Raging Fire Destroys Multi-Unit House Under Renovation In Alleged Arson (925 Wolcott Avenue)

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Photos Posted by the Beacon Fire department. See all of them here.

At 6:35am, flames and smoke at 925 Wolcott Avenue could be seen above roofs of neighboring houses.

On the morning of Tuesday, January 3, 2023, between 6am and 6:30am according to neighboring residents who called 911, the house at 925 Wolcott Avenue known to longtime Beaconites as “The Guest House” because it was a group home, was engulfed in a raging fire, which destroyed all 3 floors. According to Zillow, the house had 9 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms.

According to those at the scene, there was no one living inside of the house at the time of the fire. The house had been purchased 6 months ago, according to the new owner, and was under renovation.

First responders could not yet confirm that there were no injuries, but they indicated that no one had been inside to need assistance. By 9:30am, once the fire was contained and smoke remained, fire fighters began searching the rubble to make sure no one was inside, as they searched for “hot spots” to continue to put out. Also at that time, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White could be seen exiting the scene.

Flames at 925 Wolcott Avenue in Beacon could be seen high above trees and houses from Newburgh in the early morning before sunrise.
Photo Credit: Mid Hudson News, Anastasis Amanatides

At 6:35am, flames and smoke could be seen above roofs of neighboring houses. According to one resident who called 911 at approximately 6:35am, other people had also called in to report the fire. According to that resident, no sirens were immediately heard approaching, even though they may have arrived at the building already.

UPDATE 1/6/2023: Other readers did recall hearing sirens. It was a multi-agency event, so several first responders from different communities were there.

The fire was so hot at 925 Wolcott Avenue, it peeled the vinyl off the neighboring house.

In Beacon, during slow periods on the road, or in quiet hours, emergency response units have been known to flash their lights but not their sirens, perhaps out of noise consideration.

According to first responders at the scene, they arrived at 6:30am to fight the fire. Several fire departments assisted as mutual aid, including Rombout, Fishkill, Glenham, and others. Those at the scene said the blaze was so hot, that it almost melted a fire truck.

UPDATE 1/6/2023: Other readers did recall hearing sirens. It was a multi-agency event, so several first responders from different communities were there.

UPDATE 1/6/2023: As reported by the Highlands Current, first responders included: firefighters from the Village of Fishkill, Castle Point and Glenham. Both of Beacon’s ambulance services, Ambulnz and Beacon Volunteer Ambulance, assisted. the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and MTA police also assisted. Rombout and Chelsea firefighters provided standby coverage in the city. The fire is being investigated by the Beacon Police, the Dutchess Sheriff’s Office and the Dutchess Fire Investigation Division.

The fire’s heat did peel vinyl siding off the neighboring house, and those residents were vacated from their home while the fire was put out near their home with water. Central Hudson poles on the sidewalk near the house were also burned.

Central Hudson was also on the scene to find the gas line under the ground to shut it off to prevent any gas leak. They began digging using a private contractor trained in such excavation.

Beacon City School District Administrative building is nearby, as is Sargent Elementary School. Containment of the blaze was ongoing during the morning arrival of students via bus, car and those who walk. Sargent Elementary PTO issued an update via Instagram to those transporting to expect delays, and that the drop off circle was not in use, but that the school was not physically impacted by the fire.

According to Mid Hudson News, the 3rd floor of the house collapsed. Experts on the scene predicted the entire building would need to be demolished.

Alleged Cause Of The Fire

According to those at the scene, arson was suspected by fire fighters, who called in the Dutchess County Fire Investigation Division, who reportedly prefers to not use the word “arson” in their title anymore. Their truck is labeled Dutchess County Emergency Response Field Support Unit. A black dog trained to sniff for gasoline was seen exploring the scene.

Inside, the house had been stripped to the studs. According the building’s owner who spoke to A Little Beacon Blog, the suspect had turned himself in for setting the fire. According to the owner, the suspect could be seen removing a security camera before allegedly pouring gasoline throughout the house. The owner said the suspect had been a tenant in the boarding house prior, but did not live there now. ALBB reached out to Beacon Police Chief Sands Frost and City Administrator Chris White for confirmation and/or comment, and has not yet received a response.

UPDATE 1/6/2023: The Highlands Current reported in the print version of their article published after the online version was published: “Police said he walked to the department and turned himself in immediately after starting the fire. He is in custody at the Dutchess County jail in Poughkeepsie and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. in Beacon today (Jan. 6).”

According to Beacon City Court when ALBB followed up, that preliminary hearing got adjourned and postponed to the following week, the date still to be released.

UPDATE 1/3/2023 5pm: The Beacon Police Department issued a Press Release confirming arson. Read it here.

According to reporting by Mid-Hudson News: “The property had recently been sold and construction was being performed at the property until the project was shut down by city officials.” A Little Beacon Blog has reached out to Beacon’s Building Department Inspector Bruce Flower and the City Administrator Chris White for comment and has not yet received a response.

As the building’s owner looked at the wreckage, he reflected to ALBB that it was a landmark. When asked if he had plans to designate it historic, he answered that he did not. As for any historic designation, ALBB reached out to Beacon’s City Planner John Clark, who said: “So sorry to hear about the fire. This building, although old enough, is not included in the City's Historic District and Landmark Overlay Zone and, as far as I know, not on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also not on a list of residential buildings considered last year for the HDLO, which concentrated on properties closer to Main Street.”

Longtime residents of Beacon remember 925 Wolcott Avenue as a boarding house for men. Old pictures show the condition of the inside of the house, including notes residents wrote to each other, as well as architectural details.

NOTES FROM THE KITCHEN

Tenants of the house had left each other common area notes, according to old photos on Zillow. These say: “Please THINK! ALL of us here must share common “stuff” such as toilets, showers, sinks, one stove. Be kind and clean up any messes you make” The note was signed with a smiley face.

Another note says, in all caps, indicating importance: “Unused stove burners not be considered.The back left burner is used less often. It needs to be covered up when you cook. This reduces fat and grease buildup.”

The third note instructs in green marker: “Please don’t touch any of the heaters.”

It is not known when the last time the building was inspected while people lived inside of it, before it was purchased and gutted.

Tips can be sent to the Beacon Police Department and to A Little Beacon Blog.

Interview With Local Muslim Women On Their View of Iranian Protests, Hijab, Free Will & Support of Iranian Women

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In writing the article covering the performance protest from Iranian born Beaconite, Maryam Mehrjui, the protests of which are based on the killing of the 22-year old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini while in Iranian “morality police” custody for wearing her hijab improperly, the question arises: “How will the world see the hijab as a practice, and the women wearing the hijab (also called ‘hijabis’) both locally and in the world? Will this damage the safety they feel walking around, and create more misunderstanding? Will this embolden places like France to complete their different steps of legislation to ban the hijab? Will hijabi women who love wearing their hijabs - as opposed to those who are forced to by their governments - need to take up scarves to protest to save it?”

That was 4.75 questions. To answer these questions, A Little Beacon Blog interviewed two local Muslim women - one from Beacon and one from Orange County - one who wears the hijab and one who does not - both of whom are Palestinian.

ALBB: Can the protests against forcing women to wear the hijab in Iran harm women here in Beacon or Wappingers or Newburgh who do want to wear hijab by choice?
“It is already happening,” said Sereen El Jamal, a Palestinian New Yorker living in Orange County who participated in the pro-Palestinian march in Newburgh in 2021 and wears hijab. “It is being taken like that by a lot of people. Take your scarf off and burn it. Very different.”

Sereen was recommended to ALBB to interview by Khitam Jamal Nakhleh, sister to Kamel Jamal, an outspoken restaurant owner in Beacon. Sereen is their cousin. Said Sereen to ALBB: “I haven't really spoken out about it because the way that everybody is looking at it is if you wear hijab, you are supporting the oppression of Iranian women.”

