By being as busy as the bumblebees, butterflies, and birds they want to save, six Hastings residents used months of the Covid-19 lockdown to create a website that explains all about their initiative, the Hastings Pollinator Pathway Project. 

When the coronavirus hit Westchester six months ago, Hastings officials knew that their neediest residents could face unprecedented food insecurity. Through the local charity Family-to-Family, the Village of Hastings put out a call for donations via a GoFundMe page launched to support the Ha…

Debbie Quinn, a Hastings resident known for her work as a pre-school teacher and later as a children’s librarian, has been appointed permanent director of the Hastings Public Library. Quinn succeeds Joan Vaillancourt, who retired on March 31. After closing in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pa…

The creatures that populate “The Grabbits,” a new children’s book written and illustrated by Kim Soderstrom, have floppy ears that can hear a lot, big eyes that can spot all sorts of things in a messy room, dexterous paws to snatch said items, and big feet to make a quick get-away, always at…

When Christian Healy returned to Hastings in March, to complete his freshman year at Northwestern University remotely, he thought about the fact that he was fortunate, all things considered. So he decided to use his time at home to help people who lacked a necessity Westchester residents tak…

Erika Estis of Hastings describes herself as “lucky.”

The Hastings School District put the brakes on its reopening plan on Aug. 19, delaying its use of the “hybrid” attendance model — with two days in school and three days at home — to a 100 percent online learning plan for the first two weeks. The announcement was made as hundreds of district …

Over the years Rabbi Mark Sameth of Hastings spent researching ancient writings about God as a man, woman, or other, he didn’t envision that he would make a splash in the news. But when his op-ed piece titled “Is God Transgender?” was published in The New York Times in 2016, any discussion o…

For the past decade, 79-year-old Steve Pucillo has conducted a one-man renovation project along the section of the South County Trailway in Hastings.

September 8 is opening day for Hastings public schools, and this will be a start students and teachers will never forget. 

Sherlock Holmes would be pleased.

For 44 years, Corey Glass Picture Framing has been part of Hastings. By the end of August, that will end with the closing of the shop at 3 Main Street.

Birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger, one of the most famous Hastings residents of the 20th century, is now among the nation’s historic figures excoriated for their racist views.

The Hastings Public Library is offering a weekly summer read-aloud program on Zoom, highlighting the themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Dozens of people gathered to confront, educate, and change at an event called “Hastings Against Racial Injustice” at Draper Park on Sunday, July 19.

“In the struggle to make the world a better place, we need all of the Daniel Goldbergs we can get.”

Patrons were welcome to enter the Hastings Public Library starting Monday, July 13. It was the first time anyone but library staff and professional cleaning crews had been inside since March, when public buildings were closed as the coronavirus surged.  

Village of Hastings officials unveiled an information kiosk about Hillside Woods on Sunday, July 5, as part of the effort to restore that 100-acre forest.

Timing, as the saying goes, is everything. Ray Brescia’s book “The Future of Change: How Technology Shapes Social Revolutions” was published on April 15. Six weeks later a smartphone video taken on a street in Minneapolis transfixed the country, and soon the world, bringing demonstrations, a…

The Hastings Board of Education appointed Kevin Hanlon as the new assistant principal of Farragut Middle School on June 16. He succeeds Christopher Keough, who joined the district in 2009 to teach computer science and engineering at Farragut. He was appointed assistant principal in 2016. Keo…

Anyone who has experienced that mixture of annoyance and guilt after throwing yet another plastic container into the recycling bin will understand the mission of The Refill Room.

Hundreds of people spread out under the trees for a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally at Draper Park on Sunday, June 14.

Mia de Bethune of Hastings never imagined she’d spend the spring of 2020 managing a cottage industry. But that’s what the licensed creative arts therapist found herself doing after a small-scale effort at making protective facemasks caught on among her students and professional contacts. 

A peaceful demonstration called “Kids 4 Justice” attracted hundreds of children and adults to downtown Hastings on Sunday, June 7. The march, organized by three pre-teen girls and their mothers, capped off an emotional week for the community, in the wake of worldwide demonstrations sparked b…

Hastings High School junior Cayla Ossen-Gutnick is living her dream, courtesy of a $5,000 grant to pursue her science research project about bobcats.

Learning to rewire a lamp or repair the hem on a pair of pants has become a prized skill in the Covid-19 era.

The mid-March closing of nonessential businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic left many Hastings retail shops in a state of limbo.

The Upstream Gallery on Main Street has been closed to visitors since nonessential businesses were ordered to shut down in March. Unable to exhibit their work in person, more than half of the gallery’s 24 member artists recently launched an online art sale to raise funds for personal protect…

When schools closed in mid-March because of the pandemic, teachers and students learned to connect through computer screens rather than in person.

Can you name the actor who voiced the alien ALF on television in the 1980s? Odds are that Jim Dale, better known as Captain Jim of Captain Jim’s Trivia, can. (It was Paul Fusco.)

Mat Kowalski had a dream. What it inspired were three bright-red garbage pails, with the lids imploring the public to “Show some love, toss the glove.”

The purple ribbons tied to the trees in a clearing at the Lenoir Preserve flutter in the breeze off the Hudson. They would make a cheerful display, if it weren’t for the fact that each one represents a Westchester resident lost to Covid-19. More than 1,100 deaths from the disease have been r…

Mail-in DNA testing makes for exciting plot lines on TV and in the movies. Revelations about unknown relatives can lead to joyous reunions or the apprehension of criminals. But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, as journalist and author Libby Copeland chronicles in her new book “The L…

In the era of Covid-19, “community policing” — the kinder, gentler version of keeping the peace — often takes place via social media. As the virus-related shutdowns dragged on, the Hastings Police Department has become increasingly creative in how it bonds with residents and delivers serious…

The drone of work machines will be heard in the area of the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Ravensdale Bridge all night tonight (May 1), as preparation continues for the installation of a temporary bridge over the parkway. The work is part of the bridge replacement project that has been in th…

In the hundred-acre wood around Hillside Elementary School, 32-year-old Luke Kelly constructed a curiosity during the current pandemic.

When Julia McCue McLellan of Hastings bought Horsefeathers in Tarrytown from her uncle two years ago, she did not envision the restaurant as the headquarters of a meal donation program to feed first responders, healthcare workers, and needy families.

Sixth-graders at Farragut Middle School created a virtual exhibition based on a guiding principle of civilization: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” commonly known as the Golden Rule.

April is Earth Month, and even as people shelter in their homes to avoid the spread of Covid-19, Hastings is blooming. To celebrate spring without congregating, residents can take part in a villagewide citizen science project called the 2020 Bioblitz.

After 29 years of service at the Hastings Public Library, Joan Vaillancourt retired this month. She had been the library’s director since 2016and its children’s librarian for 23 years before that. She arrived at the library in 1991, beginning as a part-time librarian.

On March 30, the Hastings Board of Education appointed Jennifer Spirelli as the next principal of Farragut Middle School. On July 1, she will take over that position from Gail Kipper, who is retiring after 21 years as the school’s top administrator.