Mid Hudson Times Oct. 04 2017

T IMES NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION FIRST-PLACE AWARD FOR GENERAL EXCELLENCE, 2016 MID DoD begins water sampling in New Windsor HUDSON Vol. 29, No 40 3 OCTOBER 4 - 10, 2017 3 Dark Into Light Goldbacks blank Pine Bush Page 14 Page 38 ONE DOLLAR SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR Sobering reality Safe Homes kicks off Domestic Violence Awareness Month By SHANTAL RILEY [email protected] After more than a year of calls to take action on the contamination of the region’s drinking water supply, the U.S. Department of Defense has begun taking water samples in and around Stewart Air National Guard Base, including the polluted Recreation Pond. “Until now, the DoD has spent more time and energy trying to circumvent liability than it has honoring its responsibility to taxpayers, public health and innocent families,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer in a statement last week. The sampling is being carried out almost a year and a half after a state of emergency was declared due to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) contamination of the City of Newburgh’s drinking-water reservoir at Washington Lake. Tests, conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation last summer, revealed that the source of the contamination was Stewart Air National Guard Base. Located at Stewart International Airport, Continued on page 4 Anne Harris holds a T-shirt made for her daughter Alexis Harris, murdered by her boyfriend in 2012. The Clothesline Project was on view at the Neighborhood Business and Resource Center on Monday. By SHANTAL RILEY [email protected] Nationwide, one in four women will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. Twenty-three women have been killed by intimate partners in Orange County since 2004; one woman is still missing. These were the sobering statistics presented at a Safe Homes of Orange County event at the Neighborhood Business and Resource Center on Monday. The gathering kicked off the WWW.MIDHUDSONTIMES.COM Domestic Violence Awareness Month of October. “Domestic violence happens everywhere,” said New York State Assemblyman James Skoufis, speaking that day. Continued on page 2