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The ghosts of protests past
In the murky labyrinth of memory, I often find myself returning to the theater of the Vietnam war. The stage is set with the phantoms of my past, men of flesh and bone reduced to abstract marionettes in the grand play of geopolitics. When the lights dim and the curtain of time lifts, I see the protestors — the chorus in this tragic opera — shouting “Baby Killer” as if etching those words onto my soul with a chisel.
To them, I was the monster under the bed, the Minotaur in the labyrinth, lurking in the dark alleys of morality. I recall the words of Joan Baez, a prominent voice in the anti-war movement, who sang, “We’re fighting a war we shouldn’t be fighting.” Wasn’t she right? Like Prometheus bound, I was tied to the stone of my duties, my liver eaten away each day by the inescapable fact: they were correct in their moral calculus.
But here is the biting irony, a Sisyphean absurdity if there ever was one: they, the protestors of yesteryears, have gone mute. Where are they now, these ethereal guardians of morality? Once, I was Icarus, flying too close to the sun of my destructive capabilities; now, they have donned my waxen wings. It seems the cycle is eternal. As Yeats might suggest, “the center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
Today’s protestors are different. They march for climate, social justice and economic inequality, but their voices are a soft murmur in the cacophony of contemporary warfare. Gone are the days of fervent opposition, replaced by a chilling silence or a passive sigh. Have we become so numb and detached that we trade our youthful idealism for the cold comfort of indifference?
The children and grandchildren of the 60s activists have inherited not the mantle of protest but the armor of apathy. Fear has become the currency of the day — fear of the “other,” be it ISIS or some unnamed phantom lurking in the collective psyche of a nation. But is this not a house of mirrors where every reflection is just another layer of delusion?
So, to the ghostly protestors haunting the corridors of my past, I beseech you: rise from your comfort recliners and raise your voices once more. As Albert Camus wrote, “The only way to deal with this world in a free way is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
Your rebellion is needed, now more than ever, in this eternal cycle of violence and complacency. From Syria to Afghanistan, from Palestine to Ukraine, the soil is wet with the tears of mothers and fathers who will never hold their children again. Be the lantern in this ever-darkening world. After all, if thoughts remain caged as mere musings, what are we but actors reciting forgotten lines on a dimly lit stage? Raise your voice.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
A complete thought
I’m not a spoken word artist; I am a spoken sentence artist.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Woodstock dog park update
Attention! Currently, the Woodstock Dog Park is still closed! Not safe!
We, of the Dog Park Committee have been informed that the town is in the process of taking corrective measures to make major repairs to fencing, framing, gates and paths at the dog park in order to correct damages that have occurred over the past few years.
Bill McKenna, our current town supervisor, advised us that the repairs will be completed shortly.
He advised us that as of immediately, all the park areas are closed until the town completes the necessary repairs that will return the park to the safe conditions we and our dogs have enjoyed over more than the past ten years.
For further information, call Bill at 845-679-2113, extension 17.
Fran Breitkopf
Hatti Iles
Lee Danziger
West Hurley
Good Republicans?
Sometimes, a friend will try to assure me that there are good Republicans. I have great difficulty digesting this suggestion, given the espoused platform of those who lay claim to that political identity. While some, comparatively few in the pack, are “never-Trumpers,” this disassociation alone does not free them from their moral turpitude. For example, those who identify as Republicans, based upon their commitment to “fiscal conservatism” as opposed to a fascist mindset, advance an ideology that makes short shrift of those basic moral values that move truly good people to love and care for the other as they love and care for themselves. Oh yes, while some of these Republicans are willing to be charitable, at times, in response to humanitarian causes, or in their contributions to the arts, they exhibit an entrenched resistance to a just socio-economic order.
Justice demands action to dismantle those structures and systems that render a growing number of children hungry, a growing number of families homeless, millions without affordable and accessible health care, doors closed to migrants and the majority being paid a minimum wage that is less than half of what would qualify as a living wage. They espouse a commitment to maintaining a class-based society in which those that have the most do so at the expense of the workers, aka slaves, who make their lives always more than comfortable.
If you identify yourself as a Republican and want to see yourself as good, you are either willfully blind or delusional.
The Rev. Frank J. Alagna
Kingston
He’s no Magic Johnson
Speaker Mike Johnson, all smiles and good demeanor: the congenial Nazi, as stated in Julius Caesar: “Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough. To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy: Hide it in smiles and affability.” — Shakespeare
Still hard to believe the MAGAt cult got everyone to vote for and extoll accolades on this election denier. Ladies and gentlemen, we are watching our democracy delegitimize before our eyes. This whole farce hopefully has changed some minds of the independent voters.
He worked as an attorney for the hate group “Alliance Defending Freedom,” where he argued that “the homosexual lifestyle is morally wrong and physically dangerous.” Co-sponsored a bill with Marjorie Taylor Greene to block lifesaving healthcare for transgender youth and punish providers with jail time. Beyond these extremist credentials, Mike Johnson is an insurrectionist who backed a 2020 attempt to throw out election results and overturn the will of the voters. He’s also vehemently anti-abortion, having fought to shut down a Baton Rouge abortion provider and leading numerous anti-abortion efforts in the House.
