Letters to the Editor - March 22

Civil political debate at last

I attended a local political debate for the State Assembly seat in Dutchess and Columbia counties with candidates Didi Barrett, Democrat, and Rick Wager, Republican. If only our presidential debates were as civilized, informed, intelligent and mutually respectful. Although I disagreed on several points with Wager, in this election, I wish there were two seats, because I saw two candidates who appeared to be two public servants who sincerely want to bring about change in Albany.

Although I still support Didi Barrett, I hope to see more moderate and thoughtful Republicans in our state and federal government. We might actually get something done if we had the choice of local candidates like these.

Joan Daidone
Millerton

Thanks for donations

The FRIENDS of the Pine Plains Free Library would like to thank all those who donated to our February Libri Grant Fundraiser. Our goal was to raise $350. We went over the top with a total of $682.

The Libri Foundation is granting the library $1,050 for children’s literature, as well as an additional $350 to purchase math and science books. The extra funds will be used to enhance our children’s collection of media materials.

Your support is greatly appreciated by Mrs. Hill, library director, and the FRIENDS!

Jean Osofsky, FRIENDS treasurer
Pine Plains

Pancake appreciation

On Sunday, March 18, the Amenia Fire Company held its monthly pancake breakfast. We were happy to have a crowd of 187 customers. We rely on the breakfast to raise much-needed money for general operations, and we much appreciate the support of the community. Thanks to all who attended our meal and we hope to see you all again at our last meal of the season on Sunday, April 15, from 7:30 to 11 a.m., at the firehouse.

Andy Murphy, on behalf of the breakfast committee
Amenia Fire Company & Auxiliary
Amenia

 

Freedom of speech

 

Peter asks Jesus the question, “Quo vadis?” (“Where are you going?” or “Whither goest thou?”)   Jesus answers, “Romam vado iterum crucifigi” (“I am going to Rome to be crucified again”).

Say goodbye to your freedom of speech in Stanford!

Did you know that during Stanford Town Board meetings there is what’s called  “privileges of the floor”? This is a time set aside where you, as a Stanford resident, have the right to speak directly to your town council during a meeting; to express your  ideas, concerns or to question your town council’s decisions on anything.

Were you also aware that on March 15 of this year, half of this privilege had been taken away from you? That’s right. At the Stanford Town Board meeting of March 15, your Town Board by majority — Mark D’agostino, Thomas Dewhirst and Joe Norton — voted to cut your privilege of the floor from six minutes in total down to only three minutes in total.                                         

Where there had previously been three minutes per resident to speak at the beginning of the meeting and another three minutes at the end of the meeting, there is now only three minutes at the beginning; thus taking away half of your privilege, and furthermore making it so you are unable to speak or question any decisions made by the board during that meeting. You must now wait until the next month’s meeting to speak regarding the previous month’s meeting.                                        

I have found that three minutes is barely enough time to express a thought, idea or to pose a question. Are we no longer allowed to question?                                                                                          

As our town has become terribly divided along political party lines, I have witnessed many Stanford residents more than willing to give up their personal privileges as long as it is in agreement with the agenda of their party’s elected officials in an attempt to censor opposing views; even if it means cutting one’s own throat.                                

Have we now forgotten our forefathers who not long ago gave their lives?

So much for freedom of speech in Stanford!

David Albenda
Stanfordville

 

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less