Beacon Dispatch

Onward And Upward

Poughkeepsie Journal Reports on some of Main Street's recent and upcoming changes
In Saturday's Poughkeepsie Journal, Craig Wolf reports on some of the changes beginning to take place on Main Street, Including the Iron Fish Trading Company's move to the West End, World's End Book's move to the bend on the East End and thier collaboration with Hudson Valley Outfitters and the arrival of Beacon's first natural foods grocery store this coming July.

Check it all out here.

Barge spills gasoline into Hudson

Front page news on the Poughkeepsie Journal today on the barge that hit Diamond Reef near New Hamburg yesterday afternoon, spilling gasoline into the Hudson. According to the report, the Bouchard Transportation Co. Barge B35 had a capacity of  3.1 million gallons. It was moved to Newburgh for repairs earlier today. Until the ruptured tanks are repaired, the Coast Guard will not know exactly how much gas spilled into the river.

There goes the neighborhood, pt 2

Back in November 2003 I posted here on the Dispatch about the new housing developments going in just north of Beacon along Route 9D. Today the Poughkeepsie Journal has a front page article about the traffic mess on Route 9D that is a result of those new developments. According to PoJo, "Traffic is surging, up 13.4 percent from 2002 to 2003, when 19,265 cars a day were clocked in Wappinger, according to the most recent state Department of Transportation traffic count data... Recent, current and planned homes come to about 1,700, and there's land left."

James Wick,  chairman of the Fishkill planning board weighs in with these visionary thoughts, ''It's just going to be a mess,'' he said. ''Do you build a road and then let the people fill it up? Or, do you wait until the need is already there and react? We're always playing catch-up.'' As the chairman of the planning board, Wick is in a position to help manage the growth of new homes along 9D before it becomes another Route 9. Instead he throws up his hands and says, effectively, "eh, what are you gonna do?"

It's a Boy!

Good friend and Dispatch co-founder Nell Timmer gave birth to a strapping baby boy in her home this
morning at 6:30. Nell (and her husband Ted) are doing fine -- though they're exhausted from 12 hours of labor and natural (yikes!) delivery. They have yet to decide on a name for their son, but Truman, Henry, and Gabriel are all on the short list. Congratulations you guys! We're looking forward to seeing [insert name here] in person soon!

Great River Sweep cleaning up the Hudson

Scenic Hudson's annual Great River Sweep is underway this week, from April 16-23. If you've been down to the riverbanks since the last storm, you've seen how much work there is to do. Here are a few shots of the volunteer effort on Saturday morning. If you want to help, just contact Scenic Hudson.

Flooding pushes saltline south

This is a fascinating piece of news regarding the effects of the recent flooding from the "Hudson River Almanac", an email newsletter sent out each week chronicling natural events on the river:

"The heavy rains of April 2-3 left their mark - high water marks. Such flooding hadn't been seen for many years in much of the Hudson Valley: the Rondout Creek at Rosendale reached levels expected only once in 50 years on average, flooding on the Esopus Creek was the highest on record... Typically, flooding due to runoff does not have much effect on the Hudson south of Catskill; river level is governed by sea level and ocean tides. This episode was an exception: the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for the Hudson south to Poughkeepsie...Runoff from heavy rains on March 28-29 had already pushed the salt front down through the Tappan Zee. As this weekend's downpour ended on Sunday, April 3, the front was at Hastings. With runoff hitting the mainstem, the salt front retreated seaward. By April 7, the Hudson at Hastings was fresh, while salinity readings at Pier 26, one mile north of the Battery, were at low levels usually seen much further upriver. "

To sign up to receive the E-Almanac, send an email message to hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us and write E-Almanac in the subject line.

Construction begins on new train station parking facility

Budgeted at $5-10 million, the project is expected to be completed in Fall 2006 and includes the following:

• Approximately 350 new landscaped surface parking spaces; rehabilitation of 600 existing spaces by resurfacing and restriping; relocate and improve the employee parking area
• Construction of a bus stop and waiting area; installation of bike racks/lockers; improvements for pedestrian circulation in parking facilities; restoring the small, waterfront parking area to provide access to the proposed ferry dock
• Construction of a new vehicular entrance to the station from Beekman Street and a relocated station access road
• Improvements to the pedestrian entrance (canopy) on the west side

Playground installation postponed

Due to the very rainy weather this past weekend, the Forrestal Elementary playground installation planned for last Saturday has been rescheduled to Saturday, April 9, beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Thanks to those of you who volunteered to help out with this event. I hope that you will still be able to make it on the 9th, and it would be great if this date change makes it possible for even more volunteers to help out! Please let Georgia know ASAP if you will be there...she has to start over on putting together her list of volunteers with this latest development.

Contact Georgia at 838-2574 or aujia@aol.com

Photo Gallery: Inside the Sloop 'Woody Guthrie'

I took these shots on Sunday, March 13 to accompany the piece written by Nate Binzen...

Inside the Sloop Woody Guthrie

Restoration Efforts Extend the Life of a Beacon Icon

by Nate Binzen

During the winter months, if you go upriver to New Hamburg and walk down the gravel lanes of White’s Marina, you’ll find yourself surrounded by a gauntlet of looming dry docked boats wrapped in shrunk blue plastic. It looks like an installation by a Christo disciple. Right now, down at the end of the dock, under one of the sling lifts used to haul boats in and out of the water, there sits a jury-rigged, tarp-covered, wood-framed temporary shack. Peeking out from underneath is the venerable green hull of Beacon’s own 32-foot sloop, the Woody Guthrie.

The weather is turning to spring now, and not a moment too soon. Throughout this icy winter, on any given Sunday a hardy, determined group of sailor-builders has been drilling and chopping the mastless nine-ton pride-and-joy of Beacon Harbor into an impressive state of deconstruction. Years of sailing have taken their toll on the ship’s wooden structure. Walk up the heavily-salted ladder, pull back the shroud, and you’ll see the guts of the boat opened before you.