Finally, after the recent AR-15 assault rifle killings in Maine which literally paralyzed the state, newly elected House speaker Mike Johnson’s, R-La., had this response, “it is not the time to discuss any legislation aimed at controlling firearms, as he maintained the “problem is the human heart, not guns.”
It was hard to believe they could find someone worse than Jim Jordan. The downfall of the Republicans continues, the madness of the Orange has overwhelmed them all and proves, even without the “Manchurian cantaloupe,” the MAGAt right is alive and extremely sick.
Our democracy is in deep trouble. Having a MAGAt white Christian nationalist wannabe theocrat election denier with extremist right-wing views, just two steps away from the presidency, is deeply appalling.
He was a ridiculous choice. Many members of congress swore an oath to uphold the constitution, they’ve violated that oath. Vote them out. If not, “Democracy will die in darkness” and it will slowly wither away. I didn’t know that our federal government is run by the Bible. What did I miss in American history class?
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
If I was going to college, I’d study sewer treatment
Last week we visited the Village of Tuxedo Park’s sewer treatment plant to compare its “activated sludge” technology that went online this past January to New Paltz’s facility that uses “fixed film” (bugs on rocks) and was constructed in the late 1960’s.
We are trying to assess whether treatment using “activated sludge,” where micro-organisms developed in aeration tanks (bugs in water) that digest sewage bacteria, requires less space than the mechanicals at our plant, could result in fewer maintenance calls and be less likely to smell.
Even if we had tens of millions in our pocket to invest in a new plant today, the design process and then review by state regulators is estimated to take several years. Future wastewater treatment investments will be costly. But being prepared and understanding options will save New Paltz money that should benefit the next generation for decades.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Facts matter
The Housing Oversight Task Force (HOTF), comprised of volunteers drawn from town committees and boards involved with housing, has been working for over two years to develop recommendations to the Woodstock Town Board for updating the zoning and subdivision laws, in order to meet the town’s affordable housing needs while ensuring protection of our environment. HOTF sought community input all along — meeting with all segments of our community, official boards and committees, town and private-sector workers, the faith community, young families and older residents, housing experts, environmental advocates and county planners. As a result of that input, HOTF has produced three drafts, with the latest version submitted on October 3rd to the town board, which has begun holding public hearings and continues to take public comment. These draft laws are located on the town website along with associated materials.
Throughout this process, HOTF has worked to produce recommendations that promote affordable housing, ensure permanent protection of environmentally sensitive areas throughout the town and retain the scale and character of Woodstock’s built environment through clear, strict environmental and site criteria, as well as increased planning board authority and tools to ensure that these values are met. The comprehensive plan articulates these values, and the proposed zoning and subdivision law updates implement these values, thus bringing them into alignment with the comprehensive plan.
Some key proposals include: conservation subdivisions setting aside 50% of its acreage for permanent protection, with a minimum of 15% affordable dwellings interspersed and indistinguishable from non-restricted dwellings; net buildable acres removing environmentally sensitive areas to calculate permitted density; prohibiting multi-family structures in the scenic overlay and R-8 districts; and prohibiting STRs in a first ADU and in any affordable developments. These are significant restrictions that protect the town’s environment while permitting affordable housing options.
Nonetheless, there continues to be a lot of misleading and false information about these proposed changes. Zoning is complex and full of details, and we all need to understand the facts. To this end, the Woodstock Housing Committee and HOTF are holding an open question-and-answer session on Saturday, November 11 from 1-3 p.m. at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center. Moreover, all questions and comments sent to zoningupdates@woodstockny.org will be thoroughly reviewed and evaluated in the coming weeks.
Deborah DeWan, HOTF Co-Chair
Bearsville
Kirk Ritchey, HOTF Co-Chair
Woodstock
Reaction to panel at the October 28 Shady Waters screening at the Woodstock Library
As I woke up this morning, I remembered how I stood up and shared my fear and pain and rage about the loss of my water, but realized that I forgot to share how I’ve been impacted by “Plan E.” Even though Supervisor McKenna continues to say that the fill has been removed, the hydrologists again explained in detail how the pulverized contaminated construction debris is actually still sitting up at 10 Church and how “Plan E” moved the C&D around the site, and that it now covers an area equal to five Olympic-sized swimming pools. When the C&D was initially dumped in 2020, my house was not classified as down gradient from the debris and now it is. What this means is that my water was safe from risk of contamination before “Plan E” was implemented, and that this “Plan E” has actually spread the fill out, and therefore spread out the irreversible damage and put an end to my ability to drink my own water.
I did not share that I have been in a constant state of despair and worry about the health of myself and that of my eight-year-old daughter. I wonder if these contaminants can be absorbed through our skin in the bath and have started to think about moving. It’s hard to imagine living here forever, never being able to drink our own water, having to drink water from Kingston or Arkansas. Sometimes I am able to get out of this despair, and sink into the real loss and grief. The depth of this loss is deep. It’s primal. This water is not mine. It belongs to the land. And part of this loss is that my connection to the land is now ruptured. I have lost my water, but I have not lost my voice.
Jessie Kotler
Bearsville
What I don’t see
When I drive through Woodstock what I see is: STOP Woodstock National, STOP Terramor, NO Calamar Lane motel. Community activists rallying to stop developments in the name of environmental protection. Allegedly.
