The views and opinions expressed in our letters section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Hudson Valley One. Submit a letter to the editor at [email protected].
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Hudson Valley One welcomes letters from its readers. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and submitted by 9:00am on Monday. Our policy is to print as many letters to the editor as possible. As with all print publications, available space is determined by ads sold. If there is insufficient space in a given issue, letters will be approved based on established content standards. Points of View will also run at our discretion.
Although Hudson Valley One does not specifically limit the number of letters a reader can submit per month, the publication of letters written by frequent correspondents may be delayed to make room for less-often-heard voices, but they will all appear on our website at hudsonvalleyone.com. All letters should be signed and include the author’s address and telephone number.
I do not like being milked
Central Hudson (CH) is a subsidiary of the Canadian corporation, Fortis.
I looked into the financial role that CH plays in Fortis’s operations. I was not surprised to learn that CH is a “cash cow.” It provides an outsized profit for the Fortis corporation. And they want to raise rates!!
I do not like being milked. For this reason, I am fully supportive of our Assembly representative Shrestha’s initiative to make CH a public utility. Enough is enough!
Meyer A Rothberg
Saugerties
Local governments are partners, not barriers, to infrastructure deployment
Open letter to Representative Ryan:
The town council for the Town of New Paltz writes to express our objection to H.R. 2289, based on concerns shared by municipal governments nationwide.
National local-government organizations, including the United States Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities, have formally warned that federal broadband and permitting legislation that preempts local authority represents an “unprecedented federal intrusion into local decision-making.” These organizations emphasize that local governments are partners, not barriers, to infrastructure deployment, and that local review processes exist to protect public safety, manage taxpayer-funded infrastructure and ensure accountability to residents.
USCM and NLC have further cautioned that one-size-fits-all federal mandates risk stripping municipalities of their ability to responsibly manage public rights-of-way, shifting costs and risks to local governments while limiting democratic oversight.
As a Hudson Valley community that values local governance, public safety and responsible infrastructure planning, the Town of New Paltz shares these concerns. We respectfully urge you to oppose H.R. 2289 and to support legislative approaches that preserve meaningful municipal authority and recognize local governments as essential partners in broadband deployment.
Thank you for your attention and continued service to our district.
In a letter printed in last week’s Feedback (1/7/26) titled “Someone is going to get hurt in New Paltz” a writer critical of Women in Black protesting the Gaza genocide, twice stated lines that should not have been printed.
Although the letter contained numerous inaccuracies, it is the writer’s right to believe and express distorted facts or untruths. What should not have gone to print in a valued community forum like Feedback were the veiled threats aimed at two people specifically named in the letter.
The letter begins: “Someone is going to get killed or injured in New Paltz” — and ends “… Perhaps nothing short of a public tragedy…”
I have, in the past, protested the editors changing the title of one of my submissions to Feedback. It’s not unreasonable to expect the editors might send the letter back to the writer requesting the removal of what can all too easily be interpreted as threats of physical violence directed at the two individuals named in the letter.
I find it most challenging not to call “Bullshit” on those who still defend the genocide and horrendous suffering of Palestinians for any reason. But that, and the kinds of expressions cited above only fan the flames of fear and division. Solutions can only be found in holding genuine good will toward all, and a willingness to consider the concerns of those who disagree with us. These qualities don’t come easily or quickly, but there is a sweet and palpable grace to be experienced in the learning process. There’s a long road ahead until the scales tip towards justice. We can hasten along that journey as Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us — peace is every step.
