Highlands Current Audio Stories

Village says sewage treatment issues rectifiedCold Spring will not face financial penalties following four instances in which fecal coliform and biochemical oxygen demand discharges from the wastewater treatment plant on Fair Street exceeded acceptable levels.According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the discharges occurred between August 2024 and August 2025.The DEC issued...

250 Years Ago (December 1775)The royal governor in New York, William Tyron, took 25 folio volumes of records of the Colony of New York to a British ship anchored in the harbor, HMS Duchess of Gordon, for "safekeeping."The New York Provincial Congress, in reply to a Tyron appeal for peace, said the revolt was not due to "a desire to become independent of the British crown" nor a lack of devotion...

Plastic pollution is turning up in surprising places, for surprising reasonsNo matter how dedicated you are to Leave No Trace principles while enjoying the Highlands, you may be leaving something behind.In 2023, researchers Tim Keyes and Joe Dadey led an expedition of high school students down the Hudson River. They began at the source at Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondacks and proceeded...

Owner says she was duped by acquaintanceThe owner of a Philipstown dry cleaner who was evicted on Tuesday (Dec. 9) after a bank foreclosed on her business and home says an acquaintance convinced her he had paid off the mortgage.Sokhara Kim is an immigrant from Cambodia and a longtime Philipstown resident who owns Nice 'N Neat Dry Cleaning. She said that Derek Keith Williams convinced her he had...

Buyer plans to convert station into residenceThe Beacon City Council is expected to vote on Monday (Dec. 15) to authorize the sale of the former Beacon Engine Co. fire station on East Main Street, the second of two surplus stations to be sold by the city.The contract should be signed in the next week, said City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis. As was the case with the sale in June of the former Mase...

Council expected to hire consulting firmBeacon is wasting no time getting started on the first leg of a proposed 13-mile rail trail from the city to Hopewell Junction.The City Council is expected to vote on Monday (Dec. 15) to approve spending $350,000 to hire a Westchester County firm to design a 3.3-mile section from the Beacon waterfront to the Town of Fishkill line. The trail could eventually...

Cold Spring company looks to expandWith five ballet programs in the can, two more in the works and a troupe of professional dancers that gel well, the Cold Spring Dance Company is entering an ambitious phase since incorporating as a nonprofit in 2019.Last weekend at her studio, artistic director Cally Kordaris debuted The Greek Ballet: Resurrection, which combines classical ballet, contemporary...

Spending plan passes without Democratic supportDutchess County lawmakers on Monday (Dec. 8) approved a $653.6 million budget for next year along party lines, with Democrats uniting against the spending plan as they prepare to take control of the Legislature next month.All 15 Republicans voted for the amended version of a draft budget that County Executive Sue Serino, also a Republican, presented...

Town Board also approves theater plansThe Philipstown Town Board last week banned the storage of large amounts of petroleum products and approved plans for a facility that The Depot Theater wants to build at the Recreation Department off Route 9D.During its Dec. 4 meeting, the board unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning code prohibiting "petroleum storage facilities" whose products "are...

Supports local review of Fjord Trail projectNew York State has rejected a claim that it should review a proposed renovation of a Route 9D events space tied to the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail, rather than the Town of Fishkill.HHFT wants to convert Dutchess Manor into a visitor's center, offices and parking for the proposed trail. The Fishkill Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing on...