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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.
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Fewer Ticks = Less Lyme? Maybe Not.
Tick Project releases results of five-year study
If you loathe black-legged ticks, those tiny carriers of Lyme disease, babesiosis and other illnesses, the Cary Institute Tick Project has good news and bad news.
First, the good news: Over five years, 46 Millbrook-based researchers found that bait boxes reduced the tick population in the yards of Dutchess County residents by half.
The bad news: It didn't matter. Although there were fewer ticks, it had little effect on reducing illness or people's encounters with them, findings in line with a preliminary study completed in 2016.
"It wasn't the answer we wanted, but it is the answer," said Richard Ostfeld, a disease ecologist and co-director of The Tick Project (tickproject.org). On the bright side, "it tells us where to look and where not to look when trying to solve this enormous societal problem."
For the study, researchers selected 24 neighborhoods in Dutchess County, including some in Beacon. They applied fungal spray and bait boxes, both of which are commercially available and safe for people, pets and the environment.
The spray, which is sold as Met52, is made from Metarhizium anisopliae, which is found in forest soil in the eastern U.S. "It makes its living by attacking and killing arthropods on the forest floor, digesting them and using them as a food source," said Ostfeld.
The bait boxes attract rodents that, once inside, rub against a wick that applies a non-toxic insecticide with the same active ingredient as Frontline, a tick treatment for pets. "It's safe for vertebrates but lethal for ticks," Ostfeld said.
A newly hatched tick isn't a threat. But if its first blood meal is from an animal infected with the spirochete bacterium that causes Lyme disease, the infection can spread. By far the most likely hosts are white-footed mice, which allow about half the ticks that bite them to feed, followed by shrews and chipmunks.
Besides administering the sprays and bait boxes, project staff routinely conducted tick sweeps to gauge the population in the neighborhoods being studied. It also regularly asked residents whether they had encountered ticks, been bitten or come down with a tick-borne illness.
Of the 24 neighborhoods in the study, six received working bait boxes and sprays. Another six received fake boxes and working sprays, six received working boxes and fake sprays and six received both fake boxes and sprays. For control purposes, neither the researchers nor residents knew which versions they had.
The bait boxes were much more effective than the spray and reduced populations by about half. Ostfeld said that boxes and sprays paired together did not seem to make either more effective. And neither method reduced the number of ticks people saw or tick-borne infections.
"Maybe this reduction of ticks in neighborhoods and on properties isn't sufficient because there is a probability of encountering that tick somewhere else, like when you're hiking, walking your dog or mountain biking," said Ostfeld. "Maybe there are other areas that we need to target, as well."
To figure that out, Ostfeld said, would require a study far beyond the capabilities of the Cary Institute and require researchers in social sciences and human behavior, as well as tens of thousands of volunteers. Ostfeld said such a study might involve a phone app with GPS.
One problem is that ticks will sometimes remain attached to a host for up to 36 hours before feeding and take up to 24 hours to feed. That means an engorged tick that you pull out of your skin could have come from anywhere you've been in the last three days.
"The way out of this is to have people doing thorough tick checks at frequent intervals - maybe an app reminds them every hour," Ostfeld said. "It's a nuisance but if we can find out where the hot spots are, we can target those areas."
In the meantime, help may be on the way. A Lyme vaccine is in clinical trials and could be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration in 2025. If it is ap -
Chicago Comes to Cold Spring
Haldane Drama to perform saucy musical
New York has done well by Chicago.
The musical, which has been performed more than 10,000 times over the past 28 years on Broadway, will have its Haldane Drama debut from March 22 to 24 on the gritty stage of the school auditorium.
It has long been on director Martha Mechalakos' punch list. Based on a satirical mid-1920s play written by a Chicago Tribune reporter, it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a gaggle of newly emboldened women accused of murdering their husbands. They work the legal system to draw attention to themselves - stories you might hear today on a true-crime podcast.
The source material proved fruitful to John Kander, who wrote the music, and Fred Ebb, who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book with choreographer Bob Fosse.
Presented in a vaudevillian courtroom setting, with many direct addresses to the audience, the show serves up two killers and assorted raucous denizens who plead their case through dance and songs such as "All That Jazz" and "Razzle Dazzle."
The Haldane production has benefited, Mechalakos says, from the guidance of Christine Bokhour, a veteran Broadway actor who choreographed.
"The story, music and lyrics are all so dang good," says Bokhour, who performed in the musical on Broadway and national tours. "It has revenge and redemption and is chock full of catchy tunes and phrases, then the vaudeville timing - Fosse was born to a Chicago vaudevillian and was a child prodigy tapper - and pace keep you riveted. The dancing sends it to another level.