As the new year rolled in, we have masked agents of terror kidnapping people on the streets of American cities mostly for simply being Latino. Absent is due process and loyalty to the U.S. Constitution Trump and his private ICE army, swore to uphold and defend as federal agents. The actions of Donald J. Trump have made a mockery of the rule of law in his personal life, his business life and his political life. By keeping 99% of the Epstein files closed to the public and by pardoning the President of Honduras convicted in a U.S. court of law, of importing one million pounds of cocaine, he drastically undermined the rule of law. We are fast becoming like a third-world country ruled by a psychopathic dictator. Anyone who opposes him, including a few Republicans, have had to deal with the barrage of death threats from Trump’s stooges. Let us not forget the ten military veterans in the Senate and the Congress, who instructed their military brethren that they do not have to follow illegal orders, was consistent with the conclusions of the Nuremberg Trials. In response Donald J. Trump threatened them with death by hanging, which was what he had in store for his former vice-president Mike Pence for opposing him. The gallows were outside the White House on January 6, 2021. All of this is obviously not normal unless we factor in that just maybe Donald J. Trump is the actual anti-Christ figure who comes on the scene in the last days. Then all of his outrageous actions makes sense in a weird way and consistent with the prophesied negative character traits of the anti-Christ outlined in the Bible. The abnormal boasting and pathological lying are dead giveaways.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
I hope we can all stand for a more peaceful, just and caring world
The letter by Ava Lowle last week was threatening in nature and incorrect on every count.
New Paltz Women in Black (WIB) began shortly after 9/11 to say no to war and violence in all its forms. We began by warning that a war on Afghanistan would be a quagmire draining blood and treasure for many years. Then we protested the Iraq War and subsequent military interventions in Somalia, Libya, Niger, Syria and Yemen. Most recently, New Paltz WIB condemned the attack on Venezuela.
We have always believed in the inherent worth and dignity of every individual, and have fought against racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia and all types of bigotry.
It’s really sad to see the attacks on a group that merely stands every Saturday for peace and justice for all.
Although I passed the torch in 2020, I remain proud of the group I began with others twenty four years ago. They have steadfastly exposed the truth about the carnage in Gaza that our media has censored.
Their work and that of many others is turning the tide. Now 61% of American Jews believe Israel has committed war crimes. No one can justify the killing of over 70,000 Palestinians (and that’s not counting those who have died of starvation and disease), nor the fact that up to 70% of the dead are women and children.
I hope we can all stand for a more peaceful, just and caring world.
Per Will Nixon’s 1-7-26 letter, it appears as if Gov. Hochul has her priorities all screwed up. Being our environmentalist princess, she should be seriously studying the “climate change” accomplishments in Texas. But, what is she wasting her time on, instead? Playing God, by introducing assisted suicide, as she and others will judge when a human’s life becomes useless. Fox Green and J. Heinrich Arnold, in recent letters, eloquently posed solid moral reasoning as to why helping someone commit suicide is anything but “compassionate.” Many would even argue that this immoral action is all about the bottom line for Hochul and any other state, also playing God, with their not so subtle message being…. “look how much money we’ll save in medical costs if we hasten the deaths of these medically costly ‘nuisances’.”
Jack Simpson, in his two letters last week, questions my sources of information. Jack, you can Google left, neutral and right sources just as I did. I didn’t want you to think I was totally relying upon Fox. Jack gives cherry-picked examples of alleged wrongdoings by Trump and his staff. The obvious question becomes: Have they been proven beyond all reasonable doubt with no conflicting evidence or points of view introduced?
Regarding Jack’s apparent sympathy for drug smuggling murderers, he questions our sophisticated intel and thinks none of these 35 bombed boats, to date, were headed to the U.S. What does it matter where they were headed? Trafficking illegal lethal drugs anywhere is no good for anyone!
As far as Jack’s big question, yes I am still much happier with where our country is now, with our national and international security and strength, as opposed to where we were with the numerous feckless failures of the incompetent Biden/Harris regime.
John N. Butz
Modena
I’m appalled that Israel claims to speak for all Jews
How can HV1 expect readers to see it as a community newspaper when it prints threats of violence against members of our community?
New Paltz Women in Black has stood for nonviolence and resistance to oppression here in the U.S. and abroad for nearly 25 years. For more than two years, we have stood in solidarity with the people of Palestine, one of the most threatened populations on the planet, whose destruction is funded by U.S. taxpayers.
The majority of American Jews do not support Israel’s protracted program of genocide and land theft in Palestine.
As a Jewish woman myself, and as one who spent some of my young adult years in Israel, I am appalled that Israel, a nation state where I do not live, claims to speak for all Jews, and targets anti-Zionist Jews as antisemites. My family came to the U.S. to get away from European anti-Semitic pogroms, not to be bullied into promoting the false charge of anti-Semitism against anti-Zionist Jews.
