When it comes to the source of our food, opinions differ widely. Most people in my social circles strive to be green these days, to eat sustainable, humanely-raised meats and organic produce, to eschew products that come from long distances, mostly to cut down on fossil fuels. But I know those things are not priorities [...]
Volume III No. 1
A Star is Drafted
Didi Barrett emerges from behind the velvet curtain to take on Steve Saland
Steve Hopkins • April 1st, 2010
Although the Chronic is not usually a knee-jerk partisan kind of mag, I’m going out on an early limb and wholeheartedly endorsing the candidacy for NY State Senate of Didi Barrett, a neighbor and a thoughtful, intelligent and hardworking advocate for the public good who happens to be a full-on Democrat. She’s running against Steve [...]
The Pillorying of Allan Wikman
Wings clipped, swatted off his perch on the legislative windowsill and convicted of being an unruly pest, Ulster County’s resident gadfly plots his next solo flight
Steve Hopkins • April 1st, 2010
It’s been a while since I caught up with Allan Wikman, one of a handful of ongoing character studies the Chronic seems incapable of avoiding. As an example of the classic political “gadfly” — that species of hectoring nudge that have plagued local municipal boards and legislatures since time immemorial — he’s a difficult but [...]
The Unbelievable Truth
Steve Hopkins • April 1st, 2010
“It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.” —Thomas Paine “It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.” —H.L. Mencken “There is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied [...]
You are what, where, when and how you eat
The local food movement is exploding in the Hudson Valley; but is it sustainable? Part 1 of many
Steve Hopkins • April 1st, 2010
There’s something in the zeitgeist, and it smells like food. Fresh, local food, that is. Driven into overdrive over the last year or two by increased media attention, the exponential effect of social media and the appearance of hard-driving documentary films like Food, Inc. and Fresh, the impetus to create a more sustainable, regionally based [...]
A time to renovate
Recession-weary contractors emerge from the woodwork to take a look around
Steve Hopkins • April 1st, 2010
The Great Recession of 2008-10 (and counting) has taken a huge toll on the livelihoods of many people and changed the face of entire industries. One of the groups most impacted has been the independent building contractors, a hardy and self-sufficient species who know from experience how to weather the bad times. In the Mid-Hudson [...]
In Your Face
Negotiating the tricky landscape of 21st-century social media, Chronic-style
Steve Hopkins • April 1st, 2010
If you live within a 75-mile radius of downtown Pleasant Valley, NY, are relatively engaged with the world and have a Facebook account, chances are good that you probably have seen a thumbnail version of the above individual’s mug popping up on your computer, cellphone or PDA screen. You may have deleted the pest, or [...]
