Highlands Current Audio Stories

Cites accidental removal of STAR exemptions

Putnam County has placed a temporary hold on tax bills for the Haldane school district for 2026-27, citing a calculation error.

In a statement, the county said a "file control error" caused STAR exemptions to be removed. It said new invoices would be mailed by Wednesday (Sept. 2) on pink paper with "Corrected Bill" at the top.

The STAR exemption is available to homeowners who have received it for the same primary residence since 2015 and have a combined income of up to $250,000 annually. New homeowners with a household income of up to $500,000 annually must register for the STAR credit, which is issued as a check or via direct deposit.

Enhanced STAR provides additional benefits for residents ages 65 and older with lower income limits ($110,750 or less in 2026). Income eligibility for the 2026 benefit is based on federal or state income tax return data from 2024. See dub.sh/star-eligibility.

In May, Haldane voters approved a 5.53 percent tax-levy increase, nearly double the 2025-26 increase. The larger increase was driven by borrowing costs for a $28.4 million capital plan approved by voters in 2024. The state tax-cap formula allows districts to collect higher taxes to pay debt service on voter-approved capital improvements.

Haldane's proposal translated to a $740 annual property tax increase for a home valued at $1 million, according to the district. To look up Haldane tax bills through 2025, see dub.sh/haldane-tax-bills.

Cabo brothers and friends jam at Savage Wonder

The Everything Zine is a guerrilla marketing tool for the Everything Jam, held every Sunday evening at Savage Wonder in Beacon for the time being. Though the all-inclusive titles conjure images of visual and musical mayhem, there is method to the madness.

The plain-Jane zine includes black-and-white drawings, event listings and reminders about the jam — a series of improvised seven-minute-or-so sessions performed by an ever-rotating cast of musicians and instrumental combinations.

The explorations could extend far longer, but all good things must end, which usually occurs when the drummer drops out or the group builds to a cohesive climax. Though jazz-based, vocalists, violinists, a melodion and a harmonica fit right in.

There's been so much buzz that on Aug. 23, for the first time, hosts Zohar and Adam Cabo set up in-the-round at Savage Wonder's 4,000-square-foot art gallery, outside their usual home in the small basement performance space.

"We always wanted to move to the big room, especially after 120 people showed up one night," says Zohar, who plays keyboards.

Along with extensive experience, Al Hemberger (who lives in Philipstown) brings a comprehensive backline of mics, amps and a 24-channel mixing board. Video art by Rooster, a Beacon denizen, adds a far-out touch.

After Beacon-based brothers Zohar and drummer Adam release their first album, Osmosis, on Nov. 4 and play a record-release gig at the Blue Note in Manhattan on Nov. 30, they will head out on tour, and the jam will likely take a hiatus until their return, says Adam.

Kicking off every show, the duo establishes the sonic template — a simple keyboard groove accompanied by a chunky drumbeat that provides enough inspiration to delve into the unknown.

"People are taking risks onstage," says Adam. "In this crazy world, it's a beautiful thing."

Yet free jazz, where musicians go off in different directions and create intentionally chaotic cacophonies, is frowned upon. Success is predicated on listening and gelling, not playing any old thing or hogging the spotlight.

"Players have to collaborate by being present in the moment and keeping their eyes and ears open onstage," says Adam.

As vocalists and instrumentalists focus, songs gel as supporting parts blossom into solos. During one soundscape, Adam's snare snaps increased intensity and shifted the dynamics. Zohar zeroes in on odd sounds, like singing whales or dinosaurs.

Playing harmonica, Cold Spring resident Adam Osterfeld provided atmospheric accompaniment to a heady jam. Classically trained violinist and Beacon resident Jossey Bieler is a regular who also plays with restraint.

About halfway through one ambient expedition, bass player Ricky Kinyon from Kingston locked into a funky repetitive line that lifted the tune. Chogyi Marco, who brought his guitar from Woodstock, scratched out understated lines at first, but found enough footing when his turn arrived to unleash a furious solo.

Ensembles are assembled on the fly, ensuring that every jam takes its own course. There's no sign-up sheet, just speak with Adam or Zohar, who let other drummers and keyboard players take over as they cobble together groups of musicians who might play well together.

"We know these cats and can figure out how they'll fit in," says Adam. The event, which started off twice a month in November, is now weekly.

On Aug. 16, Lily Labe and Kirsten Nunez arrived early to claim choice seats and stayed for the entire three hours. On Aug. 23, Labe (who plays piano and guitar, but not at the jam) staked out a comfortable chair in the front row.

"The talent is amazing, and the artists adapt so well," she said. "It's cool that this is all made up in the moment."

Savage Wonder is located at 139 Main St. in Beacon. The Everything Jam is free and begins each Sunday at 7 p.m.

The big question: what's inside?

Another Cold Spring mystery has surfaced, earning a place alongside how B Street got its name, who stole the disco ball from the riverfront bandstand at the turn of the millennium and who published the fake PCNR in 2012.

Now people want to know the story behind a sturdy 19th-century safe that has been sitting for weeks outside 37 Main St., where Angie's Cafe is scheduled to reopen soon after moving from 116 Main.

Brian Tormey, the building's owner, said his predecessor left the safe behind, in plain sight. The previous owner's father may have had a connection: He operated a business that refinished large metal equipment.

Two specialists are working on cracking it. "Both are experienced with 19th-century mechanisms, and they are confident," said Tormey, who believes the safe dates to 1865. The dial has 70 numbers, and it appears to have a three-number combination. That means 343,000 possibilities.

"That was a formidable number in the 1860s, and it's a formidable number now," Tormey said. "That's why the work is being done by people who can read the mechanism."

The safe was manufactured by the Marvin Safe Co., founded in the late 1830s at 265 Broadway in New York City. Tormey said that in the 19th century, fire, not burglary, was the biggest threat, and Marvin's groundbreaking fireproofing technology was significant enough to be featured in Scientific American.

"We don't yet know what is inside," Tormey said. "And we're deliberately not speculating." There will be an "unveiling" once the safe is opened, he said.

Tormey said that if the safe is cracked, he'll likely have it restored and keep it as part of the building's history, or maybe donate it to a museum.

Legislators critical of large surplus

The Putnam County Legislature moved on Monday (Aug. 24) to take a bigger role in spending the county's outsized surplus by rescinding a 14-year-old policy letting the finance commissioner determine how it's allocated and requesting a state audit.

Since the policy's adoption in 2012, Putnam County's budget surplus swelled from $33.9 million to $191 million in 2024 because of "over-appropriation, underestimation of revenues and increased sales tax receipts and other revenues," according to a resolution approved by the Budget and Finance Committee.

An audit at the end of 2024 found that Putnam had $191 million in reserves, including $162.2 million in its general fund and $78.3 million in "unassigned" funds that had not been designated for specific areas of spending. Total reserves were $23.3 million higher than 2023 and unassigned reserves slightly lower, according to the audit.

While state law prohibits school officials from accumulating surpluses that exceed 4 percent of their budgets, cities, counties, towns, villages and fire districts are allowed to carry over a "reasonable amount" of unrestricted funds.

Some of Putnam's current surplus has been shifted to "artificial allocations" that never get spent, said Dan Birmingham, who chairs the Legislature and the committee. He highlighted one account for "future capital projects" that he said holds $17.8 million and has not fallen below $15 million in four years.

"When these allocations are not used year after year after year — and in those rare instances where they are used and are simply just replenished the very next day — I've got to call into question whether they're really allocations at all, or whether they're just there to say that they are cordoned off from taxpayer relief," he said.

In addition to rescinding the 2012 policy, the committee approved a resolution requesting that the state Comptroller's Office audit the county's management of its fund balance. Legislators reviewed a similar audit of Steuben County that concluded in December. It showed that by underestimating revenues and overestimating expenses, Steuben had an unrestricted surplus that represented 48 percent of its budget.

Steuben's budget included 150 vacant positions for 2023 and 2024, leaving its departments with money that was appropriated and never spent. Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley in the Putnam Legislature, said her "concern every year is … is how much each department is underspending."

Acting Finance Commissioner Alexandra Gordon, who opposed rescinding the 2012 resolution and defended the county's budgeting practices, said the administration "questions everything" that goes into its spending plans, including vacant positions. "It's hard with the salaries that they have in the [union] contracts," she said. "It's hard to get people to want to come to county government."

The Budget Committee discussed a proposed amendment to the county charter that would allow a majority of legislators (five), instead of a supermajority (six) to override a county executive veto of their cuts or reductions to appropriations in a tentative budget. A supermajority would still be needed to override a veto of any other vote, and the charter change would have to be approved by voters in a referendum to take effect. "It's going to be one thing to help keep a lid on spending," said Birmingham.

