In a tail-wagging team-up, the towns of Rhinebeck and Red Hook have joined forces to launch a new joint dog control department. Staffed by two local officers, the new Paw Patrol will provide round-the-clock service to residents searching for runaway pets and strays.  The move became necessary after the Dutchess County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) announced in June 2024 that it would be terminating all animal control contracts. The Hyde Park organization, which had provided animal control services to many municipalities throughout the county, will now focus solely on sheltering animals and preparing them for...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/paw-and-order-new-joint-red-hook-rhinebeck-dog-control-team-to-keep-pet-owners-in-line/

After three years of planning and environmental reviews, the Town of Rhinebeck is moving forward with a new local law to rezone the Locust Hill property, which will allow the Planning Board to begin site plan review of the long-anticipated workforce housing development.  Without the rezoning, affordable rental apartments could not be built on the site. The Town Board voted on Monday to start the process of adopting Local Law A of 2025. A public hearing on the proposed law is scheduled for May 12 at Town Hall. “We are thrilled to finally be beginning the Local Law process to...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/rhinebeck-town-board-launches-rezoning-process-to-clear-the-way-for-construction-launch-at-locust-hill/

Red Hook Town Board Announces Plan to Take Boat Club by Eminent Domain, Setting Up Tense Battle Letter to the Editor: As a former Mayor of Tivoli and Red Hook County Legislator, I read with interest your recent article regarding the Town’s proposal to take the Red Hook boat club property through eminent domain. One line in particular gave me pause—that Red Hook could only attain Hudson River access through such action. This ignores, as has been a long Town practice, the Tivoli waterfront, which embodies the town’s shared history and enormous opportunity. Tivoli is not a distant outpost adjacent...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/comments-to-the-catch-red-hook-boat-club-and-eminent-domain-april-26-29-2025/

Two prominent Red Hook residents -- architect Kristina Dousharm, 43, and farmer Ken Migliorelli, 65 — are launching bids for seats on the Red Hook Town Board, setting the stage for a competitive race in November’s election.  Dousharm, a Red Hook Planning Board member and former chair of the town’s Economic Development Committee (EDC), and Migliorelli, owner of Migliorelli Farms and farm stands in Rhinebeck, Mt. Tremper and Red Hook, confirmed with The Daily Catch that they are collecting signatures to appear as independent candidates on the unaffiliated ballot line. Both also plan to seek the Democratic nomination at the...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/red-hook-town-board-race-heats-up-as-kristina-dousharm-and-ken-migliorelli-throw-their-hats-in-the-ring/

About 50 attendees gathered at the Rhinebeck Town Board meeting Monday evening, with a majority of speakers eager to show their support for the town’s decision to file a lawsuit against the neighboring municipalities of Hyde Park and Clinton over zoning changes that have cleared the way for a luxury Six Senses resort. Supporters of the lawsuit came from Rhinebeck and Clinton. They praised the board’s stance against what they described as “illegal zoning” and “legal bullying” by the developer InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and complicit neighboring towns.  “Maybe in Bangkok, where Six Senses is headquartered, this is the way...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/supporters-praise-lawsuit-targeting-illegal-zoning-tactics-for-six-senses-resort-others-not-so-sure/

Packing every seat and space to stand at Town Hall, members of the Red Hook Boat Club as well as non-boating members of the general public turned out Monday evening to give a piece of their mind to government leaders, who they argued have gone rogue and defied public trust with a plan to take the club by eminent domain. Several veterans of Town Board politics said they could not remember a meeting that was so well-attended or contentious. Some 97 people packed the meeting room, while some 35 people stood in the doorway aisle or gathered outside. The last...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/why-this-why-now-packed-red-hook-town-hall-erupts-monday-over-planned-boat-club-seizure/

As the Village of Red Hook works to fix its deteriorating wastewater treatment plant by replacing rusted parts and retooling machines, in Rhinebeck, a facility with an entirely different approach to managing human waste is humming along productively. In fact, it doesn’t even look like a wastewater treatment plant. On a wooded hillside overlooking Long Pond Lake, nestled between the retreat cabins and walking paths, the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies operates a wastewater treatment plant that is literally alive. There are no warning signs, no exposed machinery, no smell. Instead, banana trees and ginger plants are rooted in indoor...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/flush-and-flourish-as-red-hook-struggles-omega-institutes-eco-machine-reimagines-wastewater-treatment/

Editor’s Note: Residents who live near Red Hook’s wastewater treatment plant have shared what it’s like to live and breathe just outside the plant. But what is it like inside? On April 15, Village Mayor Karen Smythe agreed to allow the engineer in charge of the plant to offer The Daily Catch an exclusive tour of the facility, behind the razor wire. Our report follows. All photos are by Claire Greenburger. Environmental Protection Agency data shows that, since at least November 2024, the Red Hook Village wastewater treatment plant has been discharging pollutants into a tributary of the Saw Kill...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/rusted-parts-and-sewage-smells-an-inside-look-at-red-hooks-failing-wastewater-treatment-plant/

“He Never Left My Side, And I Won’t Leave His”: Rhinebeck Panel Offers Wisdom and Warmth for Grieving Pet Owners Just came here to say how amazing Dr. Danielle St. Pierre is. She was with us in our dog’s final moments and understood that that moment could happen nowhere but in the home and neighborhood our dog loved. She was one of the kindest and most empathetic doctors I have ever met - animal or otherwise. I remember as she gently rested her hand on my shoulder, like she knew the profound grief that came over me that could only...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/comments-to-the-catch-saw-kill-contaminated-red-hook-school-field-six-senses-march-24-april-6-2025/

Sarah Imboden, a former Red Hook Town Board member and the chair of the Democratic Committee for Red Hook, will fill the vacant seat on the Tivoli Village Board of Trustees, Mayor Emily Majer has announced. She was sworn in on Monday. The vacancy arose after Majer, previously deputy mayor, was elevated to mayor following her unopposed election victory last month. Imboden will serve out the remaining year of Majer’s two-year term. Longtime trustee, D. William Shilling, will take the role of deputy mayor. An election to select a new trustee to serve a full two-year term is scheduled for...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/democratic-leader-sarah-imboden-tapped-to-fill-open-seat-on-tivoli-board-of-trustees/