TOP LOCAL News
By NYVT MEDIA
November 9, 2024
By DEBORAH E. LANS GHENT--The French have an expression that applies with unfortunate accuracy to child care: the more things change, the more they stay the same. While the state has (among other things) provided additional financial support to parents to defray the costs of child care, child ...
By EMILIA TEASDALE GHENT—The Columbia County Board of Elections had unofficial vote totals late Tuesday night, November 5, posted on their website (elections.columbiacountyny.com). In the county race for the 19th Congressional District, Josh Riley (D,WF) defeated incumbent Marcus Molinaro ...
By DIANE VALDEN HUDSON—Wednesday, October 23, Hudson Police arrested Cristobal Orlando Ascencio-Chacon, 34, of Hudson on four separate counts of first degree sexual abuse of a child less than 11 years old, a class D felony. Hudson Police received information after a reported domestic ...
By NANCY JANE KERN IT WAS LATE OCTOBER and good weather to do a final cleanup of the old rural cemetery before the winter snows began. The secluded little cemetery was surrounded by woods that still retained a few colorful leaves and lots of leaves and branches lay on the ground. The crisp ...
By EMILIA TEASDALE VALATIE—The Kinderhook Town Board adopted the preliminary 2025 budget at their regular meeting on October 1. As posted on the town’s website (www.kinderhook-ny.gov) the budget is about $3 million for the general funds and the highway. The 2024 budget was about $2.9 million so ...
By DIANE VALDEN ANCRAM—Recent weather conditions marked by drought, low humidity, warm temperatures and wind have prompted the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to rate the Hudson Valley, 19 counties from Rensselaer County in the north to Suffolk County, Long Island ...
By DOUG LA ROCQUE Capital Region Independent Media NEW LEBANON–For nearly a year the New Lebanon Town Board has been debating the purchase of the former Lebanon Valley Protective Association (LVPA) firehouse at 523 U.S. Route 20 for use as a continued community center. That debate often ...
HUDSON—Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell announced in a November 5 press release that a countywide burn ban has been declared and is to take effect immediately. This follows the October 30 declaration of a countywide State of Emergency. “We are in the middle of a ...
By DAVID LEECHATHAM--FilmColumbia has just concluded its 24th annual film festival on Sunday, October 27 and now its home screen at the Crandell Theatre on Main Street in the village will be closing for its long anticipated renovation and restoration. The work will begin on November 18 and is ...
By JEANETTE WOLFBERG HUDSON--Hudson Housing Authority (HHA) received an extension from the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) to December 31 for paying to hold specific city-owned properties for it to buy, at a special HCDPA meeting October 28. The original deadline was ...
By DIANE VALDEN COPAKE—Federal and state political races have seized voter attention this election year—big time. And while there are no local contests on the ballot in 2024, there is one seat that needs to be filled on the Town Board and one man running to fill it. Will Morningstar, ...
By DEBORAH E. LANS POUGHKEEPSIE--Can you imagine a workplace that has had zero turnover in its existence? Where every “worker” glows when describing the job? That has a profoundly important mission? The DAY ONE Early Learning Community in Poughkeepsie is such a place. It aims to address ...
By NANCY JANE KERN IT SEEMED LIKE A HUGE part of our lives revolved around the woodpile. As a neighbor once remarked, he never knew anyone who worked harder than my father Donald Kern, and mom was right beside him. Work was also shared down the family, and whenever the weather permitted and ...
By DAVID LEE HUDSON--A tour of the historic Cedar Park Cemetery was conducted on Sunday, October 20. Organized through the Hudson Area Library, the tour has been an annual event for the past six years. It was led by the library's history room committee member and Spotty Dog Books and Ale ...
Eighth in a series on justice By DEBORAH E. LANS HUDSON--In February 2024 the state Senate issued a report headed “The Crisis in New York’s Family Courts.” It was just the latest in a series of reports, including one commissioned by the Chief Judge of the state’s court system, reaching the ...
Phish fans from far and wide converged upon Albany this past weekend for a 3-night run at the MVP Arena. The energy was palpable as enthusiasts mingled both inside and outside the Pearl Street venue, a staple in the band’s touring schedule for nearly 3 decades.The atmosphere buzzed with ...
By DIANE VALDEN NEW BALTIMORE—A Hudson man was killed in a one-vehicle crash and the driver, also from Hudson, faces charges. A Greene County Sheriff’s Office press release reports that deputies were called to the scene of a crash on County Route 54, Thursday, October 17 at 10:32 a.m. in the ...
By JEANETTE WOLFBERG HUDSON--A warming center with beds and meals opened in Hudson, October 17, as the Blanche Hotaling Memorial Mission. Located in the First Reformed Church of Hudson on Green Street and staffed 24/7, it will welcome anybody with no other shelter who comes to it at any time of ...
By DIANE VALDEN ANCRAM—The results of the much anticipated engineer’s evaluation and traffic study of the notoriously scary County Route 7 / State Route 82 intersection are in, now it’s up to residents to say what they think should be done about it. An aerial view of the problematic County ...
By DIANE VALDEN TAGHKANIC—State Police from the Livingston barracks in conjunction with the State Police Computer Crimes Unit arrested two Taghkanic men for possession of child pornography, October 9. Following a law enforcement tip, investigators determined both John R. Vogt, age 74, and ...
By LORNA CHEROT LITTLEWAY GHENT--The 106th Assembly District (AD) race features two long-serving office holders: the incumbent Democrat Didi Barrett with 12 years in the Assembly and the challenger, Republican Stephan Krakower, with 19 years in two positions in the City of Poughkeepsie. In ...
By NANCY JANE KERN ROAMING THE WOODS in October is glorious and anticipatory. Several migrating yellow-rumped warblers were snacking on still available insects and the numerous poison ivy berries. Toward the back of the woods was the real treat for the day, Hamamelis virginiana, or witch ...
By PETER FLIERL CANAAN--Canaan Town Supervisor Brenda Adams turned the Town Board meeting Monday, October 14, over to Chris Brown, Housing Development coordinator with Columbia County Housing Task Force. Mr. Brown reviewed pages of information beginning with AMI: Area Median Income for ...
By JEANETTE WOLFBERG HUDSON--Student internships, animal welfare, a historic bridge marker, and ARPA received attention at the Columbia County Board of Supervisors meetings September 11 and October 9. ARPA (the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021) are funds to speed recovery from the Covid ...
By JEANETTE WOLFBERG HUDSON--The Hudson City Common Council passed a Good Cause Eviction law (GCE) at its meeting October 15. Under GCE, landlords cannot end a tenancy without a legal “good cause,” according to www.nyc.gov. This spring New York State passed a measure allowing municipalities to ...
By TOM MORELAND BACK IN THE 1830s-1840s the Woolsey gang roamed the Austerlitz hills, engaging in horse thieving, counterfeiting and burglary. Their leading spirit, Ambrose F. Woolsey, lived on what is now called Fire Hill Road. On Woolsey’s property stood an old house with a barn, and next to ...
By LORNA CHEROT LITTLEWAY GHENT--Early voting for the general elections start Saturday, October 26 and runs continuously to Sunday, November 3. Columbia County polls will be open in Hudson at the County Board of Elections headquarters, 401 State Street, and in Valatie at Martin H. Glynn ...