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Highlands Current Audio Stories

Highlands Current Audio Stories

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The Highlands Current is a nonprofit weekly newspaper and daily website that covers Beacon, Cold Spring, Garrison, Nelsonville and Philipstown, New York, in the Hudson Highlands. This podcast includes select stories read aloud. Arte Política y Gobierno
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  • Lawler Not Running for Governor

    Lawler Not Running for Governor
    Jul 23 2025
    House member says he will seek re-election
    Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican whose House district includes Philipstown, said on Wednesday (July 23) that he won't run for governor next year.
    Another prominent House Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, has been considering a campaign in 2026 against Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat. She said in a statement Wednesday that she'll decide after the November election.
    Lawler, in his second term representing District 17 after defeating incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney in 2022 and Mondaire Jones in 2024, weighed his options as President Donald Trump and the Republican Party attempts to retain control of the House in next year's midterm elections. Lawler told "Fox and Friends" on Wednesday that running for reelection was "the right thing to do for me and my family and my district. Keeping the House majority is critical if we are going to continue to move this economy in the right direction."
    Lawler is one of few Republicans who won a seat in 2024 in a district won by the Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris. He is coming off a successful fight to raise the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes, a significant pocketbook issue in New York state. The federal budget bill enacted by the president last month raised the cap to $40,000 for the next five years; it had been capped at $10,000 as part of Trump's first-term tax overhaul.
    Lawler held a series of sometimes raucous town halls this year at a time when Republicans were being advised to skip the forums that were drawing angry questions about Trump's agenda. The president endorsed Lawler in May, calling him "a strong champion and highly effective representative" in a post on his Truth Social platform.
    Hochul, a former lieutenant governor, assumed the governor's seat in 2021 after Andrew Cuomo resigned. She was elected in 2022. She also faces a challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.
    Seven Democratic candidates have launched campaigns to unseat Lawler, and Axios reported earlier this month that Maloney is contemplating a return. The candidates are:
    Peter Chatzky, a tech company founder and village trustee in Briarcliff Manor;
    Cait Conley, a 2007 West Point graduate from Orange County who is former director of counterterrorism for the National Security Council;
    Beth Davidson, a Rockland County legislator;
    Effie Phillips-Staley, a Tarrytown trustee who is a nonprofit executive;
    Jessica Reinmann, who founded the nonprofit 914Cares in Westchester County;
    Mike Sacks, a lawyer and former TV journalist from Westchester; and
    John Sullivan, a former FBI intelligence analyst who lives in Rockland County.
    As of June 30, Lawler had raised $2.8 million for his campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission. Among the Democrats, Davidson had raised $855,000 and Conley $815,000. In April, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it focus on 35 House districts held by Republicans nationally in 2026 in an attempt to regain control of the House. The only New York district on its list is Lawler's.
    The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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    4 m
  • Retired Beacon Police Officer Charged in Killing

    Retired Beacon Police Officer Charged in Killing
    Jul 22 2025
    Investigation turned over to state police
    A retired Beacon police officer has been arrested and is being held without bail after a fatal shooting on Monday (July 21) night.
    According to the New York State Police, Edison Irizarry, 52, of Beacon, was arrested at 11:26 p.m. and charged with murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, all felonies. He is being held without bail. The victim was not identified.
    A July 2021 Facebook post by the Beacon police officers' union congratulated Irizarry on his recent retirement from the city's Police Department. Irizarry, a Marine veteran, served as an officer at Beacon for 17 years, according to the post. During his time with the Beacon force, he worked as a field training officer and detective.
    Beacon Police Chief Tom Figlia said in a news release on early Tuesday that officers received a call Monday night from an individual reporting that he had shot his roommate on Rombout Avenue. Upon arrival at the scene, "it was determined that one of the individuals involved was a retired Beacon police officer," the release said.
    Without naming Irizarry, the release said that the individual was "immediately detained and, in order to maintain the highest integrity, the entire investigation was turned over to the New York State Police."
    The Beacon department will cooperate "fully and completely" with the investigation, Figlia said.
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    2 m
  • Beyond the Grid: Public Power

    Beyond the Grid: Public Power
    Jul 18 2025
    Could a utility owned by the public, rather than Central Hudson, deliver lower electricity costs?
    Many people believe it would, and last year, two state legislators introduced a proposal to make it happen by creating the Hudson Valley Power Authority. The bill outlines the process by which the state would create a "democratically governed" nonprofit corporation that would provide "low rates, reliable service, correct and easy to understand bills, clean energy, community benefits and environmental justice." The goal would be to keep residential electric bills from exceeding 6 percent of household income.
    It would not be the first public utility, even in New York. Along with the state-owned New York Power Authority and the Long Island Power Authority, there are at least 50 municipal utilities in New York, mostly in rural areas. For the rest of the state, the delivery of electricity is monopolized by six investor-owned utilities such as Central Hudson, which has been owned since 2013 by Fortis, a Canadian holding company. In return for their monopolies, these utilities are regulated by the Public Service Commission, which must approve rate hikes and capital projects.
    Establishing the Hudson Valley Power Authority would not only lower rates but coordinate with the state's long-term climate goals while protecting Central Hudson's 1,130 employees, according to the two Democratic legislators who introduced the proposal, Sen. Michelle Hinchey (whose district includes parts of Dutchess and Putnam counties) and Assembly Member Sarahana Shrestha (whose district includes the northwest corner of Dutchess). "I don't think the role of government is to empower the private sector," Shrestha said. "This would put public goods back in the hands of the public."
    How it could happen
    Shrestha and Hinchey's legislation calls for the Hudson Valley Power Authority to purchase Central Hudson and take control of a system with 315,000 electric customers and 90,000 natural gas customers in parts of nine counties, including Dutchess and Putnam. If Central Hudson refused to sell, the legislation suggests authorities could use a legal process called eminent domain to compel a sale.
    Tom Konrad, a chartered financial analyst who is the chair of the Marbletown Environmental Conservation Commission, is leading a plan in the Ulster County town - the Hudson Valley's first - to transition to 100 percent renewable energy. He estimates that it would cost between $2.2 billion and $3.6 billion to acquire Central Hudson, including its $1.4 billion in debt.
    The Hudson Valley Power Authority (HVPA) would be overseen by a nine-member board appointed by the governor and the Legislature, which would also include the business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 320, the union representing about 700 Central Hudson employees.

    In addition, an independent "observatory" modeled after the Paris Water Authority and composed of elected representatives and members of academic institutions would help the board with "community participation, transparency, research and accountability," Shrestha said.
    The newly formed utility would retain Central Hudson employees represented by labor unions and assume those agreements, including retirement benefits. After buying Central Hudson, the HVPA would be obligated to bargain "in good faith" with union representatives.
    The bill also aligns the HVPA with the goals of the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, directing the utility to procure 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and 100 percent renewable electricity by 2040, provided the supply is available.
    At least 35 percent of the benefits of clean energy and efficiency programs, such as reduced pollution through the phasing out of fossil fuel-burning plants, would be allocated to disadvantaged communities within the service area.
    Shrestha doesn't expect either Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins or Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie ...
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    21 m
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