Editorial: Thriving Business in Beacon

Jane Jacobs, a great urban planner and theorist, once said, “The point of cities is multiplicity of choice.”  Inside this end of the year issue, you will find a list, by no means exhaustive, but hopefully compelling enough to make you take to your feet and walk down Main Street to do your Christmas shopping.  [...]

Holiday Shopping in Beacon

by Karen Maserjian Shan
Had enough of the shopping malls? Catch a breath of fresh air on Beacon’s Main Street.
"Saturday nights…until Christmas the stores are going to be open for late night shopping," said Linda Hubbard, a member at large of the Beacon Arts Community Association and co-owner of the RiverWinds Gallery. The stores also will [...]

Beacon Rivers and Estuaries Institute Teaches As It Learns

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow – Our River Runs Through Them
"The river’s reflections of our lives and experiences are endless. The water calls up our own ambitions of flowing with ease, of navigating the unknown."
~ Tim Palmer, river conservationist
"We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon,that flow in our rivers and streams, that [...]

Beacon School Board Update

by Bill Zopf, Board President & Dr. Jean Parr, Superintendent
For this month’s column we thought we would touch on various subjects and respond to questions and comments which have been raised over the last couple of months.
•    Why has the school district set up various reserve funds?The school district received additional public and private [...]

Recipe: Traditional Christmas on a Worldwide Scale

by Bruce Beaty
Each December, when the holidays descend upon us, I’m intrigued by the ways people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds celebrate the social events of the season. One of the cool things about working in a restaurant and living in a diverse community is the opportunity to witness these divergent practices and see [...]

Editorial: Vote Yes On Open Space Referendum

In November of 1909 the naturalist
John Muir sent an open letter to the American people encouraging them
to contact their members of Congress and encouraging them to preserve
the Hetch-Hetchy Valley, “…unmarred as places of rest and recreation
for the use of all the people…” At the time of Muir’s writing
the City of San Francisco was, “…attempting to [...]

Election 2006: An Overview

An overview of the candidates whose races affect the City of Beacon
The following races were chosen due to their immediate effect on Beacon. We have presented incumbent candidates first, followed by challengers. We have tried to present this information in a proactive, unbiased manner. We have therefore chosen to focus on the candidates’ records, positions, [...]

Solar Powered Racing

Newburgh teens build solar cars and race them
by Jack Sine
Mixing 16-year-old kids, cars, and racing is a recipe for disaster to most adults. But not if you’re looking at a group of 50 or so teenagers at Newburgh Free Academy who are not only building and racing solar-powered cars—they’re also doing it for class credit.
Lee [...]

Beacon School District Update

by Bill Zopf, Board President & Dr. Jean Parr, Superintendent
The students and employees of a school district deserve a safe and secure environment. Yet making improvements to facilities in order to maintain and enhance a safe school environment can be costly. In this month’s column we’ll explain Beacon School District’s eligibility for funds to reduce [...]

Beacon Voices: Michael Benzer and Jennifer Smith

by Ellen Timmer
ET: This facility is pretty impressive. Can you tell me what you do here?

MB: We make glass for Hudson Beach Glass, as well as for Architectural Glass and Beacon Glass Works. The products that we make under the Hudson Beach Glass name are some of the products at the firehouse gallery on Main [...]