How does Sereen feel about that sentiment? “I don't have the energy to think like that,” she said. “The only thing I said was in a repost. This isn't a protest on hijab. Not necessarily. Not a protest against religion. It's a protest against the government.”

Sereen went on to explain: “That's not how Islamic law is enforced. What they [the Irani government] are doing is anti-Islamic. It is nobody's job to force you to cover your hair. We are born with free will.”

As Sereen was speaking her feelings, she expanded upon what was being protested: “I can't force people to do what I feel is right. The way that government enforces it is wrong. In no way is it right to kill a woman for not covering her hair properly. To say something badly about the religion itself, or to burn a hijab, is also wrong. We have to find a balance, to say OK, I am protesting for human rights. Not against a religion.”

Khitam, on the other hand, does not wear hijab. She explained: “In Islamic religion, you wear hijab and modest clothes. You leave it to the imagination. I'm a religious person, I try to do things good enough. My mother didn't wear a hijab until her late 40s. Her husband, my father, can't force her to wear it.”

“I'm Muslim. I don't cover my hair. I give to charities. I do everything. It is a choice for me. It is a choice for a woman to wear it or not. No one should judge you if you wear it or not. I'm going to wear it when I'm ready to wear it. If I'm ever ready to wear it.”

Feelings From Wanting To Wear Hijab By Choice

Sereen volunteered explaining how she feels wearing hijab. “For me, wearing a hijab is feeling. No one will look at me and judge me and based on ‘oh, she is really pretty.’ I know I'm really pretty. When people look at me, it's purely who I am that makes people like me.”

She continued: “I'm not looked at in people's opinion's based on my looks. Obviously I make myself presentable, and I dress modestly. Me dressing modestly - that being my choice - frees me from thinking that the whole world is thinking whatever they are going to think. It is purely who I am.”

It's more about your inner beauty. We see - most women who wear hijab - we see it in a freeing way. We see it as empowering. It's a shame that people are forced into it, to the point where they don't see the beauty behind it. They get no chance to understand why they are wearing it. What the beauty behind it is. It's wrong. For the government to do that.”

Islam and Women

“Islam as a religion is very supportive of women,” reflected Sereen. “We are given rights as Muslims...that nobody is obligated to give us. Our religion gives us rights and support and empowerment. I can't even...,” Sereen begins to express her feelings, but can’t. “People just take it and twist it most of the time.”

“A woman is so valuable because the rest of the human race would not exist without a woman. This whole ‘the women are oppressed’ - that is a patriarchal government that is oppressing women. They hide behind the religion. They say it is because it is religion but that's not how it is enforced.”

In the book “Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey Into the Heart of Islam,” by A. Helwa, the author describes it as: “Men and women are not physically identical, but they are equal in value in the eyes of God, for the soul has no gender. As the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says, ‘Verily, women are the twin halves of men.’ In fact the word for ‘Eve’ in Arabic is the same as the Hebrew word Hawwaah, which comes from a root word that means ‘source of life.'“

Sereen continued: “I don't believe in what you believe in, nor do you have to believe in what I believe in. You are entitled to your own religions. And I'm entitled to mine*
*Surah 109 of the Qur’an
It is un-Islamic to force anyone to do anything. The whole premise of our religion is intention. If I am forcing you to practice - oh you’re doing it because I'm telling you - then you're not doing it for the right reason.”

Sereen concluded: “God gave people free will. It is not any government’s job to force them. Let them come to that point by themselves. Rather than bringing people closer to the religion, they [the Iranian government] are pushing them away.”

World Watches Tyler Adams Answer Tough But Honest Question In Qatar World Cup

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In the months between Dutchess County sending out a simple press release featuring the leadership of Wappinger’s Fall’s own Tyler Adams as captain of the USA soccer team in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar this year (2022), the world was watching as he answered a tough question about discrimination against Black Americans by America, and a pronunciation correction of Iran from an Iranian reporter before the USA vs Iran match on November 29, 2022.

While many in Beacon were just hearing about this person named Tyler who is from Wappingers Falls and in the World Cup, suddenly he was on CNN and other media outlets regarding the tough question scenario.

The situation presented an opportunity for Tyler to talk about his own experience growing up with a mixed-race heritage, as well as his living in different countries because of soccer, and his awareness of how he navigated through living abroad and state-side (this might be known as codeswitching, but Tyler did not use that word).

Local articles here in Dutchess County have not typically addressed his mixed-race experience, but this global media situation presented a new opportunity to include it.

CNN, Yahoo Life and other American media outlets picked up on the press conference prior to the match, and in defense of and praise for Tyler, peppered it with negative light on the Iranian reporter. Tyler, however, graciously answered the statement and question with honesty and respect for the reporter.

The linguistic observation made by the reporter was cited so that a global audience could hear the correct pronunciation, followed by a discomfortable question.

Global events are platforms for dialogue to begin. This article explores this issue.

Who Is Tyler Adams?

Tyler Adams during the press conference before the USA vs Iran match.

Tyler Adams is currently 23 years old and plays professional soccer for the Premier League Club, Leeds United, and is the captain for the United States national team, who played in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

At age 16, his first professional signing happened with the New York Red Bulls II, a United Soccer League Team owned and operated by Major League Soccer. Said Tyler to the Poughkeepsie Journal back in 2015 when he was signed: “They host these mini-camp type things," Adams said of the Red Bull’s Regional Development School. "They noticed me there. It's what started this all. I think it benefited me because it's a lot more competitive."

You can see the opportunity for summer soccer camp with the Red Bulls in ALBB’s Summer Camp Guide.

As reported by the Poughkeepsie Journal, Tyler was attending Roy C. Ketcham High School in the Wappingers Falls school district when he signed. According to USASoccer.com, Tyler was raised by his mother, Melissa Russo, where he “grew up in a single-parent household before she reconnected with old high school classmate and now step-dad, Darryl Sullivan.”

According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, Tyler’s step-dad Darryl was at the time of Tyler’s 2015 signing “a Social Studies teacher at Roy C. Ketcham, who won two state titles coaching the John Jay girls team and is the director of soccer operations for the Marist College men's soccer team.”

Said his mother, Melissa Russo, to the newspaper upon his signing: "There was a point as a parent where you tell him it may not be realistic. But never did he say he wanted to do anything else. Maybe an architect, once or twice. As a parent, this is awesome. You just pray your kid ends up doing something they love."

To complete Tyler’s education while he advanced toward professional soccer, he ended up doing what most parents now know of as Remote Learning, by completing most of his homework and classwork online. He told the Poughkeepsie Journal: “I'm missing the social aspect, which is hard for any kid my age. But then again, I have the opportunity to play pro soccer. That doesn't come around every day."

Turns out, Tyler nurtured his social side while playing soccer, as explored in this ESPN article, where Tyler discussed, as a 23 year old, how he enjoys relating to other people no matter their relationship to him, which is part of why he has been such an effective captain during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

As observed in the ESPN article: “Some might call it charisma, others would term it leadership or emotional intelligence, but the sense is that ‘it’ goes deeper than any of that. There is an aura about Adams that conveys he'll not only do his job, but relieve you of some of the pressure to do yours. These days, that can mean covering for a teammate on the field or deftly handling some spicy news conference questions off it.”

What Happened At The News Conference Before The USA vs Iran Match?

An Iranian reporter corrected Tyler in his pronunciation of Iran, stating that if he was going to voice support for Iran, he might as well get the pronunciation right. This was followed by a question about discrimination toward Black people in America. As of this reporting, ALBB cannot find the name of the reporter, who may or may not have been affiliated with Iranian government sanctioned state media.

According to an article at CNN, Iranian state media was upset with the United States Soccer Federation. American media seems not to have reported the Iranian reporter’s name or media outlet, that ALBB can find so far. That would be helpful and relevant to the context and tone of the question.

To add more context, the 2022 World Cup as a global platform has been used to amplify many issues, including the current violent protests going on in Iran against the regime that came to power in 1979. These protests have been carried out in defense and protection of women in Iran after Mahsa Amini, age 22 and Kurdish, which is a minority in Iran, died in police custody. The protests are against oppression that many citizens of Iran feel under the current leadership, which has been abusing and misusing a religion - Islam - in the name of squeezing power.

In response, the United States Soccer Federation changed Iran’s flag on its social media platforms to show support for protesters in Iran, according to a report from CNN. "Iranian state media called for the US to be kicked out of the 2022 World Cup after the United States Soccer Federation changed Iran’s flag on its social media platforms to show support for protesters in Iran." According to the article which showed a screenshot of the temporary switch, the United States Soccer Federation started displaying Iran’s national flag on its official Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts without the emblem of the Islamic Republic in the middle of the flag. The flag version with the emblem is currently being displayed on the soccer federation’s website.

Reporter’s Statement:
In response to one of Tyler’s earlier answers to a question:

"First of all, you say you support the Iranian people, but you're pronouncing our country's name wrong. Our country is named Iran (ee-RAHN), not Iran (EYE-ran). Please once and for all, let's get this clear."

Reporter’s Question:

"Second of all, are you OK to be representing a country that has so much discrimination against Black people in its own borders? We saw the Black Lives Matter movement over the past few years. Are you OK to be representing the US while there is so much discrimination against Black people in America?"

Tyler’s Answer:

“My apologies on the mispronunciation of your country. That being said, there’s discrimination everywhere you go.” Tyler stated.

“One thing that I’ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures, is that in the US, we’re continuing to make progress every single day.

“Growing up for me, I grew up in a White family, and with obviously an African-American heritage and background as well,” he pointed out.

“So, I had a little bit of different cultures, and I was very easily able to assimilate in different cultures. Not everyone has that ease and the ability to do that, and obviously, it takes longer to understand, and through education, I think it’s super important.” Tyler did not deny discrimination happening. Instead, he elected to describe a living experience for him.

“Like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. So, yeah, it’s a process. I think as long as you see progress, that’s the most important thing.”

How Some American Media Twisted The Press Conference

As media coverage of any event or issue unfolds, it is important to be mindful of the headlines, descriptions, and adjectives used to describe a situation. Every single media outlet is biased because humans write, edit and ultimately publish the words. Scrubbing of opinion is nearly impossible, because simply choosing to cover a topic in an of itself reveals bias.

Coverage of Middle Eastern situations is especially important to be mindful of when reading or watching coverage.

Here is how American media negatively slanted the situation, negatively portraying the reporter, and positively portraying Tyler. Of course Tyler’s answer was impressive and refreshing, but the reporter need not be shamed into asking it, or correcting the pronunciation of Iran knowing his voice would be heard around the world, for everyone to hear and know how to correctly pronounce Iran.

Great reads and headlines:


Beacon City School Board Considers Formally Changing Name Of Columbus Day

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On October 14th, days after the observance of Indigenous People’s Day / Columbus Day, Beacon City School District Superintendent Matthew Landahl emailed district families and caregivers to let them know that the Board of Education was considering and discussing changing the name of the Columbus Day holiday.

This change would be discussed at the January 9, 2023 school board meeting. Public input was requested during the Public Comment portion of the meetings on 10/24/22, 11/7/22, 11/21/22 and 12/12/22. Input could also be emailed to BCSDBOE@beaconk12.org. During the 11/21/22, no public input was spoken. Public Comment is always first on the agenda, and the meetings start promptly at 7am. People can speak in person at the meetings at the Beacon High School or via Zoom. Comments are limited to 4 minutes per person, and the Comment Policy can be found here.

According to reporting at the Highlands Current, a district parent, Jamie Muligan, asked for the change during Public Comment of the September 27, 2022 meeting. Jamie is married to City Council Member Molly Rhodes. According to the article, Dr. Landahl surmised at that meeting “that studying the history of Indigenous people who lived in the Highlands could also be integrated into schools’ curriculum. That’s ‘the point of all this’ discussion, he said. “We do some things already, but there’s more to be done, for sure.”

Columbus Day Name Change Is A Nation-Wide Trend

In June 2021, A school in New Jersey in Randolf Township made national news when their school board voted to change the name to Indigenous People’s Day, according to an article at NPR. But the decision startled parents opposed to such a change. From the article: “Critics have derided the idea of celebrating the Italian explorer, who perpetrated violence on Native Americans when he arrived in the Americas. Boosters say it is critical to recognize the contributions of Christopher Columbus, and that Italian-Americans have historically faced discrimination.”

According to the NPR article, the Randolf Township School Board decided to drop all holiday names to avoid conflict, and called a special meeting to discuss. However, all holidays, including Columbus Day, are named in Randolf Township’s 2022/2023 academic calendar.

According to an article at Forbes, New York City public schools changed the name from Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day: “Columbus Day has been federally recognized for nearly 100 years, but the holiday is increasingly polarizing. Many critics argue it’s inappropriate to celebrate Columbus, whose 15th- and 16th-century campaigns through Central America and the Caribbean Sea resulted in the killing and enslavement of many Indigenous people. This history has spurred several cities and states, including Vermont and the District of Columbia, to change the holiday’s name to Indigenous People’s Day.”

However, the name change faced backlash from some people, including a Republican representing Staten Island, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who said: “This is just another blatant attempt by City Hall to rewrite history while dishonoring so many of our citizens who are proud Italian Americans and cancel Christopher Columbus, who embodies the immigrant experience and discovery.”

It is unclear why a person defending that part of Italian heritage would want to include the socially acceptable atrocities that Columbus committed to a people who had already discovered themselves, and instead not focus on his skill as a sea faring business man who was employed by other nations in order to expand their Catholic or Christian empire with his voyages (warning: once you read this article at Vox, which includes descriptive letters from leaders on the voyages, you cannot un-read it).

National Proclamations Shift

There was a shift in Proclamations given by President Joe Biden regarding the declaration of Indigenous People’s Day for 2021 and 2022. In the 2021 Proclamation for Indigenous People’s Day, the focus was on Native Americans and their contributions to what is now called the United States of America. There was also a nod to the damage done to Native Americans, when President Biden wrote: “Our country was conceived on a promise of equality and opportunity for all people — a promise that, despite the extraordinary progress we have made through the years, we have never fully lived up to. That is especially true when it comes to upholding the rights and dignity of the Indigenous people who were here long before colonization of the Americas began.”

In 2022, the Proclamation language included new descriptions: “For centuries, Indigenous Peoples were forcibly removed from ancestral lands, displaced, assimilated, and banned from worshiping or performing many sacred ceremonies. Yet today, they remain some of our greatest environmental stewards. They maintain strong religious beliefs that still feed the soul of our Nation. And they have chosen to serve in the United States Armed Forces at a higher rate than any other group.”

However, some Italian communities were offended at the dismissal of the name Columbus, so President Biden created a separate Proclamation for Columbus Day that addressed discrimination faced by Italian Americans. It is unclear why genocide of Native Americans has been compared with racial or class discrimination of Italian Americans. Both are struggles, some physical and violent, but are different.

According to the New York Times, the second name of Italian Heritage Day is being introduced to replace Columbus Day because Columbus Day was created to appease discrimination done to Italian Americans. Says the New York Times: “Some Italian communities have called for a day separate from Columbus Day to celebrate their heritage, as Columbus Day originated partly as a response to anti-Italian sentiment. It was designated a national holiday in 1934, and in 1971 the government declared it a federal holiday to be celebrated the second Monday of each October.”

While there are several calendar days recognizing cultures of different origins, they don’t tend to become national holidays. Reversing Columbus Day, which was named after one man who contributed to a multitude of violent acts to Native Americans and Caribbean people, while employed by Ferdinand II and Isabella I, the Catholic Monarchs of Aragon, Castile, and Leon in Spain, according to Britannica, seems more logical, to name it for the majority of the people he committed to violent acts on, and is not a dismissal of Italian heritage, which has its own beauty and much to celebrate, and may not want to be associated with such horrors.

