Mengestu named professor
Bard College announces the appointment of Dinaw Mengestu as Catherine T. MacArthur Professor in the Humanities, effective spring 2021. Mengestu, a recipient of the 2012 MacArthur Foundation Award and director of the Written Arts Program at Bard, is the author of three novels.
Dinaw Mengestu was born in Ethiopia and raised in Illinois His fiction and journalism have been published in the New Yorker, Granta, Harper’s, Rolling Stone, and New York Times. Mengestu was chosen for the five under 35 Award by the National Book Foundation and was named on the New Yorker’s “20 under 40” list in 2010.
Drug package in county jail
The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office report the arrest of Diane J. Maiolo, 35, and Gary L. Hoffman, 30, of Kingston, as well as Jessica M. Henry, 36, of Ulster Park. All three were charged with the misdemeanors of promoting prison contraband in the second degree and conspiracy in the sixth degree.
On November 4, a quantity of Suboxone was discovered by corrections staff secreted in inbound mail. The resulting investigation alleges the three conspired to introduce the suboxone into the jail.
Maiolo and Henry were released with appearance tickets returnable to Kingston City Court on a later date. Hoffman remains in the Ulster County Jail on unrelated charges and will be produced to city court on a later date. Any person charged with an offense or offenses are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Twelve-year-old killed
A shooting in Kingston on December 17 resulted in the death of a twelve-year-old girl and the hospitalization of a nine-year-old boy.
The shootings occurred at about 8 p.m. at 60 Van Buren Street. Upon arrival, officers found a girl and a boy with gunshot wounds. The twelve-year-old female succumbed to her injury. The nine-year-old male was transported to Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital for treatment. The 9-year-old male was in stable condition and expected to recover.
The Kingston Police asked the New York State Police to take the lead in this homicide investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the New York State Police at 338-1702. All calls will be kept confidential.
“There are no words that can take away the pain and grief so many are feeling right now. What happened last night was every parent’s worst nightmare. Our hearts are with the family who suffered this unimaginable loss,” said Kingston mayor Steve Noble in a statement. “The City of Kingston and its partners will dedicate every single resource to find who is responsible for this horrific act. If anyone knows anything that can help bring closure to this grieving family and our community, please report it. Call our anonymous tip line at 331-4499. Nothing is more important than the safety of our children.”
New Dutchess Outreach executive
The Dutchess Outreach board of directors has appointed Dr. Renee Fillette as its executive director of the organization. Fillette will take the role as the executive director of 31 years, Brian Riddell, retires.
Fillette is an executive bringing over 16 years of experience in child welfare, domestic violence, peer support, autism, behavioral health, homelessness, food insecurity, care management, substance abuse, Head Start and education. In 2003, she founded the first new foster-care agency to be licensed in New York State in over 30 years. It was there at St. John Bosco that she learned about leadership and management of a non-profit and grew the agency from its original budget of $300K to nearly $2M serving high-risk children in community-based group homes.
Riddell will continue to curate the Poughkeepsie Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Library, which he co-founded.
First Student holiday cheer
The wheels were in motion to help bring holiday cheer to one Hudson Valley elementary school. Toys for Tots often collaborates with businesses to help with their toy distribution process. This year, Toys for Tots partnered with First Student, Inc., the bus company that transports students in the Saugerties School District. Through a lottery system, Mt. Marion Elementary School was chosen to be the beneficiary of a holiday surprise. Every student in the school received an age-appropriate toy. Items included bikes, dolls, board games, puzzles and more.
“I am incredibly thankful to our bus drivers and bus company for their support of our families in this unprecedented time,” principal Carole Kelder said.
Justice court postponed
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all traffic, criminal and civil cases that were scheduled for a New Paltz town court date, have been postponed until further notice. Arraignments for misdemeanor and felony offenses will be scheduled as necessary by the court.
For information, call the justice court at 255-0041.
Covid confessions
The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck will present The Covid Confessions, a new play written and directed by Louisa Vilardi. The play will be performed in real time and will be live-streamed to home audiences. Performances are Friday, January 8 at 8 p.m., Saturday, January 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, January 10 at 6 p.m.
