Orange County, NY, Middletown | featured news

BETHEL - One of the musicians who played at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in 1969 is reportedly returning to Sullivan County to perform at the festival's 50th anniversary this August.Carlos Santana said he and his band will stop in Bethel as part of his latest tour, according to a report in Rolling Stone magazine.Santana announced Wednesday his "Supernatural Now" tour, which has 29 shows over three months. The tour will celebrate two major anniversaries of his [...]

Chess fans, bring your own board to the Winter Chess Simultaneous event, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday at Middletown High School, 24 Gardner Ave. Ext. Test your skills against National Master Abby Marshall, who will take on 40 players at the same time. Space is limited; there is no registration fee. Brunch will be provided. Info: 988-7652, luis.garcia@ecsdm.org.Three Repair Cafes on Saturday are open to all; bring your broken but beloved items to get fixed [...]

MIDDLETOWN - For the second time in a week and a half, Middletown police are investigating an apparent domestic murder-suicide.Middletown police say that Amanda Pumillo’s husband, Francis J. Pumillo, 55, shot her and then himself in the garage of their home at 70 Vincent Drive.Police said they were called at 8:06 p.m. Tuesday through 911 after a neighbor found the couple’s bodies.Police said the neighbor went to check on Amanda Pumillo after [...]

The first of two storms expected to pass through the region in the next few days will not amount to much, but it’s likely to create some slippery driving conditions for the Friday morning commute.A second storm, on the weekend, is expected to pack more punch.AccuWeather senior meteorologist John Feerick said snow will start falling around midnight Thursday and continue until about 9 or 10 a.m. Friday."It’s going to be a quick mover," Feerick said. [...]

Since October, three law enforcement officers in Orange County have killed their wives and then themselves, using legally possessed guns.The cases exemplify issues in need of serious thought, Middletown police said Wednesday, following the second murder-suicide in the city in 10 days: domestic violence that leaves victims dead and family struggling with the aftermath, and law enforcement suicide.Murder-suicide is a separate phenomenon from suicide, said Kellyann Kostyal- [...]

WASHINGTON — The partial government shutdown threw a prime Washington ritual into question Wednesday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked President Donald Trump to forgo his Jan. 29 State of the Union speech, expressing doubts that the hobbled government can provide adequate security. Republicans saw her move as a ploy to deny Trump the stage.In a letter to Trump, Pelosi said that with both the Secret Service and the Homeland Security Department entangled in the shutdown, the [...]

GOSHEN — Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus called on the state Wednesday to finally give Orange County and the three other “quarter-pounder” counties a full vote on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board.“Since Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo is taking an active role in the administrative structure of the MTA, now is the right time for all four counties to be given a full vote on the board,’’ said Neuhaus in a news release. [...]

The Orange County Industrial Development Agency failed to properly monitor nearly $324,000 in tax breaks for IBM and a Town of Wallkill hotel, according to a state regulator’s recent audit.That regulator, the state Authorities Budget Office, ensures government-sponsored or affiliated nonprofits spend taxpayer dollars legally, efficiently and transparently.The IDA is a public benefit corporation that considers tax breaks to stimulate economic development. The IDA [...]

MONTGOMERY — Public hearings on two controversial projects will continue into February.The town Planning Board hearings on Bluewater Industrial Partners’ site plan, special exemption use permit and draft environmental Impact statement (DEIS) for a 1,010,880-square-foot warehouse at the intersection of routes 17K and 747 continued Monday night, a week after they began.The board closed the hearing on the DEIS Monday night, but it will continue to accept written [...]

NEW YORK — Sears will live on — at least for now.Its chairman and biggest shareholder, Eddie Lampert, won tentative approval for a $5 billion plan to keep the ailing, 132-year-old department-store chain in business, fending off demands from creditors that it throw in the towel, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday.Sears operates stores in the Newburgh [...]