Historic Hudson opens the grounds of the Bronson Estate for public visitation from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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| Photo: Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects |
Early voting in New York began today, and this was the scene at 401 State Street, the only polling place in Columbia County, when I passed by there today at about 12:50 p.m., a little more than an hour before the poll was scheduled to close.
An article getting lots of attention on social media is this one from the Times Union: "Hudson makes top-25 list for small-town millionaires." In the subtitle. the Times Union attributes the phenomenon to "hip" factor and COVID-19.
As it does every Friday, the Columbia County Department of Health has released its weekly breakdown of COVID cases by municipality and nursing home. In the past week, there have been 28 new cases of COVID-19. Fourteen of them have been at Ghent Assisted Living. Elsewhere in the county, there have been three new cases each in Claverack, Kinderhook, and Livingston, two in Chatham, and one each in Greenport, Hillsdale, and Valatie. Hudson has seen no new cases this week.
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| Hudson Tweed Ride 2013 |
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| Photo: Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects |
For those watching the Planning Board these days with rapt interest, the board is holding a special meeting today at 5:00 p.m. "for the purpose of discussing attorney client administrative matters." The meeting will not be open to the public.
Dear Diary,
Late this afternoon, an unaccompanied dog showed up at the dog park when Joey and I were there. We let him into the park, of course, where he would be safe, and could have a good time, while we figured out how to get him reunited with his human.
He looked familiar, but no one at the park could remember his name or knew his human. He skillfully eluded us when we tried to get close enough to check his collar for tags. So, I snapped this picture of him and texted it to Chief Ed Moore, who promptly responded. Very soon after, Officer Stroka arrived.
Alas, Officer Stroka didn't have any better luck than the rest of us at getting a look at the dog's collar, but she did have the brilliant idea of luring him into the vestibule of the dog park, where it would be easier to corner him. With the help of Charlie the Weimaraner, that was accomplished.
It was then discovered the dog had his human's phone number on his collar. The number was called, but the call went to voice mail, and a message was left. Soon after the pup had been taken into custody by Officer Stroka and was on his way to the police station, his human called and was told where she could find her wayward pup. A reunion of dog and human soon followed. Happy ending, thanks to the HPD.
It turns out the dog loves the dog park and is a frequent visitor, even though none of us who were at the dog park when he arrived could remember his name. It's so nice to know that dogs, when they are out on their own, head for the dog park, where they are sure to find humans who will do their best to get them safely home again.
Afterword: I apologize if I got the gender of the dog wrong. We were all more interested in finding the dog's human than determining his/her gender.
At its regular monthly meeting last night, the Common Council did not pass the resolution calling on the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to reduce the 2021 budget for the Hudson Police Department by 13 percent, or $630,636. Those voting for the resolution were Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward), John Rosenthal (Fourth Ward), Jane Trombley (First Ward), Rebecca Wolff (First Ward), and Council president Tom DePietro. Those opposed were Eileen Halloran (Fifth Ward), Calvin Lewis (Third Ward), Dominic Merante (Fifth Ward), Shershah Mizan (Third Ward), Dewan Sarowar (Second Ward), and Malachi Walker (Fourth Ward).
Before casting his nay vote, Merante stated that the reduction would affect public safety and went on to say, "We will lose three or four officers, in particular female officers," since female officers are among the most recent hires. Similarly, Sarowar, before casting his nay vote, said he was "all for saving money but not on public safety." Walker, who also voted against the resolution, said he felt change was needed but "we need to think strategically and rationally."
Before voting in support of the resolution, Trombley said the resolution was "largely symbolic and nonbinding." "What's important," she maintained, "is that we starting rethinking . . . [and] re-imagining what public safety can look like."
At the end of the meeting, when opening the meeting for public comment, DePietro urged, "Please don't start arguing about the resolution that was defeated." He added, "This discussion is not over."
Michael Hofmann, one of the authors of the Hudson Breathe Act, which was the inspiration for the resolution, called it "a first step in answering a national call" and spoke of "our black neighbors who suffer disproportionately under police oppression." Curiously, the only African American on the Council to vote in support of the resolution was Garriga, who had introduced the Hudson Breathe Act to the Legal Committee on September 23. The other people of color on the Council--Lewis, Walker, Mizan, and Sarowar--all voted against the resolution.
HDC LIGHTS UP WARREN STREET
It is no surprise that the City of Hudson has had to make many tough decisions about discretionary spending this year. At a recent Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) meeting, it was decided that half of the usual twinkle lights could be purchased to install on every other tree on Warren Street for the holidays. The Hudson community began to grumble on social media about long bleak months of winter and the possibility of Hudson Hall's Winter Walk being canceled or scaled down. Even though the community understands the needs for these decisions, no one wants to have a bah-humbug holiday on top of the crazy year we've had.
Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) is pleased to announce that they will purchase the remaining twinkle lights necessary for the City of Hudson this year. Board President, Robert Rasner credits a conversation with former Mayor Rick Rector for the idea, "We chatted about how unfortunate it was for our city not to have the lights in the trees for the holidays. This is something that HDC can do to help our community spirit and connectivity." He adds that the lights, although small--have a great impact to provide a sense of cheer and inviting ambiance for our community and businesses. “Half a holiday decoration is not good enough. Half a Christmas, half a Hanukkah, half a Kwanzaa will not do. Decorating Warren Street for the holidays is a long-standing tradition of businesses and the City alike,” said Rasner. “We are all living under pressures of the times. A fully decorated Warren Streets says we will not give in to all of the pressures.”
Since the initial lock-down due to the pandemic, HDC has rallied with Hudson's business and cultural community through outreach and open task force meetings to provide information, idea generation, and support. Many meeting attendees have credited the task forces for bringing the community together in a new way in uncertain times. Branda Maholtz, Executive Director for HDC says, "Hudson is full of strong, resilient entrepreneurs, business owners, and artists. Our task force meetings demonstrated our community's capability to work together to not just talk about creating change for everyone's benefit, but to also plan, execute, and have a safe, successful summer and fall season during the pandemic." HDC continues to support local business as they look towards planning for the colder months.
The City of Hudson's Department of Public Works intends to install lights around Thanksgiving.
Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania meet the criteria for the travel advisory but due to the region's interconnectedness, quarantine is not practically viable. As such, we highly discourage non-essential travel between these states and New York to the extent practical.
Channel 13 reports today on the location of the COVID clusters causing the increase in positive cases in Columbia County: Ghent Assisted Living and the Brookwood Secure Center. You can watch the full report here.
On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state's new micro-cluster strategy, intended to focus on COVID-19 hot spots and be more responsive and less disruptive. Right now, the hot spots are located in Brooklyn and Queens and in Rockland and Westchester counties. As part of the micro-cluster strategy, the state has also initiated a COVID Zone Address Lookup. Enter an address anywhere in New York State, and find out if it's in a COVID hot spot. Its greatest usefulness to us here in Columbia County at the moment may be, if contemplating a journey to New York City or other points south, to find out if your destination is in a hot spot.
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| Photo: Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects |
