Local heroes
In the midst of some of the worst hurricanes and fires, the Trump administration pulled us out of the Paris climate accord and called climate change “a hoax.” Fortunately, a number of states are taking the lead as local heroes, responsible for the emissions within their borders, including cars, airplanes and buildings.
With 28 percent of this country’s greenhouse gas emissions coming from electricity production, switching to renewable energy is key. Unfortunately, however, only 17 percent of this nation’s electricity is now being generated by renewables. New York State is among the greatest heroes, passing the most ambitious climate policy, requiring carbon-free electricity by 2040 and zero emissions by 2050.
Over 40 percent of California’s emissions come from transportation. They are now investing $30 million for low-carbon transportation in disadvantaged communities — electric car-sharing, bicycling and carpooling, All of this will put more low-income people in low-emission transportation.
Thanks to these local heroes, the fight against climate change continues despite an administration that is AWOL on the topic. Imagine what we can do if we elect a congress and an administration that appreciate the magnitude of the climate threat.
Dan and Ann Guenther
New Paltz
Democratic victory needed
My congratulations and appreciation to Mary Connors for her letter of November 9 in Hudson Valley One titled “God bless president Trump.” Not capitalizing “president” was, perhaps, a bit unpatriotic but deserved. He has not fulfilled that role. It is a piece of satire of almost professional quality! The sarcasm is a bit heavy, but some items are priceless! My favorite is “Handled Covid 19 as well as possible!”
Ms. Connors is to be commended for her contribution to the Biden/Harris ticket with her satirical takedown of this incompetent president and his greedy family, raking in millions while millions of our Americans lose their unemployment benefits because Mitch McConnell — a millionaire himself — and his Republican cowards in the Senate refuse these benefits! They say that these hard-working Americans will sit home instead of going back to work if they get them!
Shame on these repugnant Republicans! And, at the same time, president Trump wants a payroll tax deduction so that our Social Security and Medicare will run out of funds!
Thank you, Ms. Connors! And let us together march to victory in November with a Democratic president, vice-president and a Democratic Senate and House.
Meyer A Rothberg
Saugerties
I and we
The pandemic has changed our way of life. We used to love to go to restaurants, the movies, concerts, sports events and activities where we would congregate in large groups. Now most of those activities are danger zones due to the concern about getting the coronavirus. Nearly two hundred thousand American citizens have already died from the dreaded virus, and according to experts those numbers will be getting much higher. Wearing the mask helps, but it’s going to be quite a while until the disease is no longer a real threat to us.
As a result, many people are dealing with isolation and loneliness. They are also struggling with the desire to be with others, but are scared of the highly contagious virus. It’s a real dilemma.
As human beings, we are hard wired to seek out groups of people. We search for closeness and intimacy in many different forms. We like to work together and we like to play together. There’s a saying. “The difference between I and we is illness and wellness.”
People who are totally self-centered do not care much about others. They usually only care about themselves. It’s very possible that our culture has had a lot to do with the increase in self-centered individuals in our society.
But it’s time that we all learn that we need each other to have a full and rich life. We cannot get to the promised land on our own. And those who think they can are fooling themselves. You may end up with lots of money. But you also could end up very alone. Watch out for what you wish for. You actually might get it!
We all have the power to choose how we would like to live. So please remember that the difference between illness and wellness is “I” and “we.” Remembering this may help some of us when unsure about which path to take in life.
Marty Klein
Woodstock
No, not conspiracy theory
September 11 has come and quickly gone as 19 years have passed since that terrible and horrible day. Besides the 3000 innocent lives lost in the World Trade Center towers collapse, 95,000 first responders and survivors are sick and dying from having breathed the toxic fumes at Ground Zero.
Meanwhile, there was no one in the military held accountable for not intercepting the planes, including whatever hit the Pentagon while having an hour’s notice, and two combat-ready squadrons of F-15’s ten miles away at Andrews Air Force base were stationed there specifically to protect the Pentagon.
No one held the 911 Commission accountable for not doing a thorough forensic investigation for explosives in view of the fact that active and inactive residues of nano-thermite incendiary/explosives were found in the all the dust at ground zero by nine respected scientists, published in an unchallenged peer-reviewed scientific paper, in respected Open Chemical Physics Journal of 2009. Also ignored was the mention of pools of molten steel that stayed molten underneath a million gallons of New York City firefighter’s water for three months, which is physically impossible except with nano-thermite or a mini-nuke.
No one held WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein accountable for taking out a double-indemnity cash-payout insurance policy weeks before the collapse, earning him five billion dollars in cash. He and all his family were unusually absent that day from the top floor of WTC restaurant, Windows of the World, where they all had breakfast every morning religiously without fail, but no he was not even questioned.
This is not conspiracy theory but documented forensic science together with the testimonies of 500 firefighters, police and paramedics who saw and felt the massive explosions on that fateful day. 911 firefighter and trained fire marshal Rudy Dent, a friend of mine, saw and felt the impact of the collapse of the 47-story WTC building that happened in six seconds. No plane hit that building, and no steel framed high-rise building ever collapsed due to fire in the history of the world until 911, and none since then. So why did Building Seven collapse? The grand jury of the Southern District of New York federal court is convened to review the evidence for controlled demolition upon a recent petition from Lawyers Committee for 911 Inquiry (LCfor911.org).
It was controlled demolition under the smoke and mirrors cover of the planes hitting buildings designed to take multiple crashes of jet planes. Controlled demolition is obvious to the trained eye, and what brought those buildings down and the laws of science confirm [it] (AE911.org).
Another 911 anniversary has now passed. Justice has not been served, and the high-tech adept culprits are still free. Science denier politicians ignore their moral duty to uphold justice by not mandating a thorough forensic investigation. Instead, they add insult to injury to all those brave first responders who perished, are sick and dying and cry out to a lost nation in turmoil. No justice no peace.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Support community preservation
I am a resident and homeowner in the Town of New Paltz and volunteer as the coordinator for New Paltz Climate Smart. I am in gratitude for the vision and hard work put forward by a very dedicated group of volunteers to create a Community Preservation Plan for New Paltz, and would very much like to see the plan adopted so it can guide the preservation of our natural resources into the future. This plan is critical to the protection of open space and historic preservation which benefits the health and well-being of the whole New Paltz community.
