Episodios

  • High Anxiety: Seniors

    High Anxiety: Seniors
    Nov 21 2025
    Everyone's brains seem to be on high alert in the digital age, although society has become more accepting of mental health struggles and treatment. In this, the third part of a series, we examine the challenges facing seniors.
    Tina is 94 years old and has attempted suicide twice this year.
    Once, she stuffed a plastic bag into her mouth. "I couldn't keep it in," said the Beacon resident. "If someone would have forced it on me, it would have worked. But I couldn't. I took it out."
    Another time, she took a scarf from her closet and tried to hang herself from a door in her apartment. But she slid to the floor.
    Her daughter called after seeing that attempt on a video monitor connected to her cell phone. "What are you doing?"
    "Resting," Tina responded.
    When asked if she was glad that her suicide attempts failed, she said, "Not really. I hated my life." Then she looked up at the ceiling and raised her hands like she was pleading. "Take me," she said. "I'm ready."
    Tina, who was willing to discuss her mental health struggles only if her real name was not used, is facing many of the typical health problems that come with aging.
    She and her husband, who is 91, used to enjoy driving to McDonald's in Fishkill for a meal before browsing at shops along Route 9. But a few years ago, her husband began showing signs of dementia, and her children insisted that she stop driving. "They said if there's an accident, we'll be responsible," she said.
    Dementia has taken a toll on her marriage of 50 years. "We hardly speak," she said. "Just little phrases like, 'Are you sleeping?' and 'You want to eat now?'" Her husband can no longer take out the garbage and is often puzzled by his electric razor.
    Tina has fallen several times. She traded in her cane for a rollator, a fancy walker with wheels, handbrakes and a seat.
    She was cheerful at a recent lunch. She enjoyed her food and seemed excited about her dessert, a chocolate bar. She was well-dressed, with nice jewelry. Her makeup and hair were impeccable. "I love to laugh," she said, adding that her life had improved recently with someone coming to her house to drive her and her husband to McDonald's.
    When it was suggested she seek help for her mental health, she said, "At this age, does it matter?"
    Tina's reaction is not unusual. According to federal government data, while people ages 65 and older comprise 17 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 22 percent of suicides, with men far exceeding women. One study estimates that a third of seniors worldwide experience symptoms of depression, although clinical depression is far less common. The key factors are well known: isolation, loss and physical infirmity.
    Dutchess and Putnam counties offer many resources to help older people with their mental health, including support groups and Friendship Centers where seniors meet, go shopping, have lunch and enjoy group activities.
    In 2023, Dutchess started a program called Friendly Calls, in which volunteers call seniors for conversation. This year, Putnam launched Putnam Pals, a program that pairs volunteers with seniors. "There's nothing better than seeing someone face to face," said Marlene Barrett, director of Putnam's Office for Senior Resources.
    Suicide Among Older People
    About 50,000 people kill themselves each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those ages 85 and older have the highest rates, at 22.7 per 100,000, followed by those aged 75-84 and 35-44. The lowest rates were among those aged 65-74 and 15-24. Men ages 75 and older have the highest rates overall (42.2 per 100,000).
    A study in the Journal of Affective Disorders of adults ages 50 and older in five low- and middle-income countries found that older adults experiencing moderate food insecurity were 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide, and older adults experiencing severe food insecurity were 5.2 times more likely.
    If you are facing mental-health challenges, call or text 988. Counselors are ...
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    12 m
  • Guarding Evil

    Guarding Evil
    Nov 21 2025
    Father of Cold Spring resident sketched Nazis at Nuremberg
    Eighty years ago this week, on Nov. 20, 1945, trials began in Nuremberg, Germany, for nearly 200 Nazis charged with crimes against humanity, including the killing of an estimated six million Jewish, Roma, gay and disabled people during the Holocaust.
    The international military tribunal is the subject of a new film starring Russell Crowe, who portrays Hermann Göring, the second most powerful man in Germany during World War II, behind Adolf Hitler.
    For Cold Spring resident Cassandra Saulter, the courtroom drama that unfolded at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice is more personal. Her father was among the U.S. soldiers assigned to guard the 22 major defendants, and he got Göring.

