A count of absentee and affidavit ballots has left Democrat Dave Clegg clinging to a miniscule 45-vote lead over Republican Mike Kavanagh in the closely watched race for Ulster County district attorney. But with hundreds of ballot challenges awaiting a judge’s ruling — and a county law that will likely trigger an automatic recount of every vote cast — a final decision in the contest could still be weeks away.
The Ulster County Legislature passed a measure forbidding county appointees from holding elected office 12-11. But County Executive Pat Ryan said this week that he will veto the measure, which has — intentionally or not — been taken as an attack on Deputy County Executive Dan Torres, who’s also a New Paltz town councilman.
This land, to be kept forever wild by the volunteer not-for-profit group Mill Brook Preserve, Inc., is like a magical world within the heart of town. There are pine groves and streams, multiple ponds and beaver dams and lodges as well as wild mushrooms and old-growth trees split in half by lightning that somehow came back to life.
Work will begin in a few months to change what most planners regarded as one of the ugliest buildings on Main Street into a McDonald’s that the company’s architect has said will be unlike any in the northeastern United States.
Will Sweeney of Gardiner is one of those creative types who was cursed, or perhaps blessed, to live in interesting times.
Questions about how the proposed changes in the law would impact the existing Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Campground, located in the Tuthilltown hamlet, were much on the minds of Gardiner residents who turned up for the public hearing.
According to police chief Joseph Snyder, if someone comes to the town police station “in the middle of the night in need of recovery,” officers will call a Catholic Charities number to arrange transportation to a treatment facility. An officer will remain with the individual until a “soft hand-off” to the volunteer driver.
For the first time in its history, the Ulster County Legislature voted to condemn one of its own, New Paltz Democrat Hector Rodriguez, for sexual harassment and predatory behavior. Rodriguez’s expressionless face loomed over the room, projected onto a wall by a too-close webcam that he used to Skype into the meeting, while legislators voted 17-5 for his censure. His screen went black during the voting; Rodriguez abstained from the vote and made no comment.
A highlight is always the county-fair-style competition for home-fermented concoctions, but it’s also a fun gathering for those more interested in tasting pickle products than in creating them.
Democrats appeared poised to maintain their single-vote majority in the Ulster County Legislature after a count of absentee ballots failed to upend election night results.