Orange County, NY | featured news

Sources familiar with negotiations between Purdue, multiple state attorneys general and lawyers representing scores of local governments have said the talks are essentially at a standstill, six weeks before the first federal trial is scheduled to begin.

MONTICELLO — Local government and economic development leaders said on Friday that Sullivan County is steadily progressing in planning for and luring developers to build two light industrial parks.Of the two sites, a 78-acre, county-owned parcel located in the Town of Thompson and the Village of Monticello, could be developed faster, they said.That land has been vacant since a plan was scrapped a decade ago to expand the nearby Sullivan County Landfill. [...]

WEST POINT — An inspector general’s report released Friday recommended 20 steps to begin correcting shortcomings in privatized military housing at West Point and many other bases.Sen. Chuck Schumer had urged the Army to expedite the release of the report, and he praised the Department of Defense for doing so.Among the recommendations Schumer and housing advocates had pushed for that were included in the inspector general’s recommendations were [...]

CITY OF NEWBURGH — A group of Newburgh students are training to be part of the burgeoning digital workforce by taking advantage of a program that allows them to receive a high school education, a college degree and on-the-job tech experience, all at the same time.Newburgh Free Academy's P-TECH program began in 2014 and is a collaboration between the school district, SUNY Orange and IBM in Poughkeepsie. Students take high school and college classes during the academic year [...]

ELLENVILLE — A Brooklyn man was accused of striking one of two combatants in a fight Thursday, causing him to suffer life-threatening injuries, police said.The Ulster County Sheriff’s office said the unidentified victim was flown to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he remained in critical condition as of Friday afternoon.According to the sheriff’s office, the victim and another combatant were fighting at the intersection of Route 209 and [...]

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on Aug. 26 requiring industrial development agencies to live stream and post video recordings of all open meetings and public hearings. The video recordings must be posted online within five business days of the meeting or hearing and remain available for at least five years."Industrial development agencies are tasked with revitalizing communities and fostering economic growth at the local level, but most New Yorkers don't have [...]

MONTICELLO — In the days before 83-year-old Lorraine Gempler was fatally beaten in her Kenoza Lake home, the man charged with murdering her, Toby J. Smith, 45, was paranoid, scared and talked about being watched, shot at and in danger, his oldest daughter and one of his brothers testified on Friday in Sullivan County Court.“He was like a scared rabbit,” Andrew Smith Sr., 41, of Equinunk, Pa., testified, speaking about his brother’s demeanor a day [...]

SUNY Orange student Christopher Mattinson, left, of Middletown, accepts a scoop of free cereal from Karen Reid of the College’s Center for Student Involvement during the College’s annual Cereal Bowl event. The Cereal Bowl is among a series of “Week of Welcome” activities designed to embrace both new and returning students into the College community and help them transition into the academic year. The event drew more than 400 combined students on both campuses and [...]

MONTGOMERY – A school bus driver was hurt but 25 students aboard the bus escaped injury in a crash Friday night on an Interstate 84 exit ramp.A Warwick Valley school district bus transporting the girls’ varsity tennis team hit a tree as it was entering the Maybrook exit leading to Route 208, according to a notice posted on the district’s Web site.The crash happened around 7:15 p.m.The students were checked for injuries at the scene and then [...]

Warm tributes to former state Sen. Bill Larkin poured in from Republicans and Democrats alike upon learning of his death at home in Cornwall-on-Hudson last weekend, each praising the 91-year-old Republican for his dedication to his constituents and fellow veterans during his 40 years as a state lawmaker.U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat whose political career also dates back to the 1970s and briefly overlapped with Larkin’s when both were assemblymen in 1979 and 1980, tweeted [...]