charged, and key details remain hidden from the public by police.  In search of answers, the guys turn to Dr. Lauren, who unexpectedly offers a shocking alternative theory: the killer was not a cop, had no link to New Hampshire, and the true motive for the murder is much darker than anyone could have predicted. 

Henry makes his living as technician for a medium sized engineering company. 

A couple of months ago, a killer started mobilising off the South Australian shore — one that would wipe out marine life, make surfers feel sick, and smother picturesque beaches in thick foam.The culprit? A bloom of tiny organisms called microalgae. We can't see them with the naked eye, but in big enough numbers, they can devastate ecosystems.So what made the South Australian algal bloom so lethal, and can anything be done about blooms like it?

On this Throwback Friday episode of Fishing the DMV, we revisit an impactful conversation with Jeff Kelble and John Odenkirk. Together, we dive into the challenges facing the Shenandoah River and explore the often-overlooked work that happens behind the scenes when a fishery begins to decline.Jeff Kelble brings a wealth of experience to the table. After guiding on the Shenandoah for over six years, he became the Shenandoah Riverkeeper in 2006 when he noticed the river's health deteriorating. In this role, Jeff built strong coalitions of river users, local businesses, government officials, and legal advocates. Through strategic litigation, regulatory reform, and community organizing, he played a key role in addressing dozens of complex pollution issues that once threatened public access and enjoyment of the river.Jeff's success in the Shenandoah led him to serve as President of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, where he continued defending and restoring our Nation's rivers for another eight years. Today, he runs Ashby Gap Adventures, still deeply connected to the outdoors he works so hard to protect.As anglers, it's easy to focus solely on the catch—but it's just as important to recognize the people working behind the scenes to safeguard these waters for future generations. Watch, listen, and learn—and let us know your thoughts!Please support Fishing the DMV on Patreon!!! https://patreon.com/FishingtheDMVPodcast Fishing the DMV now has a website: https://www.fishingthedmv.com/  If you are interested in being on the show or a sponsorship opportunity, please reach out to me at fishingtheDMV@gmail.com  Virginia DWR website: https://dwr.virginia.gov/waterbody/holston-river-north-fork/ Please checkout our Patreon Sponsors Jake's bait & Tackle website:                                   http://www.jakesbaitandtackle.com/    Catoctin Creek Custom Rods: https://www.facebook.com/CatoctinCreekCustomRods   Tiger Crankbaits on Facebook!! https://www.facebook.com/tigercrankbaits Fishing the DMV Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Arensbassin/?ref=pages_you_manage Fishing the DMV Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/fishingthedmv/?utm_medium=copy_link   #bassfishing #fishingtheDMV #fishingtips Support the show

Queenslanders displaced by catastrophic flooding are sitting tight as they wait to return to their homes, but it is already clear that the road to recovery will be long and difficult.

Forrest, Conan Neutron, Kristina Oakes and McKenzie Wilkes of Criterion Connection and Austin Danger Pod talk about Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley's Sing Sing Starring Colman Domingo as falsely convicted playwright and actor Divine G, in this true story of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, which helped prisoners at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison in Ossining, NY channel their feelings into THE THEATER The story is by Kwedar and Bentley along with the REAL DIVINE G (John Whitfield, if you want to be boring) and Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin, who also stars as himself in an incredible star turn. Just to make sure to shout them out, David "Dap" Giraudy, Patrick "Preme" Griffin, Mosi Eagle, James "Big E" Williams, Sean "Dino" Johnson, Dario Peña, Miguel Valentin, Jon-Adrian Velazquez, Pedro Cotto, Camillo "Carmine" Lovacco, and Cornell "Nate" Alston all star as themselves.. real members of Rehabilitation Through the Arts. The REAL Divine G has a cameo in one of the first scenes where he has Colman Domingo's "Divine G" sign his book. Also, Paul Raci stars as Brent Buell.. the real Brent Buell is one of the Co-Producers.. and Sean San José stars with the rest of the cast as Mike Mike. #singing #colmandomingo #bestpicture #bestactor #divine #bestoriginalsong #academyawards #prison #jail #hamlet #kinglear #dutchess #dutchesscounty #fishkill Free Divine G from his Wrongful Conviction!!! https://www.change.org/p/free-john-divine-g-whitfield-from-a-wrongful-conviction-now Rehabilitation Through The Arts Website where you can donate or volunteer for the program in the movie!!: https://rta-arts.org Special shout out to the Hudson Valley Film Commission in Woodstock, NY who location scouted the decommissioned Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill 5 minutes away from my dentist and Beacon High School as well as helping to cast all the background actors and helping to hire many of the crew members. https://www.hudsonvalleyfilmcommission.org Conan's former Protonic Reversal cohost Brenna has thryoid cancer and is raising money for her treatment, if you can help please donate https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-brennas-fight-against-thyroid-cancer Join our discord: https://discord.gg/ZHU8W55pnh The Movie Night Extravaganza Patreon helps us keep the show going.. become a Patron and support the show!! https://patreon.com/MovieNightExtra

Fins, Fur and Feathers: Winter Fish Kill K-State Swine Profitability Conference Reviewing Dairy Programs   00:01:05 – Fins, Fur and Feathers: Winter Fish Kill: Starting today's show is K-State's Drew Ricketts and Joe Gerken on another episode of Fins, Fur and Feathers. In this episode, the pair explain winter fish kill and its positives and negatives. Fins, Fur and Feathers Wildlife.k-state.edu   00:12:05 – K-State Swine Profitability Conference: Joel DeRouchey, K-State swine Extension specialist, continues the show previewing the 35th annual Swine Profitability Conference. He notes the speakers and their topics.  Swine Profitability Conference - KSUSwine.org   00:23:05 – Reviewing Dairy Programs: K-State dairy specialist Mike Brouk ends today's show encouraging dairy farmers to review their nutrition and breeding programs to see if they can increase milk components.       Send comments, questions or requests for copies of past programs to ksrenews@ksu.edu.   Agriculture Today is a daily program featuring Kansas State University agricultural specialists and other experts examining ag issues facing Kansas and the nation. It is hosted by Shelby Varner and distributed to radio stations throughout Kansas and as a daily podcast.   K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well‑being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan

Yvette Valdes-Smith knows firsthand how spiraling housing costs have made Beacon unaffordable to many. Yvette and her husband rented in Beacon for years, but moved to Fishkill when they realized they couldn't afford to buy a home here.  “We shouldn't have to struggle with paying our utility bills, our rent and our mortgages,” she says in our interview. “Affordability is critical to me and to pretty much every voter I've spoken to. And housing is a huge issue. It's going to require us not being NIMBY about things. We have to increase housing stock.”   Raised in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, Yvette went to college in New York, became a public school teacher and started a family before winning a seat on the Dutchess County Legislature, where she is Minority Leader. Now she's running for NY State Senate District 39 on the Democratic ticket.  In addition to housing affordability, her campaign is focused on issues like abortion rights, gender-affirming care, gun safety and youth services.  “We need more youth services,” she says. “I'm a mom. I've experienced the lack of childcare in this county. I've experienced youth programs closing or not being available. Think about summer camps, how they'll go online and they'll be gone in three seconds.”  But winning won't be easy. The current State Senator in the seat she's running for, Republican Rob Rolison, is a seasoned pol who won the spot by about 7,000 votes two years ago. In this episode, she talks about what it will take to beat him – including lots and lots of canvassing in purple and red areas of the district.  Senate District encompasses Beacon along with parts of Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties.