Issue #032 · LatestFriday, October 16, 2026 · Carmel · Cold Spring · Mahopac · Nelsonville
A roundabout by Putnam Hospital gets its construction green light, a former Cold Spring trustee goes write-in, and hiker rescues pile up on the Undercliff Trail
Free local email · written by Catherine Rosado · 4-minute read
If you drive past Putnam Hospital Center, you know the intersection of Stoneleigh Avenue and Drewville Road. It sits less than a quarter mile from the hospital entrance, it carries thousands of cars a day, and it has needed work for years. That work is now set: a roundabout, better sightlines, upgraded drainage, and the construction phase is officially on.
Congressman Mike Lawler brought Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster to Carmel on Thursday to highlight the project. He put it plainly: getting this project to construction took years of work from local, state and federal partners. Assemblyman Matt Slater secured $1.5 million of state funding for it, and federal money covers 80 percent of the total cost. Derek Anderson, president of Northwell's Putnam Hospital and Northern Westchester Hospital, said the upgrades should improve traffic flow and make hospital access more reliable, which matters in an emergency.
Slater also noted Putnam has never had a roundabout before. First one in the county, at one of its busiest medical corners. When crews start, that corner becomes a work zone, so plan extra time on Stoneleigh near the hospital.
The questions Putnam searches this week, answer first, source after.
Who is running for Cold Spring village board this year?
Laura Bozzi and Tweeps Phillips Woods, the two incumbents, are each running unopposed for third two-year terms. The twist: former trustee Fran Murphy announced Thursday that she is running a write-in campaign for the five-member board. Murphy held a seat from 2015 to 2021 and ran the same write-in play against both in 2022. Her campaign literature points to deputy mayor Phillips Woods taking a job as deputy city administrator in Beacon last month, and asks whether readers know that if a trustee resigns after being elected, the mayor chooses that trustee's replacement. Three current board members first took their seats by mayoral appointment. One number to know if you join the write-in push: the name has to be spelled correctly to count.
Why are rescuers on the Undercliff Trail so often this month?
On Saturday, October 10, around 2:30 p.m., a 55-year-old woman tripped and broke her ankle near the Nelsonville end of the Undercliff Trail; Cold Spring and North Highlands firefighters, Philipstown Ambulance, a paramedic and State Parks staff carried her out in a Stokes basket to Half Moon Ridge, a call that took almost three hours. It was the second rescue in the county within days, and the fire company's warning came after those calls. Cold Spring Fire Company's advice: this is shaping up to be a busy hiking season, so plan your route, tell someone where you are going, and bring more water and layers than you think you need. Rescue calls are slow and resource-heavy, and leaf season only adds crowds.
A bus monitor was arrested. The sheriff's office charged 65-year-old Magalie Speranza of Yorktown on October 8 with misdemeanor assault and endangering the welfare of a child, plus a harassment violation, after an incident on October 2 aboard a Mahopac school district bus that left the 12-year-old with minor injuries. District officials learned of it October 6, referred it to the sheriff the next day, and handed over the bus video. An order of protection now covers the student. Her employment status was not immediately known. If your child rides that route, the sheriff's case file is the source for anything beyond these facts.
Which Putnam hearings can I still speak at this month?
Three. Kent's town board holds its tax-cap override hearing Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. at town hall, 25 Sybil's Crossing, before its regular meeting. The county legislature scheduled two public hearings for Thursday, October 29 at 3:30 and 5:00 p.m. in Room 102 of the Carmel County Office Building. One covers a local law that would partially exempt accessory dwelling units from county property tax while excluding short-term rentals; the other covers a charter amendment about the votes needed to override certain county budget vetoes. Each hearing runs from the same notice rules: show up, sign in, and you get your time.
Showers finish this morning, then more showers and a possible thunderstorm after 5 p.m. push the high near 71 on southwest gusts to 22. Showers and a possible thunderstorm run before 11 p.m., then taper to a slight chance, with a low around 42. Saturday is the cold one: mostly cloudy early, then gradually sunny with a high near 50, north wind 11 to 15 and gusts to 25. Saturday night lands right at freezing, about 32, so cover the plants or bring them in. Sunday and Monday stay dry and sunny near 56 then 59. No watches, warnings or advisories are active for the Putnam zone as of this morning. On the civic side, Kent's tax-cap hearing is Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., and the county's two October 29 hearings are open to the public.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: asking an AI chat to draft your public hearing comment.
Three hearings land in the next two weeks, and showing up is the easy half; saying what you mean in two minutes is the harder one. Try this: give the chat the hearing's subject, your street and what you want from it, then ask it to draft a two-minute comment with your name and town on it. For the accessory dwelling unit law, try: the county would exempt accessory dwelling units from county property tax, here is my situation, draft what I should say for and against, then ask what the law does not decide. The chat cannot know the final text, the fees that stay, or how your town plans to handle permits, so treat its draft as your rehearsal, and check the notice itself before you speak.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corners.
The Dates-Ahead Calendar
First of two work drop-off days for the Putnam Arts Council's Annual Juried Fine Art Show, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.; artists 18 and older may enter up to two original works, and outdoor sculptures are accepted for the first time this year (also Sunday, Oct 18)
Belle Levine Art Center, 521 Kennicut Hill Rd., Mahopac · putnamartscouncil.com
County flu clinic, 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., adults 18 and older, $30 cash or credit, free with a Medicare card, walk-ins welcome, in-car vaccination offered on request; questions at 845-808-1332
Carmel Fire Department · putnamcountyny.gov/fluclinic
Kent Town Board public hearing on a local law to exceed the property tax levy for the 2027 budget, 7:00 p.m., followed by the regular Town Board meeting
Kent Town Hall, 25 Sybils Crossing, Kent Lakes · townofkentny.gov calendar
Two county legislature public hearings, 3:30 and 5:00 p.m.: a county property tax exemption for accessory dwelling units, and a charter amendment on the votes required to override certain county budget vetoes
County Youth Bureau Trunk or Treat, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., rain or shine, setup from 5:30; roughly 200 to 250 trunk-or-treaters expected, vendor signups close today
