Beacon’s first Peace Awards presented to Connie Hogarth Fishkill Resident

For more check out the papers free website.

http://midhudsonnews.com/News/2013/May/14/Bea_Peace_Awd-14May13.html

BEACON – The recently formed Center for Bringing About Peace group in Beacon handed out its first Peace Awards on Monday at the Howland Cultural Center.

This is the city’s 100th anniversary and Center founder Lev Levin said it was fitting to present the new awards at the centennial of the city’s formation.

“In 1913 when Beacon became a city it was split into two”, Levin said.  “One was Matteawan on the mountain and the other was Fishkill Landing, which was on the river and there were always battles between the two, so I guess it is a metaphor for the 100th year of two villages becoming one.”

Receiving the 2013 Beacon Peace Award were:

• The Community Action Partnership
• Glynwood Farm
• Re>Think Local,
• Beacon Yoga Center
• The Beacon Sloop Club Circle of Song
• Habitat for Humanity of Newburgh
• Vassar Haiti Project
• The Humor Project
• The Dutchess County Division of Veterans Affairs
• The Connie Hogarth Center for Social Justice

2 Fishkill leaders honored for 'record of service'

Written by Roberto Cruz Poughkeepsie Journal for more check out the papers website or subscribe to it as I do.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20130514/NEWS01/130514004/2-Fishkill-leaders-honored-record-service-

BEACON — The Exchange Club of Southern Dutchess this morning honored Town of Fishkill Highway Superintendent Glenn Scofield and Police Chief Don Williams for their combined 96-years of service to the people of Dutchess County.

The two leaders were presented with the 46th annual Meritorious Service Award at the club’s breakfast gathering at Dutchess Manor Caterers in Beacon.

“Glenn and Don epitomize what it means to be dedicated community leaders – they are committed to serving others and giving back to make this an even better place to live and work,” Exchange Club President Matthew Vetare said.

Assemblyman Lalor (R) Fishkill teams up with Senator Gipson (D) Dutchess County to pass Term Limits

Wappingers Falls, N.Y. – (5/9/13) – In a bipartisan effort to end corruption in Albany, State Senator Terry Gipson (D-Rhinebeck) and Assemblyman Kieran Lalor (R,C,I-Fishkill) today joined in front of the Wappinger Town Hall to introduce joint legislation that creates term limits in both the New York State Senate and Assembly. 

"Term limits are a key step in cleaning up Albany," said Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor. "That's why I'm excited to join Senator Gipson today to fight for this reform. Term limits will bring fresh blood and new ideas into government. We'll end the sense of entitlement and arrogance that has enabled corruption, fraud, and abuse. Lately, it seems like we've been relying on the FBI and the U.S. Attorney to term limit our politicians. Something is very wrong when you're more likely to leave Albany in handcuffs than through the ballot box. Terms limits will go a long way to changing that."

"Good government and earning the public trust is not a partisan issue, and I thank Assemblyman Lalor for working with me to reform the system in Albany to better serve our constituents in the Hudson Valley,"  said Senator Terry Gipson.  "Term limits will help take the self-interest out of holding office, encourage fresh ideas and improve the process in how and when things get done in Albany."

The proposed legislation would extend a Senate term from two to four years, and set Senate term limits at no more than three four-year terms served for a total of twelve years. Assembly terms would remain at two years with no more than six two-year terms served, also at a total of twelve years. If a legislator serves in both houses, their service will be capped at sixteen years.  Senator Terry Gipson is the prime sponsor of the Senate bill while Assemblyman Kieran Lalor is the prime sponsor in the Assembly.

Added Senator Gipson:  "I look forward to working with Assemblyman Lalor on this bill, and continuing to push for comprehensive campaign finance and ethics reform in New York.  We might not agree on every issue, but when it comes to rooting out corruption and reforming Albany we stand side-by-side."

Assemblyman Lalor added, "Albany's career politicians have done nothing to stop New York's decades-long decline. They block new ideas and meaningful reform. We need fresh leadership to move New York forward. Fifteen states already have term limits for their legislatures. It's a diverse group of red and blue states from California to Louisiana and South Dakota to Michigan. It's time for New York's Republicans and Democrats to embrace term limits."

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The U.S. has never faced a military coup is owed in large part to George Washington as a general in Fishkill NY

A Matter of Prudence

That the U.S. has never faced a military coup is owed in large part to George Washington as a general and, later, as president.

By ALAN PELL CRAWFORD Wall Street Journal, for more check out the papers website.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324326504578468792754660534.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

In October 1778, just before George Washington led his Continental Army into its winter quarters in Middlebrook, N.J., a member of Washington's elite personal guard named John Herring was sent to procure supplies for the general's mess. When a Fishkill, N.Y., homeowner refused to produce the desired goods, Herring sent three of his comrades back to the uncooperative man's house to break into it and steal items that Herring wanted for himself, including silver, coins and clothing. When the commander in chief, who detested "horrible Villainies of this nature," found out, the scoundrels were court-martialed. Herring, with Washington's approval, was hanged.

