Orange County, NY, Middletown | featured news

In celebration of Black History Month, Safe Harbors of the Hudson will host a special African/Latino art exhibit featuring the work of Newburgh Performing Arts Academy students led by local artists Gerardo Castro and Trish Halverson. A reception for the artists will be held from 3-5 p.m. tomorrow in the Lobby at the Ritz, 107 Broadway, Newburgh. Light refreshments will be served. [Photo provided]

WALDEN - Hudson Valley Honor Flight is seeking veterans for its spring flights taking place on April 13 and May 11. The April flight will depart from New York Stewart International Airport in New Windsor and the May flight will depart from Westchester County Airport in White Plains. Flights will take veterans on an all-expense-paid trip to visit the nation’s war memorials. Veterans will travel by a police-escorted bus convoy while in D.C. for the daylong trip and return to New [...]

With a Supplemental Needs Trust (SNT), often referred to as a Special Needs Trust, you may leave an inheritance to a disabled child, grandchild or other beneficiary without reducing or eliminating their government benefits. Without the SNT, an inheritance may deprive disabled persons of needed government benefits. The effect could be devastating.Disabled beneficiaries may receive government benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid and other state and federal [...]

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — It may be hard to believe as a large swath of the U.S. thaws out from a bitter polar vortex, but spring is coming early, according to handlers for some of the country's most famous prognosticating groundhogs.Just before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow in Pennsylvania at sunrise and didn't see his shadow. Nearly the same series of events unfolded about 300 miles to the east, where Staten Island Chuck's handlers also revealed the [...]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday signed a bill giving federal workers affected by the recent shutdown the possibility of 90-day extensions on paying property-tax bills that were due one day earlier or they would start accruing penalties.The bill, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. James Skoufis, D-Woodbury, gives counties and municipalities the option to pass resolutions granting those payment delays to federal employees who were either furloughed or forced to work without pay during the 35- [...]

CITY OF NEWBURGH — Mildred Starin is the 2019 recipient of the Martha Washington Woman of History Award.Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site presents the award each year to a woman who has made a significant contribution to the history of the Hudson Valley through education, promotion or preservation.The award is named for Martha Washington, who stayed with her husband, Gen. George Washington, during some of the 16 months he made his headquarters in [...]

THOMPSON – Jeff Gural didn’t know what to expect. The managing director of the Meadowlands Racetrack & Entertainment complex thought sports betting in New Jersey might be a hit after its June launch.But he couldn’t get over how it rocketed in popularity, the first time he saw a crowd snaking out of the Meadowlands as bettors waited to wager on NFL games.In the last six months of 2018, New Jersey’s casinos and other sports book operators [...]

MIDDLETOWN — Two people escaped a two-alarm fire Saturday afternoon on Oliver Avenue, Fire Chief Don Luis said.Middletown firefighters received a call about 1:20 p.m. reporting smoke on the upper floors of a house at 20 Oliver Ave. A woman who lived there and her boyfriend were home at the time. Both escaped the fire unharmed, Luis said.The fire appeared to have started in the ceiling of the second floor and spread to the attic, Luis said.Smoke poured from [...]

LIVINGSTON MANOR — Monica Kaminski, of Hurleyville, waited patiently on a bleacher seat in the gymnasium of Livingston Manor Central School as people buzzed around her.She held an index card given to her and other audience members by Congressman Antonio Delgado's staff for additional questions at the end of the town hall."I wanted to commend him on not accepting his paycheck during the government shutdown," Kaminski said. "And that it's just another way that through [...]

CORNWALL - If you have always wanted to be a member at the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum, now is the time. Current Nature Museum members are invited to join the museum’s environmental educators on Feb. 9 from 7-9 p.m. for their members-only Owl Prowl at the Wildlife Education Center, at 25 Boulevard, Cornwall-on-Hudson.Members can learn about the species of owls that are native to the region and their adaptations. The Owl Prowl will begin with an up-close appearance by one of [...]