"The precision Fosse demanded is the most challenging aspect for untrained dancers," she says. "Aside from the athleticism in much of his work, there is a seeming simplicity when you watch Fosse dancers. But the amount of control it takes to execute those moves and isolations is underestimated - maybe not so much now by the Haldane kids in this production; I haven't been easy on them.
"Fosse can be hard even for trained dancers. It's a style all its own created from his particular set of physical idiosyncrasies. I haven't replicated the Broadway show here - I can't even do that choreography now - but there are some places I've used original or close to original choreography where possible."
Christine's husband, Ray, who spent the better part of 22 years playing Amos Hart in Chicago, mostly on Broadway, has also provided guidance to the actors. (The couple met in 1999 on a national tour.)
Mechalakos says the Bokhours "bring the insider knowledge of all the bits that aren't written in the script, which is so much fun for the Haldane actors. And Christine donated several pairs of her Broadway performance shoes. Everyone wanted to wear the shoes that touched a Broadway stage."
"I love watching light bulbs go on for kids when they grasp a move or a joke or a moment," Bokhour says.
Amelia Alayon as Roxie Hart
Elaine Llewellyn as Velma Kelly
Merrick Williams as Billy Flynn
Oliver Petkus as Amos Hart
Lucia Petty as Mama Morton
Molly Bernstein as Little Mary Sunshine
With all the razzle-dazzle, Mechalakos feels that many productions of Chicago don't focus on what the show is actually about, which is "our national obsession with celebrity and scandal and the media obsession with such. It's about inequity and corruption in our criminal justice system, and the cynical idea that crime pays and it's a circus act, all show business."
The students will perform the "teen edition" of the musical, which does not include the songs "Little Bit of Good" and "Class" and has other trims and substitutions.
Chicago opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran for two years with Chita Rivera (who died Jan. 30) as Velma Kelly and Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart. Jerry Orbach represented law and disorder as attorney Billy Flynn. The show was revived in 1996.
Haldane Drama will perform Chicago at 7 p.m. on March 22 and 23 and at 2 p.m. on March 24 in the school auditorium at 15 Craigside Drive in Cold Spring. Tickets are $15, or $8 for seniors an -
Beacon, Philipstown Eye Landfill Gas
Seek federal funding to reduce methane emissions
The landfill at Dennings Point in Beacon was closed and capped in 1968, but its decaying remains are the city's largest source of methane, the potent greenhouse gas that, along with carbon dioxide, is fueling global warming.
To reduce landfill emissions, Beacon and other Hudson Valley municipalities, including Philipstown, are joining the Hudson Valley Regional Council (HVRC) in Newburgh to apply for a federal grant.
If the Environmental Protection Agency approves the funding, officials in Beacon and Philipstown plan to install biofilters made of mulch and compost, according to Eleanor Peck, HVRC's deputy executive director, and Melanie Patapis, its Climate Smart Communities coordinator.
Studies have shown that the biofilters, which cost about $40,000 at a small landfill to $100,000 at a large one, can reduce vented methane emissions by as much as 90 percent, they said.
"There are at least dozens of closed landfills in the Hudson Valley and across the state and the country, and they're all emitting methane," said Peck. "We have this pretty cheap way to mitigate those emissions effectively."
The Philipstown Town Board on March 7 authorized Supervisor John Van Tassel to join the grant application on behalf of the town. Beacon's administrator, Chris White, said on Wednesday (March 13) that the city is also on board.
It's only in recent years that the HVRC began to understand the impact of climate change from landfills, said Peck. Beacon and Philipstown are among 15 municipalities that expressed interest in joining the application for federal funds, although some have yet to officially commit.
When they are closed, landfills are "capped" to prevent contaminants from spreading and outfitted with a system that collects and releases carbon dioxide and methane created by decaying organic matter.
While carbon dioxide has a longer life, methane is 28 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere, according to the EPA. That trapped heat is driving climate change.
Local communities, aided by HVRC, have been measuring the carbon dioxide and methane they produce through greenhouse gas inventories. As participants in the state's Climate Smart Communities program, Beacon and Philipstown have inventoried gases emitted by operations such as highway department trucks.
Measuring emissions from closed landfills is optional under the program, said Palapis, and Philipstown did not include its closed landfill on Lane Gate Road in its most recent inventory. However, in a letter to HVRC, Van Tassel said closed landfills like Philipstown's are an "insidious driver" of methane emissions.
Palapis said that, generally, landfills account for 50 percent to 90 percent of a municipal government's emissions, even if the sites aren't active.
Beacon's most recent greenhouse gas inventory, released in January, includes landfill measurements. It found they accounted for 37 percent of the city's overall emissions in 2021 and 61 percent of the emissions from facilities the city owns and operates. -
No Snow? It's Slow.
Not everyone loves warmer winters
It's hard times in the Highlands for pond hockey players, ice sailors, snowplow operators, ice fishers, cross-country skiers and winter sports retailers.
