Orange County, NY, Middletown | featured news

CITY OF NEWBURGH — Firefighter Dany Camacho said the department's fireboat is like a Cadillac compared to the Newburgh Fire Department's old boat.It's clear Newburgh's firefighters are as grateful today to have their more sophisticated boat as they were when they received it three years ago.Acting Fire Chief Terry Ahlers, Capt. and Training Officer Rick Locicero and Firefighter Camacho recalled how difficult, and ultimately unsafe, it was to manage the old 21- [...]

MIDDLETOWN – Long before the first runners in the 39th Classic 10K came along Gardner Avenue early Sunday morning, Rich Plant was ready.There was a cooler and three chairs on the sidewalk in front of his home where he, his wife and a neighbor would sit and watch the race go by.“I used to be a runner, but these days I’m just an observer,” Plant said.The Plants have lived there 20 years, and it’s become an annual tradition to watch the [...]

LIBERTY – Start your engines! It’s that time of year when the streets in the Town of Liberty are lined with soap box racers. Sullivan County’s 8th Annual Soap Box Derby, sponsored by the Sullivan County Soap Box Derby Organization, will take place on June 1. Racers, spectators and volunteers are encouraged to attend the event for a day filled with lots of fun and excitement.The race begins promptly at 8 a.m. on North Main Street and continues throughout the day. [...]

On June 8th, WTBQ Radio in Warwick will celebrate 50 years on the airwaves. Also celebrating a 50th anniversary this year is the Warwick Valley Humane Society and the 1969 Woodstock festival.To honor the day and to raise funds to help the Humane Society construct a new building, WTBQ Radio, together with Tom Lovelace of the Armonia Band and The Lovelace Music Experience on WTBQ, are holding a “WOOFstock” event.“WOOFstock” will be held from [...]

MONTICELLO — The Monticello High School Yearbook Club has completed inventory of yearbooks and would like to sell the following years to alumni: 1968, 1972, 1977, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2002-2017.Yearbooks from 1968-2013 will be $10.Yearbooks from 2014-2018 will be $25.Email Amy Ross at aross@k12mcsd.net with any questions.Pickup for a yearbook will be Tuesdays,Thursdays, and Fridays at the High School main office at 39 Breakey Avenue in [...]

KINGSTON – More than 200 students from Kingston Catholic School and John A. Coleman High School displayed their creative and artistic talents at the annual Ulster County CYO Art Contest hosted by Catholic Charities of Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster. The non-profit, human service agency welcomed student artists, their art teachers, and parents to an opening night reception hosted at Catholic Charities’ Ulster Community Center in Kingston.The artwork was submitted by [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Thursday reported 971 measles cases so far this year, the highest tally in 27 years, and experts say it's not clear when the wave of illnesses will stop.Measles, once common in the U.S., became rare after vaccination campaigns that started in the 1960s. A decade ago, there were fewer than 100 cases a year.The new numbers from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention pushed the U.S. tally higher than the 963 illnesses [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials are considering a plan to turn an island where poor and homeless people have been buried for 150 years into a park.The City Council held a hearing Thursday on a proposal to turn Hart Island over to the Parks Department to be run as a park that would be reached by ferry.The New York Times reports that Parks Department director of government relations Matt Drury said the department will support the transfer if the city [...]

Homeowners in Clearwater, Fla. were more than a little surprised when they found an 11-foot alligator had made its way into their kitchen, according to WFTS.com.According to police, the gator "broke into the home through some low windows in the kitchen."A [...]

One of three bills that would spare four local school districts – Newburgh, Chester, Monticello and Roscoe – a combined $19 million in state penalties for allegedly failing to submit reports for past building projects has now been approved by both legislative chambers in Albany. The Assembly voted unanimously for a bill waiving Roscoe School […]