People who want to voice their opinions on the name change can do so at the 12/12/2022 meeting during Public Comment, or email BCSDBOE@beaconk12.org.

Beacon Councilmember Paloma Wake Praises Creation of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and Two Spirited Peoples Day

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Beacon’s City Councilmember At Large, Paloma Wake, often uses her opportunity to deliver a Report on any topic during the publicly broadcast City Council Meetings every other week to shine awareness on Native American lands, including the land that Beacon is defined as today.

Councilmember Paloma’s full-time job is with Forge Project, a native-woman-led initiative focused on Indigenous art, decolonial education, and supporting native leaders in all fields. The drive of the Forge Project’s mission is to “acknowledge that we are situated on the unceded and ancestral homelands of the Muh-he-con-ne-ok, the Peoples of the Waters that Are Never Still, and to recognize that there is a history to this land that is older than we are and pay honor and respect to this history and to the Elders, past, present, and future.”

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness day

In the spirit of the federal holiday that is Thanksgiving, ALBB is publishing the awareness piece Councilmember Paloma delivered earlier in May 2022 to recognize the newly designated proclamation designating May 5 as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.

At ALBB’s request, Councilmember Paloma’s submitted a lengthier version of her comments to be published here:

“This week holds a national day of awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and Two Spirited Peoples. A 2018 report from Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) identifies murder as the the third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls aged 10-24. A 2016 study by the Native Institute of Justice demonstrated that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime. On some reservations, American Indian and Alaska Native women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average.

“On May 4th, 2021 President Biden issued a proclamation designating May 5th as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness day, calling on all Americans and levels of government to support Tribal governments and Tribal communities' efforts to increase awareness of the issue of Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska natives.

“While none of us alive today bear personal responsibility for the actions of our ancestors, I believe we have a greater duty to respect the lives of those whose ancestors stewarded this land that we live on today for thousands of years.

“The crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples deserves this national day of awareness.

“Along with sharing this information, I would like to acknowledge that the City of Beacon sits on the ancestral lands of Muh-he-con-ne-ok the Peoples Of The Waters That Are Never Still whose living descendants now reside on federal reservations in Wisconsin as the Stockbridge Munsee Band and in Oklahoma as the Delaware Nation and the Delaware Nation and the Delaware Tribe of Indians.”

Resources Supporting Reform And Recreation Of Laws Supporting Native American Women

Councilperson Paloma provided resources where one can learn more about why this issue exists, and why it is because of existing legislation that there is little accountability.

According to National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center: “The crisis of MMIW is a national crime pattern. The complete storyboard for this crime pattern is not two individuals and a crime scene but all of the above--the government, culture, and economics--layered upon the lives of Native women and Indian nations. Understanding the legal and social infrastructure that place Native women in harm’s way are essential to changing this crime story of the last 500 years.

“It also requires reeducation of mainstream America to understand both the past and present truths of American Indian Nations and the women of those Nations. This two-fold process of legal reform and cultural reeducation can direct the changes required at the national, state, and county levels.”

Resources are here:

Councilperson Paloma is a fourth generation Japanese American with no ancestral ties to Native Americans.

Open Call To Beaconites To Address Land-Justice In Beacon

Councilmember Paloma is issuing an open-call to anyone in Beacon who would be interested in joining her in a working-group to address land-justice in Beacon. “The group would likely start with a Land Acknowledgement, and address our City welcome signs.” Councilperson Paloma continued: “I am looking to do focus on self-education, research and knowledge-sharing in the first half of the year, and then outreach and public information campaigns leading up to Native American Heritage Month, which is in November.”

For those interested, she can be reached at pwake@beaconny.gov or at 845-418-2452

$1,000 Grants Open For Applications Until Nov. 28 - BeaconArts' Clara Lou Gould Grant Seeks Applicants

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You could fret about cooking a turkey and finding a gravy recipe, or you could put that stress aside to instead apply in time for the possible $1,000 you could be granted from the Clara Lou Gould Fund For The Arts, managed by BeaconArts.

According the BeaconArts: “The Clara Lou Gould Fund for the Arts funds arts projects in Beacon including individual artist’s projects, unique exhibition, performance or public art projects, arts education programs, and community programs that promote area artists and arts activities, drawing attention to the valuable role of arts and culture in our community.”

Clara Lou Gould was Beacon’s Mayor for 18 years. “BeaconArts created this special Fund for the Arts named for Beacon’s former Mayor, Clara Lou Gould in honor of her 18 years of service as Beacon’s Mayor, and in recognition of her support of arts and culture in Beacon.”

Applications for grants are being accepted until November 28th, 2022, and the application doesn’t look too complicated. “While this fund is directly administered by the Community Foundation of Dutchess County, a committee of representatives from BeaconArts makes funding recommendations based on its knowledge of community need and offerings,” says their website.

“We believe in the fluidity of the Hudson Valley arts community and as such this fund is designed to support projects and activities in the Greater Beacon community, including those that may be initiated beyond city limits.”

Apply now, and/or email Suzanne Ball Suzanne@beaconarts.org with questions.

Where To Vote For Beacon 2022 - Both Early and Election Day - Republican Commissioner Thinks Early Voting Waste Of Money

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Early voting has been available for this election in 2022, and was in several locations, including the Fishkill Town Hall. If you’re trying to figure out where your polling site is now for Election Day, you’ll need to use the Dutchess County Board Of Elections Website or New York State’s Voter Lookup Elections tool. Finding your location is a little tricky. A Little Beacon Blog will walk you through it:

  • Go to https://elections.dutchessny.gov/ and click on the “Where To Vote” button in the middle of the home page, or “General Election Polling Places” from the top navigation. Or click right here to take you directly to the page.

  • From this 2022 General Election Polling Site page, you’ll see an alphabetical list of communities. Look for Beacon. Can’t find it? That’s because it’s listed with a C/ . Which means not much to most people, but here on this list, it might mean “City Of.” This code has placed Beacon and Poughkeepsie at the bottom of the list, which is also confusing because even if alphabetized by C, the name would be up with the Cs. Regular readers of A Little Beacon Blog know that we are not grammarians, and do make mistakes from time to time. We also like to make up our own grammar rules, and make questionable organizational choices. But this one takes the cake. We love cake!

  • Once you find C/Beacon, there are numbers listed as to where you belong. Not sure where you belong? Scroll back up to the top of the website and click the link that says to do the Poll Site Search. Or click right here to go directly to it.

  • Type in your address, and voila, you have your destination.

  • What time is voting for the General Election? That is on yet a different page, right here, and is from 6am-9pm. If you had done early voting, those times were on a PDF right here. Early voting is not available the day before election day.

Could this information have been consolidated better? Yes. It all could have been on one page. With big buttons to access important lookup tools.

Republican Commissioner Erik Haight Says Early Voting “A Colossal Waste Of Money”

The Beacon Free Press interviewed the Democratic Commissioner, Hannah Black, and the Republican Commissioner, Erik Haight, about Dutchess County Board of Election’s preparation for the 2022 election. They both felt well prepared and balanced when working with each other to ensure an accurate voter count.

When asked by the Beacon Free Press for their thoughts on early voting and if more people were taking advantage of it, Republican Commissioner Erik Haight said: “The facts show that it is a colossal waste of money. While it may increase the convenience of voting for a few people, it has not increased voting [participation]. It is the same in the other 33 states that have early voting. It spreads out the voting.“

For the 9 days of early voting now available, his statement implies no care for the people who do take advantage of early voting. Those people may include parents who have children in school, but since school is closed on Election Day, have their children at home, and need to either lug them to the polling site (good luck with a 5 year old who runs around, or a baby swaddled to the body of the parent, and two pre-pre teens who don’t want to be there, standing in a long line). Or a person with a job during the day who has 9 other opportunities to fit in voting around work shifts. Or a person caring for an aging parent at home and has limited times when they can be left alone.