The Covid Confessions is a full-length play made up of monologues that encapsulate our lives during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and provide us with a snapshot into people’s lives. The Covid Confessions chronicles personal accounts of those who lived to share them.
The Covid Confessions features performances by Kelly Barrett-Gibson, Tamara Cacchione, David Clarke, Edward Crawford, Molly Feibel, Teresa Gasparini, Andrew Joffe, Kevin McCarthy, Dylan Parkin, Josh Patriarco, Peter Pius, Howie Riggs and David Smilow. Tickets are $30 for a household pass, with no limit to attendees. A household pass may be purchased at www.centerforperformingarts.org.
This play is intended for mature audiences only. The non-profit arts and education sponsoring organization, is located at 661 Route 308 in Rhinebeck.
Addiction Coalition action summit
The Catskills Addiction Coalition community will gather online at the third annual Community Action Summit for a week of addiction and recovery programming from January 8 to 15 at catskillsaddictioncoalition.org. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened an opioid crisis that already kills more people in the Catskills than the state and national average. In 2020, isolation and joblessness caused by the pandemic have likely fueled a rise in overdoses. Preliminary data gathered by the CAC shows a worrisome rise in all overdoses (both fatal and nonfatal) across the Catskills region, from 102 overdoses in 2018 to 192 overdoses so far in 2020.
The keynote event, on Friday, January 8, will feature a “Voices of People in Recovery” panel of community members, videos made by local students and a memorial session to remember those we have lost. Other sessions throughout the week will discuss the role of law enforcement in recovery-friendly communities, mindfulness and recovery, creating “recovery-friendly” local jobs and a A Wing and a Prayer, a locally written and produced play about addiction.
A full list of interactive sessions is available at catskillsaddictioncoalition.org.
Open Space Institute and Wallkill Valley Land Trust announce completion of Wallkill Valley Rail Trail improvements
The Open Space Institute (OSI), in partnership with the Wallkill Valley Land Trust (WVLT), and the Hudson River Valley Greenway, have announced the completion of a million-dollar project to improve the northern 9.5-mile stretch of the Wallkill Valley rail-trail in Rosendale and Ulster, This stretch of the rail-trail features vistas of the Shawangunk Mountains and the Rondout Creek, as well as historical cement quarries and Joppenburgh Mountain.
With the new host of improvements, the trail is primed for inclusion as part of the Empire State Trail. Beth Bengtson, president of the WVLT, noted that the improvements reflect the benefits of collaboration between agencies, non-profits and other organizations. “The upgrade of the rail trail has essentially created a completely new experience for walkers, hikers, bikers and anyone using the trail for recreation and relaxation,” she said.
State parks official Tom Alworth said, “This project reflects the kind of teamwork by public-private partnerships at state parks that is accomplishing so much across the state. This work in the Hudson Valley will help make the Empire State Trail a world-class destination at a time when New Yorkers are flocking to healthy and safe outdoor recreation.”
The trail improvement project included resurfacing of the trail path with a permeable stone dust surface, rehabilitating three small bridges, and improved wayfinding signage. The project also greatly improved safety at road crossings with warning signage that has increased trail visibility. Many of the safety upgrades are providing a more welcoming experience and universal accessibility at major access points along the trail, including regrading of steep locations, and the addition of gently sloped entrance ramps.
Perfect Pitch, a New Year’s day spoken word/performance extravaganza
Perfect Pitch, the Hudson Valley New Year’s day spoken word/performance extravaganza will be broadcast on January 1 from 2 to 8 p.m. at http://youtube/Ztll13EpR12c. Perfect Pitch is produced by Bruce Weber. Now a full-time resident of the Hudson Valley, Weber was inspired to create the event by his exposure to talent in the region and the creative opportunities that are arising in the vicinity of Kingston.
The performers were filmed by David Schell at Green Kill in Kingston during the course of this autumn. Among the performers are: Abby Travis, Paul McMahon, Andy Clausen, Pamela Twining. Michael Bisio, Josepha Gutelius, Sam Truitt, Suzanne Bennet, Sparrow, Phillip Levine, Sylvie Degiez, Wayne Lopes, Karen Whitman, Rick Pantell, Anne Gorick and Mikhail Horowitz.