The victim of the break-in, as it happened, was one of those hated Tories who had remained loyal to the British crown. That Washington regarded such loyalists as "abominable pests of society" didn't matter. Tories were American citizens, too, with rights that Washington felt duty-bound to protect. Washington was also scrupulous in his attempts to distinguish soldiers, who fell under his authority, from civilians, who did not. Such respect for the rule of law, even when the American system of jurisprudence was only beginning, was an essential component of Washington's leadership, Logan Beirne argues in "Blood of Tyrants." Washington's conscientious efforts to respect basic rights for Americans, moreover, had far-reaching consequences for the nation he did so much to forge.

Throughout the War of Independence, Mr. Beirne says, Washington made distinctions of this kind. Even when he exercised a kind of day-to-day dictatorial authority beyond the immediate geographical reach of the legislators to whom, ultimately, he answered, Washington refused to deprive citizens "of due process or seize property without the consent of civil authorities," Mr. Beirne writes. "The legislatures and civil courts referred their fellow Americans to courts-martial, confiscated their property, executed them, and did a host of other nasty things to them. But Washington let the civilian leaders make those decisions."

Although Washington's record is ultimately mixed—just where political authority ended and military authority began was still being figured out—his deference to civilian authorities did establish a precedent that defines (and confines) the role of the commander in chief to this day. That we have never faced the threat of a military coup we owe in large part to Washington as a general and, later, as president.

Enlarge Image

Blood of Tyrants

By Logan Beirne
(Encounter, 420 pages, $27.99)

The core of Mr. Beirne's thesis is probably correct, but his presentation is less persuasive than it might have been. For one thing, he chooses to employ a slangy style and facetious tone that are at odds with the serious topics he wants to address: Washington was the "first American superstar"; Jefferson could be "nerdy"; Gen. William Howe kept "quite a love shack" with his mistress, Mrs. Loring; patriots "went ballistic" over British atrocities.

Of greater significance than matters of style is the need for definitions, which Mr. Beirne too often neglects to supply. It might well be true that the Revolutionary generation "confronted the same fundamental issues of leadership and government that continue to perplex us," discovering along the way "bedrock principles that have direct applicability to contemporary debate." But if so, he needs to tell the reader what, precisely, those "issues" and "principles" are and in what specific way they apply. When he examines the question of congressional "interference," for instance, he should tell us what he constitutes such interference and sort out the differing legal understandings that guided the congressional and executive branches of government, then and now.

Early in the war, the Continental Congress labored to understand for itself how military and political power could be coordinated and was learning to what extent its largely untested commander could be trusted with power. But to dismiss such efforts by Congress to oversee the conduct of war as "meddling" and "micromanaging"—as Mr. Beirne does—is unfair. Pitting "clueless" political hacks (Jefferson? Adams?) against a "gallant hero" (Washington) is not especially instructive either. A more productive line of inquiry might explore how these two fledging institutions—the Congress and the American military—struggled in the furor of war to figure out their respective roles. There's drama enough in that.

Then there is the question of Mr. Beirne's sources. In his lengthy discussion of the treason of Benedict Arnold and the hanging of Arnold's British handler, Major André, Mr. Beirne gives too much credence to the account of that episode left by Joshua Hett Smith. Smith, after all, was one of the conspirators. He was, by Mr. Beirne's own admission, a spy. Even if he were (as is unlikely) the most trustworthy of witnesses, he would in no way be privy to Washington's thinking, as Mr. Beirne seems to suggest he was. In a sober examination of legal precedent, authorities must be weighed with greater care than is evident here.

Perhaps because Smith left a detailed and colorful (but self-exculpatory) narrative of the episode, Mr. Beirne cites his account repeatedly, more for its detail and color, it seems, than for its accuracy. But then there is almost no tale told of the Revolution that does not find its way into "Blood of Tyrants," provided it is juicy enough. That is how we end up with Gen. Howe's "love shack" and rehashed rumors about Baron von Steuben's "improper liberties with young boys" and Gen. Charles Lee's sexual appetites "of the transient kind," whatever that means.

Whether or not these stories have any basis in fact, they have little bearing on the development of American legal precedent, which is a serious subject and an important one. Mr. Beirne, a visiting scholar at Yale Law School, is to be commended for advancing a theme that deserves further study. His weakness for a good story is not, like Arnold's treason, a hanging offense, and Washington would no doubt let him off with a mild reprimand.

Mr. Crawford, the author of "Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson," was a scholar in residence at Mount Vernon in 2012.

A version of this article appeared May 8, 2013, on page A15 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Matter Of Prudence.

Concept of Linking Cold Spring, Fishkill and Beacon With ‘Fjord Trail’ Advances

May 1, 2013 Creating a hike-bike path By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong for more local news check out the papers website.

http://philipstown.info/2013/05/01/concept-of-linking-cold-spring-and-beacon-with-fjord-trail-advances/

The concept of a pedestrian path along the Hudson River between Cold Spring and Beacon took another small step forward last Saturday, April 27, when an ad hoc group gathered to get updates and outline goals.