What I don’t see is much support for Pam and Frank Eighmey, who have spent $100k+ fighting to protect their home and their drinking water after their neighbor accepted 200+ truckloads of contaminated fill from Joseph Karolys and buried it on their property. Now the Town of Woodstock is fighting in court to protect that illegal dump, adding to the expenses they are incurring. Their multi-year effort to protect their water will protect all of us.
And yet, there are few signs devoted to protecting the water dotted around town. There is no big fundraiser at Colony. Over on the Stop Woodstock National Facebook page, members complain that the dump issue is “too politicized” — they will get around to supporting it — someday? Woodstock Land Conservancy and Catskill Mountainkeeper were early, outspoken opponents of Karolys’ illegal landfill in Saugerties, but once that same material got trucked through town and dumped in Shady, their silence was conspicuous.
If we claim to be environmentalists while ignoring the biggest environmental threat in Woodstock in order to fight new developments, might we just be against new people coming to town? The rhetoric against “newcomers” saturates discourse here, from zoning changes to the upcoming election. One Woodstocker commented that the extended group of neighbors worrying about their water hadn’t lived in Woodstock long enough. Well, we won’t have to worry about Woodstock National if the town’s water gets contaminated — of course, property values will crater, tourist dollars will evaporate, local businesses will close and friends may get sick.
I don’t want to see the Zena forest chopped up to create a suburban development, that is part of the reason I spent two years fighting to designate that whole area as a Critical Environmental Area. But I also can’t wrap my mind around the fervor to fight something that will be in the works for years yet, while refusing to pay attention to an existential threat that’s been ongoing for years already. We can and should do it all.
Alex Bolotow
Woodstock
Unimpressive
A recent letter in Hudson Valley One regarding the Town of Woodstock new office addition states this addition as “impressive.” How?
The CCD (Civic Design Commission) final design decision last year to the applicant was delayed due to non-submittal of final documents. The CCD clearly wrote a non-approval of the design. This project is now under construction. A $1M bond plus $1.88M of reserved funds created a $2.88 budget cap. The awarded construction bid was $2,877,402. Change orders will raise the final cost.
The Woodstock Times published the design on 1/16/20. The Times also published several articles between 2020-2022 and included the CCD’s concerns. A formal letter of non-approval from the CCD to the town board on 2/13/20 went ignored while construction documents were being processed. It’s an inefficient single loaded hallway plan, not very ‘green’, with access to the addition only through the existing ‘great room’. A non-compatible inboard shed roof form was built, in opposition to the original design goal, too close to the existing historic Dutch Revival building. It includes an enclosed link bashing into the existing building’s east porch. The supervisor’s office is to remain in the remote cottage, not under the same roof with town staff. The clerk’s office now looks at an exterior wall, no longer towards the Comeau easement forest.
David Ekroth, Chair CCD
Woodstock
What a difference a comma can make
“Let’s eat grandma.” Or “Let’s eat, grandma.” What a difference a comma can make. A headline in HV1 seems to imply that another $100,000 bump in the town contract with the New Paltz Rescue Squad will cause a 9.4% increase in an individual’s tax burden. In the article it explains that the New Paltz Rescue Squad increase in the town budget will be offset by budget cuts. Yes, the whole town budget package may increase the tax burden by 9.4%, but that’s not what the headline implies.
Ted Reiss
New Paltz
Cease-fire now!
Hamas’s massacre of Israelis was a stain on the human soul, on human decency, on human history. The marauders murdered indiscriminately, resulting in the deaths of roughly 1,400 Jews and causing unimaginable grief to spread throughout Israel and the rest of the world.
But so is Israel’s ongoing massacre in Gaza a stain, and so is it causing unimaginable grief, especially to Palestinians, but throughout the world. The bombs and other weapons of mass destruction Israel is blanketing Gaza with may be, in addition to destroying homes and villages and families, costing 1,400 lives or more every day, a number that as I write this totals around 8,000, most of the victims apparently children and women.
And so is it a stain on Israel that it largely refuses to let goods into Gaza, including food, water, fuel, and hospital supplies. As one bone-and-soul-weary Palestinian doctor put it, “The one thing we have not yet run out of is hope.” But with Israel warning of a long war, hope is sure to soon become one of the many commodities the Palestinian people will have to do without.
A cease-fire — which the UN and other bodies have pleaded for — is the only way to stop the devastation. The conscience-less Netanyahu and his minions must find another way to seek their revenge and destroy Hamas. Americans must drown out the silence of their country and others by joining the growing chorus of voices urging a cessation of this madness and the beginning of a two-state solution. Just the way people recently have everywhere, including in Ulster County, the world must put its compassion into action and gather together in protest.
Let the decency of people everywhere ring out: CEASE-FIRE NOW!
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
An apology
To the good people of the Reservoir United Methodist Church in Shokan, I am wholeheartedly sorry that I loudly chanted Om Namah Shivaya in the church during the 2015 annual Memorial Day yard sale preparations and then accused the entire congregation of not following the Lord because they ate meat and did not meditate. Does that sound like I was following the Lord? Sheesh. I don’t think the kirtan people appreciated it either. Who wants to chant with someone who goes into someone else’s sacred space where they have been given to tremendously, and insults them to their faces.
In recent years the wisest people I know are eating meat and advising me to do the same. Go figure.
