Earlier this year, we wrote about the new leadership setup for Spirit of Beacon Day for 2018. We just got word that they now have an official website - visit www.spiritofbeacon.org - or you can follow them on Facebook - Spirit of Beacon Day 2018. Beacon residents now have more options and ways to reach out to the organizers to get involved and stay updated with this year's event, set for the last Sunday in September.
You may not have known this, with all of the scaffolding around newly demolished buildings, but Beacon has been under a six-month building moratorium, whereby the city is not granting permission to build new projects. Special exemptions exist, such as if a residential application was being proposed that used less than 330 gallons of water per day, or a non-residential application resulting in more than 2,000 gallons of water per day (both as determined by the city engineer), but for the most part, everything new has been halted. However, everything that already was proposed and approved before July 25 before remains in full swing.
But what does water have to do with anything? Why does water come into play with these building exemptions? Because the City of Beacon felt that although it had encouraged residential and commercial development over the years, and that dream did come true, perhaps it was a bit too soon. The water supply was estimated to accommodate 17,800 people. As part of new residential projects recently approved to develop Beacon, 1,027 new units are on their way. According to the moratorium legislation passed on September 19, 2017, however, the current population is reaching that limit quicker than expected, thus creating a hunt for more water. "The City is concerned that such a large number of housing in such a short time will stress the City's water supply," reads the approved legislation document forwarded to us by City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero. "The City's vision was that development would be more gradual and take place over a period of years. The accelerated development of housing within the City will lead to greatly increased consumption of services and resources."
In the past, the City hired Leggette, Brashears & Graham, Inc (LBG) to look into the development of a new well on the existing Water Treatment Plant property, the location of which was found to be unsuitable for potable water because the location did not have enough water to yield. Therefore, evaluations continue regarding the system's existing capacity and potential for future needs. A review of the capacity of the existing sources (groundwater and surface water) will continue, and they'll review how water has been collected in the past, up until today. "The water system evaluation will include a review of available 'finished' water storage capacity, and a review of existing water treatment methods and capacity."
That presentation of findings is being delivered tonight, Wednesday, March 14, at 7 pm, by LG Hydrogeologic Engineering Services, PC at 1 Municipal Plaza, Beacon, NY. The meeting is open to the public to listen, but not participate.
The past two weeks have been paralyzing for a lot of people, especially parents of young kids currently in school. As the region was gripped by threats made last week all over the Hudson Valley, last Friday's Snow Day was actually kind of welcome. Parents received several robo-calls - which normally announce dreaded Snow Day closures. Instead, these were about threats made to the middle school and the high school, and how police would be stationed there. A Little Beacon Blog took time to process what has been going on around the Hudson Valley and open up coverage on it, so that we can produce future articles to help people be aware and prepared. The below links are articles to create awareness of the leadership that has been happening in the Beacon City School District, Beacon Police Department, and some cultural questions about these issues.
Consider this our Action Item in advance of the National Day of Action on Saturday, April 20.
PS: Finally, this mini-series of articles is done (hopefully!) and we are moving on, resuming our usual coverage of the goings-on in Beacon! Not only that, but it's sunny out! Hurray! Yet all signs point to a Wednesday Snow Day. <angry-face emoji> Sleds may still be available at Mountain Tops, where the superhero owners continue to show up every Snow Day with an Open sign.
This is (hopefully) the last in our series on gun shootings, because writing about this is no fun, but has been unavoidable after the last two weeks. The first response to the tragic events was feeling helpless. Questions like this ring loud when bad things happen: "What can I do? What are my kids doing? What are my kids trained to do? Are they being trained on the right things in Lock Down Drills? What am I trained to do? I don't even know how a gun works, and I'm fine with that, but what if I needed to use one?"
So many questions. I reached out to Beacon's new police chief, Kevin Junjulas, to ask if any community training workshops of any kind would be coming up. He responded right away with a flyer (pictured below) that came across his desk from Hudson Valley Safety Associates, LLC. The company is hosting a free Active Shooter training workshop on Thursday, March 15, in Brewster, NY. Beacon's city administrator, Anthony Ruggiero, responded that our city is planning on something in April.
Anthony also responded with links he has used to make a plan with his family:
• How to prepare a family plan for emergencies, from the Red Cross
• The federal government's tips for making - and practicing - a family emergency plan, from Ready.gov
And with the recent uptick in house fires, Beacon Fire Chief Gary Van Voorhis also recommended making a fire safety plan: Get together with your family and sketch out all of your home's windows and doors that could be used as escape routes, and then repeatedly practice getting out in a hurry. He really means business, too: He offered to come over to help us with forming our plan. #thatwasawesome
Blended screenshots of sales pages at Walmart's website, where this pink BB gun could have been sold to any prospective buyer, regardless of age (the age limit tool was broken). Walmart has since reversed its online sales policy, and now prohibits purchases of airsoft guns and toys.
Photo Credit: A Little Beacon Blog
Growing up, you probably played Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, or countless other kid games with guns. Your finger probably became a gun. Pew-pew! Your sister's magic wand probably became a gun. Heck, maybe a magic wand counts as a gun, when it hits someone with glitter.
Guns in our culture are as commonplace as staplers, or pens. You could even buy a bullet pen! I did for my dad last Christmas. I grew up making shotgun shells with him in our basement. He had the neatest shotgun shell-making thingy that clamped to the edge of the table. Toy guns for kids are sold in toy stores, in drug stores, and on any toy store website. How could you not want a Luke Skywalker laser gun? Or a Nerf gun blaster? And with YouTube videos featuring dads and their sons in all-out Nerf gun wars around the house, shooting people becomes very normal.
Echo Beacon, open for more than 10 years and one of Beacon's most popular toy stores, doesn't carry toy guns. Owner Karen Donohue is a mother of a daughter, and made the decision years ago not to sell toy guns in her toy store. "I chose not to sell toy guns, as it just made me uncomfortable. I've been told by mothers of boys that they [the boys] will find any sort of stick or anything, and turn it into a gun despite Mom's efforts to say 'No,'" Karen recalls.
Echo is known for carrying educational toys, and Karen is big on nurturing the imagination. "I still feel this is a better use of the imagination than something that truly resembles a gun. I have, on occasion over the years, sold miniature squirt pistols, but nothing that could ever be remotely mistaken for a gun. In recent years I've been tempted to order them again, but they still give me pause."
Back in 2014, a 12 year old boy named Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a rookie police officer while he was playing near a gazebo at a recreation center in Cleveland, OH. The boy was holding a pellet gun and a person called 911 to report that a person who was "probably" a child was holding a gun that was "probably fake," according to this Washington Post article. The officer was not told about the "probably" parts, and approached the child, and shot. The child died in the snow. The officer was not fired at the time, but in May of 2017, was fired for not including details about past employment when he was first hired months before the shooting, according to that Washing Post article.
Gun culture makes getting guns easy and a normalized part of life. When I published this article after the Parkland, Florida tragedy, I included a screenshot of Walmart's website to show how easy it was to purchase a rifle online. A reader commented that the rifle shown in the example was a BB gun, and not, I suppose, an assault weapon. The implication, it seemed, was that buying a BB gun was no big deal. Not wanting to exacerbate the debate, I removed the picture to keep the focus on finding a solution. In that time, however, Walmart announced that it was pulling rifles like BB guns from their website (see the NPR report "Walmart Joins Dick's Sporting Goods In Tighter Limits On Gun Sales"). And in an instant, the page I had just visited to buy the pink rifle BB gun had vanished.
From the NPR Article:
Walmart is also removing items from its website "resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys" — like the air gun Tamir Rice was playing with when he was shot by a Cleveland police officer who thought the 12-year-old was armed.
Companies aren't wanting to be associated with gun accidents or planned tragedies. So they are backing away and minimizing their liability. Any connection with tragedies is bad for business; the gun shop owner who sold the Parkland shooter one of his weapons felt compelled to hire a PR company to help issue statements. The issue of gun control has taken on a new dimension as companies get involved by limiting - or even ending altogether - their involvement.
A page from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, where a swim meet starts with a pistol blast, scaring the Wimpy Kid.
With guns being so prevalent in everyday lives, is it time to look at them differently? Would fresh perspective curb the ease with which they are used as a solution to a social problem? To a troubled, heartbroken, misunderstood teenager?
The picture above is taken from a page in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. In the book, the Wimpy Kid is forced to join a swim team. The first thing that scares him is the pistol shot to start the meet. He thinks it is a real gun, and hides under the water.
Why is a pistol used to start a swim meet? Could a whistle be used?
Why are toy pistols sold in a toy store? When a toy pistol is placed at 5-year-olds' eye level, where it hangs right next to something neutral like a slime-making kit or glow-in-the-dark bouncy ball, it conditions young minds that guns are toys.
If we consider CPR courses, Defensive Driving courses, and Fire Safety workshops to be normal and accepted practice, could Gun Safety training courses also become normal? To train prospective users that guns are really not toys, should be taken seriously, and how to use a gun in dangerous or threatening situations?
I asked Beacon's City Administrator, Anthony Ruggiero, if there had been any Active Shooter Training Workshops in Beacon. He responded that there have been in the past, when Beacon sponsored the County Citizens Preparedness Training courses, but he added that the sessions were not very well attended. He says another will be hosted in April.
Perhaps the mindset will shift, to one away from being a sitting duck, and one toward mental defense (think Bourne Identity...where are the exits? how to fight back? what everyday objects can become lifesaving tools?), planning, and rooting out the mindset of guns as toys.
UPDATE [3/6/2018]: The City Council voted Yes, and Beacon's School Superintendent attended the meeting and thanked the Beacon Police Department for their recent help.
During the March 5, 2018 City Council Meeting, the Beacon City Council will vote on a resolution to join the National Day of Action on April 20 to Protect Students Against Gun Violence, which is a movement spearheaded by the Network for Public Education after the shooting in Parkland, Florida. The Network for Public Education was founded in 2013 as an advocacy group whose mission is to preserve, promote, improve and strengthen public schools for both current and future generations of students.
As Stated by the Network for Public Education:
"Inspired by the courageous young people in Parkland, Florida, the Network for Public Education is joining with national organizations, schools and communities on April 20, 2018, the anniversary of the Columbine Massacre, to say 'No more.'
"Not one more child murdered in school. Not one more parent sending a child to school who never comes home. Not one more teacher, coach, principal, librarian or any school staff standing between students and a gunman. No. More.
"We call on every school community in America to join us to demand that our leaders take real action to end gun violence."
According to proposed legislation documents for Beacon, the Beacon City Council intends to join a National Day of Action on April 20, 2018, and "calls upon the state and federal governments to enact stricter controls governing the sale, possession and distribution of firearms and other dangerous weapons."
Several legislative suggestions are proposed on the National Day of Action's website, addressing gun control, mental health, and bullying prevention. At the local level here in Beacon, the City Council has written the following items to be sent to New York State Senator Sue Serino and Assemblyman Frank Skartados, and United States Representative Sean Patrick Maloney and United States Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer:
Attendees at the February 20, 2018, City Council meeting thanked Mayor Randy Casale for holding a moment of silence for the victims of the Parkland, Florida, shooting. They then promoted nationwide events that are going on to address the issue, namely the school walkout on March 14, and nationwide demonstrations on March 24, 2018.
This week via the school blog, Beacon Schools' Superintendent Matthew Landahl announced a collaboration with the Beacon Police Department: "Working with the Beacon PD, we will have one police officer working between both Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School during the school day for the upcoming week. The presence of the police officer is simply to help us feel safe and secure next week. Thanks to the BPD for helping us out!"
The superintendent will be releasing more information on how Beacon City Schools will be participating in the National School Walkout on March 14, 2018.
Back when the Beacon City School District was going through a leadership crisis, with a high rate of superintendent turnover, the Board of Education encouraged the community to participate in surveys so the board could hear what the community wanted in a superintendent. One of the strongest desires that became clear from that process was the need for Communication. Thus, Dr. Matt Landahl was found and hired, and he moved his family to Beacon. Right out of the gate, he has been a robust letter writer, an avid tweeter, and a super blogger for the school. To be real, this is his first year on the job in Beacon, so it is still a trial period. But since Week 1 of the school year, he has been in parents' ears and inboxes, testing the school district's upgraded robo-call system to make sure it works.
Over the past week, parents in the Beacon City School District have received several robo-calls: Someone from the school records a message that gets sent to phones, turned into emails, and is miniaturized into texts. Parents and other caregivers can get informed about something in at least three different ways. And yes, this is a different system from robo-call systems of years past; robo-call systems don't all work this way.
On Thursday, February 22, 2018, the Beacon School District Community was informed - via robo-call - of a threat made to Rombout Middle School.
Partial Message from February 22, 2018 Alert from Dr. Landahl:
We want to make you aware of a situation reported to us that involves Rombout Middle School. The Beacon City Police Department received a report yesterday evening of a concern about a potential school violence threat for Rombout Middle School. The School District and the Police Department investigated the matter yesterday evening and concluded that there was no credible threat made against the school.
We will continue to work closely with the Beacon City Police Department in all matters of threats of violence and potential harm reported to either the school district or the police department to ensure that we are working together to safeguard our students, staff, and community.
On Wednesday, February 28, another alert was issued, this time for the Beacon High School. This was also the same day that students in Parkland, Florida, returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. According to Time.com, 95 percent of students returned to school that day. Closer to home, around the Hudson Valley, school closures and arrests were happening after threats were made to schools, and weapons caches were found (see our article about that here).
Message from February 28, 2018 Alert from Dr. Landahl:
I recently received information that there was writing found at Beacon High School that can be perceived as a threat, with the wording March 1st. Our High School administration has been investigating the incident and we are also working closely with the Beacon Police Department.
This evening, the Beacon Police Department will be doing a sweep of all our buildings and there will be a police officer in our high school all day on March 1st.
Please be advised that all after-school activities will be canceled this evening at Beacon High School. All other buildings in the district will close at 6:00 pm. I will send out a follow-up robo-call once we have an all-clear confirmation from the police department.
We take the safety of our students and staff very seriously and I [will] be in touch soon with an update.
That night, parents had to pick up their children early from after-school activities because something was going to happen in the buildings conducted by the District at 6 pm. We didn't know what specifically was going on, so parents and program leaders just smiled and nodded calmly to each other at Kid Pickup.
The next robo-call came that evening at about 9 pm, informing us that all of the Beacon City Schools had been searched by police officers and 19 K-9 dog units.
Message from February 28, 2018 Alert from Dr. Landahl:
This is Matt Landahl with an update regarding school safety. This evening, the Beacon City Police Department, coordinating with our staff, deployed 19 K-9 teams to do an intensive sweep of all six of our school buildings. After each school was swept this evening, the building was secured. After this review, the Beacon Police Department has given us an all clear for the schools. We will be open tomorrow.
We will have one police officer stationed at the high school for the entire school day tomorrow and another police officer stationed between the high school and middle school for additional security.
We take the safety of our students, staff, and school buildings very seriously. We do not find this threat to be credible but we wanted to be extremely cautious in our approach this evening and tomorrow. The Beacon Police Department has done a tremendous job working with us.
I got the robo-call with my elementary-age kids around me, as we were in bedtime mode. They heard my involuntary reaction, and asked what happened. My husband and I have been discussing how we want to tell the kids about what is happening. (And by "discussing," I mean in basically three-minute spurts between news broadcasts or moments tucked into other conversations.)
I told the kids that a threat had been made, and that police dogs searched for bad things and found everything to be safe. The kids asked what a "threat" was, and we had a conversation defining that, with examples, until they understood.
I could see dots getting connected in their minds as to what has been going on around them. "Oh, that's why there was a police officer at my school yesterday!" Ok... didn't know there was a police officer at your school yesterday, but good to know.
Conversations are starting to percolate now among parents. Word on the street (real and virtual) is that kids are handling the increased tensions well, as different stressors pop up all the time in school, and uncomfortable incidents - whether we like it or not - have become par for the course. And it's true. Programs get initiated that we don't always know about (or we missed the memo teachers sent home in kids' folders), so the kids come home telling us about a puppet show that taught them how to tell an adult about sexual abuse. Or how they learned about fire safety from the Fire Chief who came to visit. Or that they ate cabbage for the first time from their school garden. Or that they talked about bullying and what that means or what is or isn't the best way to say something to another person. Or that they had a lock-down drill. Usually parents are informed about lock-down drills (aka active-shooter training) in advance. Recently, parents received a robo-call from the school principal with a report on how the kids did in a lock-down drill.
In my sphere, mentions of homeschooling are coming up, as parents instinctively want to keep their kids home in an environment we all perceive as safe and controlled. But tragic events seem random - remember the sniper in DC all of those years ago, who had the teenager with him? Despite tragic events, we are all going to have to leave our houses. Being part of a community makes us stronger. Locally, there is talk at the school district level of including the homeschooling community in district sports, at the homeschooling community's request.
In Parkland, the high school students are being led in part by their principal, who is sending encouraging messages, some of which come via Twitter. One of the more surprising ways he's cheerleading for his students: He is bringing furry friends onboard, even increasing the number of therapy dogs on campus.
Photo Credit: Screenshot from Principal Thompson's Twitter.
Photo Credit: Screenshot from Principal Thompson's Twitter.
Photo Credit: Screenshot from Principal Thompson's Twitter.
Photo Credit: Graphic based on an image by Nina Schutzman
Today, and yesterday, and days before that, social media has been ablaze with parents and community members talking with each other about school shootings. It's the underlying current in any grocery store encounter, any client meeting, and school pickup or drop off. And Beacon's not alone. So many communities around the country are gripped with fear, dealing with fresh threats to schools by what seem to be vengeful kids. More conversations grow out of each threatening event.
At first, this article was planned to inform about actions taking place within the Beacon City School District, based on questionable threats that came in this week. However, other schools in the area closed yesterday, with Poughkeepsie shuttered for a second day today because of a threat. As one parent put it: "A snow day will be a welcome relief," as a nor'easter approaches the area today.
Schools all over the country are facing similar threats. But listening to the radio for local news upon the morning car commute, and a subsequent catch-up on articles from local newspapers, processing this all became very dizzying.
In brief, and this isn't all of the coverage around what is happening, according to WALL Radio based on an article at MidHudson News and the Albany Times-Union, a father and son in Saugerties were arrested after a cache of illegal guns and homemade weapons were found. On February 21, a student alerted authorities after reading the social media posts of her classmate - an 18-year-old senior - as he was praising the teens behind a 1999 shooting in Columbine, CO. When police interviewed him and his father, they both denied having the weapons at their home. Later, according to the article, the father "went home and removed five guns from his home, including a fully automatic 9mm Uzi and an AR-15 rifle." More weapons were found after a search, and a new warrant is pending. Both men were arraigned; the father was released on his own recognizance, while his son was sent to jail, later released after posting $10,000 bail.
You may have heard about this NPR report covering the text messages back and forth between a girl and her guy friend at Fair Haven Union High School in Vermont after the Parkland shooting. This incident that followed has prompted the governor of Vermont to reconsider looking at gun control measures. According to the NPR report, the governor is a lifelong gun owner and gun rights supporter, but has amended his position after learning more about the almost-shooting that happened in a high school there.
A high school-aged girl texted a friend of hers letting him know about the Parkland shooting, and he replied with, "That's fantastic, 100% support it." She told him he couldn't say that, and he replied with something about "natural selection." The girl reported it to her school guidance counselor, and events unfolded leading to the friend being arrested and held without bail. Included in that discovery leading up to his arrest was a journal he kept called Diary of an Active Shooter, a list of intended human targets, and a recently purchased shotgun.
Dutchess Deputy Evan Traudt is a School Resource Officer (SRO) at Arlington High School. According to a Poughkeepsie Journal article, he went to Fair Haven Union High School in Vermont. He said that he heard about the report from a social worker at Arlington High School. He immediately called Vermont and got in touch with the agency that handles that school district, and passed along information he had.
The Beacon City School District has been considering having an SRO in its schools (see this statement from Beacon's Superintendent in September 2017). According to the Poughkeepsie Journal article, "though not the standard daily duty of a school resource officer, the events underscore key ideas of having a school resource officer - students or staff can reach out to the officer, someone they know and see every day. Ideally, the officer can step in before tragedy occurs."
Back in Vermont, the governor has said: "I'm open to anything. Everything's on the table." According to the NPR report, the governor's table spread includes:
At the Poughkeepsie Journal, school beat reporter Nina Schutzman has been covering the unfolding events, and summed it up in one Facebook screenshot:
Photo Credit: Nina Schutzman
In one instance, according to this Poughkeepsie Journal article, a threat was made to the BOCES Tech Center in Hyde Park through the social media platform Snapchat, which shows a short video for 24 hours, then the video disappears. A message sent from a person on that platform threatened to "shoot up the school." The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office responded, and charged a teenage girl from Pawling with "making a terroristic threat, a felony, and falsely reporting an incident, a misdemeanor," according to the article. After investigating, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal article, "the threat was found to be non-credible, according to police, and there was no indication that staff or students were in danger at any point." The girl has since been arraigned, during which time she was ordered to take a mental health evaluation, and will report to probation and be electronically monitored.
This is all extremely uncomfortable and difficult to talk about because so many issues are colliding at one time:
So we're exploring these issues, and will be delivering a few more articles on the topic in order to break through the discomfort zone to help our community feel and stay safe. Updated articles will be posted below as they get published:
Photo Credit: Heidi Harrison
Last weekend in Beacon, you may have been thinking, "Oh no, rain again?" Which is almost exactly what Beacon's Water and Sewer Superintendent was thinking, but with a little more enthusiasm - "Oh yes, rain again!!"
Thanks to the recent rain and snow showers, Beacon has been removed from drought status after the February 14, 2018 read of Beacon's three reservoirs, according to Beacon's City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero at the 2/20/2018 City Council Meeting. (Anthony's comments start about 51 minutes into the video.)
"The City’s reservoirs continue to replenish. With the recent snow storms and rain showers, all three reservoirs are now above the drought limits," reported Anthony at the meeting.
"Mount Beacon continues to recharge at a steady rate and should be full within the next few weeks. Cargill, being the largest of the three reservoirs, will still need more precipitation, but has recovered 12 feet of capacity in the past month." According to the report, the Cargill reservoir is down 10 feet, while Mount Beacon is down 6 feet and Melzingah (the smallest) is full, which was predicted at the water reading prior to this one.
On March 14, the City of Beacon will be brought up to date on the Comprehensive Water Report authorized last year by the City Council as part of the six-month moratorium barring new development in Beacon. The moratorium, whose end date is coming up quickly, was first entertained at a July 10, 2017 City Council meeting because Beacon's population is growing faster than previous water projections would support, yet new water sources have not been identified.
That meeting is open to the public, and starts at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 14. It will be held at the Municipal Building, down the hill from Bank Square, toward the train station.
Beacon's Superintendent, Matthew Landahl, issued a statement the day after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Dear Beacon City School District Community:
The tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Wednesday of this week weighs heavily on us all. The morning after the shooting, I had the opportunity to walk my son to school for a special field trip that was leaving before the regular school day began. The 40-odd students and their parents gathered excitedly with teachers and staff to wait for the bus. Standing there watching over my son and talking with other parents, I would guess that not one of the students knew what happened the day before. I also felt that I knew what was in the back of each parent and staff member’s mind. As we stood there and waved goodbye to the bus, I reflected for a few moments on the beauty of being both an educator and a parent in times like this. The beauty lies in the fact that no matter what is happening in the world, our young people wake up ready for what’s next, expecting not only our best in terms of learning experiences but also that we do our best to keep them safe.
While I strongly believe that the Beacon City School District collectively takes safety seriously, I also believe that we should always strive to do better with this and everything we do. Yesterday, our building principals already began making some revisions to their Emergency Response Plans in light of what we are learning from Parkland. Our District Emergency Response Team, comprised of Beacon administrators and local law enforcement, is meeting on Wednesday, February 21, to review our plans and drill procedures, especially in light of what can be learned from the most recent events. Our entire district administrative team will meet on Thursday, February 22, to discuss any changes in our plans so we are all consistent in our implementation. While these building plans are not public documents, I will keep the community updated throughout the remainder of this year on our efforts to keep us all safe. As always, thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
Matt Landahl
Superintendent
See all updates from the Superintendent here.
So today's a regular Thursday, after a regular Wednesday that was otherwise regular other than the fact that it was Valentine's Day, and in the blur of headline notifications that blip on my phone - and everyone else's phone - was the school shooting headline, arriving from a few different news outlets. Again. Another death headline. Too gruesome to think about, the day went on. Back home, my husband walked through the door, asked me if I saw the headline. Yes I did, and he announced that he wouldn't watch the news last night because our kids were up and around us. So. No details.
On this Thursday, I was in newsletter mode (we call it the NL), and I was bound to finish it today so that our team would be all clear tomorrow and not needing to slide through another Friday afternoon putting on finishing touches. But as I ate breakfast after taking my kids to school, and before going to the office, I found myself in one of those moments of silence when thoughts that you're keeping away refuse to stay away, and rush in. Suddenly I was mad. Had I just experienced numbness from children dying? I did! There have been too many shootings - of any kind - in our lives.
Legislation can clog systems. It can unnecessarily complicate something. But what continues to stupefy me is why it is harder to get a driver's license than it is to buy and use a gun over the years. Why is it more regulated to drive a car (no cell phones, no texting while driving, DUIs, etc.) than it is to buy and use a gun over the years? Why can a random person off the street (or a vengeful spouse or partner) call CPS to report a child issue, and CPS can come into your home and check your refrigerator and interview your children, yet it's easier to buy and use a gun over the years?
I'm pro-gun. Own a gun! Clean it! Hopefully you won't accidentally shoot yourself in the face, like my husband's grandfather - a war veteran - did! Hopefully you won't shoot yourself in despair, like my great-grandfather did! Hopefully you won't shoot yourself out of love-sickness or loneliness like my other great-grandfather - a hunter - did after his wife died! Hopefully you'll have fun with it - go hunting , shoot clay pigeons - heck, maybe you'll even make a potato gun. But why such little protection around it? Why is it harder to build a garage in our backyards because of local zoning laws that protect your neighbor's sightline or run-off or something, than it is to buy and use a gun over the years?
But heck. I was on deadline, so I needed to shake off the mood to get back into a happy place to keep doing my job. So I went jogging. I put on peppy music so that I could get back into NL writing mode - which requires excitement and a good mood. But then I got an email from a small-business friend, Jackie Berlowski in Parkland, FL, who decided to email her business newsletter for GreatHerGood about the situation. This is what she said, and this is when I cried at my desk:
"We are beyond shocked and saddened over the Parkland school shooting yesterday. We live in Parkland (about a block away from the school) and lot of our good friends live in Parkland as well. We know several teachers, coaches, and kids in the area especially our friend's kids that go to that school. With each hour that goes by we learn about someone else we know who has been affected.
"We heard helicopters and ambulances all afternoon into the night from my office. Luckily, our son Tyler goes to a different school down the street. However, other parents were not as lucky. I scrambled to pick up my kid along with every other parent. As I tried to get back into my development with Tyler safely in the car, I looked over and saw a couple sobbing by the side of the road, people looking frantically for their child, I saw people leaving their cars right where they were stopped, I saw the SWAT team flood the streets as the local police redirected the traffic, and I saw triage tents set up right on our corner. As my 6 year old son noticed the intensity of the situation, he got teary eyed and asked what happened. As a Mom and a human being, how do we keep explaining this to our kids?!
"I remembered this quote. It's an oldie but a goodie from Mr. Rogers... and it seemed to help. "Look for the helpers." Fred Rogers often told this story about when he was a boy and would see scary things on the news: “My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.' It seemed to diminish the doom and gloom of a scary situation.
"I know people say this is not the time to discuss guns. Bullshit. Enough is enough! This is the exact time to discuss guns. How many people need to die to force our politicians to ignore the temptation of accepting gun lobbyist money and finally take action, create change and implement common sense and new gun control policies. Yesterday's tragedy hits WAY too close to home and it wasn't just that one day. It's this morning, it's tomorrow morning, it's in the weeks to come as families try to move forward. As helicopters were still hovering overhead for the 11pm news last night and continue to this morning (right outside our window), my husband and I struggle with how a young, troubled person can obtain a gun let alone an assault rifle.
"This is the 18th school shooting this year alone. It's only February. Are we getting numb to this?! These are real families just like yours that are impacted for the rest of their lives. This is where my son will go to middle and high school.
"To say I grabbed my son a little tighter yesterday and this morning is a massive understatement.
"Today my longtime friend from sleep-away camp is grieving because her fellow teacher, Scott, was shot protecting the kids in his class. Our good friend's daughter was in one of the classrooms as all of this occurred and is in shock today. It's just the beginning, we will hear more each hour with every text, every phone call and every update.
"We need to change this culture in America and I encourage everyone to spread the word that change is NEEDED and there is a better America out there for our children!"
- Jackie Berlowski
If you're a parent now, your kids go to Lock Down Drills. In those, students get trained to hide from a gunman. Do you remember doing tornado drills? Me too. That was the extent of our threats. Now, as parents, we get to think about how our kids are being trained - is it smart that they are being trained to hide in a closet? Should they be trained to go out a window? Is it disturbing that 5-year-olds and teachers are being trained to learn how to distract a gunman, or to throw things in his face in order to buy one more second of time?
It's too much burden to put on a teacher, to not only teach and help shape our kids, but to save their lives by sheltering them with their bodies. It's too much. God bless teachers. These heroes. All of the small people and big people angels in these events.
Police across the Hudson Valley are hosting learning sessions. Sergeant Phillip Roloson, of the Town of Lloyd (Ulster County) Police Department, held a workshop in October 2017 on what to do when an active shooter is in the building. His teachings contradicted some strategies in the public school. So who is right? Why do we need to think about this? Why do we need to live with this? Of course, it's always good to learn self defense.
A determined yet delusional person is always going to get their hands on what they want, but why make it so easy?
[EDIT 2/15/2018: When this article first published, an illustration was included showing how easy it was to buy a rifle online at Walmart. The rifle pictured with this article was a BB gun, so to not confuse the argument, the illustration has been removed.]
[EDIT 3/5/2018: Walmart pulled that rifle BB gun that a person in the Comments at Facebook questioned and brushed off as irrelevant after a company announcement was made on February 28, 2018 "Walmart Joins Dick's Sporting Goods In Tighter Limits On Gun Sales." Now that Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods thing it relevant, this online rifle purchase has been placed back into this article.]
Here is how easy it is (was) to purchase this pink rifle online at Walmart:
Look closely at the picture, and you'll see that the Walmart website is (was) asking for Y age. That's a typo. It didn't matter what was typed in. Age didn't matter. Insurance could also conventiently be purchased for one low price.
When a person uses their car to plow through people, at least we know that they didn't just buy the car from Walmart so easily. If a person gets into a stolen truck or bus, at least we know that people need licenses to drive the truck. Not that it would have prevented them from driving the truck, but at least we all know that it's not OK for untrained people to drive huge vehicles. There is at least that basic comfort. And like I said, the troubled person will still do what they do. But in many places, there's no such requirement for any would-be gun buyers.
Before typing this, I texted to Marilyn, who edits the Things To Do In Beacon Guides, letting her know that I was hugely distracted and trying to get in the mood. She suggested we write about being thankful for the close-knit community to connect with. And she's right. The major part of this problem is people's unhappiness. As parents, we need to listen to our kids, help them feel heard and respected and supported. Give them alone-time, but stay aware of what they are doing. Make sure they are tapped into what they are showing passions for. As a community, we need to be curious about people we don't know. We need to learn about their cultures and habits because they are different from ours. To stay healthy, we need each other, to support each other, so that the delusions of wanting to be a gunman don't surface.
Peace.
Celebrate this day of love. Pass it forward to anyone you see today. Anything can be a valentine - a hug, a piece of paper with a little note on it, something special you found, or just anything thoughtful.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
PS: This valentine was made at the revived Create Space popup venue (also home to Beacon Healing Massage), during their valentine card-making workshop last weekend. Find it in A Little Beacon Blog's Shopping Guide, and they often have pop-up shops or workshops in the Classes for Kids Guide or Classes for Adults Guide. Be sure you’re receiving our newsletter to learn of special events like that, and check our Things To Do In Beacon Guides to mark your calendar in advance!
Firefighters after the fire, removing insulation from the roof and looking for "hot spots," according to Beacon Fire Chief Gary Van Voorhis.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Fire trucks and first responders were dispatched at 4:45 am Friday after three people called to report a fire at 98 Rombout Ave., the section of Rombout that is near South Avenue Elementary School. A person inside the burning home called it in, as did their neighbor, and another source. Five fire departments were needed to battle the blaze: the City of Beacon Fire Department, Fishkill Fire Department, Glenham Fire Department, Castle Point Fire Department, and Rombout Fire Department in Hughsonville, according to Beacon Fire Chief Gary Van Voorhis. Dutchess County Fire Investigators and Beacon Detective Tony Rios also came to the scene.
The people inside of the house were on the second floor when the fire started. One person jumped out of a second-floor window into the back yard, and three adults came down the stairs through the fire - which had engulfed the stairs - and exited the front door. They received burns on 60 percent of their lower bodies, according to Chief Van Voorhis. One of the residents' dogs perished, though luckily first responders were able to rescue the other dog. The Beacon Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Mobile Life took the victims to the hospital.
"I have never seen a fire that big in real life," said neighbor Katy Hope. "One of our windows looks up Rombout. The [emergency vehicles'] lights woke me up while it was still dark outside in the morning. The firefighters were not running sirens, which I found very thoughtful and I'm sure they want to keep the panic down. I could see the flames, although I wasn't quite sure which house it was. Really scary, especially as I've been thinking a lot about flammable old houses."
While the exact start and stop times of the fire have not been made public, Chief Van Voorhis noted that putting out the fire took some time. "There was a lot of debris inside," said the chief, after the fire was out. Much of the debris, including burnt metal doors and empty propane containers, had been removed from the home and placed in the front yard. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
More than 30 volunteer and career firefighters rotated through the home, battling not just flames, but cold, icy conditions, according to Chief Van Voorhis. Nature's elements added to the challenge. During the fire, a live power line came off the house, which is common in fires, Chief Van Voorhis said. That created a hurdle for firefighters to get to where they needed to in the street. The wire was on the street for 45 minutes before Central Hudson was able to come take care of it.
Ice continues to cover Beacon, as the temperatures have stayed in the high 20s since Wednesday's snow and ice storm. That part of Rombout Avenue had re-frozen since the day before, and the sidewalks remain crunchy frozen. One firefighter slipped on the ice and fell onto his back, but sprang back into action. Firefighters spread their own salt on the street as they fought the fire.
Streets remained closed later Friday morning even after the fire was out, as parents who were dropping their kids off at South Avenue Elementary were redirected from their usual drop-off route. Fire trucks and other fire and investigation vehicles lined the street hours later.
While the fire was live in the pre-dawn hours, however, one vehicle who did not have its headlights on drove around firefighters who were diverting traffic from a large yellow hose that was in use to put out the fire, said Chief Van Voorhis. Flares were set around the hose, and the car hit the flare, which hit and ripped the hose. The car also drove over the hose. The fire department is looking for details about that vehicle, who continued driving away after the incident.
Pictured here is the yellow water hose that a vehicle drove over when it was full of water and in the street. The driver went around firemen, who had been blocking the street for safety.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
This was one of three different fires that were blazing within just over a day in Beacon, according to the Beacon Professional Firefighters - IAFF Local 3490. On Wednesday evening at 9:40 pm, "units arrived in less than 3 minutes to find an active, gas-fueled fire in a commercial occupancy. Members quickly shut the gas off and extinguished the fire," according to the Beacon Professional Firefighters.
Additionally, an old boiler in the basement of a home also caught fire. Units were dispatched at 11:42 am Thursday for a reported chimney fire. "Units arrived in less than one minute to find an active fire in the boiler room in the basement of a residence. The fire was contained to the area of origin and quickly extinguished," according to their report on their Facebook page.
At 1:30 pm Friday, fire trucks, firefighters and investigators were still at the Rombout scene. Many of them had been there since 4:45 am.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
Beacon's volunteer set of first responders have been working for decades. Mayor Randy Casale has announced during several City Council meetings that there is a need for more volunteer firefighters. During the City Council meeting on February 5, several firefighters were recognized for their years of membership - some for 50 years, some 25 years, and some relatively new firefighters who were entering their fifth year of membership.
Usually, the best way to donate to the Volunteer Beacon Ambulance Corp. or to the Beacon Fire Department is by answering the paper snail mail that is delivered to your home mailbox, or by sending in checks when you think of it.
Gathering for the first time this year, the membership of BeaconArts will convene on Wednesday, January 31, 2018 for the annual meeting and board elections. The meeting will be held at The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries/Clarkson University, which is the home of BeaconArts' Retrospective : 15, the exhibit showcasing the 15 years that BeaconArts has served the community since its founding in 2002.
BeaconArts is the artery through which much of the city’s creative efforts flow and manifest. BeaconArts serves as a fiscal sponsor for many public and interactive art initiatives that people in the community have come to look forward to each year, including Beacon3D, Beacon Arts & Education Foundation, Beacon Open Studios, Beacon Independent Film Festival, Bike Beacon, Compass Arts’ spring theatrical production “Circle the Sun”, FairyWalk Beacon, Keys to the City, Ren and Luca, Two-Row Totems, and Welcome to Beacon 3.0. The members of BeaconArts include artists, galleries, specialty shops, restaurants, services, and other arts-minded individuals, businesses and organizations who recognize the economic value in supporting local arts and culture.
After 8 years of service, current BeaconArts president Kelly Ellenwood is stepping down in her duties. "Our strategic planning process was very successful, and we have put a lot of time and effort into planning for the future. Five of the nine board members are returning (by design), with plenty of leadership to go around. Change is good! After eight years, my time is up, per our bylaws." Meanwhile, Kelly is promoting the next fundraiser she is associated with, which is BeaconArts + Center 4 Creative Education “Lip Sync Battle.” Kelly is also secretary of the Rombout Middle School PTO, and you can track upcoming fundraisers for that in A Little Beacon Blog's Beacon City Schools' Fundraising Guide.
Currently, four board positions are open. Members are encouraged to attend the meeting to learn more about the candidates and vote.
Board Members continuing through 2018:
Theresa Goodman (current Vice President), 1st term, 2nd year
Christina Jensen (former Board member; appointed by Board in January to fulfill remaining year of Sommer Hixson’s 2nd term), 1st term, 2nd year
Terry Nelson, 1st term, 2nd year
Rick Rogers, 1st term, 2nd year
Aaron Verdile (current Treasurer), 1st term, 2nd year
Candidates for NEW BeaconArts Board Members – Elections 2018
All terms are for two years, with the possibility of a second term.
