Beacon Dispatch

City Council passes anti-nepotism law

On Monday night the Beacon City Council unanimously decided to pass a nepotism law making it illegal for city employees to "work within a department where a relative occupies a supervisory
position on the same shift or over all shifts...Relatives are described as mother, father, son, daughter, husband or wife."

The new law takes effect July 1. City personnel employed prior to July 1 will not be affected by the decision, "as long as said personnel remain in their present position.  Such employee cannot transfer or be promoted to a new position where this local law would be violated."

Baby racing, a 20' fire truck slide, & Pete Seeger -- it must be Community Day!

Looks like the fundraising effort to build the first playground for toddlers in Beacon is getting even more creative. Community Day is scheduled for Saturday, July 2 (raindate July 3) at Memorial Park here in Beacon. The event will coincide with the fireworks display scheduled for later that night, and feature free music and entertainment, food, vendors, children's activities, and fun & games -- all sponsored by local agencies, civic groups, and churches.

But they need help to pull this off. If you have some time to spare, shoot them an email at info@weeplayproject.org or call Julann Cobb at 831-7254.

City Of Beacon Police Positively ID Woman Found in Fishkill Creek

The Poughkeepsie Journal reported late this afternoon that the body found in Fishkill Creek was in fact the body of Joanne Kessler, mother of Bruce Kessler who had earlier reported to the Karlson and McKenzie radio show on WPDH that the woman in the creek was his mother.

The Journal article states that the BPD was able to identify the body, "...by comparing autopsy reports to Kessler's medical records from Albany Medical Center." The cause of death is still undetermined. Another piece that is not clear is why the BPD did not allow Bruce Kessler to attempt to positively identify the body after his claim that the woman was in fact his mother and after stating—both privately and publicly—that his mother had both a tattoo and recent brain surgery, which the BPD stated were identifying features of the body. Features that the BPD had hoped would bring someone such as Mr. Kessler to the fore.

According to a comment on the Dispatch site, Bruce Kessler was asked to supply DNA material for identification purposes but, at the time that these comments were posted, he stated that he was not, "...getting any help from the BPD. My calls aren't answered , my messages aren't returned, and quite frankly I'm starting to get the impression that they don't even care."

Mr. Kessler, we send our sincerest regrets to you and are sorrowed at your loss.

Positive ID of corpse not expected until July 1

According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Beacon Police have said "they 'believe they have found the identity of the female victim,' but the woman's name was not released because detectives were waiting on laboratory tests and had not notified the woman's family."

The DNA samples have been sent to Albany for analysis, but the process can take weeks to complete. The BPD have asked the lab to expedite the process. What made identification even harder was the amount of decomposition that had occurred because the body had been in the water for two weeks. "Unfortunately, we could not lift any fingerprints from the body because of the decomposition," said Detective James Pavelock.

Despite the opinions of many Beaconites (see below posts), the BPD are still baffled as to how the woman ended up in the water, and have not determined whether foul play was involved.

Sal Cumella to sell the last hat factory in Beacon

The subject of last month's Beacon Voices, Sal Cumella and his partner Ramon Moreno have decided to close the last hat factory in Beacon. According to WRGB, the 31,000-square-foot Dorel Hat factory building and 6.5 riverfront acres — 58 miles up the Hudson in Beacon — are for sale.

Heroin to blame in woman's death?

According to unconfirmed reports, the body recently identified by Beacon Police was one of several people suspected of overdosing on heroin a few weeks ago. Apparently one male died in his house, another male died behind Madame Brett's house, and this woman was recovered in Fishkill Creek last Monday.

The man who claims to be the son of the deceased woman was apparently estranged from her, which helps explain why he didn't know she was missing. You can see his response in the below post.

And to top it all off, there's reportedly a new shipment of dangeroulsy potent heroin now hitting the streets in Beacon.

Man makes false claim to ID dead woman

The mystery of the unidentified corpse found in Fishkill Creek continues. Despite the claims of a man who said the body was that of his estranged mother, Beacon Police are still looking for leads in the case. The Poughkeepsie Journal stays on the story, reporting that the man made the claim on a local radio program based on public information about the corpse.

With no missing person reports to work from, and no identification, will Jane Doe's identity ever be revealed? Was it a crime of passion? Did she cross the wrong person? Or did she just get too close to the edge after a raging storm? Inquiring minds want to know...

Details released on corpse

Nik Bonapartis of the Poughkeepsie Journal continues coverage of the mysterious corpse that was found on Monday morning wedged in a dam in Fishkill Creek. Though Beacon Police have yet to identify the body, an autopsy revealed that the woman had at least one child, had brain surgery in the past, was between 35 and 50 years old, and had a tattoo of the letter "B" on her upper left arm. Autopsy results also lead authorities to believe the body was in the water for about two weeks before discovery.

If you have information relating to the case please call the City of Beacon Police Department at 845-831-4111. All calls will be kept confidential.

Beacon police find corpse; search for leads

According to the Poughkeepsie Journal,  on Monday at 11am Beacon Police found a decomposed corpse floating by the dam in Fishkill Creek at the end of Verplanck Ave and East Main Street. The police are looking for any information to help them identify the body. The woman was white, had brown hair and was wearing jeans and a black shirt with the name "Roxy" printed on the front. Anyone with information should call police headquarters at 845-831-4111. All calls will be kept confidential.

Fiction: The Liberation of Gabriel King

by KL Going

(for ages 8 to 12)

Chapter  1 – Under the Picnic Table 

My best friend Frita Wilson once told me that some people were born chicken.

“Ain’t nothing gonna make them brave,” she’d said. “But others, they just need a little liberatin’ that’s all.” Least that’s how Frita told it.

If you’d asked me before the summer of 1976, I would have told you I was one of the chicken ones. If you could count on anything it was that I, Gabriel Allen King, didn’t do anything scary. I didn’t climb out too far on the branches of the pecan trees or ride my bike on the same dirt road the truckers used. I didn’t pick up ugly looking bugs that might have pinchers or walk too close to the cotton fields if anyone even hinted that the cows might be loose. Most of all, I didn’t intend on going to the fifth grade ever.