    Howard Saulter grew up in Queens and joined the Army at age 19. A private first class, he fought in late 1944 in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium's Ardennes Forest. Germany surrendered the following spring, and that fall, Saulter was assigned to guard the accused in court and its adjacent prison.
    The guards worked every other day on a rotation of two hours on duty followed by four hours off. Initially, each man monitored three prisoners. But after Robert Ley, a labor leader who once received a gift of a million Reichsmarks from Hitler, committed suicide on Oct. 25, each guard was assigned to one prisoner.
    The trials riveted people around the world, but for the guards, it was tedious. Saulter began drawing the defendants in their cells out of boredom. Interviewed in 1946 by The New York Times, he said: "I hated the job. I decided to sketch a few of the prisoners in their cells, and it helped a lot."
    "He thought he might sell the drawings to raise money to attend the Art Students League," said his daughter.

    Göring may have been one of the most infamous of the Nazis on trial, but Howard Saulter remembered him as a model prisoner. "Göring was the most pleasant on the whole, the best behaved and the best sense of humor," he told his daughter. "Every day, when he returned to his cell after exercise, he'd say to me, 'Well, here we are home again.'"
    But when Saulter asked the German for his fine leather boots, saying, "You're not going to need them where you're going," Göring was not amused. "He usually had a sense of humor - that was the only time Göring blew up," said Cassandra. "Usually, they had interesting conversations."

    The walled court of justice building in Nuremberg on Oct. 26, 1945. (AP)

    A cell in the Nuremberg Prison, photographed in August 1945, before the first defendants arrived. (AP)

    The first day of the trial, on Nov. 20, 1945 (AP)

    Wilhelm Frick, left, eats lunch with Arthur Seyss-Inquart, from Army mess kits in the Palace of Justice on Nov. 29, 1945. (AP)

    Goring (left) eats stew from an Army mess tin at Nuremberg on Nov. 29, 1945. (AP)

    In this photo, the defendants are seated in front of the row of guards. (AP)
    Göring was convicted of war crimes but swallowed a cyanide pill the night before his scheduled execution. It was never clear how he got the poison, but Cassandra said her mother, Lillian, had a plausible hypothesis. "My father used to fall asleep, especially when bored - he had narcolepsy," Cassandra said. Her mother wondered if Göring's lawyer waited until Howard nodded off, then passed the pill to his client, possibly inside a pencil, and Göring hid it in the toilet.
    Saulter never sketched Göring, to his regret, but he did draw Baldur von Schirach (the former leader of the Hitler Youth and commandant in Vienna who was sentenced to 20 years), Franz von Papen (a former vice chancellor and ambassador who was acquitted but sentenced by a civilian court to eight years), Wilhelm Frick (the interior minister, who was hanged) and Arthur Seyss-Inquart (the commander of the occupied Netherlands, also hanged). Only von Papen realized he was being sketched. All four autographed their drawings. Saulter also sketched Albert Speer (the minister of armaments and war production, who w...
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    6 m
  • Democrats Take Majority in Putnam Valley

    Democrats Take Majority in Putnam Valley
    Nov 19 2025
    Win supervisor, town board seats
    With mail-in votes counted, Democrats appear to have won the supervisor's seat and an open council member spot in Putnam Valley, giving their party control of the Town Board.
    An unofficial tally posted by the Putnam County Board of Elections shows Alison Jolicoeur defeating the incumbent Republican supervisor, Jacqueline Annabi, by 23 votes (1,477 to 1,454) for a two-year term.
    Another Democrat, C.J. Brooks, was leading a Republican incumbent, Stacey Tompkins, by 31 votes (1,536 to 1,505) for a two-year term on the Town Board. Christian Russo, an incumbent who ran as a Republican and Conservative, was re-elected to the other open seat with 1,550 votes.
    Jolicoeur and Brooks join Sherry Howard to give Democrats a 3-2 majority on the five-member board, which has four Republicans, when they take office in January.
    In other close races in Putnam County, Tommy Regan, the Republican candidate for the seat on the Legislature that represents Southeast, defeated Thomas Sprague, the Democratic candidate, by 31 votes of 2,388 cast. Regan will succeed Paul Jonke, a Republican who did not seek a fourth, 3-year term.
    The Board of Elections will certify the vote on Nov. 29.
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    2 m
  • Pedestrian Tunnel Closed Until Dec. 1