I have grown to respect the church tremendously. The churches run food pantries, thrift stores and seem to be the heart of the community wherever they are. It has been humbling to me how much I have been given by the church and how little has been asked or required of me in return.
I personally tend to fall into the Carrie’s mother category of Christian, you know, from Stephen King. I have seen people with time served in prison wearing crosses the size of baseballs bats around their necks. It’s sort of like, wherever you are at, do your best. The fact that people have done and still are doing some not-so-great things does not mean that we are not trying.
“The last shall be first and the first shall be last.” I pretty much feel like the last. What it is.
Last thing is the Facebook joke: “A Jew, A Christian and a Muslim walk into a bar. They all become great friends because they are not a**holes.”
Ruth Kopelman
Saugerties
Israel and Gaza
To your correspondents, who decry the killing of Israelis by Hamas fighters, I have a few questions. Is it that you decry the brutal murder of innocent civilians ? Or do you only decry the brutal murder of innocent Jewish civilians? Do you care about human rights and justice and dignity for all people or only for some people? Does the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians , mostly women and children from their homes which have been bombed to smithereens concern you? How selective is your concern for innocent human beings?
As of this writing, 3,000 children have been killed in Gaza by Israeli bombs. Innocent children.
More than 8,000 civilians have been killed. The number of wounded, mostly women and children, is in the tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands of families — including the very young and very old — have been forced to flee from Israel’s merciless attack on this population. They are homeless. Food, water and fuel have been blocked from entering Gaza by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). This, brutal punishment of an entire population is a clear violation of international law to say nothing of being immoral and heartless.
But for Israel , this is, in many ways, a replay of 1948 when its army pushed 750,000 Palestinians out of their homes and out of Israel into refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, and the Gaza Strip as part of a prepared plan of ethnic cleansing so that the Zionist dream of a Jewish state could be realized. The recent findings by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’tselem (Israel’s own human rights organization) that Israel has devolved into an apartheid state, pervasively persecuting Palestinians (including holding several thousand in jails without charges or due process — i.e. hostages) is yet another condemnation of its conduct.
This context should not be ignored.
I will mourn with those grieving for the innocent Jews and Palestinians, who have been and will be killed. But I will not mourn selectively.
And to those who oppose a cease-fire in the interest of saving innocent life I say your humanity has been lost.
Richard Levy
Woodstock/Saugerties
Another slanted article
First, a major objection. HV1’s website was down all day last Monday, so I submitted my letter to two different HV1 emails. Yet it was ignored. Why? And again, Nick Henderson writes a slanted article. Ugh.
Nick Henderson’s pearl-clutching headline (“McKenna disinvited: Last-minute cancellation irks Woodstock’s town supervisor”) was both ridiculous and misleading. The text of the article reveals what a nothing burger this was. Sure, Protect Woodstock’s Water (PWW) had invited McKenna to participate in a Q&A after the screening of the Shady Waters documentary scheduled for October 20, but had to rescind the invitation after learning that the hydrologist also scheduled for that screening could not appear with McKenna, on advice of counsel, due to ongoing litigation. So PWW asked McKenna to appear at the October 28 screening instead, which, by the way, he did, alongside two other hydrology experts. Yes, PWW wanted McKenna to appear to explain why the town has allowed illegally dumped construction and demolition (C&D) material to remain for almost four years at a residence in Shady, threatening neighbors’ wells and the town aquifer. But PWW’s main goal was to highlight the science; hence the requirement to have at least one hydrology expert at each screening. An alternative headline: “Neighborhood group irked by town’s inadequate response to illegal dump in Shady.”
At the October 28 screening, hydrologists with decades of experience presented compelling analyses of the threats to the town’s water supply posed by the illegal C&D dump and why the “sort and sift” operation approved by McKenna was completely inadequate to address it.
Please report on that! Here’s a headline: “Hydrology experts outline threats posed by illegal dump in Shady.” And please investigate the improper “review” by the DEC, which was based on a visual inspection (!) and review of a summary (!) of soil tests obtained from the property owner (!). But thanks for noting that McKenna has frequently said the town could pay for full removal and get reimbursed via taxes levied on the property owner.
Luke Hunsberger
Shady
“A quintessential Woodstock evening”
The Historical Society of Woodstock (HSW) recently presented the sold-out Catskill Mountain Folk Concert at the Christian Science Church on Tinker Street. The evening spotlighted songs of the Catskills and is a tie-in to the “Woodstock Farming Story” currently running at the HSW. This exceptional evening was a rousing success in terms of money raised and memorable musicianship due to the outstanding generosity of the musicians who donated their talent: John Sebastian, Molly Mason and Jay Ungar, Tim Kapeluck, Julie Last, Steve Charney, Jeff Keithline and Pat Lamanna.
I am grateful to the Christian Science Church for hosting the event. Thanks go to Roy Sheldon, Violet Snow and Penny Milford for facilitating the show.
In addition, many thanks go to Steve Charney for emceeing, Jeff Keithline for handling the sound, and stage managers Hank Neimark and Tad Wise. Thanks also go to David Laks for lending the sound equipment.
In addition, I am incredibly grateful to HSW volunteers Kathy Crost, Richard Heppner, Debbie Heppner, JoAnn Margolis, Terry Lover, Jeff Miller, Jeff Keithline, Pat Lamanna, Letitia Smith, Nikki Hall, Janine Mower and Bill Horne for helping produce the event. Further, thanks to all who attended for making this, in the words of Jenne Currie, “a quintessential Woodstock evening.”
