Kingston city police still without contract
Shrinking officer ranks, three-year stalemate damaging morale, says PBA president.
All posts by Jesse J. Smith
Noble seeks a second term as Kingston’s mayor
Mayor Steve Noble said this week he will seek a second four-year term in office where, he said, he’ll build on the accomplishments of his current term while striking a balance between the need to expand the city’s tax base by attracting new residents and businesses and the need to protect the city’s working class neighborhoods from the impact of gentrification.
Kingston officials wrestle with Pike Plan’s fate, but this time it could be the canopy’s end
Eight years after a problem-plagued refurbishment project, city officials are giving serious consideration to tearing down the system of porticos covering sidewalks in the Uptown business district.
Defense attorney plans to run for county judge
Prominent Kingston defense attorney Bryan Rounds will launch his campaign for county judge on the steps of the Ulster County Courthouse next week.
More hopefuls dive into Ulster exec race
Three Democrats have officially jumped into the race to replace County Executive Mike Hein, hoping to get an early lead in the process of wooing a few hundred town committee members who will select a candidate to run in a special election later this year. On the Republican side, one veteran elected official said that he’s weighing a run, in part because he’s alarmed by the lack of experience among the presumptive frontrunners.
Teen charged with murder out on bail, back at school
A Kingston man, his 17-year-old son and a second teen have been indicted on murder and robbery charges stemming from a Dec. 1, 2018 incident that left 38-year-old Mark Lancaster dead of a gunshot wound. Meanwhile, sources say, one of the accused teens has made bail and is currently attending Kingston High School.
Electing a new county exec won’t be cheap
Ulster County will have three elections this year, at a total cost of around $1 million.
Noble highlights housing issues in 2019 state of the city speech
Kingston mayor talks about building projects, says city will take on gentrification.
After the Hein-quake, what next?
County Executive Mike Hein’s surprise announcement last week that he’s stepping down to take a post in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, along with a quirk in the county charter, has upended Ulster County’s political scene as candidates emerge for a novel back-to-back electoral contest to succeed him.
Kingston mayor to address city Jan. 8
Noble is likely to touch on 2019’s zero-growth budget, a pending merger between Ulster County Area Transit and Citibus and last month’s passage of a municipal ID law sought by immigration rights advocates. Noble can also point to millions in new grant funding and the expected redevelopment of a city-owned parking lot Uptown into a mixed-use residential and commercial hub dubbed “The Kingstonian.”