Highlands Current Audio Stories

Highlands Current
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The Highlands Current is a nonprofit weekly newspaper and daily website that covers Beacon, Cold Spring, Garrison, Nelsonville and Philipstown, New York, in the Hudson Highlands. This podcast includes select stories read aloud.

  1. 2d ago

    Over the River, Through the Woods

    Scenic Hudson opens Highland Falls park The newest way to appreciate Philipstown's scenic beauty is to leave Philipstown. On Oct. 3, Scenic Hudson cut the ribbon on the Highlands Falls Preserve, a 32-acre riverfront park that offers a picnic area, a 0.7-mile mossy trail that winds through pitch pines and rocky ledges and a view of the Hudson River with the Philipstown Recreation Center, the Garrison Institute, Sugarloaf Hill, and Benedict Arnold's escape route beyond it. "If people are used to hiking in Hudson Highlands State Park, this offers a unique vantage point," said Seth McKee, executive director of the Scenic Hudson Land Trust. "You're looking back at Philipstown, so it shows you a whole new perspective on the Hudson Highlands." Shortly after the ribbon was cut, toddlers, Boy Scout troops, senior citizens with hiking poles, and a drum circle filled the park, while elected officials marveled at the crowds. The enthusiasm was understandable: Oct. 3 was also Highlands Falls' 120th anniversary, but the village has never had a waterfront park. In the 19th century, a steamboat captain, Stephen Roe, owned the land. His son, a major general at West Point, later lived on the estate, which is long gone except for a stone greenhouse chimney visible on the trail. More recently, four siblings from Ontario owned the parcel. McKee said Scenic Hudson worked with the family for years to preserve the property. The deal closed in 2020 and construction began in 2025. Much of the planting and trail building was completed by 80 volunteers who met monthly for workshops led by such groups as the Jolly Rovers, who specialize in stonework. Scenic Hudson also recruited West Point cadets. Together the crews moved 19,000 pounds of stone and built a 26-step staircase to the picnic area. "It's a slow process when people are doing it by hand, and it's only once a month, so it takes a lot of patience," said Scenic Hudson's Heather Blaikie. "But this was the better way to build it. When people have ownership of the process, they're more appreciative. Everyone in the village felt like 'We all built this together.' " Photos by B. Cronin One thing the site doesn't have is ample parking, by design. The preserve sits behind the C-Town Supermarket on Main Street, and is a 10-minute walk from the village center. (Those who don't want to walk downhill on Havens Road and then up the stairs can enter from the back of the C-Town parking lot.) "We provided a couple of spaces, but we're inviting people to walk from the village, from their homes, from their businesses, to be able to enjoy this," said McKee. "When you add the attraction of the site's West Point history, it really adds value to the walkability and the history that the village already has." The contrast between the village and the preserve's classic Hudson Highlands landscape adds to the appeal, Blaikie said. For those unfamiliar with the preserve, stumbling upon it behind a supermarket parking lot can be a surprise. "You're in the village, you're on Main Street, and then suddenly you're transported to a really different place," she said. "That's what makes it magical." Highland Falls Preserve, at 20 Havens Road, is open from dawn to dusk. For more information, see dub.sh/HF-preserve.

