The past two weeks have been paralyzing for a lot of people, especially parents of young kids currently in school. As the region was gripped by threats made last week all over the Hudson Valley, last Friday's Snow Day was actually kind of welcome. Parents received several robo-calls - which normally announce dreaded Snow Day closures. Instead, these were about threats made to the middle school and the high school, and how police would be stationed there. A Little Beacon Blog took time to process what has been going on around the Hudson Valley and open up coverage on it, so that we can produce future articles to help people be aware and prepared. The below links are articles to create awareness of the leadership that has been happening in the Beacon City School District, Beacon Police Department, and some cultural questions about these issues.

• The School Shooting Issue Comes to The Hudson Valley
  Striking observation from investigative reporter Nina Schutzman on the amount of shooting-related articles/arrests/threats/closures coming out in one day.
• Beacon Increases School Searches and Safety Measures via Robo-Calls
  Beacon Superintendent Dr. Matthew Landahl leads the charge in informing parents about issues as they happen.
• City of Beacon to Vote on Joining National Day of Action on April 20 to Protect Students Against Gun Violence
  Update: They voted Yes.
• Beacon City Schools to Perform Security Audits with Altaris Consulting Group
• Toy Guns and No Big Deal Guns Sold in Kid Stores - Impact on Gun Culture
  Echo Boutique's Karen Donohue weighs in on her choice not to sell toy guns in her story, and other kid issues explored.
• Activities to Prepare for Scary Situations (aka Gun Situations)
  Beacon's City Administrator, Police Chief, and Fire Chief provide resources.

Consider this our Action Item in advance of the National Day of Action on Saturday, April 20.

PS: Finally, this mini-series of articles is done (hopefully!) and we are moving on, resuming our usual coverage of the goings-on in Beacon! Not only that, but it's sunny out! Hurray! Yet all signs point to a Wednesday Snow Day. <angry-face emoji> Sleds may still be available at Mountain Tops, where the superhero owners continue to show up every Snow Day with an Open sign.