Highlands Current

Budd Viertel, 62, much-loved husband of Frances Granata Viertel and a former Cold Spring police officer, died at his home in Hyde Park on June 22 after a long and valiant struggle with pancreatic cancer. Budd graduated from Yorktown High School in 1977, received his associates degree from Westchester Community...

Dwayne Holman (1956-2022) Dwayne D. Holman, 66, died on June 25. Dwayne was born on March 27, 1956, in Brooklyn to Wayne Eato and Martha (Grant) Holman. Dwayne was a proud resident of Beacon and was passionate about law enforcement. He worked at the Department of Corrections for 15 years and later retired from the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office in Pomona.

Putnam legislators last week criticized the results of the $45,000 investigation they commissioned 18 months ago on then-Sheriff Robert Langley’s overtime practices. They also acknowledged that Langley’s successor, Kevin McConville, cut Sheriff Department road patrols from six to five — a reduction that county officials previously refused to confirm.

Fahnestock State Park in Philipstown got another big upgrade this week with the opening of the 9.5-mile multi-use Hubbard Perkins Loop Trail in the park’s northwest section. The project significantly reworks and reroutes parts of several existing trails to avoid sensitive wetland areas as well as makes the trails more suitable for running, horseback riding, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The $1.5 million project was planned and paid for by the Open Space Institute, through a mixture of private and public funds.

Hip Lofts expansion, new water meters also on council agenda. The City Council appears close to setting a public hearing on a draft law it has considered for nearly a year that would simplify the process for creating accessory dwelling unit (ADU) apartments in single-family residential zones — which comprise the vast majority of the land in Beacon.

Cross-hatching its annual Members’ Show and the celebration of its 150th anniversary this year, the Howland Cultural Center (HCC) has created a fusion of the two in Reflections of a Local Life, an exhibit that opens on July 2 and runs through July 24. The show features 50 works...

The Cold Spring Fire Co. rescue boat has returned to service on the Hudson River for a fifth consecutive boating season. A designated crew will man the boat, a 21-foot Steiger Craft Chesapeake bought five years ago from the Newburgh fire department. Most of the company’s other firefighters are also trained to operate it, said Chief Jeff Phillips Jr.

Senators reject report calling for facility’s closure. The Castle Point VA Medical Center in Wappingers Falls is off the chopping block. Members of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee announced on Monday (June 27) that they would not support an independent commission’s proposal to close the nearly 100-year-old facility and other VA hospitals as part of a reorganization of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Edited by Pamela Doan ([email protected]) For a complete listing of events, see highlandscurrent.org/calendar. The West Point Concert Band, the Hellcats and the Benny Havens Band will perform, followed by fireworks. Free. SUN 3. Fireworks & Independence Day Celebration. BEACON. 8:30 p.m. Memorial Park. Robert Cahill Drive. The Beacon Recreation...

Scouting alternative emphasizes inclusion, diversity. When Jessica White was a child, she was a Girl Scout, and she imagined that her future children would also join the organization. As an adult, though, White, who is an early childhood special education teacher, found the traditional scouting programs were not exactly what...

County partners with MidHudson Regional on project. Dutchess County and WMCHealth announced on Tuesday (June 28) that a new Behavioral Health Center of Excellence with additional beds for mental health patients is planned for MidHudson Regional Hospital in Poughkeepsie. The county is contributing $3 million to the project, which will...

It was funny for only a few seconds; then it was jarring. A vendor at the Cold Spring Farmers’ Market had just told me that children visiting her farm were upset to learn “McNuggets” come from a chicken. Wait until they hear about bacon. The shock those...

Beacon’s 15U baseball team continued its scorching play in the Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League’s summer season, sweeping a doubleheader from the visiting Fairfield County Captains on Saturday (June 25) and then dominating the Valley Pirates (of Shrub Oak), 10-0, on Tuesday (June 28) evening at Beacon High School.

What’s your go-to, cold, refreshing drink on a hot summer day?. Kind of boring, but a tall glass of ice water. Snapple peach, no sugar; it’s cheap, $2.

Chia seeds. It’s hard not to think of them without picturing terracotta figurines of cute little animals or cultural celebs (the Bobs — Ross and Marley; Jerry Garcia, Barack Obama, Donald Trump) sprouting tufts of cutely incongruous green “fur.” They’re right up there with the Pet Rock as a pre-internet cultural meme and questionable marketing success.

The replacement of the track-side and street-side edges of the platforms at the Cold Spring and Garrison Metro-North stations will begin on July 22 and continue through October. Track outages will affect both stations from 11 p.m. on Fridays to 4 a.m. on Mondays, when all trains will operate on...

When I was in college studying nutrition in the early 2000s, I heard about global warming. But it was nearly two decades later that I understood the severity of the crisis and got involved. Now, a growing number of young people, including many from our community, are working to solve...

The New York State Bridge Authority said on Wednesday (June 29) that Lauren Melendez will become its new deputy executive director. Melendez, a former assistant secretary for transportation in the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul, will begin her tenure on July 11, becoming second in command at an authority that oversees the Bear Mountain and Newburgh-Beacon bridges, and three other Hudson River crossings.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on June 24 eliminating a constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade in 1973 had been expected ever since a draft of the decision was leaked in May. But it still shocked local residents. The next day, First Presbyterian Church in Cold...

Beacon Junior Baseball is receiving a $20,000 grant for equipment, uniforms and concession-stand upgrades. The league is one of 20 nonprofit organizations sharing $328,740 in the latest round of awards from Dutchess County’s Learn, Play, Create: Supporting Our Kids grant program. It organizes teams for children between 4 and 12 years old.