  2. 2d ago

    Nine Months Later, Ryan Celebrates Law

    Anchorage restrictions passed in December Nine months after it took effect — and a month before Election Day — Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat and former Ulster County executive whose House district includes Beacon, held a news conference on Oct. 9 at the Poughkeepsie waterfront to celebrate the passage of a bill he co-introduced, the Hudson River Protection Act. The law, signed in December by President Donald Trump, effectively bans new barge anchorage grounds. "We recognize that a lot feels outside of our control right now," said Ryan, who is campaigning for a third term. "But this is an example where we refused to accept that; we all came together, and we had a really important victory." Supporters of the law hope that its enactment marked the end of an 11-year battle in which the U.S. Coast Guard and the Tug & Barge Committee of the Port of New York and New Jersey repeatedly attempted to create anchorage grounds despite pushback. "It was like a zombie," said Ryan. "Just when you think you've stopped these barges and the folks trying to push it, they figure out how to sneak around the rules." The saga began in 2015, when Rhinecliff and Port Ewen residents complained about the noise and stadium-style lights from barges anchored in the river overnight. That prompted the Coast Guard to remind the Tug & Barge Committee that Hyde Park was the only approved anchorage ground north of Tarrytown in the "navigable waters of the Port of New York." The Tug & Barge Committee replied that, because a ban on American crude oil exports had been lifted, it needed more "long-term" anchorages. The Coast Guard responded with a plan for 10 anchorages between Yonkers and Kingston, including one for five barges between Beacon and Newburgh. When the Coast Guard asked for public input, 10,000 people replied, nearly all opposed to the plan. One concern was that "long-term" was undefined, raising concerns that tanker captains would wait in the river until oil prices peaked, then rush to the Port of Albany to cash in. There were also concerns about the barges' impact on river wildlife and drinking water. Although the Coast Guard backtracked in 2018, Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat whose district included Philipstown and Beacon, introduced a provision to the annual defense funding resolution to ban new anchorages. When Congress overrode President Trump's veto of the spending bill, Maloney stood on the banks of the Hudson and announced that the river was safe from new anchorages "forever." Two years later, the Coast Guard announced that its research showed the "navigable waters of the Port of New York" extended only 25 miles from the Statue of Liberty. Effective immediately, barges could anchor anywhere north of Tarrytown, for any length of time, if they had adequate lighting, deep water and space to turn around. After another outcry, and pressure by House members from the Hudson Valley, including Ryan and two Republicans, Mike Lawler (who defeated Maloney in 2021) and former Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, the Coast Guard withdrew the change. Soon after, Ryan and Molinaro introduced a bill to clarify the Port of New York definition. It was included in the fiscal 2026-27 defense funding act, which Trump signed in December. "Amidst a historically unproductive Congress these last two years, this is one of the few bills that actually passed the House, passed the Senate, and was, believe it or not, signed into law by this president," said Ryan. Ryan was more cautious about the word forever. Although the bill tries to prevent any "shady" reinterpretations of the law, he said there may be attempts to sidestep the regulations. "There is a very active, incredibly well-funded barge lobby," he said. "But I would hope by now the message has been received."

  3. 3d ago

    Cellist to Premiere Sonata at Chapel

    Inbal Segev will perform with pianist Yalin Chi Pianist Yalin Chi made plenty of friends at The Juilliard School and added many more during her subsequent musical journey. This access to a pipeline of talented chamber musicians has helped transform the Chapel Restoration in Cold Spring into a showcase for youthful creativity. On Oct. 18, in the second-to-last concert of 2026 in the Chapel's Sunday Music Series (which returns in April), Chi will accompany cellist Inbal Segev as she premieres an untitled three-part cello sonata. The duo has worked together before. Segev, a mainstay with major orchestras, is passionate about new music and hopes to "reinvigorate the repertoire and find out what's possible on the instrument," she says. "We've been playing Bach and Beethoven for hundreds of years, and the great masters will never go away, but audiences today, especially in New York, expect something contemporary on the program," says Segev. Soon after the pandemic hit, Segev commissioned a 20 for 2020 series of compositions, some with topical titles like "Exhale" and "Elegy for the Victims of Indifference." Composer Timo Andres' contribution, "Agita," gives the cello a physical workout as the bow dances across the strings. In a video recording, Segev's left hand leaps around the neck, sliding and playing hard, almost shredding like a lead guitar player in a heavy rock band. The video editing is as edgy as the music. Sometimes, the top of Segev's head is cut off. Camera angles can be odd, and a glowing red light bathes the studio. The piece mines microtones, the sounds between the white and black keys on a piano. They are typically associated with Arab and Indian music scales, although rock and blues guitarists often bend notes and squeeze out subtler tones. "It sounds scarier than it is," says Segev. "They're tonal passing notes that combine Western and Middle Eastern approaches, yet the piano is in tune so it's like the human cello versus the mechanical." The first movement of Segev's new sonata, "Be Neutral," experiments with the space between major and minor keys. During the Oct. 18 concert, Segev will perform Cello Suite No. 4, one of the Bach's six solo pieces that she calls "the bible for cellists." Compositions by Schumann and Shostakovich are also on the bill. With the music series operating on a shoestring budget, Chi donates her time as booker, pianist and member of the nonprofit's board. "There's no money in music," she says. "We do it because we love it, and the concerts are free, which is insane these days," though donations are welcome. On Nov. 15, Chi will perform with Sheryl Staples, associate concertmaster at the New York Philharmonic (the second-ranking violin), including selections by Beethoven, Debussy and Lili Boulanger, who died in 1918 at age 24. "We played together a few years ago, and people still talk about having her back, so here she is," says Chi, who released a new album, Dream, this month. "Live music will never die," she says. "The connection between who we are and how we communicate from the stage to the audience is primal and cannot be experienced on a recording. All the time, I hear: 'With the world the way it is, we come here to forget about it all for an hour.' People need it." The Chapel Restoration is located at 45 Market St. in Cold Spring. The Sunday concerts begin at 4 p.m.