The committee approved releasing $150,000 in emergency funding that sat unspent after being approved in November when a federal government shutdown threatened SNAP (food stamps) benefits. Montgomery said that after the spending was approved on Nov. 5, it was held back when the shutdown ended seven days later.

The Monday vote authorized releasing $75,000 to the United Way of Westchester and Putnam, $50,000 to Putnam Community Action and $25,000 to Cornell Cooperative Extension. "The crisis has not gone away; it's only gotten worse," said Montgomery.

Dutchess Manor lot faced opposition

Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail is eliminating a 47-space overflow parking lot from its plans for turning Dutchess Manor into a visitor center and headquarters for the 7.5-mile trail between Cold Spring and Beacon.

The nonprofit had sought approval from the Fishkill Zoning Board to use part of a residential property it bought, along with Dutchess Manor, to create an overflow area where visitors could park if the primary spots were full. But in an Aug. 12 letter to the board, HHFT said it decided to eliminate the lot "based on the feedback throughout the application process" and its "outreach efforts." Neighbors had criticized the plan, which included a 139-foot vegetation buffer.

The Planning Board will continue its review of the site plan for the project, which involves demolishing additions to the former catering hall and restoring the original building, which was constructed in 1868.

Early freeze destroyed much of crop

If you want to pick Pink Lady apples this fall, good luck.

The crisp, sweet favorites, along with Ginger Golds, Roxbury Russets and Golden Russets, will be hard to find because of a hard freeze on April 21 that destroyed the fruit of early-blooming varieties.

"We don't have any Pink Ladies this year," said Josh Morgenthau, who owns Fishkill Farms and its 40 acres of apple trees. While the freeze destroyed about half of the apple crop, Morgenthau said that there are still plenty to pick from later-blooming varieties like Gala, McIntosh, Fuji, Ida Red, Macoun, Spartan and Granny Smith.

Morgenthau said his wholesale apple business was largely wiped out this year, along with nearly all the cherries, pears, nectarines and peaches. He plans to apply for a low-interest federal disaster loan available to apple producers.

New York, which ranks second to Washington in production, has estimated the damage to the $575 million industry at $30 million to $60 million. Some farms lost only 15 percent of their crop, but the Hudson Valley was hard-hit. "This hardship follows a trend we are becoming all too familiar with — temperature swings that are indicative of our changing climate," said Gov. Kathy Hochul in May.

Cold snaps in 2012, 2016 and 2023 also hit New York apples hard. Jason Londo, a professor at Cornell University who studies fruit-crop physiology and climate adaptation, said there isn't enough data to implicate climate change.

Nevertheless, Londo and others are working to cultivate trees with later bloom dates. "Our fruit crops are not well adapted to warm temperatures in late winter and early spring," he said.

But it can take 20 to 30 years to introduce a new apple variety to the market, and "we're in crisis mode," said Mike Biltonen, an orchard consultant in the Hudson Valley who began working in the industry in 1984 while still a student at Virginia Tech.

Biltonen said that climate change has brought new pests to the region, including spotted lanternflies. "The nymphs and the adults are sap feeders," he said. "They're sucking the life out of the trees."

Boscobel House and Gardens in Philipstown has 30 apple trees. Matthew Campbell, the facilities manager, said the April freeze, last year's drought and an abbreviated pruning window cut this year's harvest by 60 percent. "To see a tree without apples is heartbreaking," he said.

Growers protect trees from freezes with propane heaters and blowers, and by spraying a protective glaze of water that freezes and insulates the trees from the deeper cold. During the April freeze, Fishkill Farms hired two helicopters to hover over 10 acres of the orchard during the coldest part of the night and push warmer air down.

Fishkill Farms and other orchards also have diversified their businesses to be less reliant on apples. Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook has a cider and wine-tasting room; it also hosts weddings, puppet shows, Yoga in the Orchard and live Brazilian music. "We're a public-facing farm, and so that helps to offset crop loss," said Kevin Clark, the orchardist and farm manager.

Clark said that the 13-acre orchard lost about 50 percent of its apples this year, plus all its cherries and apricots and nearly all its plums. Peaches fared better than expected. "Some kind of miracle happened with the peaches," he said.