Few would disagree that we need clean water, agricultural lands, forests, habitat and recreational open space and historic resources as these are the foundations of our community character. Key, however, is funding. The strength of this plan is that it creates funding without adding property tax, as it is a one-time tax on homebuyers, paid by the buyer. This plan will create a sustainable, perpetual source of revenue for preservation. I am, however, very much in support of the proposed exemption to help homebuyers at the low end of the market. That is imperative.
It has become abundantly clear during this time of Covid 19 just how important it is to have open space and trails available to everyone. Without funding New Paltz will not be in a position to protect important open space in the face of increased development. There is pressure now to develop here more than ever, and we need to preserve open space before it is too late. As an environmentalist, I view open space as critical to the preservation of habitat and native species.
Our town board passed the three local laws which bring us closer to having a Community Preservation Fund for New Paltz. Now, the proposal will be on the ballot for New Paltz residents in November. Please vote yes for Local Law 1 — Water Quality, Working Farms, Wildlife Habitat and Natural Areas Preservation Fund. It will be on the back of the ballot, and is the only proposition.
Janelle Peotter
New Paltz
A cause for uproar and disorder
I can’t wait for the good old-fashioned Donnybrook we’re going to have after this next election.
Tom Comerford
Shokan
A proposition for you
I have a proposition for you, and you’ll find it on your ballot this November: Local Law 1 — Water Quality, Working Farms, Wildlife Habitat and Natural Areas Preservation Fund. It will be on the back of the ballot and is the only proposition. I’m voting yes — here’s why.
As New Paltz becomes more suburbanized, we need to work with willing landowners to protect the trees, wetlands, working farm fields and historic landmarks they love. This whole plan relies on helping landowners who want to gift their land to their community — without it costing us a penny!
To learn more about funding for the plan and other details, please visit https://voteyesnewpaltz.com/
Some people worry that even though the purchase won’t cost taxpayers anything, our tax base will be further eroded after the sale.
Actually, open space protects our tax base from the cost of development … cows and apple trees don’t drive on town roads or go to school. Also, land that is currently undeveloped is generally taxed at a lower level anyway, so it contributes relatively low revenue. Properties that will be protected by conservation easements are not removed from the tax rolls, and assessments do not generally change.
Volunteers from the New Paltz Environmental Conservation Board, Clean Water Open Space Protection Commission and Historic Preservation Commission have carefully evaluated the ecologic, economic and historic benefits of this plan. These friends and neighbors have donated their time and expertise to give us another tool to protect our health, safety and history.
Let’s show our appreciation by voting yes on Proposition 1 on November 3.
Kitty Brown
New Paltz
Show black lives matter
In just the short time since the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Rayshard Brooks was shot by a policeman at a Wendy’s in Atlanta. Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a policeman in Kenosha. And we learned of the earlier homicide of Daniel Prude in Rochester during a mental-heath crisis. With each incident, we ask ourselves, “Again?”
Anyone with an open mind and heart can see that deadly incidents with police happen too often, and too often the victims are people of color. It doesn’t take much empathy to understand the outrage of the communities where these events occur.
Saugerties citizens have gathered each evening for 100 days to declare that Black Lives Matter. I attend most days so that I don’t forget these outrageous incidents. I stand with my sign to remind my fellow citizens that this is an urgent problem which must be corrected. Certainly I believe that if all well-meaning Americans, including all well-meaning police, put our hearts and minds toward solving this problem, real progress can be made. Further discrimination must also be addressed.
But as a first step, we can immediately address the grievous problem of the killing of our fellow citizens by those we pay to protect us. By our actions we can show that in America black lives matter, as do all lives.
But if we choose inaction, what does that show?
Kathy Gordon
Saugerties
A questionable plan
Cut down trees to widen a road so a few more people can ride bikes on a road that has been settled for decades? The road has plenty of room for bikes to share with cars going downhill, but this is a steep sucker that only talented, strong, veteran bicyclists can ride up.
Rarely does anyone ride up Henry W. DuBois! They walk, pushing their bikes. A wider road will still be as steep for kids who will be going so slow they will have trouble balancing! Possibly worse, actually much worse, it will encourage drivers to drive faster, then have to brake harder to not kill the kids, the walkers and the deer you see most of the time on this just-fine-as-it-is little road.
Trees eat air pollution, too, right?
Paul Nathe
New Paltz
Just who is the loser?
Fact: Donald Trump, our illustrious 45th president, has at different times slandered the military, witness recent comments: members of the military as ‘losers’ and ‘suckers.’ Also, a number of years previous, his lordship, slandered senator John McCain for being captured with his statement: ‘I like men who are not captured.’ At McCain’s funeral, the McCain family did not want Trump there for his disparaging remarks. He wasn’t. The other living presidents were there, though.
Also, his disparaging remarks left me, personally, outraged at his disregard and disrespect for this patriot (McCain) whose father and grandfather served this country as well. I was outraged that a president of the United States would slander this man in front of his colleagues, his family and the world at large. And his recent statement, veterans are losers and suckers. Who is the loser here, the veterans? I don’t think so.
Opinion: What a man! A draft dodger; bone spur Don, taking a public position like that when it was the military down through the years that gave this lug his freedom to do what he wanted.
For three years I have chronicled Donald’s behavior in the Oval Office, how his reign of terror would affect me personally and my benefits, the New Deal program put into effect by FDR in 1935. Over 60-plus letters I submitted to local newspapers stipulating the dangers that will arise and have risen with him in office. I have concentrated specifically on this topic which affects over 50 million seniors drawing benefits.
