At 7 pm on Tuesday, March 27, at Kol Yisrael (290 North St., Newburgh, NY) there will be a FREE concert by 10 teenagers who've recently immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia, Russia and other countries. Come enjoy their music and then meet the musicians afterwards!
Great letter (read it here) from Rebekah Grohl in the Middletown Record on March 15 asks the excellent question, “Why did Orange County legislators take money from the NRA?” Two easy answers, Rebekah: Cowardice and greed. I’m proud that one of the two legislators with the courage and ethical standards to stand up to the NRA is Newburgh’s own @kevindaryan Lujan, who apparently is not only the youngest member of the legislature but also the smartest.
When Level 3 (the worst) sex offenders have "served their time," they get sent to Newburgh -- no matter where they're from or where they did the crime. But when native Newburghers, who've lived here all their lives, lose their homes, Orange County sends them to Middletown.
Is there really nowhere in Newburgh for the County to house homeless people, but plenty of apartments for sex offenders??? Our homeless folks number fewer than 100 and, contrary to popular belief, many have jobs and children. It's just that their jobs don't pay quite enough for them to afford a deposit on an apartment plus monthly rent and utilities. Kids can't get on a bus near a homeless shelter in Middletown and get to their school in Newburgh on time. LIkewise, there's no bus in Middletown that can get homeless Newburghers to their jobs ... much less back to some shelter in Middletown come quittin' time. Intermunicipal buses in Orange County just aren't that handy.
Meanwhile, here are seven places Newburghers would rather sleep than Middletown: 1. in the dugout at the Delano Hitch softball field; 2. under any porch that has no woodchucks; 3. under a porch with woodchucks, but the woodchucks are sleeping; 4. in an alley in a quiet neighborhood; 5. in an alley in a noisy neighborhood; 5. under a picnic table at the riverfront; 6. in a bathroom stall at the Newburgh Mall or the all-night Lexus Diner, if they can hitch a ride out there and don't get caught by Security; 7. in the City lockup (at least three homeless people have told me that the cops have kindly "let them stay there" on bitter nights).
Surely we can do better than this. Bottom line: The County and City must work together to keep our homeless Newburghers out of the cold.
Here are five greetings I’m thinking of putting on my home answering machine. Please vote for your favorite!
1. “Thank you for calling Genie and Tim. All our representatives are currently busy being very quiet until the Jehovah’s Witnesses outside go away. Please leave a message.”
2. “Hello, and welcome to Genie and Tim’s answering machine! We know your time is valuable, because ours is too, so you can keep calling forever, and ever, and ever; we’re still not picking up. Make it a great day!”
3. “Happy Holidays! Due to a high volume of calls, you may experience longer than normal wait times while we screw around on the internet. Please leave a message.”
4. “Welcome to Genie and Tim’s answering machine! At the tone, leave a message or press “1” for more options, which involve either hanging up, or simply staying on the line forever, and ever, and ever. It’s all the same to us.”
5. “Hello! At the tone, call someone else. And have a blessed day.”
Take me off your calling list, and Have a Blessed Day.
Anyone care to join me?
Make sure ShotSpotter is turned off before you fire those things, guys!
Did you see that the National Women’s History Project has named Newburgh’s own Geraldine Ferraro as its honoree for Women’s History Month? It's a recognition well deserved! The first woman (and first Italian-American) to be nominated for vice-president of the United States, she ran with 1984 Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale. Ferraro was a fearless, outspoken feminist who fought for equal justice for women and minorities and inspired many girls and women to put more cracks in the “glass ceiling.” Newburgh should put a historic marker on her family’s old home here. Meanwhile, check out this release from the Women’s History Project: http://bit.ly/2FoYowI.
This morning i was treated to the sight of a Cooper's hawk almost directly under my bird feeder. He (she?) was feasting on a still-steaming starling. (There's a poem here somewhere ... or at least a tongue-twister.) Tim called my attention to it while i was in the kitchen making breakfast. I turned off the stove, grabbed my binoculars and uttered the word "EWWWW!" every few seconds for a full 20 minutes as the raptor, blood dripping from its beak, tore the flight feathers off its prey one by one and spit them out onto the reddening snow. I was horrified and fascinated and couldn't look away.
Then the hawk flew off with the starling carcass and i went back to ... scrambling my eggs.
Birds are a lot of things, but they're not hypocrites.
Well, i guess we're both eating our breakfasts, aren't we?
HAH, I’m not even in the Top Twenty, Brian!
Welcome to my website, featuring my podcast, The Newburgh News. Always on tap: ideas, photos, interviews with intriguing people, and news of the goings-on and comings-up around Newburgh, N.Y., and the greater Hudson Valley.
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