Episodios
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Beacon fifth graders help restock trout
If you saw 37 fifth graders marching with fish signs down Churchill Street in Beacon on May 16, they were off to release 60 trout friends into Fishkill Creek.
The children, who attend South Avenue Elementary, had given the 3-inch brown trout names like Holiday, Jeremy, Jeff, Billy Bigback, Patricia Felicia Petunia, Little Jim Bob and Li'l Shoddy.
It was the culmination of an eight-month school project about trout, their habitat and conservation, and the importance of caring about nature.
"Why would you care about the environment if you're not connected to it in any way?" asked Aaron Burke, the school librarian who runs the project. "This is a way to help make that connection. Every time they drive over that bridge, they'll think, 'I wonder if Fred is in there.' "
Students in 5,000 schools nationwide and more than 350 in New York are conducting similar releases as part of Trout in the Classroom, a program organized each spring for more than 30 years by the conservation group Trout Unlimited.
"The big goal of the program is to create this connection with students in their watershed and their drinking water," said Cecily Nordstrom, the nonprofit's stream education manager.
Burke has worked with Trout in the Classroom for five years and starts each fall with a small jar of trout eggs hatched in an aquarium in the school library. He gets the eggs from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC uses the same stock in hatcheries that annually produce 2 million trout to stock streams and lakes.
The state adds 6,100 brown trout each spring to Fishkill Creek, which starts in Union Vale and flows 33 miles through Dutchess County before passing through Beacon and emptying into the Hudson River. About 90 percent of those trout are 9-inch yearlings. Starting in 2020, about 10 percent of stocked trout were 13-inch two-year-olds, giving anglers "a shot at catching one of those nice larger fish," said Fred Henson, the DEC's cold water fisheries leader.
Photos by Ross Corsair
Henson explained that Fishkill Creek is a "put-and-take" fishery, which means the fish are put in the stream and quickly taken out by anglers fishing in places like Madam Brett Park off Tioronda Avenue. Stocked trout rarely survive to reproduce.
Without stocking in Fishkill Creek, Henson said, "you wouldn't have a fishery."
Development along streams like Fishkill Creek undermines the clean, cold water needed for trout to thrive, he said. As with many waterways in developed areas, stormwater runoff pollutes the creek and fewer trees leads to rising water temperatures.
Henson said that the state reduced stocking last year in Beacon's section of Fishkill Creek to 400 trout because fewer property owners allow fishing. Until 2023, the state was stocking the section with 1,100 brown trout, he said.
"As more and more large properties are subdivided and development increases in the Hudson Valley and in Dutchess County, we're limited by landowners who are unwilling to let the public access trout streams for recreation," said Henson.
The South Avenue Elementary release was at a public greenway behind the Hudson Valley Brewery. Burke had a tabletop model of a watershed to show how development impacts a waterway. Teachers led scavenger hunts while children took turns releasing trout.
Mark Jones, a board member of the Mid-Hudson chapter of Trout Unlimited, was there to teach fly casting. While most of its members are anglers, Jones emphasized that his chapter's mission is "to show the importance of stream preservation." On Fishkill Creek, he said the chapter has done clean-ups and tree plantings that reduce bank erosion.
April Stark, another member of the Mid-Hudson chapter, demonstrated fly tying and explained that a river with healthy bugs produces healthy trout. "Trout only live in good, clean water," she said. "So, when you see trout who are able to thrive wi... -
Mase buyer expected to soon sign contract
The Beacon City Council has approved the sale of the 114-year-old Mase Hook & Ladder fire station, although city officials said the buyer and price won't be revealed until the contract is finalized.
The council voted, 6-0, on Monday (May 19), with Jeff Domanski of Ward 2 abstaining. He said that while City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis had moments earlier provided an "excellent explanation" of the sale process and council members' responsibility to seek the highest return, he felt "that could have been communicated earlier; it might have allayed a lot of concerns."
City Administrator Chris White said Wednesday that he was hopeful the sale would be finalized next week.
Earlier this month, a real-estate agency hired by the city listed Mase, at 425 Main St., for $1.95 million and the former Beacon Engine Co. firehouse at 57 East Main St. for $1.75 million. Both properties became surplus after a $14.7 million centralized fire station opened near City Hall last fall.
On Monday, Ward-Willis explained that state law allows a municipality to withhold details of a sale until a contract has been signed. "Similar to a private deal, you don't negotiate in public, especially on the financial terms," he said.
The council's vote authorized White to move forward with the sale and acknowledged that an ownership transfer would not negatively impact the environment. If the new owner, as expected, submits plans to redevelop the three-story brick building, they will be subject to Planning Board review, including for environmental impacts.
At the Monday meeting, Beacon resident Theresa Kraft criticized the pending sale, saying a council member voting "yes" could be labeled "a traitor, a crook, a pawn in a larger game."
"It's like pawning your grandfather's gold watch to pay a bill," she said. "The bills keep piling up, and once the watch is gone, you lose a cherished family heirloom." She asked the council to call for a public referendum before proceeding with a sale.
Ward-Willis responded later, noting that state law permits only certain situations, such as the issuance of bonds or a change to the city charter, to go to voters. As elected representatives, he said, the council must decide most matters.
"With the sale of a property or the purchase of a snowplow, you're not allowed to go to the public and do a poll," he said. "You don't have the authority to send it to the public. You've been elected and you need to do your job."
Addressing other suggestions made recently, Ward-Willis said the city had considered repurposing the building but a law that requires multiple contractors for public construction projects made conversion impractical. Modern accessibility codes also do not apply to the building as long as it is a fire station, but "when you kick it over to a different use, whether it's a community center, whether it's a city hall, that triggers a whole set of rules which the city has to comply with," he said.
The city received multiple offers for the former station, Ward-Willis said. Charlotte Guernsey, the owner of Gate House Compass Realty, the city's broker, recommended the pending offer as "the highest and best," he said.
The decommissioned Mase and Beacon Engine stations are both part of Beacon's protected historic district. City officials said both former firehouses would be sold with covenants that restrict renaming the properties or altering or defacing their historical features. Any changes to the exterior of the buildings will require a "certificate of appropriateness" from the Planning Board.
While a sale is pending at Mase, Beacon Engine's ownership has been challenged. State Judge Thomas Davis on Tuesday (May 20) recused himself from litigation brought against the city by retired members of the volunteer fire company that used the station as its headquarters for 136 years. Davis, who presided over the lawsuit filed in 2023 by St. Andrew & St. Luke Episcopal Church over a city-owned parkin... -
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Voters also approve $98,150 annually for Butterfield Library
Haldane
Voters approved the Haldane Central School District's proposed $30.2 million budget by a vote of 474-125, or 79 percent. Turnout was 13 percent.
Voters also approved spending $205,000 on school buses (476-120) and increasing the maximum amount held in the Facilities Improvement Reserve Fund to $3 million and its duration by 10 years (480-117).
In addition, the ballot included a proposition to support the Butterfield Library with $98,150 in taxes annually, which was approved, 508-86. Voters approved referendums in 2015 to provide $73,150 annually to the library and in 2006 to provide $276,000 annually.