This sharp disregard for the “convenience” of one’s life in an issue as important as voting is a spit in the face to any person who needs more time in their schedule to vote other than one day when schools and some jobs are closed.

Democratic Commissioner Hannah Black responded to the voter turnout number question by saying: “It fluctuates on the election, depending on voter engagement on the races within each year.”

Republican Commissioner Haight Notes: “We Have Kooks Who Don’t Believe That Trump Lost”

The Beacon Free Pressed asked the Commissioners about how “rampant FOIL requests” are impacting the Dutchess County Board of Elections, as they are across the country. Commissioner Black responded: “There has been an unusual amount of FOIL requests that have to do with the 2020 election,” she said.

Commissioner Haight explained: “Essentially, we have these ‘kooks’ - you can quote me on that; they’re kooks - who don’t believe that Trump lost.” He added: “I can speak for Dutchess County that the results that we certified in 2020 are 100% accurate.”

The Beacon Free Press went on to explain how the FOIL process works for the Dutchess County Board of Elections: “the commissioners will set the terms under which the documents may be viewed. The plan was to have those requesting the FOILs pay up front for the viewing of the materials; because the documents are secured in a bipartisan fashion, the Board of Elections needs to hire a Democrat and a Republican to oversee the viewing.”

Said Height: “They can handle the material, they can view the material, but they’re not allowed to copy it or take photos of it. It will cost the kooks about $40 an hour to view this material. I assume they’ll need a full work week to view the files - they’re required to reimburse the taxpayers for the folly of this task these folks are undertaking.”

Apparently the viewing session is coming. Commissioner Haight told the newspaper: “In the coming weeks, I’ll reach out to these FOILers and give them a little bit of time to get organized. All of our employees are tied up running this election. I will not jeopardize this election because these kooks don’t believe we ran a fair election in 2020.”

Panel Discussion Following Screening Of Film Documenting Injustice Of Parole Release Hearings - Story Screen Theater - Happening Tonight

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THE FILM, WHICH FEATURES FORMERLY INCARCERATED ADVOCATES AND FORMER PAROLE COMMISSIONERS WHO EXPOSE THE BOARD’S LAWLESS ADDICTION TO PUNISHMENT, MAKES THE CASE FOR REFORM 

WHAT: A screening of “The Interview”, a short film exposing the injustices of parole release hearings, followed by a panel featuring people directly impacted by New York’s prison system and unjust Parole Board. The film features members of the Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Campaign, and other formerly incarcerated advocates, who each faced as many as ten parole denials despite having transformed their lives while behind bars many years earlier. In addition, two Parole Commissioners appear in the film and, in very different ways, articulate how the Parole Board makes decisions about the release of people based solely on the nature of their crime, even after they have already served a minimum sentence.   

The Q&A after the film will feature panelists who have been directly impacted by incarceration and the parole process in New York. 

WHERE: Story Screen Theater, 445 Main St, Beacon, NY 12508

WHEN: Thursday, September 29th at 7pm

HOW TO GET TICKETS: Click here >

WHO: The screening is hosted by Beacon Prison Rides Program and Beacon Prison Books Project, in partnership with the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign and the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice. Panelists include RAPP Executive Director Jose Saldana, RAPP Westchester Community Leader Greg Mingo, Beacon Prison Rides member, Ms. John, and After Incarceration Co-Director, Jose Pineda. 

The Beacon Prison Rides Project is a volunteer-run organization providing free rides for families between the Beacon train station and Beacon-area prisons. Since November 2017, Beacon Prison Rides has provided an alternative to costly taxis or prison vans, providing more than 1,800 rides for more than 200 people visiting their incarcerated loved ones. Find out more about the project and about how to request rides, volunteer, or donate here >

The Beacon Prison Books Project is an organization that provides books to incarcerated persons throughout New York State, by request. People who are incarcerated in NYS use free postcards or simply write to us at our P.O. Box to request books or book recommendations. Then we order the books, connect with individual sponsors, pack up the books, and send them to the person who made the request. Most of this activity happens through Binnacle Books in Beacon, NY. Learn more here >

The People’s Campaign for Parole Justice is a new, statewide, grassroots campaign pushing for parole reform in New York State. The campaign platform is supported by over 350 organizations across New York State and led by a coalition of the state’s biggest and most influential social justice and criminal justice groups, including the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, Parole Preparation Project, VOCAL-NY, Citizen Action, New Hour for Women and Children, NY Communities for Change, Center for Community Alternatives, Osborne Association, NYCLU, FWD.us, #HALTsolitary Campaign, Legal Aid Society, Center for Justice at Columbia, CUNY Law Defenders Clinic, and NYU Law's Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. 

BACKGROUND:
Nearly 1 in 4 people from Dutchess county incarcerated in New York State prisons is over the age of 50, which many departments of corrections across the country define as “older” due to accelerated aging behind bars. About 63 percent are people of color, even though people of color only make up 23 percent of the general population of Dutchess county, and many are serving long sentences with few opportunities for release based on their rehabilitation and current readiness for release. Without parole reform, many will never make it out of prison.

Racism infects the parole release system just as it does every element of the criminal legal system. A white person in a New York prison is significantly more likely on average to be released on parole than a Black or Latinx person and the disparity widened in 2020, according to a Times Union analysis of the nearly 19,000 parole board decisions over the last two years. The data, which spans October 2018 through October 2020, shows the Parole Board granted parole release to 41 percent of white people, compared to 34 percent of Black people and 33 percent of Latinx people. Importantly, these racial disparities are not new. In 2016, the New York Times conducted an investigation of parole release data and similarly found Black and Latinx people were significantly less likely to be released than their white counterparts.

The People’s Campaign for Parole Justice is calling on lawmakers in Albany to pass two bills that will address this pandemic behind bars and prevent similar tragedies in the future: 

Elder Parole (S.15/A.3475) would allow the State Board of Parole to provide an evaluation for potential parole release to incarcerated people aged 55 and older who have already served 15 or more years, including some of the state’s oldest and sickest incarcerated people. 

Fair and Timely Parole (S.1415/A.4231) would provide more meaningful parole reviews for incarcerated people who are already parole-eligible. 

The Campaign is also calling on Governor Hochul to fully staff the Parole Board with 19 Commissioners who come from communities that have been directly affected by mass incarceration and who have professional and clinical backgrounds in areas such as social work, nursing, reentry services, and other fields that allow them to evaluate incarcerated people for who they are today. The Board currently has three vacancies.

From the film:
Former Parole Commissioner Carol Shapiro said, “The research is so clear on this, and has been for years,” regarding low reincarceration rates in New York State among people convicted of murder who are subsequently released on parole. Keeping people incarcerated for decades—well into old age—has changed the very nature of prisons, she says: “We are running geriatric institutions in America right now.”

GoFundMe Donation Page Created For Amy's African Braids; Business Lost In Fire At Mr. Bell's Salon

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Amy’s African Braids was located inside of Mr. Bell’s salon. A Little Beacon Blog has been writing about Amy’s African Braids ever since she was open in Sexy Nails (now the cat cafe after the nail salon moved out during the pandemic), then in a spot in the strip at the car wash which she moved out of in 2019, and into Mr. Bell’s.

On the afternoon of the fire, one of Amy’s stylists had just left for the day, before the fire broke out. She returned to the salon after being called about the news that everything was destroyed in the fire. When A Little Beacon Blog asked her if she lost assets that she needed to braid customer’s hair, she stared blankly, and could only answer that she was thankful that she was not inside when the fire started. When asked where she would continue her braiding, she remained bewildered and thought maybe from her home.

Now that some time has passed, Amy’s Braids has launched a GoFundMe page. A Little Beacon Blog is in direct contact with Amy. After all of these years, our paths have crossed, as one of ALBB’s children is best friends with Amy’s nieces.