For several years, Ian Kingsley has been taking measures to protect his family's private orchard off Route 9 in Philipstown. He added later-blooming varieties like Northern Spy, Rome and Enterprise, to "get fruit no matter what happens," said Kingsley, who runs Kingsley Tree Care.

Kingsley's family has been growing apples for about 40 years and has 50 or so trees, including Honey Crisp, Liberty, Grimes Golden, King David, Blondee, McIntosh, Cortland and Golden Delicious. They also have lesser-known, early bloomers like Pinova and Ashmead Kernel. "My Pinova has two apples on it," he said. "My Ashmead Kernel has nothing whatsoever."

Police say they don't use cameras for immigration enforcement

A new report claims the Beacon Police Department has searched a national license plate database on behalf of federal immigration officers, but the assertion is wrong, said Chief Tom Figlia.

The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and LatinoJustice jointly released a report on Tuesday (Aug. 25) naming four local police departments in New York that they say have assisted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in its aggressive deportation campaign.

The Beacon City Council approved a $21,400, two-year contract in January 2023 with the Flock Group, the parent company of Flock Safety. Four solar-powered license-plate readers were installed the following month on utility poles at entrances to the city on Route 9D, Route 52 and Washington Avenue. Since 2023, the Police Department has added three cameras: another on 9D, one on Main Street and a third that is mobile. The city's current contract with the company runs until December 2028.

Figlia is expected to address the City Council about the Flock system at its Sept. 21 meeting.

According to the report released on Tuesday, Beacon police searched the Flock Safety network on March 3 for "civil/administrative immigration" purposes. The report relies on data posted by the site HaveIBeenFlocked.com, which indicates that the reason entered for the search was "Immigration (civil/administrative) — stolen vehicle." The site has data on nearly 10,000 searches conducted by Beacon police officers between April 2023 and July 2026.

It is not clear whether this represents every search over the three-year period. HaveIBeenFlocked says its data came in response to public records requests to agencies for "audit logs" generated by the Flock software.

In addition to Beacon, the STOP/LatinoJustice report highlights searches by officers in Nassau County, Glen Cove and Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo. It cites requests made by those departments and tagged with "immigration" or "ICE" in the "reason" field as evidence that the agencies "are colluding with ICE." It also claims that officers obscure their reasons for searching for a vehicle or link multiple searches for the same license plate, a supposed workaround to hide immigration-related requests.

Police can state a reason or check an offense type via a drop-down menu each time they search the network for a license plate. The report concluded that, based on the number of times the "reason" field is left blank, or the reason provided is vague, the logs likely reflect "only a fraction of the instances where police collude with ICE."

It provides no evidence to support that assertion but recommends statewide policy changes to tighten regulations around license-plate readers. Flock says it does not work directly with ICE but notes that local agencies own the data they provide and can share it or search it on behalf of other agencies.

Figlia, who said he was not contacted by either STOP or LatinoJustice before the report was released, said the March query was incorrectly logged by a civilian dispatcher searching for a stolen vehicle. "It had nothing to do with immigration enforcement," the chief said. "It was a typographical error. We don't work with immigration or have contacts with immigration."

Figlia provided The Current with a timestamped audio recording of a March 3 call from a Metropolitan Transportation Authority officer who asked the dispatcher to search Flock for a Metro-North rider's lost vehicle. "I've got a commuter here saying that he can't find his car," the officer said in the 52-second call. "Do you mind checking the LPRs [license-plate readers] for me, please?"

The dispatcher took the plate number but said his access to the database was momentarily down. Department logs show that the dispatcher searched Flock for the vehicle at 2:26 and 2:28 p.m. that day, minutes after the call. It was the only plate run through the system by the Beacon Police Department on March 3, ac...

New research upends conventional wisdom

For decades, our understanding of blacklegged ticks and Lyme disease was guided by several paradigms.

There's the "deer paradigm," which suggests that the risk of contracting Lyme and other tick-borne ailments increases with the size of the deer herd, since in the fall the animals are often covered with blacklegged ticks.

According to the "mouse paradigm," a similar correlation exists with white-footed mice, since they are particularly effective at transmitting to ticks the bacteria that cause human illness.

Finally, there's the "weather-extremes paradigm," which posits that particularly cold winters and extremely hot summers cause tick populations to crash.

These paradigms have been influential to our understanding of the web of interactions that lead to human infections.