The Haldane spending includes a 2.8 percent tax-levy increase. Using the state's tax-cap formula, the district could have asked for a 3.38 levy increase. Board members debated this spring whether to go "to cap" but opted to forgo about $132,000 in revenue after voters last year approved an increase of 6.95 percent over three years to pay for $28.4 million in capital improvements. State aid for 2025-26 will be $4.55 million, an increase of $73,000 (1.6 percent).
The budget includes funding for a science-of-reading curriculum; software to improve student outcomes; a new pre-K program; special education funding for out-of-district placements; increased field trip spending; a softball field dugout; classroom air conditioners to comply with New York state's maximum temperature requirement; auditorium stage and performing arts equipment; and a transportation system analysis.
The district estimates taxes on a home valued at $500,000 will rise by $197 annually.
Sean McNall and Ezra Clementson ran unopposed to retain their seats on the five-member school board. Clementson will serve his second, 3-year term and McNall his third.
Garrison
Garrison district voters approved its proposed $14.7 million by a vote of 210-64, or 77 percent. Turnout was 12.5 percent.
By a 232-41 vote, district residents also approved a proposition that allows the district to enter into a contract for two to five years to continue sending high school students to Putnam Valley. Garrison includes grades K-8; its older students can attend Putnam Valley, Haldane or O'Neill.
There were two open seats on the seven-member board, and two incumbent candidates. Sarah Tormey was elected to her third, 3-year term and Kent Schacht to his second full term after being elected in 2021 to fill a vacancy.
The tax-levy increase of 3.58 percent was far below the 5.78 percent allowed for the district under the state's tax-cap formula. To avoid raising the levy further, Garrison administrators proposed paying for two pilot programs - an armed police officer and a lunch program - with $1.4 million in savings. State aid will be $1.23 million, an increase of $51,000 (4.4 percent).
With the budget approval, the district will hire a Special Patrol Officer, a retired police officer whose role would be limited to security. (A School Resource Officer, or SRO, which Haldane has, is a sheriff's deputy who also teaches classes on topics such as personal safety, cyberbullying and drug awareness.)
Student lunches will be available Monday through Thursday; on Fridays, the school will continue to sell pizza as a fundraiser.
The district estimates that a Philipstown home assessed at $300,250 will see its taxes rise by $306 annually.
$1.4 million in savings. State aid will be $1.23 million, an increase of $51,000 (4.4 percent).
With the budget approval, the district will hire a Special Patrol Officer, a retired police officer whose role would be limited to security. (A School Resource Officer, or SRO, which Haldane has, is a sheriff's deputy who also teaches classes on topics such as personal safety, cyberbullying and drug awareness.)
Student lunches would be available Monday through Thursday; on Fridays, the school will continue to sell pizza as a fundraiser.
The district estimates that a Philipstown home assessed at $300,250 will s... -
Voters approve 5.09 percent tax-levy increase
Voters on Tuesday (May 20) approved $87.7 million in spending for the Beacon City School District for the 2025-26 academic year by a wide margin. The vote was 805-240, or 77 percent approval. Turnout was about 6 percent.
The budget includes a 5.09 percent tax-levy increase, just under the maximum allowed for the district by New York State. The levy will generate more than $50 million in property taxes.
At $31.6 million - an increase of $572,000 (1.9 percent) - state aid makes up the bulk of the remaining revenue. The district will spend $2.5 million of its savings in 2025-26, an increase of $500,000 over this year.
District officials say the budget will allow them to maintain improvements made in recent years, including smaller elementary class sizes, increased mental health support for students and a full-day pre-K program. For the first time, the district will launch a summer workshop program for incoming high school students and create an in-school mental health clinic at Rombout Middle School. It also will add teachers for elementary students struggling in math and reading and hire a part-time elementary speech instructor.
While the proposed levy increase is more than 5 percent, the addition of new households to the tax rolls means homeowners' bills may not go up by the same percentage. The district estimates that the owner of a $420,200 home (the median value) in Beacon will see their taxes increase by $240 annually.
In addition, voters returned Meredith Heuer and Semra Ercin to the nine-member board. Heuer will begin her fourth, 3-year term, while Ercin will serve her first full term after being elected in 2023 to complete the final two years of a vacated seat. The seat held by Alena Kush, who did not run for a second term, will be filled by Catherine Buscemi, who also ran unopposed. -
Proposal also would steer revenue to towns, villages
Four Putnam legislators who supported lowering the county's sales tax rate acquiesced on Monday (May 19), endorsing state legislation that will maintain the current 4 percent rate and send some proceeds to Cold Spring, Nelsonville, Philipstown and six other towns and villages.
Convening for a special session, the Legislature voted 7-1 to support bills introduced by state Sen. Pete Harckham and Assembly Member Matt Slater, whose districts include eastern Putnam, that would extend the 4 percent sales tax rate for another two years. Without the bill, the rate will return to 3 percent. Consumers pay a total of 8.375 percent on eligible purchases, which includes portions that go the state (4 percent) and Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (0.375 percent).
The state legislation also requires that one-ninth of 1 percent of Putnam's sales tax revenue be shared with the county's nine municipalities.
State lawmakers first approved the increase from 3 percent to 4 percent in 2007, at the county's request, and a series of extensions have kept it in place. The most recent extension expires Nov. 30. In April, five county legislators voted to lower Putnam's tax to 3.75 percent as a give-back to taxpayers amid a $90 million surplus in unrestricted reserves.
But County Executive Kevin Byrne vetoed the reduction and announced an agreement to share with the towns and villages proceeds from the 1 percent increase if it were extended. Municipalities can spend the money on infrastructure projects, with each receiving an amount tied to its population and each guaranteed at least $50,000.
Harckham and Slater endorsed the agreement, which would take effect Dec. 1 and last through Nov. 30, 2027, if their bills pass the Legislature and become law. In addition to enabling what Byrne calls "a first-of-its-kind sales tax-sharing arrangement," the extension will fund a $1 million reduction in the property-tax levy for the 2026 budget that he said would be the largest in county history.
"The alternative was allowing the county's sales tax rate to drop, immediately creating a revenue shortfall of tens of millions of dollars, forcing the county to borrow, raise property taxes or both," Byrne said.
Facing those same pressures, Putnam's municipalities have for years demanded a share of the sales tax revenue, something that 50 of New York's 62 counties do with their cities, towns and villages, according to the state Comptroller's Office. Dutchess' 2025 budget includes $46 million in sales tax distributions, with an estimated $6.1 million for Beacon.
Putnam Sales Tax
What do you think?
The Putnam Legislature should...
The Putnam Legislature should...
Keep the sales tax at 4 percent with no distribution to towns and villages.
Keep the sales tax at 4 percent and distribute some money to towns and villages.
Lower the sales tax from 4 percent to 3.75 percent
Let the sales tax revert to the 3 percent rate from 2007.
If the proposed revenue-sharing agreement had been in place in 2024, Putnam would have distributed $2.4 million to the towns and three villages on a per capita basis, Byrne said during a news conference last month.
"I haven't heard a single constituent ask us to lower the sales tax," said Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley as the Legislature's sole Democrat, on Monday. "What I have heard loud and clear is stop the back and forth, stop the chaos and work together."
Legislator Dan Birmingham, who led the effort to lower the sales tax rate, did not participate in the vote because his law firm represents three of the municipalities that would benefit from the revenue-sharing agreement. Another supporter of the cut, Paul Jonke, was the only legislator voting against endorsing Harckham and Slater's legislation, which must pass the state Legislature before its session concludes on June 12.
Amid that pressure, legislators who voted for the vetoed sales tax cut la... -
Known for its bread, bakery relocates from Peekskill
There's something in the air in Garrison - the smell of fresh bread.
Signal Fire Bread opened a new, wood-fired bakery on Thursday (May 15) on Route 9D in Garrison just south of the post office.
Its co-owners, Erin Detrick and Liz Rauch, are both experienced in the art of baking. Detrick baked professionally in New York City before establishing Signal Fire Bread in 2018. Rauch operated a home-based bakery before joining Detrick at the Sparrowbush Bakery in Hudson. They joined forces in 2019 and two years later moved the bakery to Peekskill.
Rauch said their goal in Peekskill was to run a manufacturing plant for bread, but local zoning required them to include a retail component. "We were able to establish a strong business there, but the retail space was makeshift." Detrick said. "We didn't have great visibility, and we couldn't grow it."
They were not actively looking for a new home but said they couldn't resist when the Garrison location became available. "The space came to us," Rauch said. "We considered it for a while, and it was like, 'Yes, this is what we imagined we'd like to be.'" They closed the Peekskill facility in late 2024 to focus on the move.
Signal Fire's initial retail selection will include 12 to 15 types of bread, from baguettes, spelt, brioche and miche, to East Mountain levain, Ammerland rye and honey whole wheat. There will also be scones, muffins, cookies, biscuits, galettes and rolls.
"We'll add pizzas, sandwiches and salads eventually and, hopefully, soups by the fall," Detrick said. "We want to add more breakfast and lunch items as we get our legs and train staff." Coffee + Beer in Ossining will supply coffee. Signal Fire will continue to have a booth on Saturdays at the Cold Spring Farmers' Market, where it has a loyal following.
Rauch and Detrick are aware that the building, which began life as a gas station, has seen a succession of short-lived cafes and restaurants. "That was an early concern, but we're already well-known in this community and feeling so much support everywhere we go here," Detrick said.
Grain and the flour derived from it are the raw materials that fuel a bakery. Signal Fire works with Farmer Ground Flour, which grows organic grain on five farms in the Finger Lakes region and grinds it into flour using pink granite millstones.
That process mills together the grain's three elements - bran, germ and endosperm - to maximize flavor and nutrient value. "It can be sifted if you want a lighter wheat, or left whole," Detrick said. They sometimes source flour from New Jersey and Maine, as well.
Rauch said 90 percent of what they bake uses natural wild yeast. "Sourdough is natural wild yeast; it's in the air," she said. They mix flour, water and yeast twice a day. "We've been maintaining that culture since we opened; it's a constant process of keeping it healthy and happy."
The name Signal Fire is tied to the region's geography and history. Signal fires were lit on mountaintops in the Highlands as a means of communication, both during the Revolutionary War and probably earlier by Native Americans. "I loved that image of fires burning on the mountaintops," Detrick said.
Both bakers admitted to a slight case of the jitters as opening day approached. "We've been prepping for a year," Detrick said. "It's a blend of excitement, nerves and curiosity about what's going to actually happen when people come through the door."
Rauch added: "I'm feeling positive and optimistic. I'm also nervous because we've never run an operation like this. We're jumping off the diving board!"
Signal Fire Bread, at 1135 Route 9D in Garrison, will be open today (May 16), Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beginning May 22, it will be open daily except Wednesday. See signalfirebread.com. -
Says deputies punished for writing too few tickets
The union representing Putnam County Sheriff's Office deputies said it has filed a complaint with the state labor board alleging that its members are penalized for failing to meet quotas for writing tickets.
The Sheriff's Office PBA announced on May 10 that an action has been filed with the state Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) against Sheriff Kevin McConville, Putnam County and County Executive Kevin Byrne.
Neither the union nor the sheriff or county executive's offices responded to emails about the allegation, but a Facebook post by the PBA said Capt. James Schepperly, who heads the Sheriff's Office's patrol division, has used quotas "as a gauge of a deputy's performance," in violation of department policy and state law.
The Sheriff's Office only publicizes its use-of-force policy. But state labor law bars police agencies from penalizing officers - including "reassignment, a scheduling change, an adverse evaluation, a constructive dismissal, the denial of a promotion or the denial of overtime" - for failing to meet quotas for writing tickets or arresting or stopping people.
Putnam deputies who did not write enough tickets "had their schedules changed and were subjected to a change of duty assignment or location as punishment," according to the PBA. "It's our expectation that once our case is heard by PERB they will side with the PBA and these unlawful, retaliatory actions, that create an increase in tax dollars, will stop."
According to data provided by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Putnam deputies wrote 5,422 tickets in 2024, 20 percent fewer than 2023. Most drivers were cited in Southeast, followed by Philipstown and Putnam Valley. The most common infraction was an expired or missing state safety inspection, followed by driving without a license, lack of registration, speeding and disobeying a traffic device.
According to Jackie Fielding, a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice in New York City who co-authored a 2022 report on ticket quotas, they "can incentivize officers to prioritize enforcement activities that can be completed quickly and easily," rather than "investigating more complex or violent crimes that significantly impact public safety."
"In the more extreme case, officers can resort to malfeasance to meet their quotas: fabricating a reason for a stop or arrest, assigning tickets to fictitious drivers or even recording tickets for dead people," she said.
One case occurred in February 2023, when the Westchester County district attorney charged a state trooper, Edward Longo, with writing at least 32 tickets over 10 years on the Sprain and Taconic parkways for drivers he never stopped, including someone who had died before the ticket was issued. Longo was charged with 32 felony counts.
The trooper who filed the paperwork charging Longo said his division "monitors its officers for performance-related goals in the issuance of traffic tickets," according to The Journal News, and may counsel those "who do not meet expectations or whose productivity falls below their peers." -
Waterway runs near Route 9 projects
A mining company's proposal to build a cement plant on Route 9 just north of Philipstown is drawing concerns about risks to Clove Creek and the aquifer beneath it, which supplies drinking water to several municipalities.
Ted Warren, public policy manager with the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, joined Philipstown residents in expressing reservations to the Fishkill Planning Board during a May 8 public hearing.
Century Aggregate wants to add the 8,050-square-foot plant to its 310-acre property at 107 Route 9, as well as 11 parking spaces, a well to supply 10,000 gallons of water daily and an on-site septic system. The portion of the property was formerly occupied by the Snow Valley Campground.
The plant would operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, the firm said. Vehicles would use an existing bridge over Clove Creek, a protected waterway that snakes through the property.