To learn more about her business, Amy answered a few questions. She’s looking for chairs, mirrors, hair, and products. Usually different hair is purchased in advance, and some is in stock at the salon for the stylists to braid into different styles. Both men and women come in from every 2 weeks to a month to have their hair braided in protective styles, depending on the occasion. Braiding starts at $40 and goes up.

ALBB is finding out where people can find Amy’s African Braids now, for those who need her for style refreshes or new designs. This article will be updated. As of now, to be out of work and all tools and products lost, the GoFundMe is the most important.

Click here to donate now >

GoFundMe Page Created For Mr. Alvin Bell. Wife Shirley Bell Confirms She Is Connected! Donate Now (Or Again!)

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UPDATE!
Mr. Bell’s GoFundMe Fundraiser >

Amy’s African Braids Fundraiser >

When Mr. Alvin Bell’s decades old and beloved salon burned in a fire last week, destroying everything including professional tools and memory markers, the community rushed to want to help him. A GoFundMe page couldn’t have been created fast enough to satisfy the amount of people who asked A Little Beacon Blog if a donation page had been started yet.

Ears to the ground, we waited to hear. It was slow going at first (a 24 hour turnaround in this case was too long). Mr. Bell is in his 80s, so things might take a while. Taking to the streets to find the answer, we found a family member of Mr. Bell, who had heard something was in the works. The following day, word spread that a GoFundMe page had been created, but nobody knew who the creator was.

Beaconites, and New Yorkers in general, are a skeptical bunch. ALBB got Mr. Bell’s phone number, and even he didn’t know about the GoFundMe page. He asked that we wait until he learned more.

According to the GoFundMe, the creator, Nathan Chackerian, had created the page with deep concern for getting Mr. Bell back into a salon, and was working with Mr. Bell’s wife, Shirley, to make this happen. According to Nathan’s Facebook, which he confirmed to ALBB, Nathan moved to Beacon around March 2022, and is ninja warrior full stack developer who is currently developing a new social media app.

Nathan told ALBB: “My mom is the person that knows him the best. I like Beacon so far and am trying to get to know more people my age in town.” He says he has been to Bank Square often.

Nathan set the goal for $6,500, and many Beaconites began donating. ALBB called Mr. Bell again, who this time, handed the phone over the Shirley. With confidence and enthusiasm, Shirley confirmed that Nathan and a person named Alexander were helping, and that the GoFundMe page is legit.

Nathan has already updated the page by saying he hadn’t expected such a generous turnout, and did not know the true cost of recreating a salon. According to his update, he is going to post itemized assets provided by Shirley that they would need. “They are hoping to stay on Main Street,” Nathan told ALBB.

Said Nathan in an update about the low-ish goal: “The $6500 number was an off-the-cuff estimate from someone who knows nothing about what they do (me)- it might be somewhat low. They had six chairs - three for braiding and three for barbering services and wash stations and cabinets with mirrors plus equipment. At the time we started this campaign, I had no idea we could get anywhere near that number... but now that we see what extraordinary kindness is possible, we might increase it here - or otherwise ask private donors for help purchasing any remaining items.”

The power remains off at Mr. Bell’s as well as John the Cobbler next door, whose shop also endured smoke damage. Said Nathan in an update on the donation page: “I am told that this week they may have access to the space to see what, if anything, can be salvaged - I will plan to shoot a quick video of the interior to post here-- and then leave them alone at what is likely to be an emotional time. Thank you again for your outstanding generosity.“

You can learn more about the donation campaign here, and make your donation! >

If you donated once, maybe donate again!

Mr. Bell's & Amy's Braids Salon Businesses Destroyed In Fire On Main Street In Beacon

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UPDATE 7/12/2022: GoFundMe fundraisers have been created!
Click here for Mr. Bell’s GoFundMe Fundraiser.

Click here for Amy’s African Braids GoFundMe Fundraiser.

On Wednesday afternoon (7/6/2022) at around 3pm, several fire engines pulled up to Main Street and Willow Street, and did not leave. Several more fire trucks from other fire engine companies pulled into town, including Rombout Fire Company, an all volunteer company serving the Town of Fishkill, as well as multiple trucks from Central Hudson.

With such a collection of trucks over the course of several hours, one might have expected to see flames billowing out of a building on Main Street. But no such flames were seen, nor billows of black smoke against the blue sky.

However, inside of Mr. Bell’s Unisex Main Street Beauty Salon, a line of fire had spread up a wall to the back going up the ceiling, with smoke coming out the bottom of the front door, according to a local person who spoke with the woman who first reported the fire.

Mr. Alvin Bell’s shop, before the fire. Read all about his decades-long history with Beacon.

No one was inside the shop, and no one was hurt. Mr. Alvin Bell and his wife Shirley were at home, done for the day, and the stylists of Amy’s Braids had left the shop and locked up, according to Mr. Bell and a stylist from Amy’s Braids. If you don’t know Mr. Bell, he is iconic, and a deep part of Beacon, having opened his shop decades ago after being laid off as the lead pressman at the Nabisco box printing factory, which is now Dia. He restarted his career at the age of 54, following his wife in hair styling, which was his passion at a very young age.

According to a local person, a woman was handing out free pizza from Big Vinny’s, the new pizza and cannoli shop (not new to New York, however), and noticed a line of fire traveling up the right side wall and up the ceiling, with smoke pouring out of Mr. Bell’s and called 911.

The fire engines arrived and worked to control and put out the fire. According to a firefighter, Beacon’s Chief Gary VanVoorhis will put out a media release soon, as the investigation is ongoing.

According to a neighbor, some smoke spilled into neighboring units, including John’s Shoe Repair, the cobber ALBB has blogged about before. When approached to see what of his business assets were damaged, the cobbler was the most concerned about retrieving customer’s shoes for them, rather than commenting about any loss.

After the fire was put out, Mr. Alvin Bell and his wife Shirley stood outside of their shop, bewildered. Shriely what as a total loss, saying they had lost everything. Furniture, photos, memorabilia. On the walls were photos of their lives as they grew the salon business in Beacon, as well as Shirley’s career. She started as a stylist, and pivoted to West Point, where she retired as a government inspector. The photo of that retirement, she said, seemed to be gone in the now rubble of the shop.

Mr. Bell was chipper as usual, in his ever-dapper clothes, but he expressed the most concern about his photo with Pete Seeger, as well as his boxing gloves. A Dutchess County Fire Investigator brought to Mr. Bell a stack of jewelry boxes, with at least one containing cuff links. His next recovered item was a suitcase that Mr. Bell was quite excited about.

However, the inspector could not yet find the photo of Pete Seeger, but suggested that a pair of boxing gloves might be salvaged.

The stylist at Amy’s Braids was equally stunned, amazed this had happened. When asked if she lost anything, she only commented that she was simply grateful she was not inside to get hurt. When asked where she could be found braiding again, she slightly shook her head and suggested her home.

New York State Lawmakers Revive & Pass Equal Rights Amendment To Protect Right To Abortion In State Constitution, Advancing To Next Step

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The New York State Senate and Assembly advanced the first passage of an amendment, S.51002, to codify the right to an abortion and the right to contraception in the New York State Constitution. After this first step of passing this resolution, it “must be passed by two successive legislatures, and supported by a majority of voters in a public referendum,” said Senator Anna Kaplan, a co-sponsor, with the earliest for a referendum coming to a vote being November 2023.

The Resolution that passed on July 1, 2022 would codify the right to an abortion and the right to contraception, in addition to protecting New Yorkers from various forms of discrimination, as well as protecting from future action by the Supreme Court dismantling rights for LGBTQ+ people, according to a press release by Senator Kaplan. "The resolution expands equal protection under the law to several new identity classes, including on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, age, disability and sex,” she said. “Sex includes sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive healthcare and autonomy."

The lead sponsor is Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

Is Modifying The State Constitution To Protect Abortion Rights, Women, Girls, And All Birthing People New?

