One theme resonated more heavily than others at the Climate and Community Protection Act hearing in New Paltz Friday: 2050 wasn’t soon enough. Many of the 38 activists, local elected officials and environmental advocates who spoke at the three-and-a-half-hour hearing said the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA), a state bill aiming to reduce greenhouse…
The bail system in New York may soon end with Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposing a measure to end the practice and democrats controlling the state legislature. Advocates for ending the system argue bail, which by state law is only meant to assure a defendant shows up to court dates, ends up discriminating against the poor,…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Audrey Brand delicately curves her paintbrush along the looping grain of the wood as a trio of European women pause on their way through Gardiner Liquid Mercantile in Ulster County. Brand greets them, stepping back from her easel as they apologize for interrupting her work. “No, you’re supposed to watch,” she says. “You can have…