Poughkeepsie: Police Raid Stores Accused of Selling Weed
Officers from the Neighborhood Recovery Unit of the city police department on March 5 raided three stores allegedly selling cannabis without a state license.
Two dispensaries were operating on Academy Street and the third on Main Street, police said. According to the Mid Hudson News, the Academy Street operations were creating traffic jams because customers would double-park to make quick purchases. One store advertised its supply on a whiteboard in the window and the other was located inside a convenience store.
There are 78 legal dispensaries operating in the state, although none have opened in Dutchess or Putnam counties.
Montgomery: Board Votes to Become ‘Un-Sanctuary Community’
A majority of the four trustees on the Village Board voted March 5 to declare Montgomery to be an “un-sanctuary community.”
The resolution was proposed by Michael Hembury, a trustee who is running for the vacant position of mayor. “The plane landed at Orange County Airport about six months ago and I don’t want to wake up in the morning and find out that our senior center or our teen center or our elementary school is filled with migrants,” he told Mid Hudson News after the vote. “We have to protect this community, so we are ‘officially’ an un-sanctuary city or village.”
Trustee Randi Picarello, who is also running for mayor, attempted to table the resolution.
Washington, D.C.: Ryan, Lawler Fund Local Projects
Pat Ryan and Mike Lawler, whose U.S. House districts include Beacon and Philipstown, respectively, announced last week that they had secured funding for projects in their districts through a process known as earmarks.
Ryan distributed nearly $17 million for 14 projects, including $4.2 million for renovations and expansion at the Boys & Girls Club of Newburgh and $960,000 to the Town of Wappinger to install 5,300 linear feet of 8-inch water main and 6,300 linear feet of 10-inch main along town and state roads in the Route 9 corridor.
Lawler distributed $36 million for 17 projects, including $1 million for sewer construction in the Annsville Creek section of the Town of Cortlandt; $2 million to improve and expand public access to Lake Mahopac; $1.25 million to replace the Oregon Corners sewer pump station in Putnam Valley; $750,000 for Putnam County to develop a comprehensive pedestrian improvement plan that will lead to the replacement and installation of sidewalks and add mobility options near senior centers; and $1.24 million to rehab the Lake Carmel dam in Kent.
Saugerties: Couple Charged in Hit-and-Run
Police arrested a 42-year-old woman on charges that she struck and killed a pedestrian on Route 9W in January, then fled the scene and staged an accident to account for the damage to her car.
Lacey Maxwell was arrested March 5. She was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and insurance fraud, among other accusations. Her husband, Ryan Maxwell, 43, was also charged. Police said Lacey Maxwell struck Starllie Swonyoung, who was walking along the shoulder.
Montgomery: Food Bank Warehouse Underway
The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley has started construction of a 40,000-square-foot distribution center in this Orange County town that will provide the nonprofit with space to store donations that are distributed to Dutchess, Putnam and four other counties.
Working with the food industry, the Food Bank collects donations of unmarketable but edible food and distributes it to charitable agencies. In 2023, it provided more than 21 million pounds of food to more than 400 partner programs.
The Food Bank noted that its current distribution center in Cornwall-on-Hudson is half the size of the new building, which means it often must store food in Albany County. The $23.8 million building was funded in part with $14.4 million in state grants.
Carmel: Man Accused of Selling Illegal Mushrooms
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 39-year-old man on March 4 for allegedly selling illegal psychedelic mushrooms.
Zhenxiu Lu was accused of selling the mushrooms from The Tobacco House of Zhang on Route 6 in the Town of Carmel. The sheriff said an investigator made three purchases at the location.
After the arrest, police executed a search warrant at Lu’s residence in the Town of Southeast, where they seized $53,000 in cash and business records. They also executed a search warrant at a business in Carmel where they seized more cash and a “large amount of psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana products,” according to a news release. Lu was arraigned on four felony counts and released until his next court date.
