Increased Traffic Fines Needed

This is for the City Council. I would like to see the traffic fines in Beacon increased substantially. I think it will improve the quality of life in the City. As I e-mailed the Mayor recently, it isn’t a matter of if you will be hit, but when you will be hit. [...]

Follow-up to Karen Buddenhagen Letter

Several months ago former BPD officer Karen Buddenhagen wrote a letter to the editor about the environment for women in the BPD. She recently wrote a followup to that letter in response to questions she was asked via comments in the Beacon Dispatch. Please find following the entire text of Ms. Buddenhagen’s response, which you’ll [...]

The Tioranda Bridge Succumbs

With little notice to the press, an historic bridge is destroyed
On December 12th, 2006, a section of the Tioronda Bridge spanning the Fishkill Creek in Beacon, NY was cut away from the other bridge sections and removed. I contacted local papers to try and have this disastrous event covered with little immediate result. The “Beacon” [...]

Letter to the Editor: BPD Discriminates Against Women

Dear Editor:

On
March 6th the Beacon City Council, reaffirmed their irresponsibility
by passing a resolution “…that the City will aggressively recruit
female and minority officers to fill [two vacant police officer] positions.”   
While I applaud the ideal of such recruitment, it is appalling
that the City Council would recruit female officers to subject them
to the hostile, discriminatory, un-equal [...]

Letter to the Editor: Understanding Library Referendum Requires a Well-informed Electorate

I would like to thank the voters in the Beacon City School District for their past support of the Howland Public Library’s mission in the community.  As the library building referendum approaches, it is most important that voters be well informed.  A new Howland Public Library has been in the works for over seven years.  [...]

Letter to the Editor: New Library Should Not Be Approved

Editor’s Note: Below is the latest in an exchange between concerned citizen John Steele and Pat Hasapis of the Howland Library regarding the costs of the new library in Beacon. You can read Mr. Steele’s original letter here, as well as Ms Hasapis’ response here. These letters do not necessarily represent the views of the [...]

Letter to the Editor: Howland Library Cost Too Expensive

The “response to the community” by the Howland
Library was wholly inadequate. At almost
11 million dollars the cost of the library project remains excessive. It is out of line with what other area
libraries have accomplished or will accomplish using far less taxpayer money. The
Library seems proud that this project is being proposed using public
funds. However it [...]