Aaron Tirpack, left, and Joe Clark preparing to handle the remains of someone who died of Covid-19. Tirpack lost 25 pounds during the pandemic; Clark ended up in the hospital thinking he was having a heart attack. ( Patricia Ferguson) The mad dash to keep society functioning Frontline workers like doctors, nurses, and grocery store employees have rightly been applauded for risking their health... Local News 31 Jul 2020 | 01:19
Ozzie Colon’s garden in Warwick came in first place this year’s Dirt magazine Kitchen Garden Tour. “The garden was beautiful, bountiful and productive with chickens walking around. So calm and beautiful,” noted one ticket holder. “The variety of produce, neatness and the quality is very impressive. Well done, beautiful to look at,” said another. Kitchen Garden Tour winners announced; more than 100 attend socially distanced event “We very nearly didn’t have this year’s tour. It was obvious that it would just have to be canceled like everything else,”... Local News 27 Jul 2020 | 04:37
An older woman tries out a firearm at Master Class Shooters Supply in Monroe, N.Y. (Photo by Rose Miller) People of all walks invest in ‘the great equalizer’ More Americans bought a gun in June than in any month on record, and it’s not just the usual repeat customers. The gun binge,... Home 24 Jul 2020 | 12:42
Kathleen Kelly-Volpe, 62, is letting her silver emerge. As roots grow out, it’s a chance for a new look Kathleen Kelly-Volpe started coloring her hair when she was about 35. “I was getting divorced,” she said, laughing. “I decided... Local News 16 Jul 2020 | 04:33
This sign that went up the week before July 4 at the firehouse on West Street felt like “a slap in the face” to residents of color. Photos by Daniel Mack. Residents see ‘coded racism’ in firehouse sign The week before Independence Day, a sign went up outside a fire station in Warwick that hung heavy with meaning layered between... Local News 09 Jul 2020 | 08:41
Bob Maxwell, co-owner of Style Counsel in Warwick, N.Y., which has been doing brisk business since retail stores were allowed to reopen with safety measures. (He took his mask off momentarily for the photo.) (Photo by Becca Tucker) Shopkeepers reopen to healthy, even record, sales The future of local retail? “That’s a good one,” laughs Bob Maxwell in his baritone, before excusing himself as “the quiet... Business 01 Jul 2020 | 05:06
Most people at a recent rally in Milford, Pa., to support the police eschewed masks (Photo by Ken Hubeny Sr.) A little scrap of fabric, a growing division Most people have by now made a mask part of their daily uniform, out of a sense of civic duty, a requirement of their job,... Local News 25 Jun 2020 | 06:10
Warwick, N.Y., schools are shedding at least nine jobs, six through attrition. Second grade teachers Lisa Ramus and Carolyn Barnes, and elementary art teacher Louise Silver are retiring. Shortchanged schools face a reckoning Louise Silver, who’s been teaching art to elementary school students in Warwick Valley Central School District for 31 years,... Local News 22 Jun 2020 | 04:36
Renee Burns spent a long spring training weekend with her West Milford High School lacrosse team in Florida this spring, before the season was canceled. She is headed to Monmouth University, where freshman orientation is still planned for early September. ( WMLAX) Roll with it 101: College-bound seniors ponder their future Isabella Sergent, a senior at Sparta High School, already has her roommate picked out and knows where she’ll be dorming when... Local News 28 May 2020 | 03:04
This 1900s farmhouse on 1.2 acres in Chester, N.Y., is under contract to a New York City buyer. The exodus from the city, combined with a pandemic-related hesitance to list houses, has created a historic housing shortage and a pronounced seller's market. ( Becca Tucker) Pandemic-driven house frenzy hits local towns Justin Melia and his family, who usually live in Astoria, Queens, closed in December on a vacation house in Warwick, N.Y.,... Local News 22 May 2020 | 02:02
Toilet paper is back in stock at ShopRite in Chester, and stores everywhere. "That’s going to be true across the board," said John Sterman, professor of system dynamics at MIT Sloan School of Management. "It’ll take a little longer for things like eggs and milk and meat." ( Becca Tucker) Store manager: ‘Please buy only what you need’ Toilet paper, bottled water, flour, yeast, cleaning supplies, meat. “All the canned goods. From A to Z, they were just buying... Local News 08 May 2020 | 01:13
Laina Southway, 21, and her sister bottled 500 half-gallons in three hours last Saturday for a food bank. Is that a record? "That's pretty good," she acknowledged. ( Becca Tucker) At self-sufficient dairy farms, 'the pandemic hit, and people started coming' As shoppers face gap-toothed shelves at the grocery store, farms everywhere are feeling the pain from the other end of an... Local News 30 Apr 2020 | 03:57
Front: Harley (left), Bugsy (right) being pet by Blake. Back: Hope (left) and Rambo (right) being pet by Keira. Harley and Rambo are the newest additions. ( Tiffany O'Keefe) Pet adoptions are up, but so are surrenders The Harrison-O’Keefe family had two big dogs and wasn’t looking for more. But when Christopher Harrison and Tiffany O’Keefe... Local News 23 Apr 2020 | 04:59
Lisa Mitchell is back to manning Down 2 Earth by herself, like she did for the first year and a half she was open. ( Becca Tucker) Mom and Pop shops hustle harder There isn’t a single local business that hasn’t been affected by the coronavirus one way or another. Those that are able... Local News 13 Apr 2020 | 04:23
Straus News Publisher Jeanne Straus, left, with family members Dion Gara, Kai Gara, Juno Gara and Rebecca Tucker, thank readers for supporting local jounalism. ( File photo) Reader thanks local journalists To the editor: I’ve held onto an article written in 2017 by publisher Jeanne Straus headlined "Why local news reporting matters."... Letters to the Editor 06 Dec 2019 | 10:55