And that concerns, and should concern, you. Enough of this about the benefits we paid into for the last 50-plus years and which this horndog of a president is hell-bent on eliminating.
I’m a veteran. I had a six-year military obligation in the late 1950s. I never saw combat but Eisenhower had the 25th Infantry Division on alert for the problems in Laos at the time. At that time, they administered updated medical shots and last wills and testaments as part of the alert procedure. We were then ordered to stand down.
How many of you veterans had grandfathers, uncles, brothers, cousins, friends, who served in WWI/II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Grenada, Afghanistan, Latin America and other spots in the world? How many of your relatives/buddies were killed, maimed with parts of their bodies gone, brain-dead lying in hospitals or nursing homes? I see you looking up at Donald when he comes down into Trump country; the television cameras scan the crowd and I see the rapture on your faces as he embellishes, tap-dancing, slip and sliding, shucking and jiving around the stage, an entertainer. He throws the military some money for one purpose only: the military vote, regardless of his slandering the military men and women of this great country. Wake up, veterans.
Robert Lapolt
New Paltz
Writer’s note: Mary Connors: In answer to your query, “Where did I get the information regarding the 12 to 15% Social Security cuts I mentioned in a previous letter of mine?” The answer is: I belong to three organizations, NCPSSM (National Committee for the Preservation of Social Security and Medicare), AARP (American Association for Retired Persons) and the Democratic Party, which I joined after 60 years as a Republican. Thank you, Mrs. Connors.
We need a creative solution
I am writing in regard to the proposed bike path on Henry W. DuBois Drive. There has been an existing path for the past two years. I support keeping and rehabbing this in a responsible, organic way. Widening the road to the point of infringing on people’s property and destroying huge old trees as well as many younger, beautiful trees is unreasonable and unnecessary.
The project needs to be scaled to fit the size, character and aesthetic feel of this residential neighborhood. In the past, other options to eliminate congestion and traffic bottlenecks have been explored — i.e. North Putt to the Millbrook Preserve. Might these be better suited in terms of safety and less environmental and property damage?
All New Paltz residents, most especially those whose homes are on Henry W. DuBois, deserve more information and input into what will have major/direct impact on traffic, noise, air quality and environmental and ecological damage as a result of this undertaking. Previously, the project had been veiled in secrecy — answers to our questions were evasive, misleading, ambiguous and deceptive.
As we move forward, it is my hope that there will be more transparency and a willingness to hear and work with residents on the part of the [town] board. In doing so, we can create a creative solution, a plan that will be mutually acceptable and beneficial to all.
Grace Gehman
New Paltz
Don’t let them fool you again
I saw the article in last week’s (9/9/20) Hudson Valley One regarding the Woodstock Library’s annual budget. At the end of the article it reads that none of the money will go towards new construction.
Don’t let them fool you again. They said the exact same thing last year, and guess what? The trustees for the Woodstock Library transferred $125,000 ($100,000 in March and $25,000 in August) of taxpayer money to Tilly Architecture towards the construction of a new building.
By the way, the taxpayers have not voted for a new building, only the eleven-member library board of trustees have. A $5.8-million bond will be up for a vote on November 3. l want to let you in on a little secret — from their very own meetings the numbers for this project actually total $8 million. The Woodstock Library board of trustees can try to spin it any way they want, but the smart. savvy taxpayer can read between the lines. Don’t be fooled.
Natalie Cyr
Woodstock
Making DuBois safer for cars
I live off Henry W. DuBois Drive (HWD) on Millrock Road. I would like to support the concerns of the homeowners who live on and off DuBois regarding the slated project to widen HWD to accommodate a bike/pedestrian path.
My husband and I walk along DuBois often, and we have no problem navigating and staying safe. We pass many others doing the same. The trees which are so ecologically important to our area and to the town are not only beautiful, but they keep pollution and sound at bay for the people who live along DuBois.
I urge you to reconsider this project and focus on making DuBois a more safe road for cars.
Bonnie Brown
New Paltz
Just-right swim season
People don’t often write letters when things are right — especially when they are just right, with no improvement necessary. “Just right” pretty much sums up the 2020 summer season at the Moriello Park and Pool which sadly came to a warm, sunny and cloudless close on Labor Day. A special shoutout to pool director Bill Russell, who, with the help of his sweet staff, kept the pool not only immaculate, but also in complete compliance with the Covid protocols. No easy task for sure.
The Seahawks summer swim team got to practice six days a week, lap swimmers swam daily, families, teens and toddlers splashed the 90-degree days away in the water. I can’t tell you the people who remarked that they don’t know what they would have done without it.
Back in the day, the Moriello Pool was often referred to as “The poor folks Caribbean.” Well, this summer that was right on the money, as many of our travels consisted of rounding the bend off Mulberry Street, into the pool parking lot, spotting the bright blue water and grateful to be there. There was a solution-focused group who worked creatively to prevent a beautiful town facility from standing vacant instead of being put to such good, and safe use.
Huge kudos to Bill Russell, supervisor Neil Bettez, mayor Tim Rogers, county executive Pat Ryan, swim coach Erin Quinn and the county health department. Then this same group turned around and pulled another rabbit out of a hat and got the Ulster County Pool opened as well, where the Hawks practiced every morning right up until Labor Day.
A group of creators and not complainers. Thank you for being on the side of the solution in these problem focused times.
Anne Quinn
New Paltz
Thanks for opening the pool
It’s Monday, Labor Day, and it’s the last day at New Paltz’s wonderful Moriello Pool! Thanks very much to all those running and guarding the pool for getting us through this pandemic summer!
Thank you also to those who made the decision to even open the pool! Once we got over our fears and went to Moriello for the first time and saw the safeguards and protections set up, we went each day and left each day feeling grateful! Having this opportunity to swim laps quickly became our one daily outing and kept us going and healthy! Thank you, New Paltz!