Weston Blelock, President
Historical Society of Woodstock
Do your homework
Voters didn’t have the facts! The current rezoning plan will change Woodstock, forever. No one wants an apartment complex on their beautiful rural road. This is the worst proposal that could possibly happen to Woodstock. As a former real estate agent, I have seen developers buy up single family homes for cash, remodel and make them unaffordable. This new zoning law is even more incentive for developers to make more money. Bill McKenna knows this also includes a particular Russian company that has done this several times before to create STRs. This change will make it impossible for the average person to ever buy a home.
The board is naive to think this will work. It won’t. It happened in Austin. Beautiful homes in the historic Hyde Park district, were purchased by outside developers, torn down and replaced by 4-6 unit apartments and condos that were anything but affordable. They destroyed beautiful neighborhoods. 60 Minutes did a story on Canadian companies buying up homes in Florida. Woodstock will soon change from the quaint artist colony we love. The cost of building is prohibitive from making anything affordable! The only way to do this is with a proven entity like Rupco.
I urge everyone supporting this to do your homework. It will not create affordable housing. Woodstock can’t police the illegal Airbnb’s it currently has. How will they be able to monitor hundreds of future ADUs from being STRs? I want to keep my backyard view of trees. A four-plex view will lower property values. Almost every street in Woodstock is vulnerable and on the list. The environmental impact is even more problematic. What will it do to our wells, forests and traffic? These harmful, pro-development HOTF upzoning proposals would allow three-plex and four-plex apartment buildings and multifamily developments on lots on almost every street. This includes eight-unit attached apartment buildings, mobile homes and tiny house developments.
How much damage needs to be done before the harmful changes are undone?
Marcia Zwilling
Woodstock
Thanks for supporting the WGHQ Happy Christmas Fund radio-thon
On behalf of Bob Siracusano and myself, we greatly appreciate the outpouring of support and generosity we received during our hour of the WGHQ Happy Christmas Fund radio-thon, yesterday. During that hour, along with what we received prior to and after, Bob and I received contributions and pledges totaling over $30,000!! Almost $8,000 more than what we did last year, which was an all-time high!
As of last evening, all total for the day we were nearing $70,000 and we certainly expect to meet, if not exceed, our goal of $80,000 by the time Christmas rolls around!
With current inflation, the need to help our needy this holiday season is greater than ever and as a result of all of you, so many children will get to enjoy a very merry Christmas, like we all get to do, along with putting smiles on hundreds of children’s faces. Likewise with our seniors and veterans, who we never forget, who will also benefit off your generosity.
If you were not able to call-in yesterday or have not had the opportunity to make a pledge, it is not too late, as contributions are accepted right up until Christmas Eve.
My words alone cannot extend the many thanks, along with my level of appreciation, to all of you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Greg Chorvas, Superintendent
Cantine Veterans Sports Complex
Saugerties
Facts should matter
The response to the gist of the resignations of the ZBA I chaired regarding the town board’s political intrusion, including the fact that McKenna was found guilty by the ethics board of attempting to influence a volunteer board into our cases and the decision was: “We on the [current] ZBA never heard anything from Supervisor McKenna on ANY cases unless he’s been asked. No political pressure. No suggestions.” And the response to a comment on Facebook regarding McKenna’s control over “every department in town” was: “I [current chair] have not heard anyone on any committee, elected or appointed position, or task force complain about Bill McKenna.”
Interesting responses especially since McKenna, according to the chair of the planning board Peter Cross, “this is straight from the supervisor, [he] does not authorize the tree committee to go on this property, period [the “scar “in the scenic overlay] even though the planning board on previous occasions called upon the tree committee for their opinions, or McKenna not allowing the Commission for Civic Design to complete its review of the addition to the Comeau building, an addition that was supposed to compliment it. Then you have him removing Alex Bolotow, the chair of the Woodstock Environmental Commission for an alleged sexual harassment charge and you have the tree committee who, despite McKenna’s lack of support, is still able to function.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Gratitude
At the time of writing, the election has not yet happened, but it’s worth noting that this year two elected officials have voluntarily stepped away.
I’m certain literally everybody in Gardiner is grateful for Michelle Mosher’s decades of service as town clerk. Her work was impeccable, and she always demonstrated an astonishing capacity for unbiased conduct toward all of us — across the political spectrum.
Laura Walls has a storied, decades-long history as both supervisor and town board member. I am especially grateful for her focus on traffic safety, initiating a community-wide effort to voluntarily observe speed limits. For the safety of all of us, let’s do it!
Thank you to both.
Samuel Cristler
Gardiner
Yarmulkes off?
Calls of “gas the Jews” coming from protesters in Sydney, Australia, indicate the level and persistence of anti-Semitic sentiments held by far too many throughout the world. Indeed, in light of Israel’s declaration of war against Hamas for their October 7 attack in Europe and even on American college campuses, Jews are being warned against wearing symbols identifying their faith or ethnicity to avoid hostile confrontations. (For those calling for a ceasefire from Israel, the words of a Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, should give insight into Israel’s reluctance to do so: Two weeks after the attack that killed 1400 Israelis Hamad stated it was just the first of many that would occur until Israel was destroyed: no matter how many Palestinians were “martyred.”) The following is inspired by “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream.” It is meant to acknowledge how unsafe so many Jews and reluctant Palestinian “martyrs” must feel as a result, of the barbaric attack(s) and policies of Hamas. It’s also meant to point out the increasing hostility confronting Jews throughout the world and the fickle nature of much of the good will expressed for them: even in America.