Outdoors enthusiasts and business owners who rely on snowfall and cold weather report that the lack of it in recent years has cut into their fun and revenues.
"It's been a dramatic change," said Steve Ives of Garrison, who is one of the three dozen hockey players who converge on local ponds when conditions allow. As recently as 10 years ago, the most dedicated skaters could play 30 or more times a year on solid ice, he said.
Now, to play even 20 times, "we've had to seek out ponds in higher elevations and schedule games at 8 a.m., before the sun starts to warm the ice up." Even then, the ice isn't always great, he said. "There are games where we play with water on all sides."
Ice sailors were "skunked" this year, said John Sperr of Rhinebeck, the "unofficial meteorologist" of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. He said that there was no sailable ice this winter on Orange Lake, Tivoli Bay or the Hudson River. From 1980 to 1995, he said, the club typically enjoyed six to eight weeks of sailing. "Global warming has killed that," he said.
The rising winter temperatures are well-documented. Since 1901, temperatures in New York have risen 2.6 degrees and are expected to increase by as much as 11 degrees by the end of the century, according to a study by the state Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Myron Tice of Cold Spring has seen the effect of rising temperatures on ice fishing. Growing up in Buchanan 50 years ago, he would fish in local ponds, including Lake Meahagh. "The ice was thicker," he recalled. "You'd have 2 feet of ice."
He still fishes locally but must drive to Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, Lake George or Saratoga to find reliable ice. "It's also now later in the year when you find it," he said.
Canopus Lake in Fahnestock State Park on Route 301 has long been a popular site for fishing but hasn't been open for winter sports for two years because it needs 6 inches of ice to be safe, said Declan Hennelly, the park manager.
He added that the park's cross-country ski center was only open five days this year and four days last winter. The center was open for 46 days in 2014 and 39 days in 2020 but has been trending downward, he said.
For winter sports, "you need consistently cold weather and a moderate amount of snow throughout the winter," he said. Ski areas such as Victor Constant at West Point typically have snowmaking machines; it didn't close for the season until Monday (March 11).
Businesses that rely on snow also suffer without it. When Nick Lisikatos started plowing in Philipstown in the 1980s, the first snow usually arrived in late November. Now, he said, "plowable" storms usually don't hit before Christmas.
He said on-demand plowing is still vital in Philipstown because of the hilly and dirt roads and the growing number of delivery trucks that must navigate them.
Katy Behney, who owns Mountain Tops Outfitters in Beacon, said she has stopped stocking snow pants and while the store still offers snowshoes and boots, "when we get a winter like this, those things don't move."
She plans to stock fewer heavy winter clothes next year in favor of lighter wraps. "Thank God I didn't go heavy on parkas this year," she said. -
Carvana Eyes Fishkill Avenue
Auto dealer would lease former Healey lot
While a committee appointed by Beacon's mayor studies the potential rezoning of a 1-mile stretch of Fishkill Avenue, a national used car dealer hopes to soon occupy one of the four parcels in the corridor recently vacated by Healey Brothers.
Carvana, an online retailer, has submitted plans to the Planning Board to establish a facility at 410 Fishkill Ave. If approved, the company would operate out of the 17,000-square-foot building there. Healey Hyundai formerly occupied the space.
In January, Mayor Lee Kyriacou named 10 residents to the Fishkill Avenue Concepts Committee to develop ideas and advise the City Council on access, zoning, streetscapes and viewsheds along the corridor. The committee is expected to report to the council by fall.
While Healey had 60 employees at its dealership, Carvana, which would lease the property, would have about 15, project engineer Dan Koehler told the Planning Board on Tuesday (March 12).
The Healey dealership displayed cars on the lot for customers to browse while filling as many as 55 daily service appointments, but the Carvana model differs because consumers browse vehicles online and, after purchase, have their car delivered or pick it up at a facility such as the one proposed for Fishkill Avenue, he said.
Carvana would detail and conduct state inspections on vehicles at the site, said Jenn Roldan, a company representative. It would not use the lot to store inventory but would expect 10 to 20 pick-ups daily, she said.
The city's Conservation Advisory Committee sent the Planning Board a memo earlier this month asking that it require secure garbage enclosures at the site and not allow Carvana to plow snow downhill on the east side of the property, toward Fishkill Creek. When Healey Brothers pushed snow toward the creek, it was often embedded with garbage, or garbage blown from open containers ended up in the creek, the CAC said.
The committee also asked the board to ensure lighting at the site adheres to city codes. The CAC said that current lighting can be seen across the creek on Liberty Street when foliage is down.
248 Tioronda Ave.
The Planning Board scheduled a public hearing for next month on amendments requested by the owner of the 248 Tioronda development, which has been approved for 64 apartments and a 25,400-square-foot commercial building.