Richard Schwartz
Lucy Rothman
New Paltz
Or some other reason
Based upon the knowledge and experience I gained during my 15-year tenure as both a member and chair of Woodstock’s ZBA and my review of decisions made by [town supervisor Bill] McKenna’s ZBA, it is my conclusion that they are following the advice of their lawyer, who once told them, “The application as amended would be better …. However, if nobody cares, and it doesn’t make any difference, then why go through all these extra steps?”
By the way, an application I sent on July 21 to Jackie Earley, our town clerk, read: “Please forward this, my seventeenth application, to the town board to fill the potential vacancy on the ZBA.” To date there has been no response by McKenna or his minions.
The reason that I might not have gotten a response was that McKenna and his minions could have thought I jumped the gun by putting my application in before the vacancy was made public. Therefore, I sent the following to Jackie Early on 8/19/20: “Please forward this, my eighteenth application, to the supervisor and the town=board members, requesting my being appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals vacancy that was announced on 8/12/20 on the Town of Woodstock website.”
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Sparrow
Sparrow, love your writing. Well done!
When I first came to Woodstock in ’73 from Park Slope, Brooklyn, on going to bed the first night I turned the light out I seriously thought I had gone blind. I couldn’t see my hand. No one in Brooklyn can imagine the loss of Roaches.
A fun fact you I’m sure would like because it is quirky, is that in the Northern Hemisphere there are over 400 different kinds of native bees. The honey bee was imported.
Ann Dubois
Stamford
A harrowing free fall
Can America survive the year 2020? We know what the state of the union is currently, but what comes next is anybody’s guess. How, exactly, does that work? All the outrage and determination I’m carrying hasn’t got me anywhere yet.
Who in their politically correct mind isn’t scared by a Donald Trump victory in November’s presidential election? For us this could be our last chance and the aftermath of such voting, shudders the thought, in which we witness America continuing its current downward slide, if God forbid, he is reelected?
I am not planting signs in the yard yet that ‘Doom is near!’— but, what is currently going on all over our country, in terms of our health being ravaged by a virulent epidemic, a culture backlash of naysayers and civil unrest nationwide, a miserable economy for too many Americans, very high unemployment, and our viewed current global shortcomings is the most succinct, depressing and obvious assessment which helps consolidate my nervousness. We appear to have been kicked into an erupting volcano.
Grabbing small handfuls of what was once, which continues to fall between the cracks of my fingers, is taking a ghastly toll. We are defenseless and tragic soul, and find ourselves in a human game of pick-up sticks where we’re going down in every direction, unable to lean against anything. The ground is falling out from under us in this real time nightmare …
Can I beat back this bad dream? Normally I’d use my pillowcase as a parachute in a dreamscape scenario. However, this harrowing free fall is not imagined. Instead, I am reminded every day that I’m awake, and get this: there’s a nagging sense that my actions IRL will not have positive consequences, that rules are being made up, and there’s unsettled footing on a ledge of well-stocked bullshit, idiocy and hypocrisy which won’t give me balance. My only real alternative may be to scream into a pillow.
With that said, I can only guess that we the people, will do the right thing. My fingers are crossed. Please vote Democrat!
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
She has kept her promises
On November 3, Jen Metzger is the right choice.
Two years ago, voters in the 42nd State Senate district made the supremely wise move of electing Jen Metzger to the NYS Senate. Since then, she has vigorously worked on lowering burdensome property taxes, ensuring much-needed school funding, and opposing unwarranted utility rate hikes. First. taxes: In 2019, the state legislature made permanent the two percent property-tax cap to control tax increases, which senator Metzger supported.
While this was a start, Metzger believes that more needs to be done to give our seniors, working families and others living on a fixed income the tax relief they need. Now, she is working with her colleagues on legislation that will help relieve the local tax burden, while still fully funding our schools. Regarding schools, she has consistently advocated for increased funding and fully funding Foundation Aid. In 2019, she worked to ensure that the final aid package provided an additional $618 million for our children. In 2020, despite an uncertain economic climate, senator Metzger and her colleagues succeeded in maintaining current school-aid levels in the face of pressures to reduce it, including $839 million in aid for the school districts she represents.
Even with this success, Jen did not stop. Instead, she secured $100,000 in state funding in the 2019-20 budget for the Bridges program at Orange County Community College, which gives students with intellectual or cognitive disabilities the opportunity to experience collegiate life and learn valuable skills. Lastly, regarding advocating for utility customers, Jen has a long history in this area. Prior to becoming state senator, Jen spent many years speaking up for utility customers before the Public Service Commission. She fought unnecessary and higher charges, shut-off policies, and the like. Today, she continues this advocacy.
Two years ago, I had the privilege of driving Jen Metzger all over Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties and heard her make these type of promises. I am pleased to say she kept them. I am voting for her on November 3, and I hope you will, too!
Stephen J Weir
Gardiner
Before it’s too late
The global lockdown and the restrictions imposed by governments have ruined jobs, lives, communities, small businesses and entire economies. This unnecessary shutdown has caused social isolation, disruption, desperation and death. Tragically, all unnecessary. Yes, Covid 19 has killed people, mostly elderly and the chronically ill (same as every flu). The CDC’s most recent report indicates that 94 percent of “so-called” COVID deaths had at least two life-threatening pre-conditions.
The CDC (40 percent of the budget buys vaccines), the World Health Organization (financed by pharmaceutical giants and Bill Gates), the FDA (captured by Big Pharma), the media (awash in Big Pharma ad money), politicians hungry for power, and pharmaceutical corporations (all guilty of criminal and fraudulent activities) have frightened us into submission!
The endless fear-mongering, lies, deceptions and scare tactics have muffled our voices, clouded our thinking, and masked our faces! Sadly, this is all preparing us for mandatory vaccinations. This vaccine will not be safe or effective (just like the others). However, it will be different. Moderna (the leading contender never made a vaccine or medication) will be injecting you with a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) that will induce your cells to replicate the virus.
Don’t believe me — check Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — www.childrenshealthdefense.org. The implications of this forced vaccination program are simply terrifying. draconian (China-like) social controls, injuries, genetic misfires and the end of life as we know it.
