The northern Hudson Valley and Catskills’ population has fallen faster than greater Upstate New York in recent years. Seven counties — Columbia, Greene, Ulster, Delaware, Putnam, Sullivan and Dutchess — saw a loss in population from 2010 to 2017, with Orange, Westchester and Rockland counties seeing an increase, according to an analysis of Census data.…
I was walking down Warren Street in Hudson, smoking a cigarette (I assume) when I saw what appeared to be an inter-species romance: two birds mid-air with talons intertwined, the smaller bird cruising upside down under the larger one. It turned out the smaller bird was dead. The larger one (which I later identified as…
Veterans organizations from the Hudson Valley and beyond celebrated a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals reversing the policy of denying disability benefits to a group of 90,000 Vietnam veterans who say they were exposed to a deadly toxin by the military. The federal Veteran’s Administration (VA) began giving disability benefits under the Agent…
Dave Clegg, the longtime Kingston attorney and former NY-19 congressional candidate, announced his candidacy for Ulster County’s criminal prosecutor in an exclusive interview Thursday. Over the 45-minute interview, Clegg talked about how he would recommend lower bail, work on rehabilitating drug addicts, engage the DA’s office with the local community, and laid out his stances…
Congressman Antonio Delgado threw his support behind two bills seeking to benefit veterans earlier this month, some of the first legislation he sponsored since taking office at the beginning of the year. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act seeks to extend healthcare, disability and death benefits to Navy personnel sickened by exposure to Agent…
Amtrak announced Friday it would withdraw an application seeking to fence off more than a mile-and-a-half of Hudson River shoreline. The emailed announcement ended for the moment a battle between Hudson River municipalities and Amtrak that started last winter when the federally-subsidized rail company sought permission from the New York State Department of State (NYSDOS)…
A majority of the 2.7 million New Yorkers who buy food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) received their February benefits more than two weeks early Thursday to avoid the federal program’s funding cut-off as the partial government shutdown nears the one-month mark. This includes many of the 5,400 SNAP recipients in Columbia County,…
While cruising up the Hudson River from NYC on a rarely-punctual Amtrak last Monday, I was able to reflect on the positives of the city, an unusual moment for someone who generally squints angrily when people go on extended raves about the place. I’m a rabid Hudson Valley fan, and there is little room left…
A group of local citizens are pushing for New York to designate Tillson Lake as wetlands as part of their fight to save the spot from being “de-watered” as state Senator Jen Metzger and a storied environmental group threw their support behind the effort. The dam creating the Minnewaska State Park Preserve lake is in…
“You don’t have spikes?” The middle-aged man had planted himself in the center of the trail, hands clenched around his hiking poles at stomach level like he was really excited to be asking Morgan this. “Nah…” Morgan was not wearing spikes, the hiking boot attachment that gives one traction in the snow, and in fact…
Kevin Halcott was friends with Matthew Rojas for a year-and-a-half before he got a call from Rojas’ roommate telling him the 23-year-old had been arrested by ICE agents outside the New Paltz Town Courthouse. Halcott tells me this at a back table in Mudd Puddle, a local coffee spot squatting among two rows of eclectic…
Groups concerned with Amtrak’s proposal to gate off parts of the Hudson River proposed an alternative Saturday they hope will allow access to the river while ensuring pedestrian safety. Amtrak wants to construct a mile-and-a-half of fencing between its tracks, which hug the east side of the Hudson River, and the mainland to protect what…
Sometimes, it’s necessary in life to be objective. I find this extra-helpful when something ridiculously unpleasant is happening — you just picture yourself as an actor in some ribald comedy and laugh along with the audience. It’s how I got through most of my 20s. I was forced to apply this coping mechanism a couple…
The City of Hudson’s Tourism Board is looking for a ‘branding consultant’ to create a plan for marketing the city. The request for proposal (RFP) was sent out in mid-November and seeks a contract with a consultant to “assist the (Tourism) Board in developing a tourism branding and marketing strategy that encompasses strategic research and…
Temperatures are expected to rise in the Hudson Valley and Catskills more drastically than most of the U.S. due to climate change, with the region seeing temperatures four-to-five degrees higher by 2050 when compared to the late 20th century. These predictions come from the Fourth National Climate Assessment, a voluminous report produced by the National…
Jaqueline Ahl and Eric Roth take full advantage of their proximity to Tillson Lake in Gardiner, swimming the 25-acre lagoon in the warm months and hiking the trails curling around it. They also own a canoe. Gliding a few inches above the water gives them a unique perspective. “Part of it is…being able to be…
The “Blue Wave” hit the 19th District in the 2018 midterms — hard. Antonio Delgado’s victory in the midterms was helped by a surge of voter participation, with the number of voters turning out in some parts of the 19th District looking more like a presidential election. This increase in voting numbers went to the…
It has been a particularly intense midterm season. I should know, because I’ve been covering it since September 2017, before (self-props) anyone else was. Now, 13 months later, it is election day. I just left my local polling place after voting (no, I’m not going to tell you who for), and there was a 15-person…
About 150 activists braved the drizzle Friday to rage against the policies of Republicans John Faso and Donald Trump mere feet from Faso’s office. Protestors have been gathering at Rep. Faso’s offices in Kingston, Kinderhook and Delhi since Faso and Trump were elected two years ago, hoisting signs, playing music and leading chants about what…
Congressman John Faso and Democratic challenger Antonio Delgado traded barbs and attempted to call each other out for lying during NY-19’s final debate before the midterm elections next week. The debate, hosted by The Times-Herald Record and held on the SUNY Sullivan campus, was pierced by cheers, hisses, boos, clapping, derisive laughter and occasional yelling,…