Along with concerns from residents about truck traffic, noise and dust, and endangered and threatened wildlife such as the timber rattlesnake, Warren said newly paved surfaces risk sending contaminated runoff into the creek, to the detriment of water quality and fish.
"Given the increase in extreme precipitation events that we are facing these days, and the fact that the proposed plan is located at the base of steep slopes, the potential for storms to overwhelm the proposed containment and drainage systems during heavy precipitation events should be closely examined," he said.
Century Aggregate's daily withdrawal of 10,000 gallons of water could also affect the creek and its underlying aquifer, said Warren. The aquifer parallels Route 9 from East Mountain Road South to the town border with Fishkill. Its groundwater feeds private wells that supply residents and businesses along Route 9, the towns of Fishkill and Wappinger, the Village of Fishkill and Beacon.
"The dust and the pollution that's going to come from the operating of that plant is going to definitely have an impact on the environment, the creek and the living conditions of businesses and houses," Carlos Salcedo, a Philipstown resident whose property on Old Albany Post Road borders the creek, told the Planning Board.
Clove Creek's waters bisect the front and back parts of another property where a proposed project is raising concerns: 3070 Route 9, whose owner is seeking Planning Board approval to convert the former Automar into a gas station with a convenience store and Dunkin'. Clove Creek flows north toward Fishkill about 50 yards from the front of the property.
The owner, Misti's Properties 3070, notified the Philipstown Conservation Board in March that it had decided to revise its proposal. An engineer for Misti's told the board that the owner found "substantial environmental impacts - a lot of earthwork" and other conditions that would make it difficult to construct a planned office building and solar farm.
Andy Galler, chair of the Conservation Board, said on Tuesday (May 13) that the previous owner used fill and allowed old vehicles and other debris to accumulate within the 100-foot protective buffer required for watercourses and wetlands. The abandoned vehicles have been cleared, he said, but the fill remains, along with a bridge connecting the front and back sections of the property.
The bridge is "not ideal" because it constricts the creek's flow, he said, and could spur a blockage from debris carried during heavy rainstorms.
"The ideal situation would be, if somebody is going to develop the front part of the property, that hopefully the giveback is that there is some remediation to put back a flood plain area that would be natural and native," said Galler.
Despite continued industrial development along Route 9, the creek is "amazingly intact" and rated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation at "just about the highest standard" for water quality and trout habitat, he said. "It runs clear," said Galler. -
Beacon actors will 'cold read' work
Like thousands of actors before him, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Alexander Florez will rip open a sealed manila envelope tonight (May 16) and cold read a 2010 play, White Rabbit Red Rabbit, in the backyard of his Beacon home. Two other performers will take the plunge in yards on Saturday and Sunday.
The premise - some call it a gimmick - is that everyone in a confined space takes an hour-long journey akin to a one-off jazz solo. Though details have leaked, audiences and the theater community (including reporters) have kept the broad outline and most revealing moments under wraps.
The playwright, Nassim Soleimanpour, includes a clause in the contract for producers: "This play is not overtly political and should not be portrayed as such. It operates on a deeper, metaphoric level, and very expressly avoids overt political comment. All media and press agents have to keep in mind that the playwright lives in Iran. We therefore ask the press to be judicious in their reportage."
Florez is a math teacher who will never pass muster with the grammar police. He avoids capital letters as an act of resistance and his email tag links to "the case for lowercase" style guide on his website, which includes instructions about turning off caps on devices and in programs.
"I have a lot of respect and disdain for academia," he says. "I'm impressed with education but also dismayed with the gatekeeping and barriers to entry. One way to oppress is by making complicated grammar and spelling rules the standard for everyone, even though a select few invented them."
Pushback against authority is reflected in the play. According to Soleimanpour, he wrote it after he refused to serve in the Iranian military and the regime denied him a visa to leave the country. (He is now thought to live in Berlin.) The production requires props, but the playwright's website touts the lack of sets, directors and rehearsals.
Studying for his practical teaching certificate at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, Florez fell in with the acting crowd (he works at the Manitou School in Philipstown). After bouncing around the Hudson Valley, he moved to Beacon in 2022 and got involved with the improv and comedy scene.
White Rabbit Red Rabbit had an off-Broadway run in 2016: Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg and Alan Cumming, among others, unsealed the script and got to work - for the first and last time. Playbill called it "the most-talked about (and least-talked about) new show."
Beacon resident Jamie Mulligan read the script to prepare the actors, gather props and make staging suggestions. But per the legal agreement, the plot and other elements may not be divulged or discussed by anyone involved.
At first, Florez figured he'd reach out to local performance venues, but Mulligan suggested staging the play at an art gallery, coffeehouse or other offbeat space. James Phillips, a theater professor at Mount Saint Mary, will read in his yard on Saturday and Twinkle Burke walks the high wire on Sunday outside the home of Hannah Brooks (with contingency plans for inclement weather).
The play stems from experimental theater of the 1960s, Mulligan says, and "requires the audience and actor to encounter these subjects simultaneously, a connection that creates a level of spark that can only happen when everyone learns about this together."
Broad outlines address elements of existential oppression and the role of individuals in society. "Someone told me that every play is about hope, so it places the human condition into primal conflicts, like man versus nature or man versus god," says Mulligan. That so many details have remained a secret for 15 years "speaks to the integrity of theater-makers."
White Rabbit Red Rabbit will be performed by Florez at 7 p.m. at 119 Howland Ave. in Beacon, at 7 p.m., on Saturday (May 17) at 24 Willow St. by Phillips and at 3 p.m. on Sunday at 99 E. Main St. by Burke. Tickets are $10 to $32.24 at dub.sh/white-rabbit. -
Russell St. George, retired welder, plays with fire
Any band would relish having a cheerleader like Shirley Maloney. At a recent show by Last Minute Soulmates at the Towne Crier in Beacon, she acted out the words, exhorted the crowd to sing along and pounded on tables during the final song, a funky cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)."
A good portion of the rowdy crowd almost reached Maloney's level of enthusiasm. House staff created an impromptu dance floor by clearing tables near the stage as people swung their partners with elbows locked together during "Maggie's Farm" and danced in circles during a heavy version of "Hound Dog." At one point, two men started screaming, ostensibly out of joy.
The group's founder, Russell St. George, moved to town in 1986 and is a dean of Beacon's music scene. He focuses on original songs but likes to mix in atypical versions of covers, including "Your Cheating Heart" as a deliberate shuffle.
"I'm not good enough to play them like the record, but I do like to shake things up with the arrangement or approach," he says. "And I still write, including songs about what's going on, like one about gun violence called 'When's it Gonna Stop?' "
His originals, some of which feature a reggae tinge, keep things simple and rely on hooky choruses that get people singing. At one point, almost the entire audience, including the waitstaff, belted out the words.
Working as a welder in Peekskill, a job he held for 37 years, St. George heard that houses in Beacon could be had on the cheap. His first local band, Daarc Ages (an acronym of members' first names), released a couple of CDs and opened for Dee Snider, Uriah Heap and Blue Oyster Cult at The Chance in Poughkeepsie and other venues.
