POUGHKEEPSIE – Two federal grants are slated to fund an additional school resource officer in the Poughkeepsie City School District and provide safety upgrades in the schools.

The City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, which has committed a substantial amount of resources to the district as a result of shootings, stabbings, and fights along with unruly behavior at the high school, has received a $75,000 federal grant to fund a second School Resource Officer (SRO) in the district. Police Officer Jonathan Geuss is slated to become an SRO at the middle school in March.

The school district worked with the city police to apply for the US Department of Justice Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services grants. The COPS Hiring Program grant will help the police pay for Geuss’s SRO detail at the Poughkeepsie Middle School.

Da’Ron Wilson, the district’s executive director of school engagement, stressed the prevention part of the grant. “The SRO is not there to arrest people,” he said. According to Wilson, the officers are in the schools to help develop positive relationships with students and intervene before a situation escalates to violence.

Police Captain Richard Wilson said the intent “intent is to do crisis intervention and de-escalate situations. That is paramount to addressing these issues of violence.”

Detective Karen Zirbel serves as the only SRO in the district currently and divides her time between the high and middle schools. Captain Wilson said the new officer won’t be a detective like Zirbel, who also works on the investigative side.  But, they will “serve a lot of the same functions and collaborate with the school district at that level and with Karen. That is a better fit than having a civilian there as they’ll have more knowledge of police functions.”

Training for the officers is also provided under the grant. “I feel like we started this hybrid model (of having a detective involved and addressing other issues) and it feels like everyone else is falling in line. Now a lot of the training is community resource officer-based because of the shift to a more social work kind of role,” Detective Zirbel said.

TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – Police responded to reports of a fight at the Poughkeepsie Galleria on Monday afternoon.  Two people were stabbed in the altercation.

Town police responded to the Poughkeepsie Galleria just before 4:00 p.m. on January 17 after receiving reports of a fight with at least one person being stabbed.

The first victim was reported to have suffered lacerations to the head, face, and leg.  He was triaged at the scene and was transported to Mid Hudson Regional Medical Center (MHRR).  At least one police officer was following the Mobile Life Support Services (MLSS) ambulance, that arrived at the hospital at 4:03 p.m.

Police communications indicate that one suspect had been detained at the scene and was being prepared for transport to police headquarters.  The suspect did not have a knife on their person when detained by police.

The police requested a second ambulance to the mall to evaluate a second individual with a laceration to the hand.  As of 4:04 p.m. police on the scene were requesting an estimated time of arrival for the second ambulance which arrived at 4:06 p.m.  The second victim was transported by MLSS to Mid Hudson Regional at 4:15 p.m.

Town police established a crime scene at the Galleria.  An additional Crime Scene Technician (CST) and detective responded to the hospital to examine the first victim.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department’s confidential TIPS line at 845-485-8477.

STEWART AIRPORT – Norse Atlantic Airways has received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to operate flights between New York Stewart International Airport and Norway/The European Union.

The new service is expected to begin this spring.

The airline will also operate flights between Oslo and Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles.

The new service between Norway and Stewart is great news, said Maureen Halahan, president of the Orange County Partnership.

“It will hopefully be the beginning of opening up that European market and the UK when people catch on that it is very easy to fly into Stewart, easy access to New York City. That is what they built the international arrivals building for,” she said.

Norse CEO and founder Bjorn Tore Larsen said the service will be affordable.

The airline said it will deliver many jobs to American workers, including hundreds of U.S.-based flight attendants, and will partner with local communities, tourism organizations, businesses, and labor to stimulate economic growth in regions throughout the United States and Europe.

STONE RIDGE – Starting Thursday, January 20, a second state-run COVID-19 community testing site will be held on the campus of SUNY Ulster. The site will be open to the public from Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The announcement comes days after a state-run site on the campus of SUNY New Paltz opened to the public.

Those two sites “will help ensure that our residents have access to critically-needed testing so we can help keep our residents healthy, and continue to keep our schools and businesses open safely,” said County Executive Patrick Ryan.

The SUNY Ulster site will be held at the Senate Gym. Residents can make an appointment for PCR testing here.

NEW ROCHELLE – For the second year in a row, the City of New Rochelle as earned a score of 100 on the Municipal Equality Index, the only nationwide rating system of LGBTQ inclusion in municipal law, policy and services.

The study rated 506 cities assessing each on 49 criteria covering citywide non-discrimination protections, policies for municipal employees, city services, law enforcement and the city leadership on LGBTQ equality.

The New Rochelle rating reflects the ongoing efforts of the city’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee formed in 2020. The committee raises awareness, educates, and advocates for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer residents of the city, while also helping to ensure that municipal government is fully inclusive.

LGBTQ Community Liaison Sam Gomez has been instrumental in creating a number of Pride events for New Rochelle in 2021, including a Pride Month flag-raising and Pride Day, coordinating with local events like National Night Out and the Thanksgiving Parade, and forming a partnership with New Rochelle’s Sister City La Rochelle, France.

The full report can be viewed here.