  4. 4d ago

    Podcast Dissects Putnam Cases Listen: Season 1, Episode 1 Criminal Mischief (Josette Wright) Listen: Season 2, Episode 1 Remember Me (Robin Murphy)

    '20/20' documentary also planned When Anthony DiPippo sued Putnam County after his acquittal at a third trial for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old Carmel girl, his lawyer deposed the two Sheriff's Office detectives who arrested him, Patrick Castaldo and William Quick. Both detectives were asked why they did not record statements from the witnesses who in 1997 helped convict DiPippo and his co-defendant, Andrew Krivak, of killing Josette Wright. After she disappeared in October 1994, her remains were found just over a year later. DiPippo and Krivak were accused of raping the girl in a van owned by Krivak's father, then dumping her body in the woods in Patterson. During the investigation, Castaldo said he didn't consider taping statements "the best way" to record interviews; Quick said, "We had audiotapes, but we didn't use them; it was just the way I did things." The officers also said they didn't always take notes. In 2021, Paul Solotaroff chronicled the pursuit of DiPippo and Krivak, and their subsequent acquittals after spending 19 and 24 years in prison, respectively, in a Rolling Stone article. Five years later, the reporter has picked up the story as creator and host of a podcast series called The Devil's Quarry (lavaforgood.com). In eight episodes, the first season recounts the Wright murder investigation and Castaldo and Quick's disregard of another suspect, Howard Gombert Jr., a serial predator who on Jan. 8 will complete a 30-year sentence for raping a 8-year-old Connecticut girl. According to a witness, Wright was seen in Gombert's car on the day she disappeared. Season 2, which began Sept. 30, follows the unsolved disappearance of another Carmel girl last seen with Gombert. Robin Murphy, then 17, has been missing since April 9, 1995, when she was spotted getting out of Gombert's car in a shopping plaza on Route 52 in Carmel. She worked at ShopRite, while Gombert worked at its laundromat. He was later found to have her underwear. Murphy's case will be the subject of a two-hour 20/20 documentary scheduled to appear on ABC and Hulu this month. "I will not be done with him until he is dragged — manacled, padlocked — into a bulletproof SUV and dragged to a place he will never see the light of day," the reporter said. The podcast builds on an investigation launched in 2019 when the Innocence Project, a legal organization that represents people wrongfully convicted, contacted Solotaroff about DiPippo and Krivak. Solotaroff said DiPippo sent him the legal documents and evidence he had amassed while fighting his conviction. The files included a thumb drive with 3,000 documents from the Carmel Police Department's investigation of the Robin Murphy case. One person interviewed for the podcast, a woman identified as Rachel, said she was 9 when Gombert began dating her mother. One day, she says, he lured her to a bedroom and raped her, beginning years of abuse amid death threats. Eventually, Rachel told a friend, who informed an adult at her school. Authorities placed her at St. Cabrini, a group home for girls in Carmel. The girls there befriended Wright, who Rachel said lived with a single mother and two older sisters and often walked Carmel's streets alone. Rachel says Gombert was charged with raping her but that she froze during her testimony after seeing him in the room. When she moved back with her mother, Gombert was still there and resumed the abuse. According to Rachel, he met Wright when she started dropping by to eat dinner and learn crocheting from Rachel's mother. "I don't know why I think of a horse," she said of Wright. "She was a gentle person — in the pasture looking to belong somewhere." Robin Murphy, who moved to Carmel as a ninth grader, was different, according to a friend, Tina Scorza. She wore Doc Martens, fishnet stockings and cut-off jean shorts and liked music by The Clash and the Ramones and novels by Anne Rice. Solotaroff describes Murphy as a "big city girl who happened to find herself in p...