According to the New York Times, 15 states including California are seeking to amend their state constitutions to protect the right to save the life of the woman, girl or birthing person for any reason, including financial, wrong time in life, wrong potential partner, and mental and physical health. New York State had tried this before, but failed. During the creation of that effort back then, the lead sponsor, Senator Liz Krueger, said they learned many things while drafting it.

Back in February 2022, The Times Union reported on that earlier proposal that the "inclusive Equal Rights Amendment" is different than the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) at the federal level. Said Senator Krueger then, it was very different than the 45-year-old federal effort, because the state-level amendment "would expand on the federal ERA language to include protections for race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and pregnancy."

According to reporting in Politico, the earlier version of the proposal stalled because over disagreements of recognition based on religion. Politico pointed out that this version was “modified to address critics’ concerns over potential effects on religious freedom.”

The Assembly passed broad state Equal Rights Amendment with 98-43 vote Friday evening, and the Senate “hours earlier swiftly approved the resolution on a 49-14 vote after just minutes of floor discussion,” reported Politico. “The amendment would add explicit protections for New Yorkers to access abortion care,” as well as the right to contraception.

Why Now?

New York Governor Kathy Hochul called for a special session after the Supreme Court struck down New York's open-carry gun law. The Supreme Court then struck down Roe V. Wade, and New York's Equal Rights amendment was added to the agenda for the special session shortly thereafter.

As reported by Politico, the lead sponsor of this version of the bill, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins “told reporters that the Supreme Court’s ruling last week ratcheted up lawmakers’ urgency to finally move the proposal after years of debate in Albany. She noted that Friday’s vote came on the anniversary when New York’s abortion law took effect more than 50 years ago.”

After the extraordinary session on Friday called by New York Governor Kathy Hochul to address New York’s gun laws and abortion, she told reporters: “It’s part of our fighting back to protect women’s reproductive freedoms here in the state of New York. That [amendment] is going to protect reproductive health in the state of New York for generations to come.”

In defense of both votes, Governor Hochul said: “We're not going backwards. They may think that they can change our lives with the stroke of a pen. But we have pens, too," as reported by The Poughkeepsie Journal.

Abortion Rights Protection At The Federal Level In The Constitution

The Times Union interviewed Wilfred Codrington, an assistant professor at Brooklyn Law School and a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, to discover more about the federal effort to add an equal rights amendment for women to the U.S. Constitution. According to him, it has been in the works since the 1920s.

Codrington said "the Constitution doesn't require women be treated equally." He explained that "if there’s nothing permanent and enshrined in the Constitution protecting those values, a number of statutes we’re seeing being contested in the courts and eviscerated or struck down that also were meant to be enduring."

Senator Krueger was starting with New York state by attempting a broader reach than just women, which "would make New York state, I believe, the first in the nation to recognize that all of our populations should have nondiscrimination protections within our Constitution ... (for) a broader universe of categories of humans and for a broader range of issues than gender," she said as reported by The Times Union.

With Senator Krueger’s bill “There's all kinds of precedent that we need to make sure we have the language correctly on, that we are not impeding one right by protecting another right. So I have found that attempting a complex change in a Constitution is a much more difficult assignment than I had originally hoped for," Krueger said.

That was then. This is now.

Union For Healthcare Workers 1199SEIU Demands Abortion Rights Be Restored With Federal Law

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On June 24, 2022, the United Healthcare Workers East 1199SEIU, the largest union of healthcare workers in the United States, sent a statement to the press in response to the overturning of Roe vs Wade, which fundamentally changed the control people who give birth have over their bodies and future lives.

“Large majorities of Americans support abortion rights. Yet the Supreme Court, stacked with extremist voices totally out of step with our nation’s values, has radically undermined the right of every person who can get pregnant to control their own bodies.”
— George Gresham, President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East

Their statement from George Gresham, President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East reads as follows:

“As a union of healthcare workers, we recognize that the right to an abortion is fundamental to reproductive health, overall health, and bodily bodily autonomy. 1199SEIU is appalled that the US Supreme Court has erased half a century of legal precedent allowing people to make the most basic decisions about their bodies, lives, and families. While much of the world is moving forward to secure greater reproductive rights, we have taken a tremendous step backward.

“Large majorities of Americans support abortion rights. Yet the Supreme Court, stacked with extremist voices totally out of step with our nation’s values, has radically undermined the right of every person who can get pregnant to control their own bodies.

Hello, World!

“Those who can afford it will travel out of state or out of country for abortion procedures; those with the least financial means will have nowhere to go. The same politicians who herald the end of reproductive freedom will not raise a finger to improve pre- and post-natal care and ensure that health services are universally available.”
— George Gresham, President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East

“The ramifications of overturning Roe vs. Wade are as gut-wrenching as they are predictable: there will be an immediate wave of abortion bans in states around the country as trigger laws go into effect. People will seek out alternative and dangerous ways of ending their pregnancies. Rape victims, including children, will be forced to carry to term. Those who can afford it will travel out of state or out of country for abortion procedures; those with the least financial means will have nowhere to go. The same politicians who herald the end of reproductive freedom will not raise a finger to improve pre- and post-natal care and ensure that health services are universally available.

“This decision must be a glaring wake-up call to the dysfunction of our nation’s political life and the grave threat of authoritarianism to our democracy, our laws, and institutions.

“1199SEIU stands firmly behind the right to choose and we will continue to fight tooth and nail to preserve this most basic freedom. We call on Congress to codify abortion rights into federal law immediately.

1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. They represent over 450,000 nurses and caregivers throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Our mission is to achieve quality care and good jobs for all.

3rd Annual Chalk Art Protest - July 4th, 10am-12pm - Intersectional & Intergenerational

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Several readers of A Little Beacon Blog have written in, asking “Where is the protest in Beacon? Where can I go to express? How do I get a permit for a protest? I can’t stay quiet on this one!”

Well friends - you are in luck. The 3rd Annual Chalk Art Protest created and produced by Moraya Seeger DeGeare, MA, LMFT is this Monday, July 4th, at Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park from 10am-12pm. Did you just see that last name, Seeger, twice? You did. Moraya is a marriage and relationship therapist with BFF Therapy; she’s a relationship and sex columnist for Refinery29; she’s a parent of two young children in the Beacon City School District; and she’s a granddaughter of Pete and Toshi Seeger, the musical and poetic activists who were crucial in the civil rights movement and restoring climate justice to the Hudson Valley.

About The July 4th Chalk-In Protest

In this riverside protest, Moraya will be leading a chalk-based therapy protest in a way most likely none of you have experienced in a protest before. This chalk-in is about getting in touch with yourself to find your message, and most importantly to speak it loudly (or at all). Moraya, a human of multi-races (her grandmother is half Japanese and half from the USA’s South, her father is Black, and her mother and grandfather are White), maintains a very special lens for viewing the world. Her mission is to share it with you so that you can experience your surroundings more broadly.

“While you may be coming to this chalk-in protest for abortion-rights rage, you will be leaving with racial injustice rage that you should also be speaking about. Oppression is everywhere, and one person’s oppression that is unique to them cannot be ignored for another person’s oppression just because someone hasn’t experienced it. ”
— ALBB

One of her specialties is spotting intersectional morphisms. According to Wikipedia: “Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of advantage and disadvantage.”

While you may be coming to this chalk-in protest for abortion-rights rage, you will be leaving with racial injustice rage that you should also be speaking about. Oppression is everywhere, and one person’s oppression that is unique to them cannot be ignored for another person’s oppression just because someone hasn’t experienced it. If you feel an ounce of it here, recognize an ounce of it there. Respect it and do something.

