Orange County, NY, Middletown | featured news

CITY OF NEWBURGH — Lawmakers, election commissioners and activists gathered at City Hall on Friday to rally for state funding to help counties shoulder the hefty cost of buying new equipment for poll stations and hiring more poll workers to offer early voting for the first time this fall.The crowd was jubilant about several election reforms enacted in January that included requiring counties to open polls on nine days before each election to give time-pressed or [...]

THOMPSON — The opening for the $180 million-plus Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark has been delayed by two weeks, a spokeswoman for the park’s management team confirmed on Friday.A March 28 soft opening has been canceled, and an April 4 grand opening ceremony has been moved to April 19, said Michelle Kelly, a spokeswoman for Benchmark Resorts & Hotels.April 19 also is the first date on which guests can book hotel rooms at the park, which is located [...]

Firefighters, environmental cleanup specialists and a DEC official converged on a hillside home in Mountain Lodge Park in Blooming Grove on Friday morning after a neighbor reported seeing oil in the runoff water and smelling it in the air.Those responding to the alert at the Arcadia Trail house found that 50 gallons of fuel had spilled from a broken fuel line in an above-ground oil tank.The Salisbury Mills Fire Department arrived within minutes of getting the call. “We [...]

LOCH SHELDRAKE — Every work of art tells a story.A new mosaic of a Sullivan County man created Wednesday at SUNY Sullivan will likely stoke many conversations about his extraordinary life and impact.Students and community members came together in the deHoyos Gallery outside of Seelig Theater on the Loch Sheldrake campus. Each person grabbed his own tile to paint, eventually combining it to create an image of the late Dr. Emmett Bassett.The college invited Art [...]

Taun Toay and his Bard College admissions staff are unmoved when they see a heavy hitter’s recommendation letter for a lackluster applicant.The letter could come from a diplomat, a celebrity or a noted politician, said Toay, Bard's vice president for enrollment. But it doesn’t sway the elite Annandale-On-Hudson liberal arts college, which evaluates applicants' full credentials.Local college administrators said this week's admissions scandal is unsurprising, given [...]

CITY OF NEWBURGH — The Newburgh school district is considering a change to its security strategy after nearly all school board members said they do not want to start a School Resource Officer program.Superintendent Roberto Padilla said at Tuesday night's school board meeting he will revise his draft of the 2019-2020 budget to remove the $600,000 program that would have funded seven armed police officers from local municipal police departments.School security [...]

OSHEN — Nostalgic for the best spaghetti and sauce in the Hudson Valley? You remember the smell and taste of dinner at the Lakeville Inn of Goshen? The restaurant closed years ago, but you can relive the experience this Saturday from 5:30-7 p.m. at Fellowship Hall of the First Presbyterian Church at 33 Park Place in Goshen.This annual fundraiser will supplement the Deacon’s Fund; all revenue will be used by the pastor to anonymously give financial aid to congregants or [...]

MONTICELLO — Students across Sullivan County are virtually reading their way through the county, thanks to an initiative from the School Library System at Sullivan BOCES. (SLSSB)In an effort to create a culture of reading across Sullivan County, the SLSSB created the “Cross County Reading Challenge.” Each school district has a “team” of participating students. Whenever a student completes a book, he or she can log it on the challenge’s website [...]

ALBANY — The Democrat-controlled New York Legislature passed its spending plans for the next fiscal year on Wednesday, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo doubled down on his vow to refuse to sign a state budget that doesn't make the 2 percent property tax permanent.The Democrat told an audience at a community center in Hicksville on Long Island that there's no way he'll sign off on a new spending plan that doesn't include a provision making the tax cap permanent."And I will [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's quest to avoid prison got a boost when a panel of appeals judges heard his appeal Wednesday, questioning whether his actions were crimes or politics as usual.The Democrat wasn't at oral arguments before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, but he likely heard a positive report from his lawyers.Two of the panel's three judges questioned whether Silver's actions fit the definition of a [...]