Orange County, NY | featured news

MIDDLETOWN - A Middletown man is in federal custody following a drug raid at his apartment last week that turned up several hundred grams of crack cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, city police said.Juan P. Colon, 40, was taken into custody on March 13 on a federal complaint charging him with narcotics conspiracy.Middletown police said they had gotten numerous tips about a significant amount of drug activity on Linden Avenue, and they partnered with the state [...]

Assemblyman Colin Schmitt introduced a term-limit bill on Wednesday that would limit statewide officials at state lawmakers to eight years in office and politically appointed staffers to 12 years of employment. The second part is a new wrinkle in term-limit proposals that previously have gone nowhere in the Legislature. Schmitt, a New Windsor Republican elected [...]

WALDEN — The Rev. Thomas Colucci is believed to be the first member of the FDNY to go on to become a priest for the Archdiocese of New York.Now he is settling in to his role as the new administrator for the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Walden.“I believe that the Lord has a plan for everybody’s life,” Colucci said.Still, Colucci, 63, could not have foreseen everything that lay ahead of him when he was serving as an altar boy at St. [...]

CORNWALL — The swan at Rings Pond has been relocated to an upstate animal sanctuary.Supervisor Richard Randazzo said the town agreed to the relocation because it had received complaints from parents about the swan’s aggressive nature.The swan lost its mate about three years ago and has resisted efforts by town workers to be moved into warmer quarters during the winter.Rings Pond is in Riverlight Park, just north of Town Hall.Randazzo said Tom [...]

HUGUENOT — A fledgling Asian film studio and production company has grand plans to grow into a modern TV and moviemaking center at the former New Hope Farms Equestrian Park in Huguenot.The project, which could reach $10 million, calls for converting three large former Olympic equestrian training buildings and a guest house into 65,000 square feet of sound stages, offices, housing for film crews, one or more shops, and areas for wardrobe storage, set-building, film [...]

ALBANY — New York state's ban on personal ownership of stun guns is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Friday in the latest in a series of court decisions that have led to the loosening of restrictions on the weapons in several states.The decision came in a lawsuit filed by Matthew Avitabile, of Schoharie County, who said he wanted to buy a stun gun for self-defense in his rural upstate home.His lawyers argued that New York's longstanding ban on civilian ownership [...]

HAMLET OF WALLKILL — Voters in the Wallkill Fire District will determine the fate of a new multi-million dollar firehouse on Tuesday.The proposed building would be constructed on a lot owned by the district in the area of Borden Road, across from Wallkill Middle School on Route 208.Voting will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the current firehouse, located at 18 Central Ave., next to the Shawangunk Town Hall."The current building was built in 1964, so [...]

FLORIDA — Contract negotiations between the Florida Teachers Association and the Florida Union Free School District ended in an abruptly called impasse on Feb. 7, when the district said the sides were too far apart. A mediator will step in to facilitate an agreement before the existing contract expires on June 30.At Thursday's school board meeting, residents raised questions about the negotiation process and issues involved.“Parents are seeing our board of [...]

CORNWALL — Nili Raphael doesn’t know how long she has left on Earth, but she said she’s grateful for the caring staff at the “big, bright” new Fresenius Kidney Care Center at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital.“It’s nice, it’s bigger, and thank God for the people over here,” said Raphael, 58, of the Town of Newburgh, who’s clinging to life for her daughter's wedding next year, seeking a kidney, and receiving [...]

FLORIDA — An $8 million capital project to improve security, learning spaces and sports facilities in the Florida Union Free School District became a real deal on Thursday, when board members gave the funding structure its final approval.Voters had approved the $7,985,804 project on Feb. 26. The board’s most recent action approved a bond resolution for $5,985,804, the amount needed to cover the $5.2 million that state building aid will pay. The rest of the funding [...]