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Vol. 31, No. 31
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Your guide to local
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JULY 31 - AUGUST 6, 2019
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SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR
A plea for help
Newburgh men look for a way to end gang violence
By CARL J. AIELLO
[email protected]
How do we stop the gun violence that
has plagued our city?
The question was on the minds of
the 30 or so men who gathered Sunday
afternoon at the Newburgh Armory
Unity Center. Amid the servings of
pizza and small talk came some serious
discussion about how we can stem the
tide of violence.
The forum was the idea of Marquis
Thompson, a lifelong Newburgh
resident who, having spent time in
prison, desired to make a difference.
“I’m from the City of Newburgh
and I would like to make a change,”
Thompson said.
“I’ve learned my lesson from being
incarcerated,” said Thompson, now 23.
“Now that I’ve grown up, it’s not what I
want for my children.”
Thompson reached out to the City of
Newburgh Police with his idea for what
he hopes will be the first of many public
forums in which residents can share
their ideas on how to make Newburgh a
safer city.
“Law enforcement is not going to do it
by themselves,” said Lt Joe Cortez who
handles special projects for the City of
Newburgh Police Department.
The number of shootings has
actually declined in recent years, but
those at Sunday’s forum believe there’s
more work to be done.
In 2015, there were 55 shootings in
the City of Newburgh.
That number would reduce in the
3
‘We
Deserve
Clean
Water’
Newburgh residents
learn about PFAS
By ILYSSA DALY
Marquis Thompson organized a gathering Sunday at the Newburgh Armory Unity
Center to seek input from the community on ways to end gun violence in the city.
following years: 48 in 2016, 17 (with
six homicides) in 2017 and 8 (with two
homicides) in 2018.
It wasn’t entirely good news. There
were two more shootings reported on
Saturday, the night before the meetings.
That’s too many shootings, says
Isabel Rojas, project manager –group
Continued on page 23
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Newburgh residents gathered at the Ritz
Theatre on July 27 for an all-day event
that educated participants on the current
state of drinking water in New York State
and in their local community. The event
was organized by the environmental
advocacy group the Newburgh Clean
Water Project, which aims to protect
and restore Newburgh’s watershed. The
event was aptly named “We Deserve Clean
Water!” and discussed the consequences
of PFAS contamination, particularly in
Lake Washington. The group also seeks
to restore the watershed and protect it
against development that would threaten
its sterility.
Newburgh’s water source was found
to be contaminated by PFAS chemicals
in 2016 after the New York Air National
Guard Base released firefighting foam into
Continued on page 3