(Stanza)
I was riding through the city moving stuff across the land I work for Mayflower Movers; I’ll have you understand
I had some time to kill and I was hungry as a horse
I saw a McDonalds up ahead and I stopped to eat of course
As I walked into the building, I took my “I Love Israel” hat off my head
and wondered if I should get a cheeseburger
But got a Big Mac meal, instead
(stanza)
I put my hat in my vest and started to eat my Big Mac meal
Protestors came in looking angry and I thought. “well, what’s their deal?”
They were chanting “Free Palestine from the river to the sea”
So, I was glad my hat was hidden for fear they’d come after me
And, as they passed by, I raised “thumbs up” an act cowardly and lame
And although this act was caused by fear, I remember it with shame
(stanza)
The USA is one of the “Americas” I thought as I went outside
It used to be in “this” America; a hat you didn’t have to hide
But there’s hatred rising for Israel
and those who with them agree
This don’t seem right in the home of the brave and land of the free
So, I sat in my truck thinking if I had wings like a bird I’d fly away;
but I had no wings, and was still afraid so I decided I could not stay
(stanza)
I made it back to my Mayflower truck and was driving on my way
I was stuck in traffic with a truck next to me; its tint was a light grey.
The driver was a man of color with a “Star of David” hat upon his head
he worked for a rival company “Columbus Movers” his truck read
He rolled his window down and shouted “Where’s the nearest place to eat?”
I yelled there’s a McDonalds up ahead about a mile down this street
(stanza)
The traffic was moving slowly and we were able still to talk
He yelled “the way this traffic’s moving I wish that I could walk”
As we came near McDonalds, I saw the protesters still were there
I warned my mover friend “if you’re going in right now of anti-Israel protestors you’d best beware”
I advised him “take off your hat and leave it in your truck”
He said “No, this is America where Israel is loved”
And I yelled “Man, you can do what you want; but I think you’re pressing your luck!”
George Civile
Gardiner
Welcome winter
Are you:
• Planning some home repairs or alterations this year?
• Saving up to purchase an electric vehicle?
• Trying to save money on your electric bill?
• Doing all of the above?
STOP! Don’t do anything yet! Get out your calendar: Write down: Thursday, November 16, 6 to 8 p.m. That’s when you have to come to St. Joseph’s Church in New Paltz for Welcome Winter — where you will find everything you need to know about saving money and keeping warm this winter.
You may think that putting solar panels on your roof isn’t an affordable alternative to your ever-rising utility bill. You may be on the board of a non-profit or religious institution that has not been able to benefit from energy tax credit incentives. Perhaps you sit on a condo board or tenant association and want to get your management or landlord to install EV charging stations. There is an ever-increasing array of federal, state and utility-sponsored financial incentives.
The Welcome Winter committee is bringing together the most knowledgeable experts in the region to help you navigate the amazing number of programs that are available to homeowners, renters, small businesses, schools and non-profits. There is no one size that fits all. But these folks will get you started on your quest for just the right deal.
For several years the New Paltz Climate Action Coalition, Climate Smart Task Forces of New Paltz and Gardiner and Interfaith Earth Action have come together at this time of year to provide programs to enlighten residents and small business owners about low-cost energy efficiency measures that lower their utility bills while shrinking their carbon footprint. This year the Climate Reality Project,
Sustainable Hudson Valley and New Yorkers for Clean Power will add their expertise to the agenda. Speakers from the Climate Reality Project will take us step-by-step through an incentive process that will save you money and improve the quality of your life.
And you will have fun too! There will be activities for kids, some music, refreshments and raffle prizes!
So save the date, and be there at Welcome Winter!
Mark Varian
Gardiner
What will be the result of drinking poisoned water?
At last Saturdays fifth screening of the Shady Waters documentary in the Woodstock library, two journalists attended the one-hour movie that was followed by a 50-minute Q&A panel discussion that included two experts in the field of geology and hydrology, plus our own Supervisor McKenna.
The two geologists saw no future for Woodstock’s drinking water if the waste remained at the 10 Church Road Property in Shady. Supervisor McKenna begged to differ using a page-and-a-half letter that he received from the DEC as proof to justify his opinion that it was all good at the Shady dump. The experts at the table went through the long list of chemicals and toxins that were found in the toxic fill that lies squarely upon our drinking water aquifer. It included arsenic amongst many other poisons found in the dump there.
The supervisor’s contempt for this expert opinion was apparent, as he seemed unmoved insisting that if the DEC said it was okay, and then it was good enough for him. This bull-headed stubbornness and unwillingness to even consider the 80 years of professional expertise sitting right beside him at the Q&A table smacks of the same ignorance and arrogance shown by DuPont officials and attorneys in West Virginia when its residents ended up being poisoned by PFOS and PFAS, known as forever chemicals in their drinking water.
