Huffington Post: Newburgh as Environmental Ground Zero

 

This story in the Huffington Post, http://bit.ly/2tvW6a5, written by a person who obviously is not familiar with the City, nevertheless accurately portrays Newburgh as the center of a brewing nationwide environmental storm. We are totally on the side of the angels in suing the State over the mislabeling of Silver Stream, and the Department of Defense over the PFOS in Washington Lake (which the reporter repeatedly calls “Lake Washington,” even though the photo captions have it right). Let’s just hope the angels win.

Don't Miss This: New Standard Trio Coming to Newburgh!

If you like jazz music, put 8 pm on Saturday, March 24, in your calendar. The New Standard Trio will be playing at Jazz at Atlas, 11 Spring Street, Newburgh. With Jamie Saft on piano, Steve Swallow on bass and Bobby Previte on drums, this group is coming off a standout 2017, when their new record, "Loneliness Road," with guest vocals by Iggy Pop, was received to wide acclaim. Get your tickets here: http://bit.ly/2Igyn11 or buy them at the door for $25 each.

Ain't Nature Grand/Disgusting?

This morning i was treated to the sight of a Cooper's hawk almost directly under my bird feeder. He (she?) was feasting on a still-steaming starling. (There's a poem here somewhere ... or at least a tongue-twister.) Tim called my attention to it while i was in the kitchen making breakfast. I turned off the stove, grabbed my binoculars and uttered the word "EWWWW!" every few seconds for a full 20 minutes as the raptor, blood dripping from its beak, tore the flight feathers off its prey one by one and spit them out onto the reddening snow. I was horrified and fascinated and couldn't look away. 

Then the hawk flew off with the starling carcass and i went back to ... scrambling my eggs. 

Birds are a lot of things, but they're not hypocrites.

Well, i guess we're both eating our breakfasts, aren't we?