Tag: Ulster County
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Pat Ryan Beats Colin Schmitt by the Skin of His Teeth
The story was published in partnership with The Legislative Gazette. Democratic Congressman Pat Ryan declared victory around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning to become the congressman for New York’s newly drawn District 18. Out of 490,458 active registered voters in the district, the New York State Board of Elections determined that 266,360 total votes were cast.…
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Prop 5 Raises Claims Limit for NYC Civil Courts, Lightening Load for State Supreme Court
This story has been republished with permission from The Legislative Gazette. This upcoming Election Day, New Yorkers will be voting on several propositions that would amend the New York State Constitution, including Proposal 5, which would expand the jurisdiction of New York City civil courts. Voters on Tuesday will see the following question: “The proposed…
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Everything You Need to Know About the November 2021 Ballot Proposals
There are five statewide proposals on the ballot for this year’s General Election. Here’s what upcoming voters need to know about each measure. This story has been republished with permission from the Legislative Gazette. Five ballot proposals will be put before state voters on Nov. 2 during the General Election. The ballot proposals will address…
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New Report Tracks Disappearance of Mid-Hudson Middle Class
Edited and packaged by Max Freebern Median household income has declined as jobs leave the mid-Hudson Valley, according to the recently released “Out of Alignment” report by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress (HVPP). Median household income represents the average amount of money earned in a household. The drop in income across the region was due…
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Enrollment Rates Drop in Ulster County, Leaving Teachers and Communities to Pay the Price
Story by Erin Hannan Edited and Packaged by Emma Misiaszek Over the past 19 years, Ulster County has lost approximately 22% of its public school student body. While a smaller classroom can benefit students’ individual needs, decreasing enrollment rates present challenges for New York state teachers and the profession as a whole. According to the…
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Ulster County Ramps Up Initiatives to End Opioid Addiction
By Nicole Zanchelli It seems like every day there is news about an opiate-related death. We may turn the channel or turn off our TVs completely, but the painful reality stands. We are still in the crux of the American opioid crisis. In 2016, there were 54 opioid overdose deaths in Ulster County alone. In…
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Life in the van den Berg Hall Annex
The Mystery Admit it, we’ve all walked down the shadowy driveway between Old Main and van den Berg Hall and wondered what was inside the building next to it. Standing four stories tall with a rough brick exterior and some peeling white paint on the window panes, you begin to wonder what’s inside. Typical of…
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Ulster County Volunteerism Rates Exceed Nation’s
By Brandon Doerrer This article first appeared in The New Paltz Oracle A recent study from The Benjamin Center for Public Policy Initiatives has found that volunteering, both in terms of the number of volunteers and the amount of time they spend volunteering, is flourishing in Ulster County despite a decline on the national level.…
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Low Wage Living in the Hudson Valley
Data Visualizations used for the SUNY New Paltz “Low Wage Living in the Hudson Valley” project By Casey Silvestri Percentage of Persons in Poverty, 2015 Create column charts Minimum Wage vs. Living Wage Create line charts Is Your Unpaid Internship Illegal? Create your own infographics The…
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Indebted to a Dream
By Kristen Warfield The sun has barely started to rise at 5:30 a.m. when Mercedes Ortiz turns off her alarm to get ready for school. Achy and fatigued, she rolls out of bed at her family’s home in Walden, New York, knowing there’s another long day ahead. To the sounds of Eyewitness News, she primps…
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Sometimes, Unconventional Living Leads to Unconventional Happiness
By Bryce Eckwall Bill Meade lives alone in a camper on his mother’s property with his German Sheppard named Kaiser. The fifty-year-old cook makes his way to work about an hour south, five days a week serving up the likes of 34-ounce porterhouse steaks for two and roasted duck. His trusty 1998 Honda Civic…
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Ms. Desiree
By Rosalba Corrao On a recent weekday morning, Gonzalez led children to a green door. “Get in line, come on, get in line,” she said. The teachers and assistants were moving the 12 children from the green music room to the red classroom. The children, all about three years old, were eager to get to…
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Student Loans, Unpaid Internships, and an Uncertain Future
By Avery Seyler-Wetzel Laura Petrocelli knew being thirty thousand dollars deep in debt was not the best way to start a new life after college, but she also knew that if she was going to do college, she was going to do it right. Petrocelli, a junior at the State University at New York at New…
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Meet Another Recent Grad Working A Low-Paying Job
By Holly Lipka It’s 4:45 p.m. on a Wednesday at The Gilded Otter. The large west-facing windows create a beautiful background for the diners as the sun sets behind the Shawangunk Ridge. It’s a relaxed evening before the dinner rush, with only a few people sitting at the wooden wrap around bar. One middle-aged…
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Making of a Costumed Wrestler
By Nick Tantillo There is a laminated sign that hangs in the rear of the Convenient Deli in New Paltz. What used to read “Overnight Shift” has been scribbled out with a black marker and replaced with “Overwatch Shift,” a video game reference. Beneath the black zig-zag is a list of tasks for the employee…
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“All I Really Want Is A Job In My Field That Pays Me”
By Michael Rosen After Mario Prainito, 22, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in media programming and management, he couldn’t find a full-time job. He did get an unpaid internship in Kingston, a short commute from New Paltz. Prainito stayed in New Paltz, paying rent for the house he has been living in the past two…
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Living on Minimum Wage in Albany, New York: Hard Work With Little Reward
By Marisa Losciale Just by looking at 23-year old Elena Kilcullen, you’d have no idea she was struggling to feed herself and her unemployed boyfriend. Kilcullen is tall and thin with a charred-burgundy, slightly overgrown pixie cut—which conveniently hides her undercut from her professional life. She also has begun a nice tattoo collection, ranging from…