But, according to research by scientists in Dutchess County released on Aug. 17, none of them are likely true.

Led by Richard Ostfeld of the Cary Institute in Millbrook and including contributors from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, the peer-reviewed study of the ecology of Lyme disease appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, known as PNAS, at dub.sh/lyme-paper.

After being elected to the National Academy, Ostfeld was encouraged to submit new research. He took the opportunity to reexamine data that the Cary Institute has collected annually on its 2,000-acre property over the past 35 years.

"We discovered a few surprises," he said.

For ticks, deer are a singles bar on hooves, where they can congregate, have a drink and mate. That led to the belief that an easy way to reduce ticks is to reduce deer. But the data collected at the Cary Institute has never shown any correlation.

Researchers have long believed that an elevated number of larvae would be followed by an elevated number of nymphs and adults, a progression known as demographic forcing. Again, the data collected in Millbrook showed no correlation.

No host is more agreeable to ticks than the white-footed mouse. (By contrast, possums routinely kill any ticks they find.) The data found that prior tick density was far less important than the number of suitable hosts, which would seem to support the mouse paradigm. But here's a twist …

In the early years of its monitoring, the Cary Institute found a correlation between the white-footed mouse population and ticks that become infected by biting them. But as the data accumulated, that correlation vanished. This was the report's biggest, and most alarming, surprise, said Ostfeld. "It means that my understanding of how the system works was incomplete or wrong," he said.

The data showed that boom years for mice are the same for other small mammals that ticks bite, such as chipmunks and shrews. But those mammals are less effective in spreading disease. As a result, the more types of hosts there are in an area such as the Cary campus, the less likely it is that a tick will bite an infected mouse.

If a higher concentration of mice leads to more infected ticks, what leads to more mice?

More acorns.

After "masting," in which red oaks drop loads of acorns every two to five years, the mice population explodes, followed by more tick nymphs the year after that. Scientists can't agree on why masting happens; the leading hypothesis is that oaks somehow coordinate to drop small amounts over years to whittle down the populations of animals that eat acorns, then together drop massive amounts to overwhelm acorn predators, ensuring that some of the seeds will survive.

The Cary Institute data suggests an avenue for acorn research: There hasn't been a masting year there since 2019. In the years since, the Millbrook campus has had two outbreaks of spongy moths, which defoliate oaks. It could be that oaks respond to swarms by withholding acorns.

Under laboratory conditions, ticks are extremely sensitive to heat and cold, which led to the weather-extremes hypothesis. But in the wilds of Millbrook, ticks seem to ...

Regulations would require permits and inspections

Philipstown moved on Wednesday (Aug. 19) to manage short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, with regulations requiring licenses for hosts, inspections and limits on the number and behavior of guests.

The Town Board scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 1 on the proposed law, which would add a section on STRs to the zoning code. The town cited a need to "preserve the residential and community character of neighborhoods" by reducing the impacts of noise, parking and trash.

The Town Board has discussed regulations since at least 2022, following complaints from neighbors about an Airbnb in Garrison. According to AirROI.com, which tracks Airbnb, there are currently 64 listings in Philipstown (excluding Cold Spring), with an average daily rate of $414, and the top six bookers with single listings earning $93,000 to $212,000 annually.

In the village, where STR regulations have been under review since being created in 2021, there are 44 listings with an average daily rate of $310, with the top six bookers with single listings earning $78,000 to $224,000 annually. Beacon passed a law regulating short-term rentals in 2020 but as of February, only 33 property owners had registered.

Property owners would be able to apply for two-year permits anywhere that single-family homes are permitted, but could only rent in single- and two-family dwellings or accessory apartments that have a certificate of occupancy. The proposed law sets the application fee at $90 and the Building Department inspection fee at $100.

Permits would allow owners to rent up to three properties if they use one as a primary residence for at least 260 days a year. A property owned by local corporations, limited liability companies, trusts or other entities would count as a primary residence if at least one owner or tenant lives there at least 260 days. Property owners living outside Philipstown would be limited to two permits.

Among the criteria for a license are bedrooms, or "sleeping" rooms such as a living room with a futon or sofa bed, that are at least 70 square feet and have access to a bathroom and no less than two exits, one of which must be a door or window that can be exited safely. Ceilings must be at least 7 feet high and walls at least 7 feet wide.

