Dutchess County News

The City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department is continuing to investigate the cause of a small fire at the Dutchess County Courthouse Saturday afternoon that caused water damage to a holding cell on the second floor.

A 22-year-old Town of Red Hook man remains in Dutchess County Jail on $25,000 bail following his arrest on charges accusing him of driving a stolen Hummer drunk, into a crowd of people in downtown Tivoli.

A break room oven that was on at the Dutchess County Courthouse in downtown Poughkeepsie set cabinets on fire and triggered a sprinkler system that damaged a second-floor holding cell, Mayor John Tkazyik said.

AMENIA: Two Town of Amenia residents are due in court on charges stemming from a September home invasion robbery.

ALL THREE HOSPITALS IN DUTCHESS COUNTY NOW HAVE VISITOR RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE TO HELP PROTECT PATIENTS AND STAFF FROM THE SPREAD OF SWINE AND SEASONAL FLU.

A City of Poughkeepsie woman testified today she was fighting with 23-year-old Taneka Murphy outside an apartment complex last year when she saw Murphy raise a "silver object." Seconds later, 34-year-old Jynelle Green told a Dutchess County jury, she realized she had been stabbed.

Hard times are creating troubles at home for families and that's putting an added workload on many Dutchess County agencies even as the county's revenues are falling, according to County Executive William Steinhaus.

REPUBLICAN CHALLENGER JIM COUGHLAN HAS APPARENTLY DEFEATED DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENT DIANE JABLONSKI IN THE RACE FOR DUTCHESS COUNTY COMPTROLLER.

DUTCHESS COUNTY EXECUTIVE BILL STEINHAUS' PROPOSED 2010 BUDGET FREEZES THE PROPERTY TAX LEVY AT ITS CURRENT LEVEL AND CUTS SPENDING FROM THE 2009 LEVEL.

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus released his 2010 budget message, but not the actual budget, at 5:37 p.m. tonight.

HYDEPARK: Dutchess County will pay tribute to veterans noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Roosevelt Library and Museum's Wallace Center, Route 9, Hyde Park.

The preliminary budget for the Town of Beekman calls for a tax rate increase of 10.08 percent.

A PEDESTRIAN WAS KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT LAST NIGHT ON ROUTE 9-D IN THE TOWN OF FISHKILL.

FISHKILL - A car fatally struck a pedestrian who was walking along Route 9D Wednesday night.

A state prison inmate twice convicted of a 1977 murder in the City of Poughkeepsie was set free today when prosecutors announced they did not plan to conduct a third trial.

Dutchess County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Elisa Sumner has apologized for a campaign mailer that misquoted a Poughkeepsie Journal article about property tax increases.

Thomas Chadeayne 'screwed up' but did not commit homicide when he made an illegal U-turn that caused the death of an 11-year-old boy heading home from a Yankees game, his lawyer argued in court Monday.

In the 28 years since the STOP-DWI program was started by the state Legislature, the number of arrests and convictions has risen, even as the number of alcohol-related accidents, injuries and deaths has fallen in Dutchess County.

Rita Brannen was named by the Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency today to be its new chief financial officer.

Pick up today's Poughkeepsie Journal for Part II of a special report into practices at the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency.