Hi lovely readers. If shoveling hasn’t put you in traction, and you’re able to read this, I salute you! Books From Phoebe’s Writing GroupI have a cozy little writing group that’s helping me get through this epic midwinter, and I surveyed them for what they’ve been reading of late. They recommend the novel The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. It's about three sisters in late-19th Century America who are descended from witches and get involved in the suffrage movement. Also The Moth Snowstorm by Michael McCarthy, Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich (a theme emerges), Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders. Someone else is reading nonfiction like Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Hahneman, and Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez, who passed away last month. I just finished Felon by Reginald Dwayne Betts, an incredible book of poetry that takes on the American prison system, and Euphoria by Lily King, which is loosely based on Margaret Mead’s life and made me question the moral ground of whole entire field of anthropology. Any of these could be had at either Binnacle Books or Split Rock Books or requested for curbside pickup at the Howland Library!
What else is going down besides rock salt? Well, the Hudson Valley Writer’s Center has a pretty serious lineup of awesomeness if you want to join on Zoom. There’s a great workshop with Karen Finley (!!!!) on February 13th called What’s Love Got To Do With It. The center also has an open mic on February 19th if you feel brave. In conjunction with Bard College, the phenomenal Meshell Ndegocello has created this amazing project inspired by James Baldwin. Chapter & Verse “is a 21st century ritual tool kit for justice. A call for revolution. A gift during turbulent times.” You can call in for meditations, songs, readings; it’s such a creative work. I just discovered the Albany Poets group and that’s a website you can spend some time in. They have a number of performance recordings, lots of calls for submissions, and they just published two poems by Mike Jurkovic, who is a really fun poet to hear read.
Kingston Reads presents A Community Conversation about Race and Social Classifications on February 18th, in collaboration with one of my favorite bookstores, Rough Draft. Moderators Shaniqua Bowden, Erica Brown, and Charlotte Adamis “will hold the space for a spirited conversation about race and social classifications inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s award-winning book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”
For a book discussion closer to home, you can join the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center for their Abolitionist Study Group in March. Email them to join in. And if you want to exercise your abolitionist muscles in a different way, consider the Black & Pink, a nationwide PenPal program in which incarcerated LGBTQIA2S+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS are matched with PenPals who correspond, build relationships, and participate in harm reduction and affirmation. The Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center in Kingston has some scheduled meetings to virtually write these letters with a group! In partnership with the TMI Project, the Center is also putting out a call for storytellers who self-identify as members of the Black Transgender & Gender Non-Conforming community.
Finally, on February 25th, SUNY Dutchess Community College presents New York Times best selling author Hanif Abdurraqib. This is a great opportunity to hear a really prolific writer. This should be enough to warm you up, dear readers! Stay safe, stay cozy, keep shoveling.
It’s the big weekend of LOVE! 💕
Love is a theory and a feeling and exists in many forms. DO get yourself some love, and treat others with love. Could be something purchased, or really, just hanging with your loved one and doing something they love to make it really special. Give a wink. Give a nod. Give a flower. High five your pod.
As a kid, I took myself to the bookstore every Valentine’s Day to buy myself a new book. With dreams of flowers of course. If you want a flower, you need to give a flower. How else will the flowers get there? If they have any left, you have Mountain Laurel Florist, Raven Rose & Batts Florist in Beacon. And one on Spring Street on the other side of the creek.
This bouquet is from Flora Good Times and is part of their subscription program. Subscriptions are a great way to support a business, and a good way to make sure something shows up without you having to remember. But the recipient will remember!
After the City of Beacon robocalled residents to remind them to shovel their sidewalks, and shovel them better or face fines after 2.5 feet of snow fell, plus a few more inches a few days later, and more snow forecasted, A Little Beacon Blog followed up with Beacon’s City Administrator, Chris White, to find out what the fines were and what was required in snow removal from sidewalks. ALBB: What is the fee for the City to remove snow from a sidewalk? “The fee for the city to clear a sidewalk is a $125.00 administration fee plus $1.25 per lineal foot of sidewalk cleared.” ALBB: When the City of Beacon Highway Department clears the sidewalk of a resident, and the resident pays the fee, are the employees of the Highway Department paid additional? Or is this part of their general work description? “No. This is part of their general work.” ALBB: Would shoveling of sidewalks fall into overtime for them? “No. This is done during the normal work day on regular time.” ALBB: Regarding width of shoveling: the robocall mentioned that baby strollers could not get through. If a resident has shoveled their sidewalk, but only so much for adults to walk through, and not a stroller, is that enough? Or is there a width requirement of snow removal on a sidewalk? “The Beacon City Code requires the width of the sidewalk be cleared. That said, the City prioritizes clearing sidewalks that have not been cleared at all.” ALBB: Regarding plowing done by the Highway Department: the trucks do mound snow back onto the sidewalks and driveways. According to some older residents of Beacon who have been here for 20+ years, the plowing did not seem to push back onto the sidewalks as much. Can you comment as to this snow clearing strategy? “I can’t comment on what people say. I lived here in the 1990s and remember people complaining about that in the past as well. When you have heavy snowfalls, it is difficult to deal with the volume of snow.” ALBB: Regarding snow removal into the street: There are at times nowhere else for the snow to go. If a yard is small, or has bushes or trees, there is literally nowhere to blow the snow if a snowblower is used, or a shovel. Can you advise? Awaiting response. Will post when updated. ALBB: A reader asked if there are zones of the City that have little foot traffic, like a side street, that are not subject to fine? This was a new question in addition to the original list. Awaiting response. Will post when updated
Guidance on who can be vaccinated when and where has been extremely precise globally, nationally, and locally in the rollout of the vaccine to protect people against COVID-19. During the initial NYS Phase 1a, a set of vulnerable people were close to being eligible, but were left out, according to Dutchess County Marcus Molinaro, who implored the need to vaccinate them in a letter sent to Governor Cuomo on January 22, 2021. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who attend “congregate care facilities” during the day, but do not stay overnight, were not included in the initial phase. Marcus Molinaro’s daughter lives on the autism spectrum, which led him to into advocacy for people with special abilities and compelled him to start ThinkDIFFERENTLY, a programmatic foundation of Dutchess County. According to the letter sent by Molinaro to Governor Cuomo, and confirmed by Colleen Pillus, Communication Director for Dutchess County, people age 18+ who attend “congregate care facilities” by day, and do not sleep over as live-in residents, were not eligible for the vaccination, but the staff supporting them were eligible. Staff and residents at OPWDD, OMH and OASAS facilities were granted eligibility early on. Also at issue are that “these groups are eligible but they are not prioritized for supply. They are a population that cannot easily access the vaccinations the way the supply is being currently being distributed by New York State,” Colleen clarified to A Little Beacon Blog. Said Dutchess County Executive Molinaro to Governor Cuomo in the letter, people with IDD have a hard time understanding social distancing or mask wearing. He stated: “Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially those who live in group homes or in congregate care settings, face an immense risk from COVID-19. These facilities continue to suffer from the ravages of this pandemic as the greatest protections we have are not always practical for many of these individuals, as some struggle to understand social distancing and have difficulty wearing masks. These are unique challenges that have contributed to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on individuals living with disabilities.” Apparently not hearing a response from New York State (Molinaro ran against Cuomo for the Governor position in 2018 and was defeated), the County Executive took it upon himself to set aside 60 doses of the vaccine for the IDD community in congregate care facilities during the day in a “mobile pop-up POD” in New Horizons Resources in Pleasant Valley (video here). “Without specific direction from New York State as to which providers are to prioritize vaccinating the countless residents across the state who live with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Dutchess County has taken it upon itself to inoculate such residents locally. Hospitals cannot simply be the ‘catch-all’ for eligible groups like this who fall through the state system’s cracks; it’s not practical for them to vaccinate healthcare workers and seemingly every other eligible group. Where the state has failed our special-needs community, Dutchess County has proudly stepped up to ThinkDIFFERENTLY and serve this constituency, which has been marginalized by Albany since the beginning of the pandemic.” When asked if the Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro thought that priorities should not exist, his office answered: “Not at the moment, due to supply restrictions it remains important to prioritize those most at risk. Currently, the vaccine is first and foremost a tool to save as many lives as possible and the quicker we can vaccinate individuals the more lives we can save. Early on in the rollout, the State’s eligibility criteria were too narrow causing delays in getting shots into arms but as they opened the criteria to include, first, people over the age of 75 and, then, those over the age of 65, it became less of a problem. The issues now are supply – access to vaccine doses – and distribution – getting doses to entities that can most efficiently vaccinate eligible individuals. There is still rigidity in the State’s requirements as to which providers should be prioritizing or not prioritizing specific groups which meet the eligibility criteria. Dutchess County is focused on vaccinating as many eligible people as possible, but also focusing on our most vulnerable. That should be our shared goal -- to vaccinate as many people as quickly possible with priority given to those most at-risk. If we hold ourselves to that goal, it will be anything but divisive, it will be simple, understandable, and unifying.” Vaccines doses continue in short supply throughout the country, and the world, While Dutchess County and other counties across the nation are set up to vaccinate many people, the doses are not there yet from the federal government and the manufacturers. People can sign up for email updates about vaccinations from Dutchess County here. Update 2/11/2021: In answers to reader questions on Instagram where this article was shared, Dutchess County Executive Molinaro confirmed: “Every individual secured approval from their guardian, is under the observation of their agency and the State approves of our actions.”
After February’s blizzard dropped 2.5’ feet of snow, the Dig Out process began. Beacon’s Highway Department drove into Overtime in order to clear the streets day and night. Residents shoveled and powered up snow blowers to clear the snow. Which snowed twice within a 24hr period. Requiring 2 rounds of snow removal for those who were trying to keep up with it. The following week (yesterday), another snowfall occurred, with more inches of heavy, ice-like snow falling. This prompted the Mayor’s Office to call residents with a reminder to remove snow, stating that baby strollers could not get through some sidewalks. As a pusher of a stroller for 10 years, it is common knowledge that sidewalks in Beacon will never be 100% clear enough for a stroller to get through (and the sidewalks themselves are broken or in some cases, non-existent). Of strollers that can get through plowed snow, a 3-wheel jogging stroller is usually required, which compares to an off-roading vehicle, as opposed to a more common 4-wheel stroller with small wheels, which will barely get through any snow at all.
In the evening of Beacon’s 2nd blizzard, as people returned home from a commute if they have one, or turned away from Remote Learning if they had kids at home during the Snow-Day-Not-A-Snow-Day, the Mayor’s Office delivered a robo-call to residents, reminding them to clear their sidewalks, and letting them know of a fine that could happen if the Highway Department needed to clear their sidewalks for them. Instead of the Mayor delivering the message as he had hours earlier to deliver a vaccination awareness message, residents heard from his assistant regarding snow removal consequences:
Please help us keep everyone safe during this inclement weather. Keep the roads clear by avoiding unnecessary travel; park in City parking lots or in your driveway. Any car parked on a city street after two inches of snowfall is subject to being towed. Your car needs to be move out of City parking lots 24 hours after the snow has stopped falling so the Highway Department can clear the lots. Let’s keep the sidewalks cleared for everyone, there were a lot of baby strollers struggling to get through narrow paths last week. It is your responsibility to clear your sidewalk within 24 hours after the snow stops falling. If you do not do so, the City will clear it for you and charge you a fine. Please do not throw snow in the road as it can turn to ice and can become a hazard.
Sidewalk Path WidthFollowing up on this message, A Little Beacon Blog has reached out to the Mayor’s Office to gain clarification on the required width - if any - on how wide the shoveling of the snow on a sidewalk needs to be. Shoveling is a lot of work. People who cannot, due to time or physical hardship, hire locals or companies to dig out for them. Blue Green Lawns, a new landscaping company serving Poughkeepsie and Beacon, dug out 10 properties for the first storm, and 4 properties for the second storm. According to Blue Green Lawns, some homeowners specified: “We need you immediately so that we don’t get fined.” Sidewalk Snow Throwback From Highway Department Plow TrucksWhile the sentiment of gratitude is there for the Highway Department to be plowing, and earning anticipated overtime during the winter blizzard season, residents do dread when the truck passes by and pushes the snow from the street back onto a freshly shoveled sidewalk. “It didn’t used to be this way,” one long-time Beacon resident stated, who has lived in Beacon for 30 years and has a corner lot. “They didn’t used to push the snow back into our sidewalk. They left it in the street.” Also notable is the corner of a sidewalk. If a resident digs out but stops at the corner, then a person must turn around to walk back Running Out Of Room To Put The SnowWhile removing 2.5’ feet of snow, it is unclear on what to do if there is no room at the resident’s property to put the snow. One person’s yard may be spacious, another person’s yard may have large bushes or trees in front, thereby making snow placement impossible after shoveling it from the sidewalk, and forcing it into the street, as it has nowhere left to go. After snowfall, from time to time and for certain areas, the City of Beacon does remove, or cut, snow from the street to place it in piles near Memorial Park. Sidewalk Fines If Highway Department Digs Out A ResidentDuring Monday night’s City Council Workshop meeting, the new City Administrator, Chris White, and Mayor Lee Kyriacou indicated a schedule of pricing, for how to calculate how much a homeowner would be fined, depending on the area needing cleared.
Today (Tuesday, 2/9/2021), Beacon’s Mayor Lee Kyriacou sent a health message via Beacon’s robo-call system, to tell people how to get a COVID-19 vaccination near Beacon, NY. His message is below:
This is Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou with an update on COVID-19 vaccines. Eligibility: Those who are currently eligible for a vaccine are: people 65 and older, frontline workers including first responders, public safety and transit workerse, educators, front-facing grocery store workers, certain funeral workers, and those working or living in homeless shelters Everyone who is currently eligible for a vaccine will be able to get one within three to four months. There are several vaccine distribution locations in our area. All require an appointment. Please be patient, but persistent. I will list them starting with those in Beacon. Sun River Health on Main Street. Visit sunriver.org or call 845 288 0850. Available wit appointment only. No walk-ins. Local pharmacies are vaccinating those 65 years and older. Check RiteAid.com and BeaconWellnessPharmacy.com later this month for more information. Please do not call to schedule. The former JC Penney in the mall and Dover High School. Visit dutchessny.gov/covidvaccine. The Institute for Family Health in Hyde Park, Ellenville and New Paltz. Visit institute.org Westchester County Center and SUNY Albany. Visit am-i-eligibile.covid19vaccine.health.ny/gov or call 1 833 697 4829 Castle Point, for Veterans who are either 65 or older or are essential workers, call 845 838 7668.