As a long time member of a Women in Black, I am writing to you with deep concerns about the letter published in this week’s HV1 from Ava Lowle. As you know, we are a non-violent group standing for peace and justice. Since the events in Gaza beginning on October 7, 2023, we have stood on the corner of Main Street protesting the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the horrific genocide that has place in Gaza and the West Bank. Although we stand peacefully, our detractors across the street have not. They have taunted, repeatedly harassed us and physically threatened us by coming close and daring us to fight. This behavior prompted us to reach out for police protection. Thankfully, there is at least one policeman officer at every Saturday vigil.
The letter that you published contains threatening language that is very distressing. I am now very concerned about my safety and that of my group. Even if the writer of the letter, Ava Lowle, was not directly threatening us, it could be seen by someone as a call to action. I believe that publishing this letter was reckless and has put us in serious danger. Nevertheless, we will continue to stand each Saturday and act as a voice for the over 60,000 dead in Palestine who cannot speak and for an end to the apartheid regime instituted by Israel.
As a member of the non-violent, pro-social justice group, Women in Black of New Paltz, I was appalled and angered at the letter your publication ran both online and in the newspaper this week from a person who signed “her” name Ava Lowle. The clear intention of this letter, easily deduced from the title and first paragraph, then the inclusion of the full names of two members of our group, was to incite violence and hatred against Women in Black of New Paltz.
Free speech should be protected at all costs, except when it is used to promote hatred and violence against others, which Ava Lowle appears intent on visiting, or inspiring others to visit, on those who do not agree with “her” opinions.
I fervently hope that this letter does not inspire the results that she appears to be trying to foment. I hope for your sake as well that this does not turn out to be the results of this hate-filled missive being published by your magazine.
Ava, what universe are you living in? The war in Gaza is not over, habibi. The genocide continues to destroy Palestinian life, culture and infrastructure. In the first phase of the most recent Gaza ceasefire, Israel has committed over 960 documented ceasefire violations. It has killed over 300 Palestinians, the majority civilians, many of them women and children, wounding close to 500 more. Israel has refused to allow in the food, tents, medicine, clothes and baby formula, they agreed to and has not withdrawn forces from areas of Gaza stipulated in the Cease Fire Agreement. According to the IDF, Palestinian terrorists have violated the Gaza ceasefire on six occasions since November 7, 2025. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed; no civilians. Anti-Semitism is racism and all racism is rooted in hatred. It is abhorrent. Criticizing Israel, and its illegal occupation of Palestinian land, bulldozing of Palestinian homes, cutting down and uprooting Palestinian olive groves, the apartheid practice of “Jewish Only” roads, schools, housing and medical care, repeated violations of international law and human rights abuses is not a form of hate directed at Jews, but a responsibility anyone has to call out such abuses, and hold the abusers accountable before the world. When will those who have forsaken their humanity for the sake of their own perceived racial superiority have an awakening of conscience and admit that the hatred that was once unleashed on them in the ghettos and concentration camps of Nazi Germany and Eastern Europe is now being unleashed on their Arab neighbors. Zionism is an ethno-nationalist belief system. It privileges one ethnic group over another. If you’re unwilling to challenge your belief systems Ava, then you will live out your days in ignorance. Women in Black are your conscience, but you choose not to listen.
Has the Israeli genocide against Gaza ended? The phony Trump “ceasefire,” allowing Israel to grab more than half of the tiny territory, would lead you to think so — but the fire has not ceased. Since the “ceasefire” in October, nearly a thousand Palestinians have been killed by Israeli missiles, or army snipers, or Israeli government restrictions on humanitarian aid, including babies still dying of starvation and exposure — all violations of the “ceasefire.”
Why don’t you know this? Because in addition to banning aid groups like Doctors Without Borders and the United Nations, Israel bans foreign journalists from Gaza — and has targeted and killed 400 journalists in the past two years. Someone doesn’t want the truth to get out.
What creates anti-Semitism? Not people everywhere supporting justice for the Palestinian people, but the Israeli government claiming to act in the name of all Jews as it starves, bombs, maims and kills a captive population.
Because that claim is a lie. Most of the world’s Jews, and at least 70% of American Jews, oppose the Israeli genocide and support freedom for Palestine. That demonstrates why it’s ridiculous to blame Jews for Israel’s crimes. No, the biggest culprits, aside from the Israeli government, are the U.S. government, which finances and enables Israel’s crimes, and the millions of Christian Zionists who send their material and moral support as well.