Hanny Ahern (2 years, 1st term)
Hanny Ahern is a multimedia artist and educator living and working in Beacon, New York. She has a B.A. in Fine Arts From Bennington College and a mmaster's in Interaction Design from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications program. Hanny works persistently on education and community initiatives - alongside her art practice - and has worked closely to launch early pilot arts education programs at Powrplnt in Brooklyn, NY; Art in your Space, Manhattan; NY, Pepo La Tumaini in Isiolo, Kenya; and the inaugural year of Dia Foundation‘s teen program in Beacon, NY. Her work has been shown locally and internationally. She serves as a consultant on the board to Powrplnt and adFabe, working toward strengthening and pioneering relationships to committees that can benefit from the initiatives. Hanny is a homeowner in Beacon, and passionate and realistic towards this growing arts community.
Karlyn Benson (2 years, 1st term)
Karlyn Benson has worked in museums and galleries for over 20 years. In 2013, she opened Matteawan Gallery in Beacon, NY, specializing in contemporary art by mid-career and emerging artists. As the gallery’s director and curator, she has developed an ambitious exhibition program with a focus on abstraction, process, and materials. In 2016 she curated the exhibition Chemistry: Explorations in Abstract Photography at the Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. In addition to managing her gallery, Karlyn works as an executive assistant at AEA Consulting, a cultural consulting firm located in Beacon, NY. For six years, she worked in the Registrar Department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where her responsibilities included arranging the safe transport and installation of artwork for exhibitions. Previously, she was the gallery manager at Candace Perich Gallery, a contemporary photography gallery in Katonah, NY. Karlyn received an MA in Art History from the University of Texas, Austin and a BA in Art History from SUNY Purchase. She also holds an associate's degree in Interior Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has lived in Beacon since 2003.
Angelique Devlin (2 years, 1st term)
Angelique B. Devlin is a massage therapist, interfaith minister, life coach, birth doula, and yoga teacher. She practices these healing arts from her Terra Firma Massage studio here in Beacon, NY. Angelique has proudly been calling Beacon home since 2010. She relishes meeting and developing relationships with fellow business owners, artists, gallery owners, and members of the Beacon community. She is a member of the Beacon Chamber of Commerce, Hudson Valley Women in Business, the Sloop Club, and BeaconArts. Angelique considers the arts to be vital to the vibrancy and future of Beacon, and would welcome the opportunity to play a more active role in the continued success of BeaconArts.
Meghan Goria (2 years, 1st term)
Meghan Goria has spent her career raising awareness for performing arts organizations and nonprofits, first at the New-York Historical Society and Manhattan Theatre Club, then over the course of nearly 10 years at the Metropolitan Opera. She is currently the Director of Digital Strategy and Fundraising at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, where she oversees the online marketing and fundraising efforts of the organization. She holds a BA in History from Brown University. Meghan is a Beacon homeowner and proud member of the community. Her spare time is usually spent cooking, reading or hiking around the Hudson Valley with her husband and dog.
Linda Pratt Kimmel (2 years, 1st term)
Linda Pratt Kimmel has been a resident of Beacon since 2003, and became a member of BeaconArts in January 2017. She has volunteered on the Annual Holiday Bicycle Tree for the past two years, and was one of the project managers for the inaugural Keys to the City (KTC) installation. As part of KTC, Linda was specifically responsible for a family event that was done in coordination with the Howland Library, in which a piano-related book served as a launching point for a KTC scavenger hunt down Main Street. Linda has also volunteered for candidates for the City Council and County Legislator this past year, as well. She has become very vested in our community, and the efforts undertaken to bring us together and maintain our unique identity as a city.
Professionally, Linda is a founding partner of Wernick & Pratt Agency, a boutique literary agency based out of Beacon that specializes in representing authors and illustrators of children’s books. As an agent, one of her biggest jobs to listen to artists and help them clarify and fulfill their creative visions. This involves everything from providing editorial guidance, career planning, negotiating contracts, and acting as an intermediary with publishers and/or licensors. In addition, Linda also oversees the financial operations of the agency, including managing all client monies processed, filing tax reportings, and preparing income projections.
Linda holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Texas in Austin. She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR), the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), and served on the board for the Rutgers One-on-One Writers Conference for five years.
Join BeaconArts today online, and you can make it to the meeting to increase your connection and involvement with Beacon and other artists, makers and business owners.
BeaconArts is a Community Partner of A Little Beacon Blog and is part of our Advertising program. This article was part of their monthly messaging partnership. Thank you for supporting organizations who support us!
The Beacon Chamber of Commerce's Annual Meeting is Monday, January 29, at 5:30 pm at the Elks Club, 900 Wolcott Ave. The names listed below will be submitted for election by the members in attendance. There is one vote per member. This process also allows for nominations from the floor. The Chamber encourages your participation, so come down! A light dinner will be served, so there's no excuse to miss it. Join the Chamber today online here!
President, Rick Brownell of Freedom Ford
Vice President, Carl Oken of Beacon Elks Club
Treasurer - Open (might this be you?)
Corresponding Secretary, Teresa Williams of Antalek & Moore Insurance
Director, Sheryl Glickman of Notions ‘N Potions
Recording Secretary, Kathy Sandford of Antalek & Moore Insurance
Director, John Gilvey of Hudson Beach Glass
Director, Annemarie Sipilief of CIA Security
Director, Kate Rabe of Kate Rabe Consulting
Director, Michele Williams of Style Storehouse
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The City of Beacon entered into a contract with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley to provide increased access to Beacon tenants facing eviction. They may also be able to help with sources of rent arrears assistance. Call the paralegal, Steven Mihalik at 845-253-6953 to inquire.
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