[Disclaimer: Trump: corrupt, criminal, egomaniacal, serial abuser. Biden: creepy, confused, neoliberal, corporate crony.]Wake up before it’s too late!
Eli Kassirer
New Paltz
Simplify the process
As if the USPS did not have already enough work!
Now we cannot pay our school tax either at the bank or the school district office. One option is to use infotaxonline.com, but it does not work too well. The other option: we have to mail our payments to Buffalo — that is an extra load of envelopes for the USPS to handle.
To simplify: neighbors should select a street volunteer to collect all tax payments from neighbors and send them all in one envelope!
Misha Harnick
New Paltz
DuBois Drive issues
Multiple issues need to be addressed concerning the proposed expanded bike/pedestrian path for Henry W. DuBois Drive (HWD). Here are a few:
To borrow and amend slightly the famous line from the movie, Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” And whoa, have they ever with the Empire State Trail to date! The increase in the number of bikers on Henry W. DuBois Drive since the trail markers were installed has been enormous, and that stream has become a swollen river on weekends.
Forget about peaceful mornings in our yard, which abuts the path. We hear bikers calling, no, screaming, to each other all day long. This is the state of things now. Build a wider bike path and I shudder to imagine the hustle and bustle that will be added to the road and therefore imposed on the neighbors’ lives who live along the road.
The majestic stand of trees that line Henry W. DuBois Drive along our property act as a bit of a buffer from the path. Without those trees, the bike path as it is now would feel like it’s right smack in our yard. If the path is widened, that stately stand of trees will be threatened.
Even if the trees aren’t actually taken down to construct the path, let’s not fool ourselves into breathing a sigh of relief that the trees will be okay. Their root systems will be severely compromised by the construction and their removal in a few years will be inevitable. We aren’t the only ones who enjoy those trees. Everyone who drives, bikes or walks down Henry W. DuBois is treated to the welcome shade they provide.
As for the vehicle traffic on Henry W. DuBois Drive, those of us who live along the road are alarmed over the increase in the number of cars and huge trucks that ply the road. That traffic will only become substantially worse with the completion of Zero Place and the new Stewart’s gas station at the intersection with Route 32.
The ideas to solve the traffic issue put forward so far are weak and frankly, pathetic. There’s a sign (easily missed) at the Route 32 intersection banning trucks, but it is routinely ignored and no wonder. It’s not enforced. The police don’t seem to go after the trucks. I’ve seen plenty of cars get tickets for not stopping completely at the stop signs on HWD. Why not have the police ticket the trucks for using the road?
The new electronic sign that’s been added to the westbound side of HWD between Duzine and Harrington is much ado about nothing. “Residential neighborhood,” it flashes, “Check your speed.” With houses and a few condos lining the road, it’s rather obvious that this is a residential neighborhood. What drivers need is an instant speed check on HWD that shows them how fast they are going, similar to the ones at the toll booth. And police to ticket the speeders.
The law of unintended consequences is not a cliché for nothing.
Kemp Minifie
New Paltz
Hovering above
If Trump loses November 3 and refuses to leave the White House, we’ll have to bring in our secret weapon: Marianne Williamson. Just levitate him out of there!
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Coronavirus free-verse poem
We live in a scary
World today
It’s different than
Before
No more hugs kissing
Our happiness gone away
Like never before
The virus has taken our
Loved ones away
Families suffering
Like never before
The fear of the unknown
Has arrived
The worry of what will happen
Tomorrow to you and me
Coronavirus on our minds
Coronavirus everywhere
Our lives in danger
Like never before
We practice social distancing
Every day to keep the virus
At bay as we shop in different ways
Were asked to stay at home
Like never before
When will this
Virus ever go away?
But I promise
I’ll love and pray for everyone
Suffering
Every day.
David P Carroll
Brooklyn
Masks inhibit virus spread
I am writing in response to the letter by Emileine Mahoney under the headline “Face masks ineffective” on page 21 of the August 26, 2020 issue of Hudson Valley One. In her letter she quotes the CDC, “Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.”
I absolutely agree. The trouble is, seasonal influenza is not Covid 19, which is caused by a very different virus. The two viruses are not genetically related, and although the two diseases have somewhat similar symptoms they have very different transmissibilities, morbidities and mortalities.
The most compelling argument I have seen for using face masks to limit the transmissibility of Covid 19 was published by the CDC on July 17, 2020 in the article by M. Joshua Hendrix, and others “Absence of Apparent Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Two Stylists After Exposure at a Hair Salon with a Universal Face Covering Policy — Springfield, Missouri, May 2020,” MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 69(28), 930–932.
In this case study, two hair stylists worked with 139 clients for eight days with symptoms before finally being tested positive for the Covid 19 virus. For all eight days they wore masks and all their clients wore masks. None, not one, of their 139 clients later tested positive for the Covid 19 virus or developed symptoms. The authors conclude, “Adherence to the community’s and company’s face-covering policy likely mitigated spread of SARS-CoV-2.”
Yes, the masks are uncomfortable, yes, they steam up my glasses, but I wear a mask in public places, and I am thankful that others do too. There is very strong suggestive evidence that they do indeed inhibit the spread of the Covid 19 virus in the community.
John B. Ferguson
Red Hook
In support of sidewalks
I am writing to support the Town of New Paltz’s plan to add sidewalks and bicycle lanes to Henry W. Dubois (HWD) Drive.
I am an avid pedestrian who lives half a block from HWD. Walking on HWD is unpleasant during the day and treacherous at night. The traffic is much too fast for a residential neighborhood, and the lack of street lights, sidewalks and designated lanes for cyclists makes it a true hazard. I have written to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee about this in the past, and am very glad to hear that there is finally a plan to do something about it. I believe that widening the road to add sidewalks and bicycle lanes, replacing the trees that would have to come down, planting attractive vegetation, mitigating traffic speed and improving the drainage will make HWD and the entire neighborhood safer and more pleasant. It is also the right thing to do environmentally, as it will encourage more people to get about town by foot and by bicycle.