A listing of performers with their scheduled times for the January 1 live stream is available at https://greenkill.substack.com/p/green-kill-live-stream-january-1.
New Paltz top high school
New Paltz High School is one of the best high schools in New York State, according to Niche (www.niche.com), an online database that helps users compare the relative merits of various schools and neighborhoods. According to this list, NPHS is also the top high school in Ulster County, ranking 144th of 1244 public high schools. Niche ranks New Paltz Middle School (NPMS) as 168th of 1308 middle schools.
Niche awarded NPHS an overall grade of A by taking into account a wide range of factors, including academics, teachers, clubs and activities, diversity, college readiness and health and safety. In addition to reviews and survey responses from parents, students, and residents, the ranking process included an analysis of test scores, college data and statistics from the U.S. Department of Education.
Superintendent Angela Urbina-Medina points out that the district received an overall grade of A and a ranking of 130th among 674 New York school districts. “I’m very proud of our teachers, administrators and students, as well as the families and community members who support them,” she said. “At the middle school and high School — and at all our schools — we aim to not only uphold exceptional academic standards, but also to help create the kind of flexible, nimble and independent thinkers who are capable of adapting to new situations and succeeding in today’s world.”
To view New Paltz High School’s “report card,” click on https://bit.ly/2WlqteW.
New Zappa doc in Rosendale
The Music Fan Film Series welcomes you warts and all to Zappa. A holiday gift if ever there was, director Alex Winter, granted unprecedented access to family history, makes Zappa a rock doc with a fun fact for any level Zappa head. Zappa digs deeper into the defiant citizen, cultural Don Quixote and political wise guy far more than the furry, furious, Sixties guitar hero/freak. Available on Rosendale Theatre’s virtual platform, Zappa balances the fallible genius, the unflappable rogue, The Laurel Canyon-based icon leading the Czech underground.
This 129-minute biography is viewable now through January for a cost of $12. For additional information, visit www.rosendaletheatre.org.
Holidays at the recycling center
The New Paltz ReUse and Recycling Center will be closed Friday, December 25 and Saturday, December 26 for Christmas and Friday, January 1.
Preservation board volunteers
The Town of New Paltz is looking for volunteers to serve on its Community Preservation Advisory Board. The purpose of the board is to review and make recommendations to the town board on conservation projects as envisioned in the New Paltz Community Preservation Plan. Information can be found at www.townofnewpaltz.org. To apply, send a letter indicating your interest and experience with conservation or land and/or historic preservation activities to assistant@townofnewpaltz.org.
Saugerties candidates sought
The Saugerties Democratic Committee is looking for interested individuals to consider running for public office in the November 2021 election. The positions on the ballot will include three county legislators — District 1, Blue Mountain, District 2, the village and Malden and District 3, Glasco and the northern part of the Town of Ulster. In the Town of Saugerties, the ballot will include the supervisor, two town board seats, the highway superintendent, the town clerk, town judge and tax collector.
If you wish to entertain the possibility of running, please e-mail saugertiesdemocraticcommittee@email.com, or write to the SDC, PO Box 511, Saugerties, NY 12477. Please send a resume or statement about you background and reasons for seeking election to public office. The petitioning process begins in just over two months.
BOCES students keep on cooking
It’s beginning to feel a lot like the holidays in the culinary arts kitchen at Ulster BOCES. The aspiring chefs have constructed a gingerbread village composed of buildings representing a variety of the programs offered at the Career & Technical Center.
Isaiah Snyder from Saugerties and Ryan Olsen from Highland made a hospital, complete with a bed and a patient, to represent the health occupations exploration program. Zachary Williams and Sidney Hymes from Kingston built a jail as an emblem of the criminal justice program. Representing the automotive careers, Grace Vitiello and Thomas Harvey made an automotive repair shop with a car lift and the program’s motto, “The Way it Auto Be,” emblazoned on the structure’s roof.
New Paltz taxpaying
Due to Covid-19, the Town of New Paltz will be limiting payment options for the 2021 tax-collection season. It will not be accepting cash payments or payments made in person. You can mail in your payment, drop it in the secure dropbox on the outside the town fall or call the office to arrange payment by credit card. All credit-card payments will be subject to a 2.65 percent transaction fee. Please call 255-0100 with questions.
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