In February 2011, Phoenicia looked like a town on the rise. The tiny Shandaken hamlet was home to about 388 residents and had just been named the “sixth-coolest small town” in the country by Budget Travel magazine. Its half-mile Main Street, a two-lane strip of restaurants, shops and music venues tucked beneath Tremper Mountain, buzzed […]
News Analysis
Posted inNews Analysis
Overlook
Rural New Yorkers Face Growing Health Care Gaps
Medical deserts are expanding across New York as its population declines and ages, leaving rural counties like Greene and Ulster among the hardest hit. For residents of the Overlook Region, just finding a doctor—or securing an appointment within a reasonable timeframe—has become a daunting challenge. An August report from State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli confirms […]
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Woodstock
Union Rules at Center of Woodstock Standoff Over Rehiring of Sex Offender
For all the outrage that accompanied Woodstock Town Supervisor Bill McKenna’s success in rehiring a convicted sex offender, the dispute at this stage comes down to a simple question: Is Michael Innello’s employment protected by his union? Residents already seething over McKenna’s decision to hire Innello without informing the town board or Woodstock police got […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Woodstock
Woodstock Supervisor McKenna Ending Final Term With Legacy Marked by Sex Offender Controversy
Bill McKenna’s eight-year tenure as Woodstock’s top elected official is ending much as it began, amid disputes about how the job should be done and how he’s carried them out. His fifth and final term will be remembered less for his years of municipal stewardship than for hiring Michael Innello, a Level 3 sex offender […]
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Onteora Mulls Options After Voters Reject $70 Million School Consolidation Plan
Ben Fleisher remembers debates over school consolidation when he was a student at Onteora High School. Now 46 and raising children of his own in the district, the acupuncturist and Olive resident said this week’s failed vote to centralize students at a single campus in Boiceville reflects a deeper community rupture. “The community owes it […]