Barry Milea says people don’t drink alcohol like they once did. Barry Milea is seeking approval from the Clinton Planning Board to convert his sparkling wine taproom on Schultzville Road into a fine-dining restaurant. (Photo by Claire Greenburger) “They will not drink unless they have food,” said Milea, the owner of Milea Estate Vineyard on Hollow Road and Clinton Vineyards on Schultzville Road. It’s a line he has repeated at recent presentations before the Clinton Planning Board.  The shift in drinking culture underpins his pitch to Planning Board members to allow conversion of the former sparkling wine taproom on Schultzville...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/milea-vineyard-restaurant-plan-uncorks-new-development-debate-in-clinton/

Editor's Note: This story was updated with new information at 8:08 p.m. following a Tuesday evening vote of the Bard Faculty Senate. In the aftermath of the release of hundreds of emails revealing a long-standing relationship between Bard College President Leon Botstein and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Bard’s Faculty Senate formally voted Tuesday evening to present a statement to the Board of Trustees calling for stronger faculty involvement in the College’s governance and greater transparency in the ongoing investigation process.  Bard faculty voted Tuesday evening to pass a statement calling for their stronger involvement in College governance, in the wake...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/one-third-of-bard-faculty-gather-to-debate-statement-on-botstein-conversation-is-civil-but-divisions-emerge/

Planning Board review of the Rhinebeck Villas hotel development on Route 9G has ground to a halt because the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) says it has identified an issue with the project’s proposal for discharging treated wastewater. Planning Board Chair Melodye Moore said the Board is pausing the Rhinebeck Villas’ environmental review. (Photo by Eloise Goldsmith) Planning Board Chair Melodye Moore said at Monday’s Planning Board meeting that, as a result of DEC’s concerns, the Board is suspending the project’s environmental review, which includes weighing the potential impact of the project on bodies of water like...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/rhinebeck-planning-board-suspends-review-of-rhinebeck-villas-as-state-regulators-flag-developers-wastewater-plan/

On a late Sunday morning in Milan, while her husband Mike laces up for club soccer in Rhinebeck and her 10-year-old daughter Aveline settles in with cartoons, Juliet Izon opens her laptop and slips into a fictional world of her making, buzzing with rock music, family secrets, and coming of age. It’s there, in their Upstate house perched on a small hill, with a slight view but scads of trees, that her mind stills and the hours feel briefly elastic. Juliet Izon will read from her debut novel, The Encore, on Wednesday evening at Oblong Books. (Photo courtesy of Juliet...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/milan-author-debuts-novel-of-music-and-long-buried-secrets-at-tuesday-oblong-reading/

In her 24 years as a real estate agent, Wendy Maitland says no property holds as much personal history for her as the Belvedere Mansion at Pawling Manor. It’s where she grew up and where her daughter was married. The Belvedere Mansion at Pawling Manor, just south of Rhinebeck Village, is on the market for .5 million. (Photo by John Codling for Atelier by Wendy Maitland) Now, she will try to sell the property — known to many locals as the spot where the Habitas-on-Hudson project went belly-up, shuttering after less than a year. Habitas, which has rebranded to “Our...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/after-habitas-collapse-belvedere-mansion-goes-up-for-sale-with-broker-wendy-maitland-sharing-lifelong-ties-to-estate/

With just over two weeks until the Village of Red Hook’s special election for two seats on its governing Board, Trustee Frances Uku has endorsed newcomers Perry Allen and Craig Rothstein for the two open positions. With just over two weeks until the Village of Red Hook election, Trustee Frances Uku has endorsed Perry Allen and Craig Rothstein for the two seats available. (Photo by Athan Yanos) After meeting with all three candidates over the past two weeks, Uku said she decided not to endorse current Trustee Anthony Maccarini because he has less time to devote to the position, given...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/uku-backs-newcomers-allen-and-rothstein-for-red-hook-board-as-allen-issues-letter-citing-lack-of-trust-in-leaders/

While total lunar eclipses aren’t as rare as total solar eclipses, skywatchers early Tuesday, March 3, are in for a treat as the moon moves into the shadow of the Earth. This graphic shows the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon during a total lunar eclipse. (Source: https://www.space.com/4999-total-lunar-eclipse-tonight.html) The eclipse will begin at around 3:44 a.m. in Clinton, Rhinebeck, and Red Hook. At this time, observers would note a dark curved-shape shadow moving across the moon. Sometimes totality is reached in the middle of the night, but this year on March 3, the moon will be completely in the...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/clear-skies-ahead-with-blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-set-to-take-the-stage-tuesday-morning/

Editor's Note: State Police on Tuesday, Feb. 24, released new details about the auto accident that killed Shutong Li, detailed below. Police report that Li was outside of his vehicle in the right lane of the Taconic Parkway southbound at Mile Marker 59.1 in the Town of Clinton on Feb. 11 at about 11 p.m. when a 2025 GMC operated by a 65-year-old man struck him. The GMC then continued southbound and struck Li’s disabled vehicle, a 2024 Lexus, which was partially parked on the shoulder, Police said. The southbound driver was not injured and remained at the scene; he...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/young-bard-conductor-35-dies-after-injuries-sustained-fixing-a-flat-tire-on-taconic-parkway/

After questioning the Town of Rhinebeck’s contribution to the Village’s volunteer Rhinebeck Fire Department, Town Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia is now focused on another intermunicipal arrangement that she says needs correction. Rhinebeck Town Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia and Village Mayor Gary Bassett are at odds over the rate paid to the coordinator for the Hudson 7, a council devoted to protecting the Hudson River as a drinking water source. (Photo by Tony Adamis) Spinzia is concerned that the sole administrative staffer for the Hudson 7 intermunicipal council, Coordinator Rebecca Martin, is being overpaid. Along with several other communities that are part of...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/rhinebeck-supervisor-and-village-mayor-at-odds-again-now-over-hudson-7-coordinator-pay/

Newly released Department of Justice (DOJ) records provide additional information on Bard College President Leon Botstein's relationship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including a visit to Epstein’s private Caribbean island, multiple invitations for Epstein to attend events at Bard, and helping one of filmmaker Woody Allen’s daughters gain entrance to Bard at Epstein’s request. Bard College President Leon Botstein, right, met with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein at Bard in 2013, hoping to procure a donation for the college. (Photo from the Epstein files) The records are part of a trove of roughly 3 million documents released last week...

https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/epstein-files-detail-years-of-friendship-between-bard-president-and-jeffrey-epstein/