Saugerties residents weighing the risks of a proposed battery storage facility are also asking what it would mean for their electric bills. About 35 people attended an information session at The Local on Sept. 14 organized by Sustainable Hudson Valley, a Rhinebeck-based climate nonprofit. Several pressed the presenter on whether adding battery storage to the […]

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Just over a week into the school year, the Windham Police Department is having trouble keeping an officer at the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School during arrival and dismissal. “We are there when we can be,” said Chief Richard Selner at a Town Board meeting on Sept. 10. “The issue is to have someone there in the […]

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The Woodstock Town Board has requested a 35 mph speed limit along Glasco Turnpike within town boundaries after residents raised concerns about speeding, pedestrian safety, and difficulty pulling out of their driveways. The board passed a resolution Sept. 8 requesting the limit, or a lower speed if evaluating agencies recommend it, from Route 212 in […]

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Voters in Woodstock and Saugerties approved their public libraries’ 2027 budgets Tuesday, Sept. 15, supporting spending increases and electing six trustees. The Woodstock Public Library District budget passed 229–116, while Saugerties Public Library voters approved their budget 129–7. Saugerties’ budget totals $877,915, an increase of $40,911, or 4.89%, over 2026. Property taxes will provide $811,397, […]

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Ram Singal was writing an email in the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, when the building shook. At first, he thought an earthquake had struck. Then the building shook again. Singal, a Port Authority project manager who had developed a structural integrity inspection program for the complex, knew […]

The post How the Catskills Remember 9/11 appeared first on The Overlook.

Hundreds of animal rights activists are expected to participate in a 14-day, 207-mile March to Abolish Animal Testing beginning Sept. 12, according to organizers. The march will take participants from Albany to Marshall BioResources in North Rose, a Wayne County company that breeds beagles, cats, ferrets, and minipigs for medical, veterinary, and pharmaceutical research. Woodstock […]

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A $500,000 state grant will expand free, one-on-one technology assistance across the Hudson Valley, including at libraries in Ulster and Greene counties. The grant from Empire State Development’s ConnectALL Office was awarded to the Westchester Library System to recruit and train workers for the Digital Navigators of the Hudson Valley program. Digital navigators help residents […]

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The three members of the Windham Planning Board eligible to vote on the Windham Mountain Club’s proposed 26-room luxury hotel unanimously moved the project forward last week despite continued concerns from area hoteliers. At a Planning Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 3, board Chair Lisa Jaeger, member Nate Holdridge, and alternate John O’Neill passed a […]

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Catskill-based artist Eileen Sackman has worked with ceramics for more than 25 years, making plates, cups, vases, and other pieces. Many prominently feature endangered animals. “It’s anywhere from near-threatened to endangered or extinct animals,” she said. “I take a percentage of the sales that I do and I donate them every month to a rhino […]

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Saugerties Town Supervisor Fred Costello has signed a letter calling on the state to regulate and help fund the treatment of PFAS in leachate from closed landfills. Leachate, sometimes called “garbage water,” is a toxic liquid created when rainwater filters through waste in landfills. It can carry PFAS and other contaminants into nearby streams, rivers, […]

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The Woodstock Town Board has accepted the resignation of Custodial Department laborer Michael Innello, a convicted Level 3 sex offender who was hired last year and retained despite public outcry over his criminal history. His resignation takes effect Friday, Sept. 11. “This is a parting of ways,” Woodstock Supervisor Anula Courtis said. “He’s going to […]

The post Woodstock Town Worker at Center of Hiring Controversy Resigns appeared first on The Overlook.

Meira Blaustein is preparing to leave the Woodstock Film Festival after 26 years spent building it from a four-venue gathering into one of the Hudson Valley’s signature cultural events. “It feels to be the right time,” Blaustein said. “We had a great run and the festival is only going to continue to grow from here.” […]

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The Shandaken Historical Society will mark the country’s 250th anniversary with its first Revolutionary War reenactment, featuring participants portraying life in an 18th-century military camp. The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 26 at Big Indian Park on Route 28, according to Historical Society Museum Director Joseph Prieboy. About […]

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Near the Slide Mountain trailhead and Big Indian Wilderness, a bright-red barn houses Ralph’s Bar and Bowling, a lively gathering place for residents, tourists, and pizza lovers. Inside, cowboy decor, taxidermied animals, and cow skulls line the walls and shelves. A vintage manual bowling alley sits near the entrance. Live music and dancing spill downstairs […]

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The Overlook has been named the 2026 New LION Business of the Year, earning national recognition for its public-service journalism, rapid growth, and work building a sustainable nonprofit newsroom in the Catskills. The award was presented Wednesday night at the LION Publishers Sustainability Awards in San Diego. The annual awards recognize independent news organizations across […]

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Meira Blaustein, a co-founder of the Woodstock Film Festival, will step down as its executive director and head programmer at the end of the year, the organization said Wednesday. Blaustein intends to remain involved as an adviser. The festival’s board is searching for her successor and expects to announce its next executive director in the […]

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Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, whose 103rd Assembly District includes Hurley, Olive, Saugerties, and Woodstock, is trying to build support for a decades-old proposal to create a state-run, single-payer health system in New York. Shrestha is a co-sponsor of the New York Health Act, which would provide universal coverage without premiums, deductibles, copays, or restricted provider networks. […]

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The Town of Saugerties is considering a new zoning amendment that would allow indoor agricultural operations, including cannabis cultivators, to seek special use permits in five districts. The town board held its first public hearing on the draft law Wednesday, Sept. 2. The proposal follows a dispute over whether a cannabis cultivation facility should be […]

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As the sky turned golden and crickets began to chirp at Opus 40 on Saturday, Theresa Bear Fox, a singer-songwriter from the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory in upstate New York, took the stage to hoots and cheers. “I am trying to learn my language that is so beautiful,” Fox sang. About 80 people sat on blankets […]

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One day in Cairo, perhaps in the late 1930s or 1940s, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company enticed shoppers to its storefront at 515 Main St. with a blowout 5-cent sale on soup, beans, and other provisions. In an undated, unsigned photograph, cans are piled in pyramids outside the front door, and a sign […]

The post Better Days Bookshop Marks Latest Chapter in Cairo’s Main Street Resurgence appeared first on The Overlook.

Students across The Overlook’s coverage area are returning to classrooms this month as the 2026-27 school year gets underway. The Hunter-Tannersville Central School District and Saugerties Central School District are the first to welcome students back on Thursday, Sept. 3. Saugerties schools will then close Friday, Sept. 4, and Monday, Sept. 7, for Labor Day […]

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The Historical Society of Woodstock dedicated new grave markers to two veterans as part of the town’s commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary. The Historical Society of Woodstock honored two Revolutionary War veterans Thursday with a ceremony at Woodstock Cemetery on Rock City Road. New footstones were dedicated to John Yerry and William Longyear, who were […]

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The Olive Free Library has earned a national sustainability certification after a three-year effort to reduce its environmental impact, strengthen its finances, and make its services more accessible. The Sustainable Libraries Initiative awarded the designation on Aug. 24, making Olive the 36th public library to complete its certification program. The initiative evaluates libraries in three […]

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Kevin VanHentenryck was studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan when he saw a film that changed his life. “Savage Messiah,” released in 1972, traces the life of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. For VanHentenryck, watching from a small theater around the corner from Carnegie Hall, the film helped awaken his own creative […]

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On Feis day, the tense waiting is part of the performance.  Young Irish stepdancers, some as young as 5, stand shoulder to shoulder beneath a pavilion at the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural Center in East Durham. Then the judges call them forward, two at a time. Parents watch as the children begin their routines, […]

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The town of Hunter is developing a new comprehensive plan with the villages of Hunter and Tannersville, creating a shared blueprint for land use, development, and government decision-making across the three municipalities.  The plan is being guided by New York’s “Smart Growth” principles, which seek to balance development with housing needs, environmental protection, accessibility, and […]

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Windham has been without a town historian since Patricia “Patti” Morrow died in June, and Supervisor Tom Hoyt said filling her shoes won’t be easy. “Patti was very unique,” Hoyt said. “I’m not going to probably find anyone right off the bat that’s as knowledgeable as Patti was.” Windham’s search reflects a broader challenge across […]

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Labor Day weekend will bring live music, art, outdoor activities, and community gatherings to the Catskills, offering residents and visitors several ways to mark the unofficial end of summer. Observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day honors the contributions of American workers. The holiday grew out of the labor movement in the late […]

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The future of Levon Helm Studios is uncertain amid more than 15 concert cancellations, a calendar listing only three upcoming performances, and a cash shortfall that has left some ticket holders awaiting refunds. “I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t say exactly where we’ll be,” Brian Parillo, the venue’s president and CEO, said […]

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The Woodstock Film Festival will begin its 27th edition with a screening of “American Zoo,” a documentary that examines the complicated history of the Catskill Game Farm. The Hudson Valley premiere will be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 13 at the Community Theater, 373 Main St. in Catskill. A conversation with director Tim Travers […]

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