"We'd make a CD and someone would quit, so we had to keep finding musicians and never really got off the ground," he says. "Besides, I was kind of shy."
That's odd because he sports flowing hair, a goatee and moustache. His fashion sense includes hats, big round glasses and black, accented with scarves, a look that leans more toward the hippie camp than the blue-collar world.
Over the years, he played every local venue and hosted a 17-year monthly jam at Joe's Irish Pub (now MoMo Valley) that he called St. George and Friends.
"The whole time, I never missed a date," he says. "But I turned 60, COVID hit and the end arrived." Last Minute Soulmates started as an acoustic duo that grew into an electric project by 2011. Self-effacing, he credits band members for any success.
Not shy about his left-leaning political views, he lost some followers over the years. He feels no compulsion to record his new tunes, in part because working in the studio is a drag compared to playing for a responsive audience.
"Streams and other delivery systems don't get a lot of traction," he says. "If people want to hear my songs in their best light, come see me live."
Last Minute Soulmates, with St. George (vocals, guitar), Carla Springer (vocals), Rik Mercaldi (guitar), Harry Lawrence (bass) and Mitch Florian (drums), will perform at 9 p.m. on May 23 at Gleason's, 23 S. Division St., in Peekskill. -
State must approve three-year agreement
Central Hudson on Tuesday (May 13) announced a three-year agreement with the state and other parties that would raise electricity and gas delivery rates for most customers.
If the plan is approved by the state Public Service Commission, a typical Central Hudson customer will pay $5.43 (5.09 percent) more per month for electricity delivery during the first year, beginning July 1, and $6.25 and $6.62 more for the subsequent two years. Lower-income customers enrolled in an energy-assistance program would see decreases of $3.85 (4.2 percent) per month. The delivery charge for gas would increase by $7.73 (6.6 percent) per month during the first year and $11.27 and $12.37 in subsequent years.
After applying $44 million in bill credits, Central Hudson would collect $144 million in new revenue over the three years, according to a summary of the proposal. The company said it would spend that revenue on infrastructure, higher labor costs and bonuses, energy-efficiency and heat-pump programs and a 9.5 percent return on shareholder equity.
Central Hudson also agreed to provide customer bills in Spanish, continue outreach to households about energy assistance and award up to $200,000 in grants for workforce training in green-energy fields.
The 52 representatives for businesses, nonprofits, municipalities and public officials who joined the rate case as parties have until May 23 to file statements of support or opposition to the agreement, whose signatories include the state Department of Public Service. The PSC also scheduled an evidentiary hearing beginning on June 16. Public comments on the rate proposal can be submitted online to the PSC.
"At Central Hudson, we understand the financial challenges that rising bills place on our customers, and we are committed to easing this burden by implementing a rate plan that balances essential system investments with the need to keep costs as low as possible," said Steph Raymond, the utility's president and CEO.
Those costs, however, have been rising for Central Hudson's 315,000 electric and 90,000 gas customers. The most recent rate increase, approved by the PSC in July 2024, was for a one-year hike of $12.65 per month for the average electric bill and $12.25 for gas.
The following month, Central Hudson submitted a request for another one-year increase to electric and gas delivery rates of $9 a month. The agreement announced on Tuesday replaces that request.
Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, issued his verdict on Wednesday (May 14), urging the PSC to reject the proposed agreement. He said the return on equity is "good for shareholders of Fortis [Central Hudson's parent company] but not for its customers," who include 6,853 households in Beacon, 3,646 in Philipstown, 1,270 in Cold Spring and 326 in Nelsonville. -
Marbled Meat to host house concert
Strolling down Main Street in Beacon while eating, drinking and making merry on a beautiful weekend day, Aaron Miller outlined his vision for a music series that "builds community," a phrase often bandied about.
But he gets things done. His first show with blues guitarist Jon Shain takes place on Sunday (May 18) at an unusual venue: the Marbled Meat Shop on Route 9 in Philipstown. Miller created a logo for what he calls his "butcher block party."
"I always wanted to do house concerts and thought it would be a bougie thing with wine and cheese for 20 friends, but my girlfriend figured that we might ruin the carpet," Miller said.
The couple decided to hold it outside, but when Lisa Hall of Marbled Meat heard about the plan, she urged caution. "Lisa goes, 'You know, you'll trample the lawn and maybe affect the septic tank, so why not have it here and we can do a pop-up barbecue?' "
The BYOB event will raise money and collect non-perishables for the Philipstown Food Pantry. "When I heard about cuts to meals programs, I got fired up and decided that I had to give back," says Miller, who moved to Beacon in January. "On Saturday morning, 63 families signed up to get fed, and that kills me."
Hosting the show provides a kid-friendly alternative to live music in a bar, says Hall. After Marbled opened 10 years ago, it presented Tall County and other groups. "Now the tunes have come back in an organic way," she said.
Shain, who lives in North Carolina, attended Duke University in the 1990s. So did Miller, a fan of the guitarist's college band, Flyin' Mice, which broke up long ago. "I guess I was on his short list all these years," says Shain, who will teach and perform at the Acoustic Getaway guitar camp in Stony Point this weekend.
Specializing in post-World War I Mississippi Delta blues, Shain plays with bare fingers and often uses a thumb pick to pluck the bottom strings. Strumming is rare. Masters of this mesmerizing form seem to simulate two instruments playing at once.
After branching into jazz, ragtime and bluegrass, Shain partnered with a music publisher to release two instructional books, Jon Shain's Fingerstyle Guitar Method and Gettin' Handy With the Blues, a reference to W.C. Handy, author of "St. Louis Blues," one of the genre's oldest and most popular songs.
The concert will take place on the covered patio. Inside the shop, shelves showcase goods from local craft creators like LL Pottery and Maria Pierogi, along with Understory Market and Split Rock Books on Main Street in Cold Spring.
"We know the experience of running errands down there on the weekends, so we brought some of them up here to support other businesses and help people avoid the crowds," says Hall.
Miller is already planning his next butcher block party. "I'm good at stirring up trouble and trying to make a difference," he says. "There's always a sense of community that centers on eating, drinking and music. Marbled Meat was crazy enough to let me do this."
Marbled Meat is located at 3091 Route 9 in Philipstown. The concert begins at 3 p.m. on May 18; a $20 donation is requested. -
Towne Crier hosts monthly dance night
Rhoda Averbach hires a roadie to lug three bulky speakers so she can present Latin Dance Nite at the Towne Crier Cafe every month.
But her sparse DJ rig consists of a laptop. "Other DJs use all that stuff to look impressive; that gear really isn't necessary," she says segueing seamlessly between salsa, rumba, merengue, bachata, cha cha, reggaeton "y mas," according to one of her flyers.
Beyond the laptop, Latin night unfolds in analog. Dancers peruse notebooks filled with lists of song titles, write down their selections on a slip of paper and hand them to Olive Jones, who sits next to Averbach onstage.
The two, who both live in Beacon, also host Funky Dance Night at the Elks Club on the first Saturday of each month, with numbers from the disco era.