So New Paltz Women in Black for Peace and Justice will continue calling for an end to this genocide. We are a completely non-violent group, in spite of all provocations, and we have been standing on our corner by the library since shortly after 9/11 (2001). In addition to opposing Israel’s assault on Gaza, we stand for Black Lives Matter — an end to white supremacy and racism of all kinds, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia; an end to militarism and environmental degradation; an end to attacks on women and LGBTQ+ people; support and defense of our immigrants and dumping ICE; and U.S. Hands Off Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Canada, Greenland, and everywhere else menaced by this lawless administration.
We reject intimidation and threats of violence — these just demonstrate the impotence and frustration of our opponents. We will not be silenced; and we urge our neighbors to speak out against these threats of violence.
Naomi Allen
New Paltz
Women in Black stand against injustice on many different fronts
In these terrible times of ramped-up political violence, including the murder of a protester in Minneapolis, it’s extraordinary to open HVI and see a letter that seems to threaten lethal violence against the Women in Black (WIB) who stand outside the library each Saturday. This letter is in line with the verbal and physical bullying carried out by the pro-Israel counter-protesters across the street — obvious to any observer, and serious enough that WIB has had to request police protection.
The claim that WIB does not protest wars other than Israel’s is manifestly untrue. An example: last week’s vigil included signs protesting the bombing and kidnapping in Venezuela and demanding an end to this reckless aggression.
Over the years WIB has stood against injustice on many different fronts including climate breakdown and reproductive rights. Since October 2023, the group has focused on the carnage in Gaza and the West Bank because the US is bankrolling it, making US taxpayers directly complicit in these horrendous massacres (not the case, for example, in Ukraine or Sudan). It is our responsibility — yours and mine — to do all we can to end it.
And no, the genocide is not over: as of early January over 400 people have been killed in Israeli bombings since the so-called ceasefire, including at least 70 children. Hundreds more have died from starvation, exposure and disease. The numbers grow daily.
What happened to the transparency Woodstock residents were promised? The town’s own employee handbook requires, in part, that vacancies must be posted on the town website and on official bulletin boards. When councilmember Anula Courtis became supervisor, her board seat became vacant — an action that should have triggered a public posting. Yet it does not appear that any vacancy announcement was posted. That single skipped requirement shut out residents who might have applied. So, the basic questions remain: How many people actually applied — and how many never even knew they could?
It appears the only part of this entire process that happened in public was the final vote, when the supervisor nominated Reggie Earls and the board voted aye. Every step that should have come before that moment happened out of sight. When was the decision to nominate Earls made? Were interviews held — by whom, where and was there any documentation? New York’s Open Meetings Law requires that public business be discussed in properly noticed public meetings. If the board discussed candidates, conducted interviews, or reached consensus outside a public session, that raises serious compliance questions. These aren’t trick questions. They’re the minimum standard for open government.
Trump: “We will find and deport whoever has been sh*tting in every pair of pants I wear.”
The international community has clarified his new title: The Most Pathetic Greatest Coward, Inept World Leader, Mockable Fool and Miserable Loser; DJT. The leader of a slave party… The amazing thing is all the gullible knuckleheads who support and protect this immoral degenerate and thug — and let’s not forget, a child predator.
You wanted a reality TV show host as president, well now — you’re on “survivor!” and welcome to the “f-around.”
The three “Ds” of the Trump circus act — deny, deflect, distract he’s power addicted — and this is an extra strength distraction. A nation sleeps as the shadows creep, secrets buried, promises to keep. Trump’s chessboard, a spectacle of might, Mobster-like shadows in the dead of night.
The Maduro capture doesn’t serve the American people. Oh, no! It’s not about the oil! (Sarcasm). Trump probably needed him for ballroom design advice. However, it will serve corporate oil executives. A long-term capitalist plan. A Trump money grab and a move to distract from the Epstein pedo-files. Trump is planning on running Venezuela as a Mob Boss, just like Maduro. No reform, same thugs as before. Better ask the oil companies if you want the straight skinny.