This chalk-in can be an outlet for the rage anyone is feeling right now with the latest Supreme Court ruling that strips birthing people of the rights and independence to their bodies, as well as upcoming rulings the Supreme Court has reached out on (voting rights, redistricting, climate justice). Says Moraya about the chalk-in: “Identity work is understanding all the different parts of self. My persional view is that it builds from the values in your childhood home along with your location in the world aka culture and society. Sexual, race, gender, age, it’s constantly evolving.”

Kids Are Welcome & Encouraged To Attend

Part of Moraya’s mission in this is to encourage conversation between parents and caregivers with their children. But also with their own inner child. From her website of the movement:

“The heart of this project is to have deeper conversations about systemic issues with children so that they can grow up having language and confidence to continue to talk about racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, sexism, climate change and the list goes on. One of the main things I experienced in 2020 was the number of White people in my life who reached out with emails, texts, people from decades ago sliding into my DMs, and leaving outrageously long apology voicemails saying they had no idea that Black people have been navigating so much racism.

“I’ll be honest, each time someone who I have known for years said those words it nearly hurt worse than watching the news and seeing another Black person murdered. After talking to my Black friends, it turns out I was getting a particularly high number of these messages – I am talking hundreds of them in the spring of 2020. Even my 1st-grade teacher reached out with a story that only centered on her White experience as a teacher to me, her only Black student.

“I didn’t need to hear about how she learned so much from me, a 6-year-old, as I dealt with racism in her class. I needed her to say: ‘I am so sorry for not protecting you. For creating an environment you felt safe to learn in.’

“I got off the phone with her, I was 9 months pregnant, doing remote school with my kindergartener who also was struggling to learn to read, and I just cried. I wept for 6-year-old Moraya who was in all-White education environments her whole childhood.

“I cried for my own children, who are now living in a pandemic and civil unrest. My Black son just hugged me and said ‘let’s go garden and pick some tomatoes mom.’ I looked at him and thought, I have taught you to love the earth, to have a voice, to know that your birthright is to feel joy. A radical act for Black children in America. But I cannot keep you safe once you leave this little house in the woods, with our streams and waterfalls. I can’t protect you from other kids saying your skin is too dark to play their games.

“All of these moments fueled me. It told me that I need to do something to help folks understand that these conversations can and need to happen from a young age. If my kids can experience racism since birth, with their Black mother almost dying in the hospital, yours can certainly talk about it.

“This year’s project is focusing on the idea that if ALL of us are doing our own identity work, we will have deeper empathy and curiosity in ourselves, to hopefully have a deeper desire to understand and connect others who are navigating complex and marginalized identities.”

Chalk-In Schedule

10am: Start. Do any kind of chalk art, writing, scribbles, whatever comes out of your brain/hand.

11am: A little lesson on identity, intersectional identity and the value in understanding your own identity in your activism work.

Then back to chalking.

12pm: The chalk-in ends, “but people can chalk longer,” Moraya says.

Follow @stampouthate for updates.


Pistols Mounted To Flagpoles On Cars - Is It Legal? Defensive Driving To Extreme?

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While coming off the exit ramp of I-84 into Beacon from Poughkeepsie, a 12 year old child and their mother were behind a black Chevy Silverado pickup truck with two billowing flags mounted in its bed: one traditional American flag with stars and stripes; and the other a black combo 2nd Amendment/”Don’t Treat On Me” statement flag with a white rifle in the middle as its logo. On the back window, there was a sticker decal of a dog pooping on something, and bumper sticker saying “Fuck Communists.” Mounted atop the flag pole with the 2nd Amendment/“Don’t Tread On Me” flag was pistol hand gun.

By this day, 10 Black people had already been shot and killed by an 18-year old White teenager on a mission to kill Black people in Buffalo, NY, and 19 children and two teachers had been shot to death at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas by an 18-year old Hispanic teenager who had been regularly bullied by family and friends.

Back in Beacon, the 12 year old child in the car on the I-84 ramp looked at the pistol mounted atop the flag pole and asked the mother driving the car: “Can he do that? Can he have a gun up there?” The child had already done numerous lock-down drills in school, and the Beacon City School District had dedicated a Board of Education Meeting to informing the people about safety measures they have been making after numerous school and public places shootings.

Not sure on the legality of the gun, an inquiry was made by ALBB to the Beacon Police and the City Administrator Chris White. This City Administrator has instructed all City department heads to not respond to questions from A Little Beacon Blog without his permission based on an earlier article.

The black Chevy Silverado pickup truck with the American flag on the left, and the black rifle flag on the right, with the pistol mounted atop the rifle flag pole. This taken on the west-bound exit ramp of I-84 getting off to turn left for Beacon.

Thankfully, the police officer, Lt. Figlia, responded: “This is an interesting question and the City Administrator asked that I address it. The law prohibits the carrying of a handgun without a permit and New York does not issue permits for the open carry of a handgun. I would say, therefore, that if this were a real, functioning handgun, then it would be a violation of the law and also extremely irresponsible. On the other hand, if it is a replica handgun, which I very much hope that it is, then it would not be illegal.”

This was two weeks ago, before the decision this past week when the Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 ruling that struck down New York’s law pertaining to carrying a gun in public.

According to SCOTUS Blog: “The state law at the heart of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen required anyone who wants to carry a concealed handgun outside the home to show ‘proper cause’ for the license. New York courts interpreted that phrase to require applicants to show more than a general desire to protect themselves or their property. Instead, applicants must demonstrate a special need for self-defense – for example, a pattern of physical threats. Several other states, including California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, impose similar restrictions, as do many cities.”

Justice Clarence Thomas led the ruling striking down New York’s law, and wrote that “the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right ‘to keep and bear arms’ protects a broad right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense.”

Further, according to SCOTUS Blog: “Thomas rebuffed New York’s effort to justify its proper-cause requirement as an effort to regulate guns in ‘sensitive places’ – specifically, crowded urban areas, like Manhattan, where people are likely to gather. Thomas agreed that, as a historical matter, there have long been laws restricting guns in places like courthouses and polling places. Moreover, he continued, restrictions that apply to the modern versions of ‘sensitive places’ may also pass constitutional muster. Although Thomas left open exactly what might qualify as a ‘sensitive place,’ he made clear that urban areas do not meet that definition. The state’s ‘argument would in effect exempt cities from the Second Amendment and would eviscerate the general right to publicly carry arms for self-defense,’ Thomas concluded.”

According to CNBC, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said, “This decision isn’t just reckless, it’s reprehensible.”

Hochul said that because “the federal government will not have sweeping laws to protect us ... our states and our governors have a moral responsibility to do what we can and have laws that protect our citizens because of what is going on — the insanity of the gun culture that has possessed everyone all the way up to the Supreme Court.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said: “This decision has made every single one of us less safe from gun violence.”

President Joe Biden said he was “deeply disappointed” in the ruling, which he said, “contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all.”

Not sure how the Supreme Court’s new decision impacts Lt. Figlia’s answer for the truck here in the Hudson Valley region.

Where Did This Legal Case Come From?

According to CNBC, “the case was brought by the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association and two of its members, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, whose applications for concealed-carry handgun licenses for self-defense purposes were rejected. New York Supreme Court Justice Richard McNally ruled that neither man had shown proper cause to carry guns in public because they failed to demonstrate that they had a special need for self-protection.”

According to the NPR Legal Correspondent, Nina Totenberg, this Supreme Court is looking for cases it can make national changes on. This observation was supported by this reporting in CNBC regarding this gun law: “After a federal judge in New York dismissed the case, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that judgment. The U.S. Supreme Court then took the case.”

As for this truck pulling into Beacon: it was spotted again headed south on 9D on Juneteenth afternoon, which was June 19, 2022. The truck pulled into Buffalo Wild Wings and parked alongside the resteraunt. A White man with a close clipped brown beard in a long sleeved cotton jersey walked around the truck, checked the 2nd Amendment flag pole with the pistol mounted on top, and went about his day.

Had the driver of this truck been a Black man, or an Arab man, or a Hispanic man, or an Indian man, or an Asian man, would the vehicle still be out on the road?