By Michael Kaufman
High-school graduation speeches need not be boring. Jon Kotch gave a fine valedictory speech in 1964 and Robert Morgenthau delivered a stirring commencement address at the Storm King School in 2009.

By Beth Quinn
If ever there was a group of good-intentioned people who have lost their sense of proportion, it has to be PETA. We were once again reminded of PETA’s tenuous hold on reality this past week when the group took President Obama to task for killing a fly.

By Jeffrey Page
What’s the value of a man’s life? Not much, a pro football player learns in court.

By Carrie Jacobson
Chapter 3
“The Travels of Zoe, the Wonder Dog” is a fictional serial that follows Zoe, a mostly blind lhasa apso, as she looks for love and a home in the mid-Hudson Valley. This is a fictional serial. Though it takes place in the Mid-Hudson, and many of the places are identifiable, the story and the characters in it are fully fictional. Any resemblance to real-life people, events or businesses is purely coincidental.

By Shawn Dell Joyce
After 25 years of denial, Congress is finally drafting a climate change bill in response to the largest outpouring of grass-roots activism since the civil rights movement.

Photography by Rich Gigli
The Butterfly and the Bee

By Carrie Jacobson
Chapter 2
“The Travels of Zoe, the Wonder Dog” is a fictional serial that follows Zoe, a mostly blind lhasa apso, as she looks for love and a home in the mid-Hudson Valley. This is a fictional serial. Though it takes place in the Mid-Hudson, and many of the places are identifiable, the story and the characters in it are fully fictional. Any resemblance to real-life people, events or businesses is purely coincidental.

By Beth Quinn
Folks on the political Far Right are mad as Hatters, and they’re getting dangerously wound up by Rush Limbaugh and his ilk at Fox News.

Photography by Rich Gigli
Seasons of the Heart

By Shawn Dell Joyce
Trying to save money by staying home this summer? Here are a few tips for making the most of a staycation and keeping your vacation money in the local economy where it will do the most good!