One slogan is, "If the music is good … dance." Averbach has a fine ear for music and knows how to get the dance floor bumping. A trained composer who melded jazz and classical, she worked with David Liebman and Michael Gerber to record several CDs and tour the country.
She became enamored with Latin music after realizing that it "gives people pleasure, and I like to see them happy."
Reading the room is an essential skill. "For me, it's about the music. If a song doesn't take off, I'll fade it out within 30 seconds and move on to something else," she says. "You can't go wrong with Marc Anthony."
Fast songs featuring hypnotic bass lines populate the floor. Latin dancing is akin to ballroom styles but offers more fluidity and room to improvise. As the repetitive music pulses through the room, bodies spin like tops, feet keep shuffling and hands are clasped over heads and behind backs.
When the first notes of the 2004 reggaeton hit "Gasolina," by Daddy Yankee, spilled from the speakers, people popped from their seats. One couple picked a spot in front of the kitchen door and almost caused a collision, but the waitstaff acclimated.
The music - and the scene - draws people from all over the Hudson Valley. There are similar events in New Rochelle and Middletown, and many of the dancers knew each other from Nyack.
Sitting with a group of friends she met across the river, Joanne Williams, who lives in Poughkeepsie, slipped in and out of her padded high-heel dance shoes, which help keep a dancer's center of gravity leaning forward. "I've met a lot of people through Latin dancing," she says. "It's a nice community."
For self-proclaimed salsa addict Lisa Rodriguez, who lives in Bloomingburg, "the music is contagious and there aren't many places to dance in the area."
Mastering the steps is all about counting, she says: Salsa is 1-2-3 / 5-6-7 (out of eight) and bachata is straight 1-2-3-4.
"I like playing sports, so it's good exercise that gets your dopamine going," Rodriguez says. "I enjoy the challenge of following the cues as the man leads. To do it well, you can't think too much - you have to go with the flow."
The Towne Crier is located at 379 Main St. in Beacon. The May 29 dance is sold out, although tickets may be available at the door (call 845-855-1300). The next event is scheduled for June 26; see dub.sh/latin-dance-june. Tickets are $11. -
Highlights from the May 14 meeting
At the Wednesday (May 14) meeting of the Cold Spring Village Board, Mayor Kathleen Foley reported that, after an attempt to approve a sales-tax-sharing plan failed, Putnam County's town and village leaders worked with the four members of state Legislature to draft a revised home-rule request to get it done. Foley said the county Legislature must vote to accept the request and that a special meeting has been scheduled for Monday.
The mayor reported that, following recent heavy rains, Village Hall received numerous calls about water flowing out of an old conduit on Craigside Drive near Haldane. Tests showed the water appears to be from an underground stream that shifted course after the severe storms in July 2023. The village is working with the school district and Central Hudson to resolve the situation.
Seastreak has canceled plans for summer cruises to Cold Spring. Instead, it has proposed a cruise for Sept. 6, followed by Saturday and Sunday excursions from Oct. 4 through Nov. 9. Friday dockings are proposed for Nov. 7, 14 and 21.
The board approved usage-fee increases for the village sewer and water systems effective July 1.
The Cold Spring Fire Co. responded to nine calls in April, including three runs to assist other fire companies, two assists to local emergency medical services, two activated fire alarms and two brush fires. Firefighters spent six hours helping to extinguish a 19-acre blaze in Putnam Valley. Chief Matt Steltz reported that volunteers Philip Kean, Lauren De La Vega and Kimberly Seville recently completed basic exterior firefighting training.
The Cold Spring police responded to 115 calls in April, including 27 assists to other agencies, eight traffic stops and four motor vehicle crashes.
The Village Board accepted Camille Linson's resignation as associate justice, effective June 5. She is moving out of the area.
The Historic District Review Board is considering a policy that would require applicants to create escrow funds for projects that require a public hearing to cover expenses.
Trustee Eliza Starbuck said she is exploring options for companies that supply parking payment kiosks linked to the ParkMobile app. The board budgeted for two additional kiosks as part of its 2025-26 budget.
The board approved a request from the sloop Clearwater to dock at Cold Spring from July 19 to 27. -
'Essentially zero risk to workers,' says company
Holtec is still trying to determine how soil at the Indian Point nuclear power plant near Philipstown became contaminated with radioactive material.
The radiation levels are not considered dangerous. A Holtec official said at a May 1 meeting of the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board that a person would have to "ingest many pounds" of the dirt to reach even one-tenth of the allowable federal limits. But the contamination is a concern because it was discovered far from where any of the three reactors were located or where nuclear waste is stored.
Holtec, which began decommissioning the closed plant in 2021, reported the contamination at the December meeting of the oversight board. It was detected when Holtec was investigating building a data center and conducted surface soil sampling around a training center on the southern end of the site. The tests detected elevated levels of cesium-137, a byproduct of nuclear fission.
"The levels are low, but it still needs to be remediated," said Frank Spagnuolo of Holtec. Don Mayer, who worked at Indian Point for more than 30 years, beginning in 1981, and now is part of the decommissioning team, said the radiation is low enough to be "essentially zero risk to workers."
Nevertheless, the contamination is being treated as radioactive waste and is being excavated and shipped via rail to nuclear storage facilities out of state. Holtec has said it has purchased equipment to conduct more extensive surveys to search for similar contamination elsewhere. "We don't want to be surprised anymore," said Spagnuolo.
It's not clear how cesium-137 ended up so far from the reactors and fuel storage. Holtec also tested the area for other common byproducts of fission, such as strontium-90 and nickel-63, but found nothing.
Mayer said he doesn't think the contamination happened during the three decades he worked at the plant. He suggested it may have occurred in the 1970s, during construction of two of Indian Point's three reactors. The first reactor, which went offline in 1974 because it lacked an emergency cooling system, had a leak at some point that contaminated the soil. Mayer said that some of that soil may have been excavated to where the training center was later built to make room for the second and third reactors and the plant's monitoring equipment at the time wasn't advanced enough to detect it.
Cesium-137 has a half-life of 30 years; if the contamination did occur in the 1970s, the material would be less than half as potent, which may explain the low level of radiation. "By the next meeting we'll have some good information," said Spagnuolo.
Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit filed by Holtec against New York State over a 2023 law that prohibits the company from discharging radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River continues. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said at the May 1 meeting that it is pausing the renewal of Holtec's "pollutant discharge elimination system" permit in the meantime.
Last year, the state attorney general accused Holtec of discharging radioactive water into the Hudson despite the law. Holtec countered that the discharges weren't waste from the spent fuel pools but groundwater and stormwater, a process that has been going on for 15 years.
When asked at the meeting about the discharges, Spagnuolo said he could not respond because of the ongoing litigation. He referred board members to the 2024 Annual Radioactive Effluent Release Report, released April 30. It notes that the discharges are happening but that the "offsite dose associated with the groundwater pathway remains extremely small," contributing less than 1 percent of the annual limit. -
Philipstown, Dutchess County affected
An appeals court on Wednesday (May 7) upheld a law that will shift many county and town elections in New York to even-numbered years, including in Putnam and Dutchess - a change meant to align local elections with statewide and federal races.
