Saugerties Central School District return to the classroom on Tuesday, Sept. 6, a day signifying the end of another summer vacation and the beginning of something they may not realize until they’re much older – like in their 30s - they’ve been dreading for no good reason at all. For the teachers of Saugerties’ four elementary schools, and the junior and senior high, summer vacation is as much about preparing for the first day of school as anything else. Rebecca Mulford teaches fourth grade at...
full story

Hurricane Irene, which hit the area as a nasty tropical storm Sunday, packed a devastating one-two punch in Saugerties, flooding low-lying areas along the Esopus and Plattekill creeks and hammering most everyone with sustained gale-force winds. On Tuesday, more than 1,000 customers of Poughkeepsie-based Central Hudson were without power in the town and village. Some were told they’d have to wait until the end of the week. But in comparison to nearby communities such as Shandaken, Windham, and...
full story

Saugerties Town Police Sergeant John Scheffel pled guilty to official misconduct, a misdemeanor May 19 in village court. The charges come as a result of an investigation into misappropriated items in the police evidence vault. Four packs of cigarettes were found to be missing from the vault. Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said his office believed Scheffel misappropriated these cigarettes, and falsified an evidence document in an attempt to cover up that crime. Scheffel was...
full story

The Saugerties Police Department has added rifles to their arsenal, but the weapons will only be used in situations in which the additional firepower is absolutely necessary, Saugerties Police Chief Louis Barbaria said this week. The weapons include three Colt AR15 semiautomatic rifles and two Mini 14s, a similar weapon. Both use .223 caliber ammunition and will be furnished with 20 or 30-shot magazines. They will be kept out of sight unless needed for an incident. The AR15 is a very accurat...
full story