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Hudson schools days are hazy but not lazy

In News, News - Columbia, The Columbia Paper
August 3, 2021
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HUDSON—Summer school, food matters, instruction time, new staff, and elementary school sports received attention at the Hudson City School District (HCSD) Board of Education meeting July 20.

Summer school started this month and district Superintendent Dr. Maria L. Suttmeier announced there are 154 students in 6th through 12th grades and 142 in kindergarten through 5th grade for a total of 296 summer students.

The total is 18.6% of  the state Education Department’s latest count of 1,591 for the total enrollment in the HCSD in kindergarten through 12th grades for the 2020-21 school year.

The district provides buses for summer school. After-school, students can take the buses directly to some destinations, such as Oakdale Lake, Business Administrator Jesse Boehme reported.

The cafeteria serves free breakfast and lunch for all persons under 18 years old who live in the district, Mr. Boehme announced. There are no income restrictions. Even children too young for school are eligible, Dr. Suttmeier confirmed. Breakfasts are available from 7:30 to 9 a.m. and lunches are available from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on a take-out basis. (In-school eating is for summer school students.)

For food services the HCSD has joined a Capital Region BOCES program, Mr. Boehme reported. This can reduce food purchase costs, because ordering jointly with other districts can lead to steeper bulk discounts.

In addition, the HCSD needs a new head of food services and is talking with the one the program has proposed. The program is also supplying services that are new to the district, such as a registered dietitian. Halal food is available, provisions are made for people with food allergies and, Mr. Boehme added, “They were able to give us fresh food for summer school.”

‘We entered the summer needing to fill about 10 positions. Now we need to fill about 15.’

Asst. Sup’t., Dr. April Prestipino

Hudson City School District

On another topic, Dr. Suttmeier announced that the state wants to “maximize instructional time,” and school districts are talking with the teachers’ union about how to do this without increasing the teachers’ contracted work day. And without “shortchanging time for recess and lunch,” recommended board member Sage Carter. Recess and lunch are 20 minutes each.

The meeting also welcomed four new people to the faculty and staff. They are:

* Tracy Gaffney, secretary to the Superintendent. She replaces Dawn McDonald who just retired. Ms. Gaffney is from Catskill and has worked in the Catskill Middle School

* Meredith Zapp, reading specialist. She said she was born and raised in Hudson, lives in the HCSD, and taught for eight years in Chatham

* Courtney Lapp, Special Education teacher. She said she taught in the HCSD before, went to teach for Questar, and now is returning to the Hudson district

* Kristine Livingston, science teacher.

Despite the new employees, Assistant Superintendent of School Improvement Dr. April Prestipino reported, “We entered the summer needing to fill about 10 positions. Now we need to fill about 15.”

Employees are switching to other districts, reported Dr. Suttmeier.

“Have you been getting a lot of applicants?” asked Board member Mark DePace.

“That depends on the position,” replied Dr. Suttmeier. “For technology we didn’t get a lot of applicants.”

Dr. Suttmeier reported that she and Elementary School Principal Mark Brenneman have been talking with Justin Cukerstein, coordinator for interscholastic sports, about starting a sports program for elementary school students. Mr. Cukerstein plans to make a presentation to the Board about this in August.

Also at the meeting:

* The Board designated Gladys Cruz, superintendent of Questar III BOCES, as search consultant for finding a new superintendent of the HCSD. Dr. Suttmeier plans to retire in January.

* Mr. Boehme said that the HCSD is moving some student desks back into the active school buildings, in anticipation of shorter social distance requirements.

The next meeting of the Hudson City School District Board of Education will take place Tuesday, August 3, at 6 p.m.

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Friends honor Hudson artist with memorial

In News - Columbia, The Columbia Paper
July 16, 2023
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By DAVID LEE

