In my Hudson Valley village, a 78-year-old Vietnam vet who has nearly spent half his life in jail goes into local drug court. It may be his last chance.
"Words for the Wise" is back, intermittently for now. Paid subs are still turned off for now.
I promised readers that this newsletter would come back, and it will, although a bit slowly at first.
What have I been doing?
Last October, I launched a local Substack newsletter in my village of Croton-on-Hudson, NY, one of the state’s most picturesque spots. It’s 45 minutes from Grand Central Terminal by rail, and graced with beautiful river views and some fascinating history.
Running a village newsletter is a LOT of work, as you might imagine. On top of that, I am bucking the trend of local journalism taking hits right and left. There are other examples of journalists taking to newsletter platforms to keep their work alive, so perhaps this could be a new business model. Or maybe not. We shall see.
Today I published something that might have more than local interest. A 78-year-old African-American veteran, arrested for allegedly shoplifting in our local ShopRite food store, has been given a second chance to sort out his life in a federally funded “drug court.” If he succeeds, he could avoid going back to jail, where he spent 35 years of his life. I had been following his story for some weeks now, and finally got the chance to really talk to him.
You can read the story here, for free. I hope you will. This could be anybody’s story, really.
In the meantime, I’ve got a pile of story ideas waiting to be published in this space. Slowly, I will get to them. But I will not turn on the paid subs function until publication becomes fairly regular again. While no one is obliged to pay for “Words for the Wise,” voluntary subs are always appreciated—but not now, even if you want to!
Back soon.