  5. 4d ago

    Beacon Budget Proposal: $39.5M In other business …

    Mayor's spending plan drops tax rates, increases salaries Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou introduced his 2027 budget proposal on Monday (Oct. 5): a $39.5 million spending plan that cuts the residential property tax rate for a sixth consecutive year. The City Council will hold a public hearing on Nov. 2. The budget must be adopted by its last meeting of the year, on Dec. 21, but is typically approved before then. Speaking to the council on Monday, Kyriacou highlighted what he said are three major components of the plan: "significant" salary increases for city employees, including "comparative survey-based" increases for managers; an increase in spending on emergency services after the city's contract with Ambulnz expires on Dec. 31; and what the mayor said could be "modest" tax increases despite a drop in residential and commercial tax rates. That could happen because residential assessments in Beacon have more than doubled in the past decade, to $1.9 billion, including $270 million in new construction. That growth lets the city cut its tax rate — the proposal for 2027 is $5.43 per $1,000 of assessed value, a 1 percent decrease — while collecting the revenue needed to pay employees and provide services. Despite the lower rate, if the 2027 budget is approved as proposed, city officials estimate the owner of a $525,000 home (which has risen in value by 5 percent over last year) will see property taxes increase by 3.9 percent, or about $108. Property values have also increased on the commercial side. Although non-homestead properties are not assessed every year, their values have more than doubled in a decade, to $486.8 million. The proposed commercial tax rate for 2027 is $8.25 per $1,000 of assessed value, a 5.3 percent decrease. The owner of a $500,000 commercial parcel with a flat assessment would see a 5.3 percent decrease, or about $230 less, the same percentage as the reduction in the tax rate. Kyriacou said that, as property values have grown, the tax rate in Beacon compares favorably to the only other city in Dutchess County. "The City of Poughkeepsie tax rate is over $10 [$10.46]," he said. "Ours is $5.43 this year. We used to be roughly the same." Beacon's budget is broken into a general fund ($29.5 million in 2027) and water ($4.4 million) and sewer ($5.5 million) funds. Water rates will not change in 2027, but sewer fees, which are included in water bills, will rise 10 percent. The budget proposes a $14.5 million levy, a 4.8 percent increase over 2026. The levy is "at cap," meaning as proposed it does not exceed a mandatory limit set by New York State. The largest revenue sources for the city are property taxes (37 percent), water/sewer fees (19 percent) and sales taxes (17 percent). Sales-tax income is projected to increase by $340,000, to $6.8 million. A hotel occupancy tax should generate $210,000, with most coming from the Mirbeau Inn & Spa, which opened in May. In the spending columns, the Police Department accounts for 22 percent, followed by employee benefits (15 percent) and sewer service (14 percent). Under Kyriacou's proposal, spending on ambulance service could nearly double, with a $450,000 placeholder in the 2027 plan as the city negotiates with providers. Other increases include health and dental insurance for employees ($246,000), contractually negotiated salary increases for firefighters ($268,000) and police officers ($230,000) and the cost of hauling sludge from the wastewater treatment plant ($225,000). No new positions are proposed. The budget would use $275,000 in savings, an 82 percent increase over the $151,412 allocated in 2026. On Monday, Kyriacou acknowledged the recent departure of Human Resources Director Sara Morris for a higher-paying job. The salary increases in his 2027 budget, as well as a provision approved by the council to allow mid-year increases, "will make it easier to retain our good employees," he said. After a public hearing, the City Council decided on Monday to table a vote to ...

