While recreational marijuana has just been legalized in New York it'll take some time for the retail scene to catch up. But a quick trip over state lines will bring you to a multitude of dispensaries in the Berkshires.
Bearsville Theater Last month marked a full year since the lockdown went into effect in New York State, putting a freeze on musical performances as part of the overall effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19. But on March 3, the governor s office announced that arts, entertainment, and events venues statewide could reopen on April 2. The resumption carries with it some strict regulations: Until further notice, venues can only operate at 33 percent of their usual indoor capacity, with a limit of 100 people indoors or 200 people outdoors, and all attendees must wear masks and maintain social distancing. (Admission limits would be increased to 150 indoors or 500 outdoors if all audience members have tested negative before entering.) We checked in with several Hudson Valley venues to see how they ve been holding up and how they plan to negotiate the restriction easements.
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For many small businesses in the Hudson Valley, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been a lifeline during the pandemic. Few people understand how important it was for small businesses to be able to continue operating quite like Doug Sturges, CEO of Sawyer Savings Bank, a financial anchor in the area celebrating its 150-year anniversary this year.
As a local bank, Sawyer Savings Bank was nimble enough to jump right into the PPP process, helping to support hundreds of small businesses by providing over $8 million in PPP loans all while continuing to employ its entire staff and providing essential services at all three of its branches in Saugerties, Marlboro, and Highland. It was weeks of long hours through the weekends, but that s just the way small banks operate, says Sturges. I m proud of how our team met these challenges in the past year.
Paris Review, and many other journals. He s published eight books of photos. Yet at first one might mistake his pictures for snapshots.
Hank at Dougrey s Hall shows a man and his dog on scaffolding next to a building in Troy with a huge Biden banner. The handmade sign is reminiscent of a castaway on a desert island writing HELP! in giant letters, for a stray airplane to see. Many of us felt this sort of desperation during the last election. The rickety wooden platform emphasizes the precariousness of Hank s plight. (In fact, this platform is a homemade balcony. Hank is an artist who has lived in this house which was once an Irish social club for 25 years.)
Jane Shim is a senior policy attorney with the
Immigrant Defense Project in New York, which seeks broad changes in how the state and federal government directs its energies against immigrants. She points out that when local prisons work with ICE, they open themselves up to lawsuits when they allegedly restrict people s rights on behalf of ICE. There have been many across the country, both against prisons and local police, such as a $14 million payment LA County had to make late last year. Currently there s a class action lawsuit against the Orange County Correctional Facility and the Orange County Sheriff for unlawfully detaining people who, the suit argues, pose almost no danger if they were released back into their communities and asked to appear for hearings.