You ought to love the incoherence of his political team that attempts to justify what has just happened. It’s a farce and nothing more than US imperialism.
Wag the dog, wag him really well. Spin the tale, distract and deceive. Remember the cheering in Iraq and Afghanistan? Remember how that worked out for the approximately 7,085 U.S. service members who died and 53,533 that were wounded?
I have an acquaintance who likes to talk to me about history. He reads a lot about World War II. He also knows that what’s going on right now in our own country is dangerously wrong. And yet, when I shared an invitation to join a protest, he wrote back that he hoped I was making time to enjoy my life.
Not surprisingly, this acquaintance didn’t show up. But 80 of us did show up on the corner of Market and Main in Saugerties on January 6, the fifth anniversary of the insurrection. We stood for an hour in the cold to protest the latest insanity: the Trump regime’s illegal military action in Venezuela. We talked and we laughed and we commiserated. We cheered when drivers honked and waved. We endured the childish insults.
And most, if not all of us, will be back at it again next week and the week after that. For as long as it takes. We will protest on street corners all over Ulster County. We will protest in Accord and Ellenville and Kingston and New Paltz and Saugerties and Shokan and Woodstock. Because how could we possibly enjoy our lives if we didn’t make time to stand up and speak out against the corruption and the cruelty being perpetrated by our government?
Other towns nearby are vowing to protect their immigrant members
Do you dine out? Have you put in a new roof or a fence? Who mows your lawn? Are you considering home health care? Chances are you’re employing an undocumented immigrant.
By undocumented, that means people born outside the US who lack legal status, but who may or may not have permission to be here via various programs, which may soon be eliminated.
Many have temporary work authorizations and social security numbers. They pay taxes. Whether they live in Woodstock or commute to work here, they’ve come to undergird our community.
I watched a house go up near Maverick this fall. Built by undocumented immigrants, it sold quickly. The workers are scared for their lives now.
In January 2018, the Woodstock town board voted to approve a policy which limits local police assistance to federal immigration agents.
We in Woodstock Immigrant Support encourage the police to adhere to it.
And employers? For tips, read the National Immigrant Law Center’s “Guide for Employers: What to do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace” at http://www.nilc.org.
Other towns nearby are vowing to protect their immigrant members. But they could face great pressure.
A bill before the state legislature, “New York For All “(A. 5686 / S. 987) would preclude local law agencies from fully cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in identifying and detaining immigrants. Another bill, Access to Representation, would provide legal help to those facing deportation.
Unfortunately, Gov. Hochul seems to have drunk the Trump Kool-Aid, and asked for seconds. She’ll need persuading.
So why resist? It’s not only about basic human rights for people who fled misery to get here. Our immigrant neighbors have also boosted the local economy with their brains, commitment and labor. Let’s give them a hand.
Overheard at a café: “My menstrual cycle resembles the history of the Persian Empire.”
I want to thank the editors of the newspaper for printing an experimental piece of work as a letter this past week. And I’d like to say a few words about it.
The letter on “Goodwill” was an experiment, conducted by an 84-year-old man who has been exploring ChatGPT for about three months. I have learned that AI is best thought of as an instrument, not as a tool. A tool requires the user adapt to its function; an instrument, like a piano, say, depends on the sensitivity and intentions of a player. AI is the most versatile instrument yet created, and the greater the skill of the player, the greater the power of the instrument to give pleasure.
As happens with any new technology, the “early adopters” are often the young, in our case, our children and grandchildren. We are the last adopters if we adopt at all, but in many ways this technology can most benefit the lives of those of us already overwhelmed with technological complexity and seeking something like hand-holding through the maze. Rightly understood and rightly approached, Ai can be an instrument of such assistance. But it requires skills, though nothing as difficult as learning to play Chopin.
Graceful Aging sponsored an Ai workshop for older people at the Elting Library. It was modestly attended, but I was left with the feeling that a more concerted effort might be made to share elder-experiences of Ai with others of our clan. We can be easily scared off Ai because of the negativity surrounding it, the cautions, the tales of hallucinatory rabbit holes. But the fact is that his instrument can be tuned to our needs in truly life-giving if not life-saving ways.