  6. 4d ago

    Photography from Near and Far

    Curators scour the world for annual Beacon show To find artists for their annual Focus on Photographers show, Larry Kerschberg and Ronnie Beth Sauers network, visit exhibits, scour the internet and flip through magazines. For the past three years, they have cherry-picked work by artists from around the world and close to home, displaying selections at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon. Through mid-November, they share landscapes from far-flung places like Morocco, Argentina, Antarctica and the American West. Two participants live in New York City, another hails from Montreal, and on Saturday (Oct. 10), Jörg Gläscher visits from Germany to host an artist talk and book signing. Lori Adams, who lives in Hopewell Junction, displays more domesticated, stylized shots, while most of Philipstown resident Cali Gorevic's included works are extreme close-ups of animals. Albert Knapp's outdoor scenes take advantage of the light and location. Two complementary wide-angle images hang across the room. One showcases a glowing blue glacier embedded in a valley; the other captures a similar scene with rippling foothills, surrounded by a range of taller mountains, with the captivating image in the foreground. From Knapp's forays around Yosemite National Park, Sauers and Kerschberg selected two photos of the same vista, a close-up and a wider perspective. In the tight shot, the waterfall is off-center, contrasting the vertical stream with the sheer rock curtain's texture and enhancing the effect. Sauers discovered Gläscher's forest-wave series and she and Kerschberg bought one of the works, printed it on canvas and placed it over the fireplace in their Philipstown home. During the pandemic, in a forest outside Hamburg, Gläscher stacked piles of glistening deadwood into waves at the apex of their crest just before the crash, and sometimes almost instantly after. The largest is 13 feet high and 30 feet wide, and the sticks look like snakes. The juxtaposition of ocean and woodland is jarring, and he makes the scenes seem grandiose, in part because of focus stacking, a digital tool that keeps the entire sculpture sharply rendered. Photo by Ruth Oratz Photo by Cali Gorevic Photo by Albert Knapp Photo by Stephen Podrasky On the center's ground floor, Gorevic's black-and-white works give the eye a break. Some shots get up close and personal with wolves, a zebra and an Icelandic horse. Several selections zoom in on their faces to show expression but not the entire head. Many pieces look like fine drawings. The scruffy face and ruffled fur of "Bully Boy," a baby bull shown in full, is striking. Gorevic also depicts a bison from afar with two birds perched on its back, along with a white wolf craning its neck to strike a graceful pose. Four more photos by Knapp hang on the balcony, leading into the work of Stephen Podrasky, whose black-and-white landscapes, taken in stark locations, include nude models often seen in the far distance. Adams breaks up the outdoor-scene theme with stylized still-lives, at least two of which look like old Dutch paintings. Ruth Oratz returns the focus to the wild, including a striking shot of a backlit island in Scotland. Sauers and Kerschberg, an avid amateur who is active with Leica Society International, are always on the hunt for talent, and for the annual show, he says, "we're looking for the best of the best." The Howland Cultural Center, at 477 Main St., in Beacon, is open from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Jörg Gläscher will talk about his photos and sign his book, Twelve Waves, from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 10).

  7. 4d ago

    Heating Oil Prices Jump 67 Percent

    Hits $6.25 a gallon in Dutchess, Putnam Nearly 700,000 homes and businesses in New York state that rely on heating oil will face near-record-high prices this winter because of supply shortages related to the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine. As of Monday (Oct. 5), heating oil averaged $6.25 per gallon in Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties, which together form the Lower Hudson region for energy prices published by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The current price is 67 percent higher than the $3.73 recorded at the same point last year. It is also the third-highest price among the state's eight regions and just short of the $6.29 reached in May 2022 during the pandemic. Filling an average tank holding 275 gallons costs $674 more than a year ago. Blame the wars in Iran and Ukraine, says the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, a consortium of state directors of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps eligible households pay for heating and cooling. Both conflicts have disrupted supplies of heating oil and diesel, a related product that is also at record highs — $6.49 a gallon statewide as of Oct. 6. The result, according to the NEADA: Spending by the 4.4 million households in the Northeast (including 696,800 in New York) that use heating oil is projected to rise by $3.8 billion, including $1.1 billion for low-income households. Winter is expected to be warmer because of El Niño, a naturally occurring warming of the Pacific Ocean that affects global weather. But supply shortages will keep prices high, according to NEADA. "Families are already paying more for electricity, food and rent," said Mark Wolfe, the organization's executive director. "Now they are looking at another big increase just to keep their homes warm." Wolfe said that NEADA has asked Congress for $3 billion in additional funding for HEAP, which will begin accepting applications for bill assistance on Nov. 2. Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, said on Oct. 1 that he is part of a bipartisan group of House members demanding that the federal Department of Health and Human Services distribute HEAP funding by Nov. 1. The group cited "a history of repeated funding delays" to the states. "It is of the utmost importance that the agency ensures funds are released as soon as possible and without congressional intervention," it said.

