Water chestnuts, a local species unrelated to the oriental delicacy, have been overwhelming a large section of the Esopus Creek, especially the area where the creek widens opposite the village beach. The green mass covers a wide swath of the creek, making boating and swimming in those areas impossible. Much of the weed cover is near Esopus Bend Nature Preserve.

The Navy Times estimated that 43,000 Coast Guard members missed their first paychecks of 2019 due to the partial government shutdown; 21 of them work alongside the Hudson River with the Saugerties Aid to Navigation Team. A local Navy veteran, Allen McDowell, has taken it upon himself to collect donations on their behalf through word of mouth, local clubs and churches and intense social networking.

Alcohol is the number one date-rape drug, involved in roughly 50 percent of sexual assaults, according to American Addiction Centers, Inc. With that sobering statistic in mind, the county executive’s office is expanding its program to combat sex crimes in local communities by training bar and restaurant staff methods to spot it and then stop it in its tracks.