I certainly understand why some of my neighbors are concerned about losing some of the trees on their property, but I was very disturbed to read the personal attacks against our town supervisor in regard to this issue. Going forward, I hope that we will work hard to weigh the project on its merits without ascribing nefarious motives to each other or our town administrators.
Rena Blumenthal
New Paltz
NBA hypocrisy
The NBA now allows players to have messages supporting various causes, of course they must be approved and there is a list. Many players wear various clothing items supporting Black Lives Matter and opposing mistreatment of blacks by law enforcement. What you won’t see is any criticism of communist China’s suppression of the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority, millions of whom have been forced into reeducation programs to force conformity, no mention of attacking freedom in Hong Kong in violation of a treaty they signed. Worst of all ignoring the fact that thousands of blacks in America have died from Covid 19 as a result of China’s lying about the virus. Don’t their lives matter?
The NBA and its players fail to protest any of these things or even mention any of this, since they receive billions of dollars from China for television rights and the sale of merchandise. Nor will there be any protest of China’s use of slave labor in Nike factories. Next time a NBA team plays in China I bet you won’t see a signal player take a knee to protest China’s human-rights violations.
In this case, money doesn’t talk, it shouts.
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Don’t support hate
Throughout the Hudson Valley you’ll find no shortage of loudly displayed political opinions, some in the form of plastered bright red color and disillusioned words describing America as great. Yet as our president continues to fail in leading our nation, as our citizens continue to suffer from the ripples of these failures, and as societal unrest grows larger every day, these lawn signs remain.
As we approach the most important election of our lifetimes, I can only wonder why this support continues. I hope it’s merely deep-rooted ignorance or some perceived way to own the snowflakes, but I fear it’s something much worse. My fear is that hate has won, and these open supporters of the closest thing America has ever had to a fascist, are now proudly displaying that hate out in the open. I see no other explanation for how after years of lying, deceit, corruption, treason, immorality, and unethical behavior from our nation’s leader anyone still can support that.
I hope that hate hasn’t won, that hate hasn’t divided our nation to nearly pre-Civil War levels of tension, and that hate hasn’t led to nearly half our country blindly supporting a global super-villain. Our skies are burning, our planet and people are dying, and our train is off the rails.
What are you supporting? I hope it’s not hate.
Dave Lewis
Thompson Ridge
Jen Metzger listens to you
State senator Jen Metzger cares about a most precious resource: our children. Her cares translate into action and recent actions will benefit our children’s education and health. She proposed S8805, a bill which passed with bipartisan support. It will give access to affordable and reliable Internet service to everyone in New York State. which is especially vital during the pandemic when going to school means going online.
Jen knows that healthy children are more alert and learn better so she helped put together a farm-to-school food program for Ellenville. Supported by federal and state grants, it will also address childhood obesity and bring more business to our local farmers. It’s a win-win!
And that’s what Jen Metzger is: a state senator, who listens to us, cares about us and moves bipartisan legislation to help us. Vote to keep a good thing going! Vote to keep Jen Metzger our state senator on November 3 or earlier.
Doris Chorny
Gardiner
End the crazy
Remember Trump Steaks?
Remember Trump Wines?
Remember Trump’s ugly China-made ties?
Remember Trump Airlines?
Remember Trump non-University?
Remember Trump Vodka?
Remember Trump Mortgage?
Remember Trump Casinos?
Remember the Trump Plaza hotel?
Remember Trump Magazine?
Remember Trump Ice?
Remember the Trump Network?
Remember Trump: The Game?
Remember Trump’s New Jersey Generals?
No way am I lining up for a Trump-branded Covid vaccine.
Not sorry.
Just please, end the crazy.
Gary Maurer
Willow
Transparent democracy
This letter was submitted to be read during the public comment portion of the September 3 New Paltz town board meeting.
In the spirit of transparent democracy, we ask that the following questions about the Henry W. DuBois bike path project be answered by the board using public platforms such as the Hudson Valley One newspaper or the New Paltz public access TV station.
A. How under what terms were the 20 percent matching funds for the grant raised?
B. Who is on the steering committee, and what are their qualifications?
C. How much of the grant monies will go to firms located in New Paltz and who are those firms?
D. Should this project be suspended until the impact of the following developments are understood?
• The $475,700 grant for Empire State Trail stormwater management.
• Occupancy of Zero Place.
• The state’s installation of the traffic light at the intersection of Henry W. DuBois Drive and Route 32.
• The completion of the duplex across from New Paltz Gardens Apartments.
• Expansion of the storage facility on Henry W. DuBois Drive.
• Construction of the new fire station.
• Opening of the new police headquarters.
• The development of the parcel bounded by the Thruway, Route 299 and North Putt Corners Road (CVS).
To not read this letter into the record or not reply to these questions will only further the suspicions surrounding the intent of the Henry W. DuBois bike-path project.
Paul Bishop
Rachelle Bush
New Paltz
Dark skies, bright stars
Residents of New Paltz and Gardiner are so fortunate to have a view of the beautiful night sky once they leave the lights of the town center. Astronomers and photographers travel to our area just to take advantage of a clear view of the stars and Milky Way.
On September 1, at the Climate Change Solutions meetup, James Brigagliano, a local nght-skies lighting specialist, offered many ways for us to limit light pollution so that there will be a beautiful nighttime vista for us and our children and grandchildren to enjoy for years to come. New LED lighting fixtures are now available that will help us avoid the sky-glow, light trespass and glare produced by older streetlights and exterior lighting. These LED fixtures produce a warm mellow glow that can be shielded to keep excess light from escaping into the sky and from glaring through our bedroom windows. And they cost no more than standard lighting.
Through the power of the Internet and the Zoom platform, Hudson Valley residents were joined at the meetup by a student from Colorado and a scientist from Bali, who joined the conversation at 3 a.m., her local time! Apparently, even in Bali and Colorado, people are concerned about artificial light destroying their access to the starry night sky.
