With the arrival of 2025, our reporters caught up with and updated select stories from the past year
JANUARY
Garrison's Landing water - Philipstown officials forecast a spring hookup for a new 20-gallon-a-minute well that will serve businesses and homes at Garrison's Landing, with $750,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan to help pay for the connection. Despite the upfront cost, the line will save Philipstown money. Trucking in water in response to inadequate flows from existing wells costs $25,000 to $30,000 a month, said Robert Flaherty, a Town Board member.
Update: In June, the Putnam County Legislature approved Philipstown's request to redirect $370,000 in county sales tax revenue to the water district project. The money had been set aside to connect the nearby Garrison Institute. In December, the Town Board approved a $15,489 bid from Claverack Well & Pump Service to install the pump for the well, which the company also dug. Flaherty said last week it should be in service by the end of February.
Farming couple retires - For ardent customers of the Cold Spring Farmers' Market, the news felt like an obituary: Jay and Polly Armour would not return. They had been among the market's founding vendors, tending for 35 years to their 24-acre Four Winds Farm near Gardiner. Many especially mourned the loss of the Armours' heirloom tomatoes. Their reason for stepping away was simple. "My body's too old for this," said Jay, 70.
Update: Asked this week how retirement was going, Jay said he was "busier than before." The couple leases most of their farmland now but still grows tomato seedlings in the greenhouse for spring sales. Last year, they grew 40 varieties and sold more than 13,000 seedlings. They also sell 26 types of vegetables but, unlike in the past, there is no crew to help out. Jay said he planted a small garden but "had trouble scaling down. I planted 20 tomato plants - way too many. I only need two or three." Avid skiers, the Armours were disappointed with last winter's conditions so, on the spur of the moment, they embarked on what Jay described as a fantastic eight-day trip to Iceland.
Tallix Foundry sale - The former Tallix Foundry building in Beacon, a nearly 17,000-square-foot structure that drew international attention in 1999 when it produced a 24-foot bronze horse meant to fulfill Leonardo da Vinci's dying wish, was listed for sale for $1.995 million, or $18,000 per month as a rental.
Update: According to Dutchess County records, the site sold for its asking price, $1.995 million, in March to Niche Modern LLC. No information is available on what the company plans to do at the former foundry, and no plans for the site have been submitted to the Planning Board.
Beacon evictions - Donald Van Voorhees, a 74-year-old disabled Beacon resident, had until Jan. 31 to leave the studio apartment where he had lived for 23 years after the city's "good-cause" eviction law was overturned by a City Court judge. (Similar laws were also overturned in Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Kingston and Albany.) Len Warner, a member of the Beacon Planning Board, knew Van Voorhees from their early-morning conversations on Main Street, and tried to help. After searching options for low-income renters in and around Beacon, the situation looked dire. A Main Street apartment opened on Jan. 29 and Nick Page, a Dutchess County legislator whose uncle owns the complex, contacted Warner.
Update: After several years of advocacy from housing organizations, Gov. Kathy Hochul in April included a statewide good-cause measure in the 2024-25 budget. In August, the Beacon City Council unanimously opted into the law, which restricts landlords who own more than one unit from evicting tenants except in specific circumstances, including when they have arrears that are not due to "unreasonable" rent increases. Warner said this week that when he last spoke to Van Voorhees, "he was very comfortable and happy" in his new apartment.
FEBRUARY
Beacon Line payments - A St...

2024, Updated