T IMES
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION FIRST-PLACE AWARD FOR GENERAL EXCELLENCE, 2016
MID
HUDSON
Vol. 29, No 28
3
JULY 12 - 18, 2017
Reptile weekend
Page 12
3
ONE DOLLAR
A trip to the
Aquarium
Page 16
SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR
Big change for Newburgh schools
Bond project calls for major upgrades to Newburgh District schools
Rally to
stop PFOS
pollution set
for Saturday
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
athletic facility with an indoor, track
and field space. The plan also calls for
renovations at the existing NFA Main
campus building.
An earlier version of the plan
proposed the consolidation of NFA Main
and North schools and moving Horizons-
on-the-Hudson students to a new school
on district-owned property on Chestnut
Street. That suggestion came up against
staunch opposition from residents and A group of concerned citizens will
hold a demonstration to demand action
by the U.S. Department of Defense in
the ongoing contamination of the City
of Newburgh drinking watershed. The
public rally takes place at 11 a.m. on
Saturday, July 15, across from Moroney’s
Cycle on Route 300.
“I want the Department of Defense
to take notice that the residents of the
Hudson Valley are unanimous in their
opposition to the continued discharge of
PFOS into our streams and river,” said
City of Newburgh Ward 2 Councilwoman
Genie Abrams.
Abrams is among a group of residents
and activists who will join organizations
including Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson and
the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance
to demonstrate at the event. New York
State Assemblyman Frank Skartados and
Riverkeeper’s Water Quality Program
Director Dan Shapley are among the
scheduled speakers.
The event is open to the public and
participants are welcome, Abrams said.
The rally is being held next to several
large tanks that are part of a carbon
filtration system installed to remove
perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) from
Washington Lake, the city’s main source
of drinking water.
State tests show the chemical
Continued on page 4 Continued on page 3
Image: Courtesy Clark Patterson Lee
A proposed capital bond project calls for a new career and technical education center to be built on the NFA Main campus.
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
The Newburgh Enlarged City School
District plans sweeping infrastructure
improvements through a proposed
capital bond project. Bond funding would
pay for major renovations to existing
schools, a new pre-kindergarten center
and a new building on the Newburgh
Free Academy Main campus.
“It’s time to plant our flag,” said
Newburgh Superintendent of Schools
Roberto Padilla, speaking at a Board of
Education meeting last Thursday.
“As other school districts enhance
and advance into the future, Newburgh
has to do the same… We can put band
aids on our facilities or we can be
courageous. We can be visionaries and
give Newburgh a chance to soar.”
The current plan outlines a redesign
for the NFA Main campus: a new
high-school building, complete with
a cafeteria, gym, auditorium, career
and technical education center, and
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