Other victims of light pollution include birds and insects, as well as larger animals. Insects are attracted to artificial light and often perish as a result. Migratory birds drawn off-course by nighttime lighting use up their energy supply and arrive at their destinations underweight and vulnerable. Turtles interrupt their normal egg-laying pattern when distracted by bright lights from beachfront resorts.
Use of dimmer, warmer, properly shielded LED lighting can reduce artificial lighting’s negative impact on nature. It is also healthier for humans, whose circadian rhythms can be disturbed by bright, blue, high-intensity lighting. For those of us who use outdoor lights to illuminate walkways and patios, Mr. Brigagliano recommends the use of sensors and timers. Turning lights off when they are not absolutely necessary is the cheapest way to eliminate pollution and to save money and energy.
New Paltz Climate Change Solutions meetups are held on the first Tuesday of the month. Previous topics include responsible sustainable Investing, electric vehicles, creating your own pollinator meadow, and backyard composting. Next month’s program will be on water management tips for residential landscaping.
Mark Varian
Gardiner
Fluttering around Saugerties
The Saugerties Chamber of Commerce announces its annual street art auction. This year’s theme is Fluttering Around Saugerties. The beautiful butterflies have been on the streets of the town and village of Saugerties and will continue to “flutter around” until October 18.
Our gala and auction has been held for many years in mid September at Saugerties Performing Arts Factory (SPAF). This year’s auction will be online only. Bidding is available now until Sunday, October 18 at 6 p.m. Go to discover Saugerties.com to bid and/or donate to Diaz Memorial Service.
The proceeds of the auction go to Diaz Memorial Ambulance Service, the participating artists and the Saugerties Chamber of Commerce. We also give a scholarship to a Saugerties High School graduating student.
We thank the village mayor Bill Murphy and staff, town supervisor Fred Costello and staff, the police department, the village department of public works, Robert Langdon of Emerge Gallery for his “Fluttering Around” walk around video tour and John Ianelli of Ianelli Photography for setting up our online auction.
Much appreciation to the participating artists and sponsors. You make this event possible.
Please bid, donate, support at Discoversaugerties.com
Mark Smith, chair
Peggy Schwartz, co-chair
Saugerties Chamber of Commerce
Saugerties
The pressure for change
Another sleepless night worrying that this white supremacist president of ours will forever poison race relations in the United States? Not to worry. Race relations in this country have always been toxic, and politicians have always used fear and hatred to win elections.
Worried that the working class will end up losing everything, as our nation’s richest people become kings and queens? That’s been happening for 40 years, as corporations have taken control of almost every aspect of our government. The millions that businesses and the very rich give to politicians used to be called bribery. Thanks to recent Supreme Court decisions, such gifts are now considered freedom of speech.
We see that all the reforms that most working people really want are routinely rejected, like taxing the rich, universal healthcare, free college tuition, an end to wars in the Middle East, and holding Israel accountable for the occupation of Palestine. There is no real money behind any of these ideas, so even though most people favor them, they have no chance of being considered, even in the Democratic platform.
The only reason to worry about Trump is that he represents the culmination of neoliberalism, the destruction of the common good by the huge corporations that rule us. Whether our next president is this dangerously unhinged demagogue, or a sleepy corporate shill, they will both serve the same plutocracy.
Yet change is happening in the streets, be it for LGBTQ, African American, or women’s rights. The pressure for change always comes from below.
Fred Nagel
Rhinebeck
Trump tries to panic us
On Tuesday, Simon & Schuster published investigative journalist Bob Woodward’s book Rage, a week following the release of taped phone conversations between the author and his subject, Donald Trump.
In March, after early in February describing Covid 19 as “more deadly than even your strenuous flus,” Trump told Woodward: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
Oh, really?
In July, a television ad called “Abolished” aired. Against a backdrop of crime and mayhem, the text reads “Joe Biden’s supporters are fighting to defund police departments. Violent crime has exploded. You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America” as a caller is told, “You have reached the 911 police emergency line. Due to defunding of the police department, no one is here to take your call. If you’re calling to report a rape, press 1. To report a murder, press 2. To report a home invasion, press 3. For all other crimes, leave your name and number and someone will get back to you. Our estimated wait time is five days. Goodbye.” It’s all followed by “I’m Donald Trump, and I approve this message.”
Joe Biden does not support defunding the police. What he does support is reform — primarily the introduction and funding of educational programs and mental health and drug treatment projects — to help police focus on policing.
Untrue to his word as usual, Trump does want “to create a panic.” Indeed, he’s been creating panic (and, of course, crime and mayhem) from the day of his “American carnage” inaugural speech, demonizing Muslims, Central Americans and other groups.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Before and especially since Joe Biden’s nomination, the president, realizing it’s his only path to reelection, has spread panic about, among many other things: the Second Amendment; “radical Justices”; socialism; protesters; Black Lives Matter; mail-in voting; the overrunning of “suburban housewives” by, as he tweeted, “Low-Income Projects, Anarchists, Agitators, Looters,” the economy under Biden; and Biden’s mental state.
With his every foul breath, Donald Trump is attempting to panic America into reelecting him.
So don’t let him fool you about not wanting “to create a panic.” If he fooled you once, in 2016, shame on him. If — after everything he’s done, after everything you’ve seen — he fools you again, shame on you.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Response to George Civile
I feel I must respond to the latest of George Civile’s almost-weekly opinion pieces. I have met George, and he seems like a sincere guy but, like many with such opinions, he tends to overemphasize the positive and completely ignore the negative.
George would have us believe that merely fulfilling many of his campaign pledges makes president Trump a good president, apparently worthy of re-election. He doesn’t seem to understand that, for many of us, his pledges were anathema such as loosening environmental regulations, his illegal transferring of money for needed military construction to his “useless” wall, and also that many of his means to enact these promises, e.g., separating children from their families, were immoral, unethical, unchristian and, perhaps, downright evil. It is akin to praising Hitler for the successful implementation of his 1939 prediction of “the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe” in the event of another world war. Keeping your promises isn’t always a positive.