Four different types of PFOS and PFAS have been found in the fill material dumped in Shady. It all came from Karolys’ yard in Saugerties. It was all condemned by the DEC as toxic whilst sitting there in Karolys’ yard. It did not get miraculously cleaned up during its trip through Woodstock and on to its Shady home where it remains there to this day.
Our town law forbids its dumping here in Woodstock, yet the supervisor overlooks that fact instead quoting from his DECs letter telling us that his hands are tied. How can our chief public servant be so obtuse when it comes to the poisoning of the town’s drinking water and the many diseases that will result if the 80 years of expert experience sitting beside him at the table is anything to go by.
Both journalists that attended the movie and Q&A published a report in their individual newspapers on what they perceived happened during the Q&A. One journalist published what he perceived would keep his editor and the incumbent supervisor happy. Towing the party line so to speak by not upsetting either one so close to an election. The second journalist from a regional newspaper had no such restraints and gave a more accurate and balanced view point of what really happened on the night.
Both journalists failed to capture the truth and dire consequences of the scenario. That is, if people begin to die as a result of drinking poisoned water it won’t matter whose fault it is.
Why take that chance? We’ve spent over $4 million on a new library, over $2 million on an extension at the town offices. We have a $600,000 surplus in our finances. Why not spend it on insuring our water remains drinkable?
Chris Finlay
Woodstock
The Medicare mess
Okay, normally I restrain myself from commenting on non-local matters in “Feedback,” but Paul Cooper and Hal Chorny’s letters last week hit me where I live. I don’t “feel” I have no other choice than Medicare Advantage! My retirement income actually cannot be stretched to afford traditional Medicare Medigap premiums ($177-$349 per month, according to a “by-state” table — that’s not “a bit” more expensive)! It’s “a bit” disrespectful to assume that people who choose Advantage plans are not clever enough to stay out of the clutches of promotional campaigns, especially when they feature celebrities. I personally don’t even see these ads so I don’t even know what Tom Hanks (or whoever) is paid to say.
And, by the way, these Medigap plans are offered by the same private/for-profit insurance companies that threaten the future viability of health care for seniors and everyone else. It’s all part of the same corporate takeover strategy. The “health care” insurance industry got in early and has never stopped expanding its reach into this essential service.
Both Cooper and Chorny are right about the disaster that Medicare Advantage plans represent, however. So what’s the solution? Simple but sadly unlikely, if not impossible: Reform Medicare by kicking the private/for-profit insurers out of the entire system. I’ve read convincing arguments that it would cost the government significantly less money by covering the 20% gap in traditional Medicare than to fund Advantage plans. That means we have to stop supporting and voting for politicians who support and/or benefit from the choke-hold of these insurers on health care. It’s they who are allowing the Trump-initiated scheme to prioritize Advantage plans to continue on steroids under Biden. Red or blue makes no difference when it comes to congressional corporate support.
So assuming that the dysfunctional federal government is an unlikely place to carry out health care reform, we could look to the NY State legislature, although they’ve been batting this around for too many years to look credible either. Still, a state plan to cover everyone, including seniors, funded by taxpayer dollars, has been shown to save money again and again. It doesn’t matter if it comes out of your paycheck or your tax bill. We need to make this a priority issue when we cast our ballots. And lobby the hell out of whoever does end up sitting in the seats of power.
Janet Moss (Asiain)
Saugerties
Netanyahu’s war crimes
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it’s okay to bomb hospitals, designated routes of evacuation and slaughter hundreds of defenseless innocent children in refugee camps to make sure the job gets done, of killing one Hamas leader. After all, even US Secretary of State Madeline Albright said “it was worth it” bombing 500,000 innocent Iraqi children to their untimely-death. Not all Jews in Israel or elsewhere, agree with Netanyahu’s far-right-extremist-zionist policies, crimes against humanity, illegal warfare and multiple clear violations of international law causing some insiders to speculate, of a possible civil war (NPR). It is being reported, as of this writing, “thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating outside of Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence demanding he resign and calling for an immediate ceasefire” (Reuters). Meanwhile the sudden spate of anti-Semitism being reported around the world might have something to do with more innocent children in Gaza being killed (“4,800”) in four weeks than all the global conflict since 2019 (Gaza-Health-Ministry). Furthermore, it has been revealed from a leaked secret Israeli Intelligence Ministry document, a recommendation of forced “transference of 2.2 million Palestinians into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula” (which is mostly desert) permanently, thereby confiscating all their land in Gaza (NBC news), another clear violation of international law. Why did Netanyahu disregard the Egyptian chief intelligence minister’s multiple warnings of the coming October 7 attack given “ten days in advance” (Times-of-Israel); why with all the hi-tech sensors and cameras in Israel’s border wall and its security drones, was the approach of Hamas Militia not detected in “29 breaches” (LeMonde); and why did it take eight hours for the IDF to respond allowing “2,000” Hamas terrorists to roam and murder freely inside Israel (LeMonde) defying the most advanced security systems in the world, all invoking shades of the suspicious anomalies of 911? Israel needs to initiate a ceasefire, stop the genocide, trade imprisoned Palestinians for Israeli hostages and arrest the Netanyahu war criminals!
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Peace? How?
We all want peace. Who, with a rational mind, wouldn’t want peace?