The most significant proposed change would be to move the Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage Trail away from flood-prone areas and eliminate a staircase, a project official said. The developer also granted the greenway access to a small island in the creek and agreed to dedicate four parking spaces for greenway users.
409 Fishkill Ave.
The Planning Board on Tuesday held a public hearing on a proposal by Soka Gakkai International (SGI) to lease and repurpose 409 Fishkill Ave., another former Healey lot, as a Buddhist worship center.
SGI said it is not planning any new construction, only a new facade on the 5,500-square-foot one-story building. A representative said Tuesday that the group plans to host gatherings of about 100 people on the first Sunday morning of each month, along with more frequent weeknight gatherings of about 30 people.
The site, which consists of six parcels that would be combined through a subdivision, has 50 parking spaces. A handful of residents who spoke during the hearing asked about fencing around the property and noise and traffic at the site early in the morning and late at night.
A 6-foot stockade fence would be erected to replace dilapidated fencing behind the building, SGI said, and there will be no outdoor speakers. The rear door, which is the entrance closest to neighbors on Mead Avenue, will be used only for emergencies and trash, said Dan Koehler, the project engineer.
The Planning Board closed the public hearing and authorized its attorney to draft a resolution to approve the project to be considered next month.
Mirbeau Spa and Hotel
The Planning Board scheduled a -
Looking Back in Philipstown
150 Years Ago (March 1874)
After The Peekskill Messenger boasted that Mr. Sutton was the longest-serving church choir director on the East Coast, having been at Second Presbyterian for 34 years, The Cold Spring Recorder countered that Mr. Barrows had been at the Episcopal church in the village for the same amount of time.
The Recorder reported that "temperance people congratulate each other [on progress made to make alcohol illegal] and hope the day is not distant when every whiskey cask will be knocked in the head."
The Cold Spring Board of Trustees proposed a budget of $3443.50 [about $89,000 today], including $600 [$15,500] for street cleaning, $400 to pave the Main Street crosswalks and $200 to deepen the Paulding Avenue well.
Charles Baxter sued Oscar Organ for $100 [$2,700], alleging that he quit before completing an eight-month contract as a laborer. Oscar's father, C.J., offered $39.85 to settle - the wages left to be paid - but Baxter refused. A jury awarded $40.
The Recorder noted that a Western Union agent traveled on the Hudson River Railroad. For a small additional fee, passengers could have telegraphs delivered to any station on the line.
John Dougherty, employed by Capt. George Wise, was arrested in Cold Spring for public intoxication. While awaiting transfer to the county jail, he told Officer Morrison that he had information to offer: He had witnessed the killing of a railroad watchman at the 30th Street depot in New York City and could provide the names of the gang members involved.
Stephen Davenport escaped serious injury when a cow protecting her calf placed her horns on either side of his thigh and threw him. The cow was after a dog that had taken refuge behind its master.
Howard Dykeman was playing on a soft couch when a threaded needle went into his leg, eye first. The doctors put the boy under ether but decided it was too deep to remove.
The Recorder reported that, "like hundreds of letters," three soldiers found themselves in Cold Spring instead of Cold Spring Harbor, on Long Island. J.G. Southard lent them $10 to buy return train tickets.
The newly formed Cold Spring Total Abstinence Society met at Town Hall.
Vincent Merritt reported finding two horse blankets on the Breakneck road.
William West, 34, of Philipstown, died from head injuries sustained when he jumped or fell from a train as it passed near Cortlandt. He and Thomas Avery, who were traveling together, had asked the conductor and engineer to slow the train so they could jump off. When they refused, West ran to the back of the last car but Avery said he did not see in what manner he left the train. Seeing his friend tumbling beside the tracks, Avery jumped after him but was not injured.
Two cows owned by Richard Denny in North Highlands found their way into the barn and ate so much feed that they died. His loss was about $100.
125 Years ago (March 1899)
Prof. Treat of Garrison caused a stir while walking his 25 performing dogs around Highland Falls before an appearance.
Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Sherwood hosted a party for their neighbors. Grace Sherwood and Ethel Briggs each played the organ while guests elsewhere studied the somber pictures of Milton's Paradise Lost. The gentlemen smoked and argued about the duties of town officers. Supper was served at 10 p.m.
St. Philip's Church in Garrison hosted a stereopticon viewing at the Reading Room of a wheeling trip and the cathedrals of England.
A submarine mine that was taken out of Santiago of Philipstown harbor in 1898 during the Spanish-American War in Cuba arrived at West Point for its ordnance museum after being cleaned of its tropical barnacles and painted black. It was said to be exactly like the one that blew up the USS Maine in Havana harbor, killing 268 sailors.
The Union News Co. secured the option to place bootblack stands at all stations of the Central Hudson, including Cold Spring.
The Recorder noted that a well-own document dated at West Point, Aug. 19, 1783, gave the weight of its