Democrats argue that the law, which was approved two years ago, will increase turnout in local races. Republicans sued to block it, saying it violates the state constitution and could give Democrats a partisan advantage in higher-turnout election years.
State Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat from Orange County who sponsored the legislation, said that town and county elections in odd years typically see 20 percent to 30 percent turnout, while those during presidential years can top 70 percent.
The appeals court ruled that the law can take effect immediately. The decision overruled a lower court that struck down the law, enacted in December 2023. The Republican-led Dutchess Legislature voted last year to spend $100,000 to join the legal challenge to the legislation.
Under the law, anyone in office before 2025 will complete his or her term, but subsequent terms will be shortened. Here's what that means locally:
Two of the four Philipstown Town Board seats, which have four-year terms, will be on the ballot in 2027 for three-year terms. They will be on the ballot again in 2030 for four-year terms. The other two seats, which will be on the ballot in November, will be for three-year terms that end in 2028.
The Philipstown highway commissioner and town clerk seats, which have four-year terms, will be on the 2027 ballot for three-year terms, then return to the ballot in 2030 for four-year terms. The town supervisor, who serves a two-year term, will be elected in November to a one-year term and the seat will appear on the ballot again in 2026 for a two-year term.
The Dutchess County Legislature seats, which will all be on the ballot in November, will be for one-year terms, rather than two, and return to the ballot in 2026. The election for county executive, a four-year position, will occur as scheduled in 2027, but the winner will serve only three years, until 2030.
The law exempts villages, such as Cold Spring and Nelsonville. In cities, such as Beacon, elections can only be changed through a constitutional amendment. The law also exempts county races for sheriff, district attorney, clerk and judges.
The law does not affect the Putnam County executive, whose four-year term is on the ballot in even-numbered years and next up in 2026, or Putnam legislators, who serve three-year terms.
The Associated Press contributed reporting. -
Fishkill Avenue Dunkin' in limbo after 6-1 vote
It is unclear what's next for a Dunkin' coffeehouse planned for Fishkill Avenue in Beacon after the City Council on Monday (May 5) banned drive-thrus citywide.
The proposal - to build a Dunkin' with a drive-thru and three apartments at the former Healey Brothers Ford site at 420 Fishkill Ave. - was approved by the Planning Board in March. But while the Planning Board reviewed the application, the council began weighing zoning amendments that would ban drive-thrus and self-storage facilities.
Council members decided during their April 28 workshop to split the two. They will continue discussing the self-storage measure, but the law prohibiting drive-thrus went to a vote Monday and was adopted, 6-1, with Mayor Lee Kyriacou voting "no."
The ban originated in the city's ongoing study of the Fishkill Avenue corridor, where a citizen committee recommended last year that, to encourage more pedestrian-friendly growth, the council prohibit new self-storage facilities, drive-thrus, gas stations, car washes, auto lots and repair shops. Existing businesses would remain. On Monday, Kyriacou called a walkable, more residential Fishkill Avenue "a laudable goal," but said "it's a long, long way off."
He cautioned that zoning today for the council's vision for the corridor could backfire. "My concern is that if we don't permit some transitional uses - and I do think a drive-thru would be a transitional use - we will end up with many more years of car dealerships, probably used-car dealerships, instead of seeing the change that we want," Kyriacou said.
The rest of the council disagreed. Pam Wetherbee, who represents Ward 3, which includes the Fishkill Avenue corridor, said that prohibiting drive-thrus would allow the area to evolve quickly. Nobody could have predicted Beacon's rapid growth, she said, "and I think it's going to happen just as quick" on Fishkill Avenue.
George Mansfield said that "we have to zone for what we want ultimately to see." Drive-thrus "go up fast" and "one follows the other," he said. Paloma Wake said that "in motion" changes in the corridor, such as sidewalk improvements, will increase accessibility and make restricting drive-thrus "the best long-term decision for Beacon."
It remains to be seen where the move leaves the approved Dunkin' application. City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis told the council in January that the project would be regulated by whatever zoning is in place when a foundation is poured and "something substantial has come out of the ground."
Taylor Palmer, the attorney for Jay Healey, the developer (who is a member of the committee studying Fishkill Avenue), told the council last month that the project would not be viable without the drive-thru. Healey could ask the Zoning Board of Appeals for a use variance allowing it to proceed; Palmer said Wednesday that no decision had been made.
When asked in March for their opinions, Planning Board members expressed concern in a memo with the "categorical prohibition" of drive-thrus. Instead, they suggested a district-by-district approach or identifying areas within zoning districts where the use should be prohibited.
In other business…
The council on Monday approved an extension of the contract for garbage and recycling collection with Royal Carting. The city will pay $60,177 monthly for garbage and $19,369 for recycling, or 1 percent increases, in 2026. The company had not increased its fees since 2019, said City Administrator Chris White.
Bulk trash drop-off at the Transfer Station on Dennings Avenue opens for the season on May 17 and runs through Sept. 20. Residents current on their taxes may bring up to 250 pounds of construction or household waste. The Transfer Station is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. -
Checking in with CEO of Pattern for Progress
Pattern for Progress, a nonprofit think tank based in Newburgh, is celebrating its 60th year. We spoke with Adam Bosch, its president and CEO.
How did the organization begin?
When we were founded in 1965, the Hudson Valley was going through a lot: urban renewal in city centers, people moving from New York City to suburban areas, the beginning of the environmental movement and the seeds of innovation at places like IBM in Poughkeepsie. In addition, the U.S. Army was getting ready to sell Stewart Airbase into private hands. There was a need for an objective, independent research and planning organization.
Today, we're again in a period of rapid change. We have a housing crisis in affordability and availability. We have a new wave of technology in the form of AI and remote work, and we have generational investments being made in our downtowns, bringing small cities back to life. And the pandemic drove tens of thousands of residents into the region. Our job is to look at those things, measure them and try to explain their effects on our communities and regionwide.
What are you working on in 2025?
We're creating community-driven plans for the reuse of buildings or parcels that have been abandoned for decades. We can set up tax credits on parcels that make them more feasible to be redeveloped as housing, mixed-use or as new manufacturing centers. The idea is to create development in our downtowns that provides progress without displacement.
With housing, there's an indication that corporate actors are moving into the region. There's not a lot of data, but I'll give you my anecdotal evidence. At my house in Ulster County, I am getting two flyers per month from corporations offering to buy my house - all cash, sight unseen.
We're going to trace these LLPs and LLCs to their common corporate owners and be able to quantify the extent of corporate homeownership and how it's changed over the past decade. The governor has proposed that if a company owns 10 or more properties or has $50 million or more in assets, it shouldn't be allowed to bid on a home for the first 72 hours it's on the market. In places like Arizona, Nevada, or down to the Carolinas, there are entire neighborhoods owned by a single corporation that rents homes back to people. We want to understand the effect it has on access and the cost of homeownership.