A more balanced and honest opinion would include all of the many negative things that Mr. Trump has “accomplished,” which are too legion to mention here, but anyone who reads widely will know what I am talking about.
Let me point out one egregious and clearly obvious negative of Mr. Trump’s term so far and yet completely ignored (except parenthetically) by Mr. Civile. Of course, I am referring to the mishandling of the coronavirus tragedy and the many resulting, unnecessary deaths due to Trump and the GOP’s disdain for a centralized governmental response and their rejection of science when the recommended actions of experts disagree with their ideology.
We now know that masks can save lives. Not only does Trump not urge all citizens to do the right thing to protect themselves and others, but he actually encourages his followers to not be responsible possibly putting some of them in jeopardy, plus setting a terrible example for the rest of us.
I know that Mr. Civile cares a lot about the sanctity of life. It’s clear from his writings. He also told me so in person, so I believe he is completely sincere. Yet I do not understand how those such as he who profess to care about “life” can be so unconcerned with so many deaths and yet praise the president for keeping his anti-abortion judicial appointments promise. The hypocrisy is galling.
Anthony Zackin
New Paltz
What would you do?
“I’m here…….you’re here and they’re not”
Sounds like a team rally, where there are winners and losers. So, I’m not in the “in group.” Got it. Too bad for me. I guess I’m on my own, responsible for myself and my family. Got to create my own safety net, just in case. That’s the American way, individual freedom, all the way.
All fine except, these words were spoken by Potus, who represents the government by the people and for the people.
These past few years, being in the “out group,” I have learned so much about my government, my elected officials, the legal system and real life in the U,S. I’ve learned that:
• Lying is okay; not a crime, ever, no matter what the law says
• Water and air (that should be free and clean for all of us) can be so polluted that it can make you sick, especially if you live near it and try to use it
• Natural flora can be destroyed to make way for something that produces money
• Plastic is everywhere — in the air, water and soil; maybe we’ll all last forever since we eat it, drink it and breathe it
• People can be killed right in front of you, on your local streets, and this isn’t war
• If you die because you got sick, especially from a virulent virus, it’s your own fault
• People trying to do the right thing are made fun of, maligned, maybe despised
• If you try to understand a complex problem with facts, you are considered stupid
• Destruction is in, beauty is out
• Words mean nothing, and your word should not be taken seriously
And what about our government? I’ve learned that:
• Some things are too confidential for the public to know, and if they did, who knows what they’d do, we’re so untrustworthy
• Powerful folks will do anything to stay in power, for as long as they can
• Money runs politics (when didn’t it?)
• The truth will not set you free. If it did, we’d have fewer folks in jail
• Basic values of morality, decency, and humanity have less and less space in our political system
• There is minimal protection of the “out” group, special protection for those in the “in group.”
• It’s okay for Potus to exercise power that he does not have
• Safety of the populace (you and me) is not an issue unless it affects the pocketbook, or better yet, the stock market, or better yet, the pockets of the ultra-rich.
Having learned all of this (I’m in overwhelm with so much knowledge), I wonder if I should pay my taxes. After all, do I feel safer, healthier, smarter and tougher knowing all of the above? I’m not sure I want to pay for healthcare for Donald, Mitch, Mark, Nancy, Kirsten, Chuck, Devin and the myriads of elected officials. They haven’t asked me if I want to continue to build the wall; buy more stealth planes; reduce care for veterans, etc. What would you do?
Helise Winters
New Paltz
Soldiers are chaff to Potus
What’s floating in my head after listening to a Vietnam vet friend’s recent interview on September 4, 2020 with Tyler Hills, entitled “Haunting of Blind Kills” with John Wesley Fisher, an Army forward artillery man. He spoke about his tour of duty 53 years ago with pain about how many blind kills he called in during his time, and how heavy it still sits in his soul.
This, plus the recent reporting of how the president of the United States (Potus) has humiliated our returning vets dead and wounded, echoes in my skull and pokes at my heart. In my 72 years, I have not encountered deeper confusion than the Vietnam War uncovered in me and our country. From baby killers to hippies of free love, these were names used to describe the young of my generation. One side was enraged enough to make massive bomb attacks on the agrarian culture of Vietnam. On the other side, youth smoked pot, went braless, protested the war while listening to rock music, and copulated freely.
I often wonder if my peers have learned anything worth carrying into their elderhood. The broken ideals and unlearned mistakes of that era seem to be alive and well. Our current POTUS is evidence we have learned nothing. The corruptions and confusion of those times are manifested in the personality of the highest ranking individual of our country and military. We couldn’t have a more accurate presentation in one individual of how fast and far we’ve left free love.
Potus’s self-destructiveness, and his racism, reminds me of the Sixties riots. His amorality is similar to when Nixon’s and Johnson’s dumped morality for re-election. The truth is, our current Potus represents the reality that past history we grew up complaining about is still the same.
We harvest capital by going to war. The wealthy pay the politicians to run for offices. The powerful use catastrophe such as the current Covid pandemic as a way to make money regardless of the human lives put at risk.
John Fisher cast truth out upon the Internet this morning when, his voice cracking with emotions, he spoke of how he had no intentions of killing people in Vietnam until he was put into impossible circumstances by those never on a battlefield. John spoke of having killed because if he did not kill he would have been killed. We as a nation have never addressed or taken enough responsibility for the millions we put into this situation and the many similar wars we have continued only to feed with human and financial capital.
Our politicians avoid offering veterans political opportunities. Why? Because if you went to war, you are not as easily persuaded to spend massive amounts of money on more killing. So the wisdom our veterans learned through their suffering becomes the chaff that is separated from the cash that our Potus and his wealthy friends put in their pockets, while thumbing their noses at dead and wounded soldiers.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
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