To sign up for these robo-calls from te City, click here to get an introduction and to get started.
As the national discussion begins about re-opening schools, Beacon City School District discusses how to open more. Federally and in New York State, schools have had some autonomy in how they open, making choices based on how Beacon teachers are feeling about being in-person, voluntary testing of students and staff, and other safety measures. Today (2/9/2021), Beacon’s Superintendent Dr. Matthew Landahl announced intentions to increase days and hours spent in the classroom, if families wanted it. Beacon started as “the largest district in Dutchess County to open for in-person instruction for our students with our hybrid model,” stated Dr. Landahl to district families via email today (2/9/2021), when he introduced tentative plans to inch forward with adding hours and days to student’s in-person learning opportunities safely during the pandemic in the coming months. “We have safely maintained our Hybrid and Remote models through many challenges the past many months without a long term closure of any of our schools. None of this would have been accomplished without the efforts of everyone in our district and our community.” Citing decreasing case rates and hospitalizations in Beacon and Dutchess County, Dr. Landahl put weight on the early process of District staff members being vaccinated, saying: “slowly but surely starting to get vaccinated through state or county programs.” The First Step To Expanded OpeningThe first step would be with Beacon High School, who, it is proposed, would be starting a full 8-period day for its Hybrid and Remote students on March 1, 2021. The expansion to a 4-day in-person week is being studied, with the Remote option still being available to those who choose it. “While I cannot make promises that this will be possible for us,” Dr. Landahl stated in the email, “we are working to develop a plan that would start with Elementary students and then move up to Middle and possibly High School. We would need to maintain safety standards and will work with Health Department officials to see what’s possible.” A Potential Timeline To Expanded School OpeningDr. Landahl presented a timeline, which includes levels of communicating with families first, before choices are made: Late February: Town Halls and other communications with details of the plan. Late February/Early March: Families decide on in-person programming vs remote. Late March/Early April: Students begin to return to an in-person 4-day a week instructional model starting with Elementary students.
The Beacon City School District was “the largest district in Dutchess County to open for in-person instruction for our students with our Hybrid model,” according to Beacon’s Superintendent Landahl to District families on Tuesday afternoon (2/9/2021), after a Snow Day Switcheroonie to avoid an actual Snow Day with no class meets at all. Dr. Landahl continued: “We have safely maintained our Hybrid and Remote models through many challenges the past many months without a long term closure of any of our schools.” Part of why this has been possible has been the District’s nimble and flexible Remote Learning Model that has been a work in progress since the first weeks that schools closed in 2020 for COVID-19. Normally correspondence like this is kept to District parents, who sludge through the day with their kids, nose to the grindstone. This type of Snow Day Change is being shared it here in order to bring awareness to other districts who are researching how to swing in and out of in-person instruction as needed, as well as to employers so that they can see what life is like for their working parent employees who need to accommodate their children at the drop of a snowflake. As background, since COVID-19, students are divided into two groups who go to school on different days: Blue Group and Gold Group. On Wednesdays, everyone stays home and does more Google Meets with their teachers (usually…this may depend on the teacher). On an actual Snow-Day-Not-A-Snow-Day, kids may also do “Specials” at home, like Gym, Music, Art, etc. This means that the house may sound like a stampede during remote “Gym” class, and crayons will suddenly be needed during “Art” class. Yay. All for this action versus no plan and staring at the wall or YouTube on a TV on the wall. This time ‘round, we had a Snow-Day-Wednesday on a Tuesday. Plus, in order to help the Blue Group kids be in school as much as possible, who it sounds like have had Snow Days be on their schedule the most, they were granted permission to come in on a Wednesday. It sounds head-spinning, and it is. But the Beacon community has been all-in to do our best to stay safe and healthy, and to use opportunities to learn in-person for those who are comfortable doing so. The email from Dr. Landahl announcing the Tuesday schedule is as follows:
Due to expected winter weather tomorrow, the Beacon City School District will be shifting its schedule this week. Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 9th, the district will operate on a Remote Wednesday schedule with buildings closed and district and school offices operating remotely as well. There will be no out of district transportation tomorrow. Wednesday, February 10th, the district will operate on a Blue Hybrid In-Person Schedule. Meal delivery and the COVID-19 Surveillance testing will still take place on Wednesday as well. We would not normally make a weather call this early but we wanted to let people know about this schedule change as early as possible and we were concerned about our Blue Hybrid students missing so much in-person time lately.
|