    Pedestrian Tunnel Closed Until Dec. 1
    Nov 11 2025
    Cold Spring underpass being repaired
    The pedestrian tunnel under the Metro-North tracks in Cold Spring will be closed for repairs until at least Dec. 1, the village announced.
    Officials noted that pedestrians walking to and from Market Street can follow the Metro-North walkways flanking the tracks to reach the platforms and use the overpass staircase or elevators to cross the tracks.
    Alternatively, follow the sidewalk on the east side of Lunn Terrace to cross the bridge/overpass to Market Street; turn left to reach the Metro-North parking lot, or turn right to reach lower Main Street and the waterfront.
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    1 m
  • High Anxiety

    High Anxiety
    Nov 7 2025
    Everyone's brains seem to be on high alert in the digital age, although society has become more accepting of mental health struggles and treatment. In this, the first part of a series, we examine the challenges facing high school students. Subsequent stories will look at first responders and seniors.
    Kaitlyn Holder is a fitting choice to help anxious and depressed students at Beacon High School. Just a few years ago, she got so anxious attending her college classes that she would vomit on her way to the bus.
    Holder started this year as academic coordinator for Beacon High School's new Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT) program, which helps students transition back to school after extended absences due to mental health. Holder's job is to help those returning catch up on missed work.
    "I see myself in these students," said Holder, 25, who is often mistaken for a teenager. "In high school, I had a lot of anxiety around my performance. So much of my self-worth was tied to my grades."
    She graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 2018 with all A's. But her anxiety worsened when she went to the University of Albany, moving away for the first time from her parents and her beloved pet kitty Shy. "Gradually, it just became harder to wake up on time and to get myself ready. I started missing classes because I was so anxious," she said.
    During the pandemic, Holder found it hard to leave her college apartment and wouldn't turn on her camera during online classes. "I actually lost credit in a lot of classes for not showing my face or speaking during the Zoom calls," she said.

    As a teen with autism and depression, social media made it worse. "A lot of my day was just spent sleeping. When I was awake, I was reading terrible news articles. The TikTok algorithm knows a lot. And if you are sad, and you're getting sad content on your page, and you're interacting with it, that's all going to bring you down. I only engaged in negativity online."
    Eventually some professors helped her find campus mental health resources, let her do more work at home and generally offered encouragement. "If I didn't have those teachers supporting me. I don't know if I would have graduated," said Holder, who finished on time with a 2.8 GPA in linguistics.
    While she still struggles with anxiety and depression, Holder has deleted TikTok from her phone and rarely goes on social media or watches the news. In January, she hopes to complete an online master's degree in special education from the University of Mount St. Vincent in the Bronx.
    She's telling her story because she wants her students to know they're not alone. "It's important for kids to know that teachers are human and we struggle," she said.
    Holder's is a challenge facing many young people in the Highlands and across the country: anxiety and depression worsened or created by social media.
    According to the National Survey of Children's Health, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the prevalence of teen anxiety has increased 61 percent - from 10 to 16 percent - since 2016. Depression increased 45 percent - from 5.8 to 8.4 percent.
    To help, Highlands schools are increasing staffing and programs. At Haldane, the district in 2024 added a third school counselor and went from 1.5 school psychologists to two full-time. The district also has two social workers. Last year, a group of Haldane teachers and administrators read The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, by Jonathan Haidt.
    At the Garrison School, which goes through eighth grade, the district in recent years has begun teaching students about social and emotional intelligence in several ways, including the Yale RULER program, where students learn to Regulate, Understand, Label, Express and Regulate their emotions.
    Greg Stowell, the superintendent, said that issues of depression and anxiety are increasingly prevalent, even at the younger grade levels, and the district, now offers therapy t...
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    11 m
  • Beacon Siblings Served Their Country

    Beacon Siblings Served Their Country
    Nov 7 2025
    Sisters, brother enlisted during Vietnam
    For Victoria Ryan, Veterans Day on Tuesday (Nov. 11) will once again evoke memories of the 35 years the Beacon native and her siblings, Deborah and Bill, collectively served in the U.S. Army.
    Bill joined first, in 1970, followed by Deborah in 1973. Victoria, at the urging of her mother, enlisted just a few months after her sister.
    Victoria remembers Bill as "laid back, easygoing, athletic and serious minded." At the height of the Vietnam War, he enlisted rather than waiting to be drafted. A field artillery surveyor, he reached the rank of specialist and served in Germany until being discharged in late 1973. He died in a car accident in 1978 at age 25.

