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GOSHEN - Orange County is seeking state permission for any of its towns and cities to impose a tax on property sales and use the proceeds to preserve open space and other valued areas by buying land or its development rights.County lawmakers voted unanimously on Thursday to request an amendment to a 2007 law that would give municipal boards in Orange that taxing option.If state lawmakers pass such a bill before their 2019 session ends in June and Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs [...]

Category: Local celebritiesFor $100: “A longtime fan of 'Jeopardy' who will appear on the program during Teacher’s Week, this Wednesday.”The question:  “Who is Francois Barcomb?”Yes, that is correct.Barcomb, 50, a New Paltz resident and high school physics teacher in Westchester, has finally realized his dream to appear on the long-running game show "Jeopardy. [...]

NEW PALTZ - State police finished a 10-month drug trafficking investigation on Friday with the arrest of a New Paltz man accused of distributing powder and crack cocaine in the Town of New Paltz.Troopers executed a search warrant at the New Paltz home of Johnny Jones, 43, where they found about 850 grams of cocaine and crack cocaine, as well as a stolen .40 caliber handgun, ammunition, scales, drug packaging, marijuana and about $10,000 in cash, according to a news release from [...]

NEWBURGH – For Mount Saint Mary College teacher candidates like Michaela Otranto of Cornwall-on-Hudson, the greatest and most rewarding challenge of their college careers comes at the end, when they put their education skills to the test as student teachers in area schools.Otranto, a history major on the childhood and special education track, is student teaching this semester in a familiar locale: Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary School, where she nurtured her love of learning [...]

NEW WINDSOR - Representatives from ShopRite presented a check for $235,000 to Hudson Valley Honor Flight at the sendoff ceremony for Mission 22, which departed from Stewart International Airport on April 13.The funds were raised during ShopRite’s annual Veterans Fundraising Campaign. A strong supporter of Hudson Valley Honor Flight since its inception in 2012, ShopRite’s recent contribution helped fund Mission 22, and will also lend financial support for future missions. [...]

LIBERTY – Twenty-four high school students recently had an experience that will last a lifetime.As part of the EduHam grant through the Gilder Lehrman Institute, students from Sullivan BOCES saw "Hamilton" at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City.The day started with the students watching student performances from various schools districts. As part of the grant, they asked students to complete a research project on a person, event or historical document and write [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen, the former lawyer, media attack dog and all-around fixer for President Donald Trump, is scheduled to begin serving a three-year prison sentence Monday for crimes including campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments made on Trump's behalf.Cohen faces a 2 p.m. deadline to report to the Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, a federal prison in the countryside 70 miles northwest of New York City. A minimum-security prison [...]

ALBANY — Farmworkers from around New York plan to gather at the state Capitol in Albany on Monday to push for legislation that would grant them the right to unionize for better wages and conditions.Monday's rally comes as lawmakers consider whether to vote on the bill, known as the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act.The act would rescind an 80-year-old law that prohibited farmworkers from unionizing. It would also guarantee extra pay for overtime as well as [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on the Centers for Disease Control to declare an emergency and unlock special funding to stem a potentially deadly drug-resistant fungus that's been spreading at health care facilities.Schumer, the Senate Democratic Leader, says declaring an emergency over the Candida Auris fungus could make his home state of New York eligible for potentially millions of dollars in public health crisis response funding.More than [...]