Philipstown would limit the number of guests per room to two, except when the additional person is a child age 5 or younger. Hosts offering bookings for more than four people at once must obtain approval for a minor site plan, and all hosts must have at least $500,000 in liability insurance.

Owners could only book one party at a time, preventing STRs from operating like inns or hotels, and must provide off-street parking at the property or another location. The owner or a designated agent must be available to respond within 20 minutes to problems with "the condition, operation or conduct of guests."

According to the proposal, STR hosts "shall use best efforts" to ensure that guests "do not create unreasonable noise or disturbance, engage in disorderly conduct, violate any provisions of the Philipstown code or violate any law pertaining to disorderly conduct, the consumption of alcohol or the use of illegal drugs."

Violating the regulations carries fines of $1,000 for the first offense, $2,000 and a ban on renting for the remainder of the year for the second offense and $5,000 and a four-year ban for a third offense.

In other business, the Town Board approved a $219,750 bid by Ben Ciccone Inc. to widen a section of Trout Brook along East Mountain Road South that was damaged by flooding. Ciccone's estimate was the lowest of five bids. So far, the town has received $140,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the project.

Republican incumbent calls nominee 'grossly unqualified'

A Kent woman who uses her Facebook page to crusade against critical race theory, undocumented immigrants and LGBTQ books in schools is now the Conservative Party's choice to challenge Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne for his seat.

Tatiana Brahimi will replace William Spain Jr. as the Conservative's candidate for county executive in the November election. She will face Byrne, who will have the Republican and Libertarian party lines as he seeks a second 4-year term, and Brett Yarris, who will be on the Democratic and the Working Families lines.

Conservatives typically back the same candidate Republicans select, and the party endorsed Byrne when he ran unopposed in 2022. But in March, the Conservative Party announced that it had nominated Spain, its chair and a former county attorney whose brother, Compton Spain, holds the position in the Byrne administration.

After Spain was chosen by the Kings County Conservative Party to run for a state judicial seat in Brooklyn, the Putnam Conservatives unanimously backed Brahimi to replace him.

The new candidate "best represents the principles and values of our party," said Theresa Votano, the party secretary, on Aug. 14. Those principles included crusading in 2021 against the alleged teaching of critical race theory in the Carmel school district, which landed her appearances on "Fox & Friends" and Newsmax.

Posting as Tatiana Ibrahim on Facebook, Brahimi has called for aiding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation efforts because "if you are here illegally you must go"; described a planned drag show in Carmel as a "pit stop of pedos and groomers"; and labeled Black Lives Matter a "radical racist organization that supports killing cops."

Brahimi, whose causes also include "pornographic books" and "Marxist indoctrination" in schools, has dismissed predictions that her campaign will divide Conservatives and Republicans to Yarris' benefit. "For too long, real conservative Republican voters have been told to settle for the same old politics and the same old choices," she said. "Not anymore."

Byrne railed against the nomination. In Brahimi, he said, the Conservatives nominated a "grossly unqualified candidate" without interviewing other contenders and giving "principled conservative voters" an opportunity to be heard. "Her erratic conduct and rhetoric are well documented and should concern anyone who expects serious, stable and responsible leadership," he said.

Byrne also said the nomination "appears to be the latest effort to split the conservative vote," and suggested that Democrats were involved. He accused Jennifer Colamonico, chair of the Putnam Democratic Committee, of telling Compton Spain he would be re-nominated to be county attorney if he supported Yarris.

Both Compton Spain and Colamonico denied Byrnes' accusation. In a statement, Spain said he intends to step down as county attorney at the end of the year and has never met or spoken to Colamonico or discussed an agreement to stay on. Byrnes is "entitled to his political opinions" but is not "entitled to manufacture facts" and would be "better served focusing on the responsibilities of the office he currently holds," said Spain.

According to Colamonico, "the myth that somehow Democrats and Conservatives have joined forces to take him down is a fantasy that someone is feeding him, or that he is inventing to make himself feel better."

On Friday (Aug. 21), Byrne said that he stood by his statement, saying his accusations are "true, and Spain knows it." He added that because his statement had been issued by his campaign, not his county office, Spain's response on county letterhead was an "apparent misuse of a government position and taxpayer-funded time and resources — including official county personnel, letterhead, government email and distribution lists — to develop and distribute partisan campaign messaging as a personal political attack. That is entirely una...