Food bank honors Rev. Kelley for work at Caring Hands

Food bank honors Rev. Kelley for work at Caring Hands

Last Tuesday, the Rev. Darlene Kelley, pastor at Clinton Avenue Methodist, was lauded by the Hudson Valley Regional Food Bank with its Award for Outstanding Achievement for her work to help feeding Kingston’s hungry. Kelley operates the Caring Hands soup...
Lost and found and "liked"

Lost and found and “liked”

If you are on Facebook and live anywhere in the Hudson Valley, then for the past year your newsfeed may well have contained heart-wrenching home photos of children draped over a patient old terrier, golden Labradors racing across lawns or...
City, railroad at odds over yard

City, railroad at odds over yard

The city’s chief legal counsel said this week that city code enforcement officers have accumulated a case against the Catskill Mountain Railroad that could result in the closure of the tourist rail line’s maintenance and repair facility off Cornell Street...
School board race a candidate shy

School board race a candidate shy

Three seats were up on the Kingston City School District’s Board of Education, and when the clock struck five last Wednesday, May 1, just two petitions had been received. This all but ensures incumbents Matthew McCoy, the board’s president, and...
As public disdain rises, judges pan Central Hudson-Fortis merger

As public disdain rises, judges pan Central Hudson-Fortis merger

On the same day U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer joined with Ulster County Executive Mike Hein to recommend the Public Service Commission (PSC) give the proposed $1.5-billion takeover of Central Hudson by Canadian power company Fortis more scrutiny, two PSC administrative...
Officials question Gallo's fitness for office

Officials question Gallo’s fitness for office

Editor’s note: This report contains some vulgar language. Reader discretion is advised. In the wake of the revelation that Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo screamed, used copious profanity and made threats of arrest and physical harm to a city employee during...
Storm of opposition rising over Fortis’ Central Hudson bid

Storm of opposition rising over Fortis’ Central Hudson bid

The proposed $1.5 billion purchase of Central Hudson Energy Group by Fortis, Inc., a Canadian-based holding company, doesn’t have too many friends willing to speak on its behalf, if the April 18 public hearing held by the state Public Service...
Kingston, the muse: Martin’s new album draws from local inspiration

Kingston, the muse: Martin’s new album draws from local inspiration

Rebecca Martin is known in Kingston as one of the city’s most committed and effective community activists. She was the first executive director of the Kingston Land Trust, which has become a formidable force for conservation, green spaces, and community...
In other news
Editorial: Why we wrote that story

Editorial: Why we wrote that story

Can’t we just let the angry mayor story drop? Hope for the best, go back to reporting on other things and at least wait until something new happens to rip off this scab? We’d like to, but we can’t. The mayor’s apology implied that his outburst on Blaber was just due to his fractured relationship...
Neither politicians nor public safe from Gallo’s rages

Neither politicians nor public safe from Gallo’s rages

In a public apology issued a few days after a recording surfaced of him unleashing a torrent of verbal abuse and threats against a city employee, Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo called the outburst a product of his “passionate” nature, a result of his near-familial relationship with now-suspended parking enforcement officer Jeremy Blaber. In a series...
Letters: Remember the old post office?

Letters: Remember the old post office?

Remember the old post office? Am I the only one who sees a parallel between County Executive Hein’s rush to rip up the U&D tracks and Mayor Garraghan’s scrapping of the old post office? Consider that both were/are motivated to grab a few easy bucks “now” for their respective budgets at the cost of destroying...
Hugh Reynolds: Four on the floor

Hugh Reynolds: Four on the floor

It’s difficult for a state legislator to sum up in 15 minutes or less what’s going on in Albany, even in front of a business audience typically more tuned in than your average bear. So it’s not entirely fair to say either that local Assemblyman Kevin Cahill and state Sen. Cecelia Tkaczyk, two Democrats, bombed...
Commentary: Nothing good about CH-Fortis deal

Commentary: Nothing good about CH-Fortis deal

By Maurice Hinchey I am very concerned about the proposed acquisition of Central Hudson by the Canadian holding company Fortis, Inc. In the interests of New Yorkers and the future of our great state — especially the mid-Hudson region — it should be rejected. In my thirty eight years as an elected public official —...

Kingston Library info meeting this Thursday

On Thursday, May 16 at 6 p.m. in the community room of the Kingston Library at 55 Franklin St., Kingston Library will hold a public forum on its June 4 election. At the public forum, the library’s proposed 2014 tax appropriation and overall 2014 budget will be reviewed. Also on June 4, voters will elect...

KayCee Wimbish takes the city farm’s rake

When one thinks of Kingston, one might think of historical sites and buildings, arts, music, culture, wealthy and downtrodden neighborhoods… “city-type” stuff.  But how many think of slow, quiet growing time in a sunny veggie garden? How many people think of John Deere? Or kids playing in the dirt? Urban farmer KayCee Wimbish does. South...

Letters: The Common Council’s responsibility, the railroad’s untapped potential

The Common Council’s obligation Shayne Gallo represents everything that we teach our kids not to be. From bullying to morality, we preach to our children and teach them in school to have a certain level of respect for their fellow man. I was bullied for a great majority of my school life. No one back...
Editorial: Gallo and his grip

Editorial: Gallo and his grip

Like many of us here in town, we at the Kingston Times have watched the events regarding the mayor and his conduct unfold with a mix of shock, embarrassment, frustration and concern. We’ve been behind the mayor editorially and support pretty much everything he’s accomplished so far except firing Jen Fuentes. His emphasis on Midtown...
'I’m totally getting road-raged by this guy who says he’s the mayor.'

‘I’m totally getting road-raged by this guy who says he’s the mayor.’

Editor’s note: This report contains vulgar language. Reader discretion is advised. Updated with Corporation Counsel Andy Zweben’s comments.  A West Hurley man said Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo berated and tried to intimidate him last month in what he described as a “road rage” incident on a city street. John Bridges, 51, also believes a police...
Hugh Reynolds: Railroad men

Hugh Reynolds: Railroad men

I guess it’s safe now to identify Ulster County’s latest dynamic duo. Ulster County Executive Mike Hein and Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo are conducting a relentless purge of the Catskill Mountain Railroad and anybody associated with it. Some are calling their behavior abuse of power. I know, I know. It’s all for a good cause....
Kingston After Dark: People are people

Kingston After Dark: People are people

I was in Worcester, Mass., the other night for a concert and was really moved by the unity of the New England residents in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. Working-class people were just sharing worries and trying to have a good time and also feeling some relief that a suspect was apprehended. As...