Held in Garrison at Winter Hill, a former mansion turned into offices for nonprofit organizations, the session drew about 35 attendees, including two town supervisors, Philipstown’s Richard Shea and Fishkill’s Bob LaColla, and Cold Spring Trustee Stephanie Hawkins.

James Hartford displays his design for a shed for hikers at Little Stony Point, a stop on a planned ’Fjord Trail’ along the Hudson River. Photo by L.S. Armstrong

Known unofficially as the “Hudson Fjord Trail” or “Hudson River Hike-Bike Fjord Trail,” the path would parallel the river, Metro-North railroad tracks, and Route 9D, starting with a stretch between Cold Spring and Beacon. (Ultimately, it might extend south to the Bear Mountain Bridge, cross the Hudson, continue on the western side of the river to the Newburgh-Beacon bridge, and wind back through Beacon to Cold Spring.)

Since 2006, the trail has been pursued at the governmental and nonprofit level with growing momentum. Recent grants bring the amount available for preliminary work, such as drafting a master plan, to $26,000. Numerous difficulties remain, including finding a way to get hikers through or around the Breakneck highway tunnel. However, one potential problem, the need to acquire property from private owners, has apparently been averted. “We don’t see taking of anybody’s land, trespassing, or anything like that,” said Mark Wildonger, a professional planner with Scenic Hudson.

Michael McKee, chairperson of the Philipstown Greenway Committee, an offshoot of the Hudson River Valley Greenway (New York state partnership with towns and counties), said the trail idea evolved from concerns about pedestrians along Route 9D. On part of 9D, a narrow, two-lane, curving state highway, the speed limit is 55 miles per hour, although the road often teems with hikers using trailheads between Cold Spring and Beacon. One, Breakneck trail, is reportedly the most popular day-hiking destination in the country. With the trail, “the whole experience of the road will change from a sort of autobahn to a parkway” friendly to hikers, McKee said.

Participants took up numerous topics, including signage to direct visitors to hiking trails, use of the weekend trolley to reach trailheads, marketing, collaborating with local businesses, reducing the 9D speed limit, and parking, though no one seemed to want the latter overemphasized to the detriment of scenery and hiking.

“It’s not about cars. It’s about people. It’s about walking,” said James Hartford, a Cold Spring architect who, on a pro bono basis, provided a design for a hiking shelter at Little Stony Point, a trail stop, and, with Little Stony Point caretaker John Teagle, is undertaking other improvements.

“Car-free is carefree — that’s what we want” to foster as an attitude, said Dar Williams, another Cold Spring resident.

Funding came up, too. Shea, a long-time trail advocate, asked rhetorically, “Where can people write checks to? It’s been a persistent issue.” He urged creation of a distinct entity, with “a group name and an account set up” to receive contributions.

The group then spent some time discussing a formal name for the trail and an official organization to support it. Describing the trail as “a great thing,” LaColla, the Fishkill supervisor, advised against a title that sounds too Philipstown-oriented. “What I’d hate to see is any kind of parochialism,” he said. The river constitutes “a natural resource that is a regional asset,” he added, noting that another potential attraction, a rebuilt incline railroad up Mount Beacon, would likely increase the area’s attractiveness.

Participants decided to meet again in June and to meanwhile dig into the various topics raised. Hartford also sought assistance with the Little Stony Point shed and related upgrading. “This is something you can all volunteer to do right now — help us with this,” he said.

5/1/2013 Fishkill town board meeting

This meeting was televised and available for review on the town's website.

http://fishkilltownny.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1074

Highlights:

Detective Gallo was recognized for his work on a car accident.

Senator Gipson spoke and stated he was interested in working with Fishkill on the Revolutionary War Burial Ground, the Fjord trail to Breakneck and hinted that he would not support a Hotel Tax. He also asked if any citizen had a question, feel free to contact him.

A highway employee spoke and asked about Lag Pay reimbursement and the supervisor stated that there was no money in the budget for this year.

The board also recognized Mr. Ron Greene for his research of the Zion Church on Baxtertown road that was part of the underground RR.

Dutchess Republicans take hops handout

As published in the 4/19/2013 issue of the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Recently the Poughkeepsie Journal covered a story involving Hop Farmers and a $100,000 handout from Sen. Charles Schumer (“Hops farms may aid microbrewers,” March 26). What the paper left out was that the benefactors were Dutchess County Republicans. One is a current elected official, another one a former elected official who was ousted because of scandal and the last was a high-ranking committee member.

What I don’t understand is how Dutchess County Republicans can ask for a handout, after they hosted two Tea Parties at Dutchess Stadium and supported candidates that decried the stimulus. This goes beyond logical reason and is hypocritical. While I am pro-hop and business, and wish the Republicans success in their enterprise, I wish they would do so without a taxpayer handout.

But this hypocrisy is a cornerstone of today’s “Republican Establishment.” Even Paul Ryan, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, decried the stimulus while applying for aid. What’s even more amazing is that the “low information voter” continues to vote and support those who campaign against handouts while taking handouts for themselves.

Ozzy Albra

Fishkill