I would be happy to see some congenial public-spirited institution offer an Ai forum in which perhaps four or five old folks who have experiences of Ai are invited to share those experiences with an audience of their peers.
We are in a reign of terror marked by unelected men firing thousands of government workers without cause; ICE agents arresting and brutalizing immigrants, even killing a US citizen; a president abducting another country’s president, possibly initiating one more pointless war and generally destabilizing our country and now our European allies.
In spite of this, millions of Americans are not cowed. They blow whistles to warn others that ICE is in their neighborhood; they rally peacefully in towns and cities across this country; they find jobs and shelter for immigrants. These are people who value and protect what our country stands for. I hope you will join them. We need a few million more!
America isn’t arguing about guns. We’re arguing about fear — and guns are merely the punctuation marks at the end of a long, anxious sentence.
School shootings horrify us because they should. But fear doesn’t care about probability; it cares about spectacle. Statistically, children are far more likely to survive childhood than die by gunfire in schools. That truth doesn’t erase grief, but it should temper policy. Instead, fear rushes us toward simple answers for complex wounds.
Gun control appears moral, decisive and inexpensive. It asks little of those with the most power and takes the most from those with the least. The poor, the mentally ill, the traumatized and the undereducated — already living closer to violence — are told they cannot be trusted with self-protection. Their neighborhoods are often more dangerous than the wars we are currently fighting abroad, yet their fears are treated as disposable.
Meanwhile, we ignore the deeper collapse: underfunded schools, untreated illness, hunger, environmental decay, and an economy that profits from anxiety. Addressing these would require sacrifice and courage. Businesses would have to pay living wages. Healthcare would have to become a right instead of a privilege. Education would have to matter more than quarterly earnings.
Fear also keeps our wars affordable. We recruit from the lower middle class with patriotic language while paying them anything but mercenary wages. We tell soldiers they are defending ideals, while decisions are made by corporate interests far from the battlefield.
The mentally ill are not more violent than the general population; they are simply easier to scapegoat. Remove guns, and violence does not disappear — it changes shape. Cars, chemicals, despair itself remain readily available.
Gun control is not the enemy. But when it becomes our moral centerpiece, it distracts us from the more complex work of rebuilding a humane society. Greed, left untreated, is contagious. And fear is its favorite carrier.
We are in a reign of terror marked by unelected men firing thousands of government workers without cause; ICE agents arresting and brutalizing immigrants, even killing a US citizen; a president abducting another country’s president, possibly initiating one more pointless war and generally destabilizing our country and now our European allies.
In spite of this, millions of Americans are not cowed. They blow whistles to warn others that ICE is in their neighborhood; they rally peacefully in towns and cities across this country; they find jobs and shelter for immigrants. These are people who value and protect what our country stands for. I hope you will join them. We need a few million more!
Last week, Mr. Butz said: “….a specific section of the Defense Law of War Manual which says its goal is to protect “civilians” during military operations.” Which he says is in DoD Law of War Manual Sec. 18.3.2.1. He must have a different copy, mine doesn’t say anything about protecting civilians in that section. A previous section (17.14.1) states: “All the wounded, sick, and shipwrecked, whether or not they have taken part in the armed conflict, shall be respected and protected.” As if that’s needed to make what’s clearly illegal, clearer. So Mr. T can call for Mark Kelley to be executed, but if he’s tried, he won’t be convicted, it’ll just be another case of waste, fraud and abuse. Here’s an ironic hypocrisy, while DoW is executing suspected narco terrorists, Mr. T pardons the ex Honduran president convicted of importing 400+ tons of cocaine, plus other tried-and-convicted narco terrorists. Death to suspected narco (reporters keep asking for proof and get none) boat drivers and pardons to tried and convicted narco terrorist kingpins. But it never was about those drugs, it was always about that other drug — oil. Remember when the oil execs went to Mar-a-Lago club in May 2024 and the candidate asked them for a billion dollar campaign contribution? We have the best government money can buy.
Break down and soak into us, our plants, whales and turtles
Trump removed a terrible dictator by a brilliantly executed military action. He acted without congressional approval, which spoils the result. It becomes another instance of Trump weakening congress by ignoring it. Trump, the conqueror, taking possession of Venezuelan oil, is offensive and likely to profit only his rich buddies.
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