What do you see as the most important issues facing the region?
Housing is No. 1. There's not even a close second. We do not have enough homes to sustain the population we have, and the cost of both homeownership and rent have outpaced our growth and wages by a lot. That means housing is gobbling up more and more take-home pay.
No. 2 would be workforce. We have awesome training facilities at Dutchess Community College, Orange Community College, Marist and SUNY New Paltz, but the data show our labor pool is getting ready to shrink by about 120,000 people in the next 15 years. It's the size of the workforce that's a concern in the near- and medium-term, along with what I call the "youth crunch." We have seen births - not birth rates - decline over the past two decades by about 25 percent to 35 percent in each of our counties. Dutchess is down by 25 percent. Putnam is down the most of any county. If you look at the population of infants, children and teens now and compare it to a decade ago, we have 40,000 fewer kids in the region.
After that, I would say community development in terms of: Are we able to attract and retain jobs to the region? Do they pay a living wage? The other two to mention are childcare businesses shrinking by 40 percent in 15 years and outdated water and sewer infrastructure.
The redevelopment of the former Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill and a transit-oriented development at the Beacon train station could add 1,600 housing units in and around Beacon. What does the community need to see from the developers?
When we did a report on the adaptiv... -
Customers again will be returned to Central Hudson
Philipstown residents and businesses receiving fixed-rate electricity through Hudson Valley Community Power will be transferred back to Central Hudson because the program administrator ran out of time to extend the contract.
In what is known as a community choice aggregation (CCA) program, municipalities contract with a third-party supplier to offer residents and businesses a fixed rate for electricity, although Central Hudson continues to provide delivery and billing.
Cold Spring, Nelsonville, Philipstown and nine other municipalities (not including Beacon) agreed to participate. Residents and businesses are added to the program automatically but can opt out.
Hudson Valley Community Power was negotiating to extend a contract that ends June 30. Mike Gordon, founder and chief strategy officer for the program administrator, Joule Assets, said in a letter to municipalities that "times are deeply uncertain at the moment and electricity prices rose quickly in response." Nelsonville Mayor Chris Winward read the letter at the April 21 Village Board meeting.
Although prices have fallen more recently, Gordon said Joule lacked enough time to meet new guidelines created by the state utility regulator, the Public Service Commission, to notify and educate customers about new pricing before June 30.
Because the "political and economic environment is so volatile," Joule does expect "opportunities to lock in some advantageous pricing" over the next two to three months. Joule will spend those months learning "how best to work through" the new PSC regulations, said Jessica Stromback, the company's CEO.
"The order is, let everybody go back to the utility and not scramble," she said on Wednesday (May 7). "That process is smooth; the utility understands it. There's no interruption in service."
Under the current contract, residents and businesses in the CCA pay a default rate of 12.24 cents per kilowatt hour for 100 percent renewable energy in Cold Spring and 11.24 cents per kilowatt-hour for 50 percent renewable energy in Nelsonville and Philipstown. Those customers will be charged Central Hudson's variable rate starting July 1.
As of April 10, Central Hudson's standard supply rate was 10.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. Last year's summer rates, when electricity demand is higher, averaged 9.6 cents per kilowatt-hour. (Central Hudson charges a separate rate for delivery.)
"[The CCA] pricing was high, but it was locked in and we knew what it would be," Winward said at last month's meeting. "We don't know what the volatility of Central Hudson's rates are going to bring us."
The July 1 transition will mark the second time residents and businesses enrolled in Hudson Valley Community Power have been sent back to Central Hudson. A former supplier, Columbia Utilities, defaulted on a contract to provide renewable energy at 6.6 cents per kilowatt-hour for residences and 7.1 cents for small businesses, including those in Beacon, Cold Spring and Philipstown. In April 2022, Columbia notified the PSC that it intended to return customers to Central Hudson.
A state judge on Dec. 5 approved a $1.5 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the municipalities against Columbia Utilities. The company admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to a $1 million payment into a settlement fund and $50,000 monthly payments by June 1, 2025, to cover the balance. The Ulster County judge overseeing the case also approved $286,585 in attorney fees and up to $56,500 in administrative costs. Eligible customers began receiving checks for about $50 last month. -
Residents question decision-making process
After hearing parents criticize its decision-making process, the Haldane school board voted unanimously on Tuesday (May 6) to reinstate the district's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy. It had suspended the policy on April 22, fearful of losing $450,000 in federal funding threatened by the Trump administration's opposition to DEI programs.
The board said it reversed course after federal judges in three jurisdictions on April 24 temporarily blocked the administration from cutting funding to schools that have what the White House characterizes as "illegal" practices.
Six residents who spoke at the meeting expressed gratitude for the board's decision to reinstate the policy but also voiced frustration with how the initial decision was made.
"I don't think the board is doing a good job of making those decision-making processes transparent to our community," said Paul Cummins, who has two children at Haldane.
After the meeting, Peggy Clements, president of the five-member board, said the decision to suspend the policy happened "at a really fast and furious pace and certainly didn't allow for the careful consideration and outreach that we would ordinarily engage in."
"This was nothing that any of us wanted to do," Clements said. "It did make us deeply uncomfortable. But we felt like the district was truly at risk of losing $450,000."
During the meeting, Board Member Michelle Kupper said she regretted "not communicating more about the future of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy months before the vote. A lot of us in the school community knew that the current presidential administration takes issue with diversity, equity and inclusion, and we should have been talking about how to handle it."
Carl Albano, the interim superintendent, said the decision to suspend the policy on April 22 was rushed because of an April 24 deadline set by the Trump administration.
In early April, the U.S. Department of Education ordered states to gather signatures from local districts certifying their compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as rejection of what the Trump administration calls "illegal DEI practices."
The directive did not carry the force of law but threatened to use civil rights enforcement to rid schools of DEI practices. Schools were warned that continuing such practices "in violation of federal law" could lead to Justice Department litigation and the termination of federal grants and contracts. New York State responded that it would not comply.
Despite that, Albano said that on April 11 the district's law firm, Shaw, Perelson, May & Lambert, recommended that the board certify compliance with Title VI. Many other districts did the same. At the time "we didn't see an issue certifying, because, again, we believe we are in compliance," Albano said. "None of that raised concern for me or the board."
However, on April 18, "our attorney, after reviewing the DEI policy, had concerns about the diversity hiring provision," Albano said.
That provision states: "The district will strive to create a workforce that is not only diverse and inclusive, but one that recognizes and values the differences among people. As part of this effort, the district will seek to (a) recruit and retain a diverse workforce in all areas and at all levels [and] (b) provide staff with opportunities for professional development on cultural responsiveness."
Albano said that on April 22, just hours before the board was scheduled to meet, he gave members the attorney's recommended resolution to suspend the DEI policy because it "may, in part, be inconsistent" with the Department of Education's interpretation of Title VI. After suspending the DEI policy, the board certified compliance with Title VI.
The Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery district, which includes O'Neill High School, which Garrison district students can attend, also voted last month to suspend its DEI policy. Halfway into its April 10 ... - Mostrar más