Unfortunately, we’re not dealing with rational minds in the Middle East. For example, while in prayer, Sheik Ahmad Bahr, the top Hamas official, says, “Oh Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters as well as the Americans and their supporters. Count them one by one and kill them all, without leaving a single one.”
Then, we have Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, praising Hamas for carrying out the October 7 atrocities against Israel.
We all know, except Biden apparently, that Iran is engineering, funding and supporting Hamas, Hezbollah and all other anti-Israel groups. We’ve enabled and emboldened Iran’s strength and arrogance
through our pathetically weak foreign policy actions and inactions. We spinelessly do not draw a red line as we fail to impose and enforce any and all possible sanctions upon Iran. A mere “Don’t, Don’t, Don’t” hardly cuts it.
Any and all past “peace agreements” inevitably and predictably failed due to the ruthlessness of these terrorist organizations with their sole aim being to destroy Israel and any Americans who stand in their way, aka, “Death to Israel, death to America.”
So, in conclusion, what’s the solution? Those who want a cease fire or “pause” think that this will solve the problem and, somehow, result in a peaceful resolution. To others, a cease fire or “pause” gives the clear optic that Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran come out on top as the winners, with Israel and America being the losers who folded to terroristic threats. This would just show that Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran could continue their anti-Israel campaigns for as long as it takes for them to achieve their only goal … no more Israel.
With neither side apparently not strongly favoring a two state solution, what’s left? Who thinks Hamas, Hezbollah and even Iran would ever dome to the peace table to seriously discuss and agree upon a lasting and permanent peace resolution for all involved and actually stand behind their word? I think there’s a better chance that Neil Jarmel will NEVER write another letter that bashes Trump, MAGATs or “Trumpublicans.”
John N. Butz
Modena
Israel/Palestine terrorism
Were innocents beheaded by Hamas knives? Maybe? Were innocents beheaded by Israeli Defense Forces Hellfire missiles launched from Apache helicopters and drones? Definitely. Both invoke terror and are acts of terrorism. One terrorist rips a knife blade across the throat. The other clicks a mouse on a remote computer miles away. Both acts result in the murder and mutilation of innocents. In the last few days IDF missiles and bombs have decapitated, incinerated, suffocated, mutilated and buried thousands of innocent Palestinian in Gaza (including over three thousand children).
The murder and mutilation of innocents is simply unacceptable. Whether it’s an individual terrorist with a knife or a government inflicting collective punishment and genocide with high-tech weaponry. Intentionally targeting innocents is abhorrent, reprehensible, wrong and illegal. These terrorist acts dehumanize the perpetrators who murderously attempt to deny and exterminate the humanity and sanctity of their victims. We must all demand an end to all acts which intentionally murder and mutilate innocents. To stay human we all need to condemn the violence and brutality unfolding before our very eyes. Please do something. Please say something. Please.
Eli Kassirer
New Paltz
Civile does not go far enough (IMHO) in his indictment of Nagel
I thank George Civile for his letter in the November 1, 2023 issue regarding the “ending the reign of terror” where he makes several observations, all very accurate, regarding “Fred (Israel is always wrong) Nagel….” However, I would go further and state that Nagel represents a certain group of people whom seem to be overrepresented amongst individuals who identify as ”progressives.”
Civile does not go far enough (IMHO) in his indictment of Nagel by not bringing up the fact that Hamas has used funds contributed by NGO’s , including the UN, to build underground tunnels rather than providing food, for example, for their Palestinian brethren and they also use donated fuel for terrorist purposes, i.e. for rockets which they have been sending into Israel for quite a while. By the way, in answer to Nagel’s statement in his recent letter, Israel in its quest to remove the terrorists in Hamas has repeatedly encouraged Palestinians to get out of harm’s way since October 7. Nagel seems to have preferred the Palestinians to stay and die as martyrs to prove his anti-Israel position.
Susan Puretz
Saugerties
Central Hudson proposed rate hike
Central Hudson is asking for a rate hike which would to increase electric bills by 16.4% and gas bills by 19%! This would amount to an average increase of $30.12 per month for electric bills and $30.13 per month for gas bills. The request has triggered a “Rate Case” with the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) . Our bills are already too high, and now they’re trying to make up for mismanagement and inefficiencies by charging us EVEN more.
Currently, Central Hudson charges have become a stress and a burden to many people they “serve.” They have not followed through on many of the promises they made when they received their last rate hike. One of these was to stop promoting “natural” gas when in fact they are encouraging their customers to switch to “natural” gas. One of requests in this rate hike request is for upgrading gas infrastructure! They should be upgrading electric infrastructure to support a more efficient transfer of electricity. This would show an attempt at compliance with NY’s climate law (CLCPA) and a willingness to address the problems of climate change.
This is not a company that has shown that they will try to do the right thing for its customers and for the environment. They have not shown that they will follow through on promises. We should not grant them a rate hike they don’t deserve — in fact, we should have them reduce their current rates!!!
Please join me in taking action. You can submit your opinion to the PSC in a number of ways. Information you need: case # 23-E-0418 and 23-G-0419. By snail mail: Michelle Phillips, Secretary, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany 12223-1350. Toll-free line: 800-335-2120. Internet: www.dps.ny.gov. (click “File Search, enter case #, click on Post Comments) Thanks!!!
Amy R Kletter
New Paltz
Join the family! 