New marble headstone for Hudson art Bill Sullivan. Photo by David Lee

HUDSON – The 19th Century Hudson River landscape painters were captivated by the views from the hills around Hudson. Perhaps the most renowned of them, Fredric E. Church, built his house on top of one of them, the view from which is famous enough that it has its own protected status as the Olana Viewshed. In 1880, another important Hudson River School landscape painter, Sanford Gifford, was buried in his family plot on the hillside of the Hudson City Cemetery on the high ground with its own fantastic viewshed looking east toward the Berkshires.
Now a new marble stone has been installed in that vicinity, the marker of Hudson artist Bill Sullivan who died in 2010. The stone itself, which stands within yards of Mr. Gifford’s, is carved in the same 19th century style and the same white marble as the other stones, but not yet tarnished with age. Mr. Sullivan painted many of the same scenes that his heroes Mr. Gifford, Mr. Church, and Thomas Cole saw, but accomplished them in the higher key of the late 20th century.
A ceremony was conducted on Saturday, July 1, to acknowledge the placement of the headstone and to commemorate Mr. Sullivan’s life. Artists and writers gathered from around the region, first at the Carrie Haddad Gallery on Warren Street in Hudson for introductions and conversation. Mr. Sullivan showed his work there and the gallery represents him.
Then the group moved up to the hillside and, as the clouds broke revealing a bright blue sky, people reminisced. In attendance were his close friend and partner, poet Jaime Manrique, who manages the estate; long-time friends Eugene Richie and Roseanne Wasserman whose Groundwater Press published the catalog for his 2006 retrospective at the Albany Institute of History and Art; David Kermani and Jeffrey Lependorf of Flow Chart Foundation which is modeled in the example of Hudson poet John Ashbery. Mr. Ashbery wrote the preface to the 2006 catalog: “With only a tinge of irony, Bill Sullivan makes new the vast spaces and swooning optimism of nineteenth-century Luminist painting.”
Film-maker Jacob Burckhardt, who met the artist in college in the 1960s, remembers how Mr. Sullivan took him in on one particularly misspent evening in New York City. Maybe because of his homelessness in early life, Mr. Sullivan was remembered as someone who took in people who had reached the end of their tether. And friend and artist McWillie Chambers said, “Bill was a presence in Hudson — everybody knew him.”
Brian Brunius, a friend, remembers that Mr. Sullivan was like a star struck teenager when he discovered the Mr. Gifford gravesite.

After Mr. Sullivan died, Mr. Manrique told Mr. Brunius that he wanted to purchase a gravesite and commission a gravestone to preserve Mr. Sullivan’s legacy and memory. Mr. Brunius then contacted the Gifford estate and acquired permission for Mr. Manrique to purchase a grave in their family plot and to commission, with the help of gifts from Mr. Sullivan’s friends, Hudson Monumental Works to create the historically consistent headstone.

Deputy injured in crash en route to incident in Hudson

In Blotter, Blotter - Columbia, The Columbia Paper
December 8, 2022
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A Columbia County Sheriff’s deputy and patrol car were involved in a one-car accident the night of November 29. Photo by Lance Wheeler

HUDSON—A Columbia County Sheriff’s deputy was hurt in a patrol car crash, November 29 at 9:11 p.m.

The deputy, who was not identified in a press release from Columbia County Sheriff Donald Krapf, was driving a patrol car on South Third Street in the city, responding to assist Hudson Police on a “fight in progress” call.

The patrol car, the only vehicle involved, went off the road into a wooded area and rolled over, according to newsman on the scene Lance Wheeler.

The Greenport Rescue Squad took the deputy to the Albany Medical Center, where the deputy was treated for minor injuries and released.

The Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Branch has been assigned to the case. Additional details were not released at because it is an open and active investigation, the press release said.

To contact Diane Valden emaildvalden@columbiapaper.com

Officers patrol to ensure hunters follow law

GHENT—New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) are advancing “Operation Safe Harvest” this big game hunting season as part of a statewide initiative to ensure all hunters are following the state’s hunting laws and safety guidelines while afield. ECOs will be patrolling and conducting a variety of field operations to help ensure a safe and enjoyable big game hunting season.

“New York is fortunate to have a large population of hunters and trappers who abide by the state’s hunting laws and respect their fellow hunters and others enjoying the outdoors. DEC’s ECOs will be out in force this season to ensure compliance, engage with new and experienced hunters, and continue their important work promoting public safety in our communities and protecting our natural resources,” Commissioner Seggos said in a press release.

“Many of our ECOs are avid hunters themselves and participate in New York’s cherished big game hunting seasons. Unfortunately, not everyone respects the laws and safety guidelines that come with this storied tradition. In response, I’ve directed my Officers to be on the lookout this season for the night hunters, poachers, and baiters who blatantly disregard the State’s stringent hunting laws,” DEC’s Director of the Division of Law Enforcement Karen Przyklek said in the release.

This statewide enforcement initiative began October 22 when the regular deer and bear season opened in the Northern Zone. So far, ECOs have written nearly 150 tickets, including 50 misdemeanor level charges. The regular firearms season for deer and bear in the Southern Zone, which draws hundreds of thousands of hunters to New York each year, got underway November 19.

In addition to statewide enforcement, officers educate hunters on New York’s hunting laws and safety guidelines, both in the field and as instructors for the New York State Hunter Education Program. New York State continues to prioritize hunter safety year-round and the 2021 hunting seasons in New York were the safest ever, with the lowest number of incidents since record-keeping began.

DEC Law Enforcement also reminds hunters they are key partners in protecting New York deer from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Chronic Wasting Disease continues to spread in other states, and hunters are key to preventing CWD introduction to New York. CWD is always fatal to deer. If introduced, it could spread rapidly and be practically impossible to eliminate once established.

The regular firearms season for deer and bear in the Southern Zone runs through Sunday, December 11, and includes participation from approximately 85% of New York’s 550,000 licensed hunters. For a breakdown of New York’s hunting seasons visit:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/65231.html

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