    "Bill had enrolled at University of Tennessee; he wanted to take mechanical engineering," Victoria recalled.
    Deborah, prior to joining the military, had worked for three years as a model. In the Army, she became the first woman to serve as a military police officer (MP) at West Point, a distinction that earned her a profile in the New York Daily News. Deborah explained to the newspaper why she had enlisted: "We were at war and the men were fighting. Why shouldn't I?"
    In a 2025 newsletter published by Together We Served, an organization that helps veterans stay connected and chronicles their stories, Victoria told the group how proud she was of her sister. "She pursued a law enforcement career in the Army and was deeply serious about her duties," she said.

    Early in her posting to West Point, Deborah pulled an officer over for speeding, Victoria recalled. "Do you know who I am?" the officer asked arrogantly. Deborah responded: "Sir, please do not confuse your rank with my authority."
    Deborah served in the Army until 1990. Her career included stops in Europe and Korea, and she rose to the rank of warrant officer in the criminal investigation division. She died in 2016 at age 61.
    "Although she was four years younger than me, I always looked up to her in many ways," Victoria said. "She died a proud veteran."
    Deborah's daughter, Leslie Ann Martell, a West Point graduate, served in Afghanistan and now serves in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
    Victoria went on to earn the rank of staff sergeant and served in the Army until 1988. In the mid-1970s, she and Deborah were both posted at West Point, where they "had a lot of great times," said Victoria. "We played tennis, had lunch together and went to Army football games; Deborah loved those games."

    She also recalled happy get-togethers with Deborah, Bill and their parents at the family's Beacon home during that period.
    While stationed at West Point, Victoria worked in administration for the third regiment Corps of Cadets. Her career also took her to Hawaii, Holland and numerous posts across the mainland U.S.
    Like her sister, Victoria was not afraid to speak her mind. During a physical training program at Fort Myers, Virginia, she was appalled that early morning runs were conducted in Arlington National Cemetery. She protested up the chain of command, all the way to the sergeant major of the Army. To her "astonished relief," the runs ceased.
    "I felt shame, embarrassment and guilt for my part in disrespecting this revered and sacred cemetery," said Victoria. "I needed to take a stand."

    Her saddest military experience came during her final assignment in the Army casualty office. In 1986, a DC-8 bringing personnel stationed in Egypt home to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, crashed after taking off from Gander International Airport in Newfoundland, killing all 248 passengers and the eight crew members.
    Calling it "the worst peacetime military aircraft disaster in the history of the U.S. Army," Victoria said her office spent months identifying all the bodies. "We told our people out in the field where to go, who to speak to and exactly, word for word, what to say to the next of kin about their loved one passing away," she said.
    Now retired and living in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she is an active member of...
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    5 m
  • Young at Heart

    Young at Heart
    Nov 7 2025
    Beacon lyricist specializes in musicals for kids
    Growing up in rural North Carolina, Melvin Tunstall III lived behind a church. "My father was a deacon, but everyone thought he was the pastor," he recalls. "He cut a path between the woods and our house."
    Evidenced by Tunstall's singing style and his collaborative score for the musical Stuntboy: In the Meantime, now on tour, gospel music seeped into his psyche.
    Things are picking up for the Beacon writer, composer, lyricist and performer. Earlier this year, he traveled to North Carolina to direct a Raleigh Theatre Arts Center production of The Music of Sam Cooke, who began with gospel and ended with soul.
    "The call for that gig came out of nowhere," Tunstall says. "As I started to dive into the show, it's such a history lesson. That was one of my favorite theatrical experiences."

    For Tunstall, the past is attractive. He is working on a musical score based on the 2022 children's book Yellow Dog Blues about a boy who, while searching for his lost dog, learns about the influence of Mississippi Delta blues musicians on the electrified Chicago scene in the 1940s and 1950s.
    Tunstall's niche is uplifting works for young people. Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical ran for three weeks this year at a theater in Bloomington, Indiana, and Senior Class premiered at the Olney Theatre Center in Maryland.
    TheaterWorksUSA produced his hour-long musical adaptation of Stuntboy, based on a graphic novel for children written by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Raul the Third, which is now on a national tour.
    Like the Sam Cooke opportunity, Tunstall received an unsolicited call to write for a five-person Stuntboy cast. His musical partner, Greg Dean Borowski, sent over songs and Tunstall, who wrote the book and lyrics, added his touches and recorded demos for the cast to study.

    Though Tunstall's high school musical, Senior Class, tackles issues of race and class, Stuntboy is wholesome and features supportive, affirming messages.
    The protagonist, Portico Reeves, is an 8-year-old trying to overcome anxiety surrounding his parents' impending divorce. The production features plenty of movement onstage, along with colorful sets and costumes.
    Church-style harmonies bookend the opening song, which introduces Portico's female best friend and his bullying nemesis. Driven by keyboards, the tunes are poppy and upbeat. Though there are spoken interludes, most of the story is conveyed in the lyrics.
    After premiering at Bronxville High School in Westchester County, the production will travel to Austin, Texas, for performances on Nov. 5 and 6.
    Tunstall moved to New York City after college but returned to North Carolina following 9/11. Friends pulled him north again, and he joined the cast of the Toronto production of Rock of Ages in 2010 and the original Broadway production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, hanging around for six years.
    He became acquainted with theater folks living in Beacon, found a beneficial living arrangement and moved to the city two years ago. "It reminds me of Blowing Rock, North Carolina," he says.
    Although jobs seem to find him, he continues to hustle. "This is a tough business," he says. "You have to be five years ahead of the game, but I'm married to my career. I'm just thinking, 'Let's get as much theater into the world as possible.' "
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    4 m
  • Beacon to Distribute Emergency Grocery Cards

    Beacon to Distribute Emergency Grocery Cards
    Nov 5 2025
    City and Dutchess, Putnam counties allocate funds
    The Beacon City Council voted Monday (Nov. 3) to spend $50,000 to provide grocery gift cards to city residents who have lost federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
    At the same time, the Trump administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, for November following two court orders. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1 because of the federal government shutdown. The program costs $8 billion monthly, but the White House said an emergency fund it will use has $4.65 billion, or enough to cover about half the normal benefits.
    It's not clear exactly how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly they will see credits on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. November payments have already been delayed for millions of people, including local recipients. In Dutchess County, 17,152 people rely on food stamps (including 640 households in Beacon); in Putnam County, it's 2,885 people.
    "Folks are very, very anxious," said Jamie Levato, the executive director of Fareground, an anti-hunger organization.





    EMERGENCY DELIVERY - Volunteers with Fareground in Beacon on Tuesday (Nov. 4) unloaded eggs, fruits, vegetables and other food provided in part by Dutchess County for local food pantries.
    As the Southern Dutchess Food Pantry Hub during the emergency, Fareground on Tuesday (Nov. 4) received three truckloads of food - two of them funded by Dutchess County - that were split between six food-access organizations. Later that day, an emergency distribution in Beacon was able to help 154 families, Levato said.
    Beginning Thursday, $50 gift cards to either Key Food (268 Main St.) or the Beacon Natural Market (348 Main St.) or $60 in coupons for the Beacon Farmers' Market (Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 223 Main St. parking lot) were distributed at the city's Recreation Center at 23 West Center St.
    Cards and coupons were available Thursday and Friday (today) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Beacon residents enrolled in the SNAP program must provide photo identification, proof of residency (such as mail) and their SNAP card. Options are limited to one per SNAP recipient.
    Additional times will be added as needed. The council has set no end date for the program; it will be determined based on demand for the cards, the use of funding and the resumption of federal benefits or the implementation of a comparable state program. Updates will be posted at beaconny.gov.
    Mayor Lee Kyriacou asked city staff to develop the program last week, when it became apparent that federal benefits were at risk of lapsing. The grocery stores and the farmers market, which is operated by Common Ground Farm, provided the cards to the city at a substantial discount, Kyriacou said. The city opted for a direct transfer of cash-like gift cards because it was the quickest and easiest program to control, given the tight deadline, he said.
    "We wanted to get assistance to people so that they could use and decide what they want," City Administrator Chris White said.
    The city conducted online outreach and distributed flyers in both English and Spanish at low-income apartment complexes to inform residents about the program. Funding for the Beacon program was drawn from a $75,000 allotment in the 2025 budget for planning studies. White noted that "this is only a patch. The federal government needs to step up and maintain its commitment to people."
    Dutchess County announced it would commit $150,000 per week to support local food pantries, for up to 10 weeks. The county said the amount was determined after consulting with Renee Fillette-Miccio, who chairs the Dutchess County Food Security Council. In Putnam, County Executive Kevin Byrne approved a request by legislators to provide $150,000 to fund food pantries.
    Levato said that Fareground sees the majority of the people it serves jus...
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    11 m