  8. 5d ago

    'A Love Letter to Beacon'

    Howland Center to screen new Clearwater documentary Wherever Jodie Childers and Dan Messina show their newly released Pete Seeger documentary, Down by the Riverside, the filmmakers say most audience members seem aware of his folk music and civil rights activism and that he was blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer. But outside the Hudson Valley, many are surprised to learn that Seeger led a ragtag band of amateur sailors to resurrect the polluted Hudson River through Sloop Clearwater, headquartered in Beacon. The 85-minute documentary demonstrates how entangled the story of Pete and Toshi Seeger is with the American environmental movement, as well as Beacon, the city they called home for decades. "In many ways, the film is a love letter to Beacon," said Messina. He and Childers embedded themselves in Beacon for 18 months, filming from Seeger's 93rd birthday in May 2012 to a few weeks after his death in January 2014. That left them with 800 hours of footage and the challenge of creating a cohesive narrative. While reviewing scenes of Clearwater captain Nick Rogers and Seeger visiting the 18th-century warship USS Constitution in Boston, they recognized they had three intertwined stories to tell. The first, reflected in long-overlooked archival footage, shows the Clearwater being built in Maine and launched in 1969 on its maiden voyage to New York City, including the hardships the inexperienced crew faced in trying to get people to care about the Hudson. "The wind may be blowing against you," says Seeger in the film, "but if you use your sails right, you can sail into the wind and make slow progress using the very power of the wind that's against you." The second story revolves around the Clearwater's restoration in 2012 and 2013, which the crew races to complete before the annual Great Hudson River Revival. They quickly find themselves in over their heads, which is what brings them to Boston to learn how the Navy keeps the oldest warship in the world afloat. What no one knows at the time, of course, is that the coming revival would be the last for Pete and Toshi, who died in July 2013. "We knew we were filming something deeply meaningful, but the stakes were much higher than we ever could have imagined," said Childers. The film's final narrative will be the one most familiar to Beacon residents: the story of the Beacon Sloop Club and the Woody Guthrie, the club's Clearwater replica. In the film, Seeger proudly shows off the former diner with a tree growing through it where the club meets, tells the story of its efforts to transform a dump into a riverfront park and pitches the idea that becomes the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. "We wanted to highlight the people who aren't famous," said Messina about the decision to give Sloop Club members nearly as much screen time as Seeger. "We wanted to make sure they got their due." That includes Toshi Seeger, the mastermind behind so many Clearwater projects. "People in Beacon know how central Toshi's role was because they experienced it," said Childers. "But people outside of Beacon don't know what a visionary she was." Seeger believed that simply telling people that the Hudson needed help wasn't enough. You had to take them sailing so they'd fall in love, then notice how filthy it was. Likewise, Childers and Messina hope that by putting viewers in the middle of song circles and meetings at the Sloop Club, as well as on the deck of the Woody Guthrie, they will elicit a similar reaction. "We could lecture you all day long about why PCBs need to be cleaned out of the river and why pollution is bad," said Messina. "But we're trying to get you to experience it on a visceral level." Seeger told the filmmakers that he hoped the documentary would inspire people to think, "I can do that." It has, Childers says: "People at screenings ask us, 'What can I do?' " Down by the Riverside will be shown by the Beacon Film Society at the Howland Cultural Center at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16, foll...

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About

The Highlands Current is a nonprofit weekly newspaper and daily website that covers Beacon, Cold Spring, Garrison, Nelsonville and Philipstown, New York, in the Hudson Highlands. This podcast includes select stories read aloud.

Information

  • Creator
    Highlands Current
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Clean