Brian PJ Cronin

@brianpjcronin

Environmental Reporter for The Highlands Current: An award-winning, non-profit, independent newspaper in New York's Hudson Valley. ( Also teaching journalism at Marist University. He/Him.

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Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· 27d

When my editor says "Isn't there another word you can use besides 'looms'?"

AOC giving you the look that you give someone when you are slowly peeling back the lid on a can of whup-ass

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· 28d

Sean Astin @ @SeanAstin • 1d
It's called fashion sweetie look it up

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jul 10

Also, I added a sidebar updating people on why exactly the Clean Water Act might need saving these days:

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the question after the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered the Sackett family to stop construction on its rural Idaho land because debris was discharging into Priest Lake through its wetlands. The court ruled for the Sacketts, reasoning that because the connection between the wetlands and lake isn’t visible, the Clean Water Act doesn’t apply.

Under the Trump Administration, the EPA is developing a new WOTUS definition in line with the Supreme Court ruling. If approved, Dulong said it could leave 92 percent of New York’s wetlands without federal protection. While states would retain the power to block federal projects, they would likely face many lawsuits from property owners.

That autonomy allowed New York in 2016 to block a proposed 99-mile natural gas pipeline. “It would have crossed 72 streams in New York, and it was unclear how they were going to do that,” said Dulong. But last year, shortly after President Trump returned to office, the Constitution Pipeline Co. resubmitted its proposal. Another proposed change to the law would allow the federal government to push pipelines and other projects through, despite state objections. “It’s the worst attack we’ve seen on the Clean Water Act in years,” Dulong said.

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jul 7

From the onion:

Report: That's Enough
Soccer For Now

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jul 4

The Coast Guard said that, per Sail4th 250, no political messages were permitted, that the organizers asked them to be removed, and that Clearwater refused to take down the banners. Clearwater said they were never asked to take down the banners. Sail4th 250 said they did not ask them to leave.

“I was shouting at them, ‘Folks, we’re part of this parade,’ ” said Clearwater Executive Director David Toman from the deck of the sloop. “We’re part of this all.” Toman said crew members were not immediately told why they were being removed from the parade, and a quick call to organizers provided little clarity. “They told us they were unaware of this, and that the decision was being made above their heads,” said Toman. It was only later that someone from one of the Coast Guard vessels told Clearwater Captain Rory Kane that it was because of the ship’s banners, Toman said.

A Coast Guard representative told The Current that, “As part of the parade of sail, participants agreed to conditions established by Sail4th. One of those conditions was to not display political or politically charged messages/statements. The owner of the sloop Clearwater was contacted and requested to remove the message being displayed or be removed from the parade of sail. They declined to remove it. So, the Coast Guard enforced the agreement on behalf of Sail4th removing the vessel from the parade.”

But Jen Benson of Clearwater, who was on the sloop, said there was no communication from either Sail250 or the Coast Guard regarding the banners. “We were not given an option to remove the banners and continue in the parade,” she said.

Toman said that no such restrictions existed, only that ships were instructed not to carry banners that could be considered “promotional.”

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jul 4

One of the small towns in our coverage area didn’t do anything for the holiday this year because no one felt like planning it this time.

Responding to what she described as “a lot of chatter on social media” and elsewhere, Foley said: “The village has not planned a Fourth of July event because no one has stepped forward to organize one. If you want things to happen, please volunteer.” She noted that the five volunteer members of the Recreation Commission had organized “a fantastic” Community Day on June 20.

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jul 4

The Coast Guard just removed the Clearwater from the tall ship parade in NYC for having "Save the Clean Water Act" and "Indigenous Rights, Racial Justice, Climate Solutions” banners. They were escorted out by the Coast Guard, US Navy, and NYPD. www.instagram.com/p/DaYOP8OlIq...

It's a banner on one side of the Clearwater's main sail that reads "Save the Clean Water Act" and has a drawing of Pete Seeger's banjo on it.

It's a banner on the other side that says "Indigenous Rights, Racial Justice, Climate Solutions”.

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jul 4

My older kid just turned 15 and is definitely a Dune nerd but I'm thinking back to what the big book for me was when I was their age and, for better or worse, it was:

It's the cover of "Big Sky Mind: Buddhism and the Beat Generation" which is a pretty incredible anthology of beat and beat-adjacent writers and selections from their work that relate to buddhism, this is how I got super into Gary Snyder at age 15, I was a Gary Snyder nerd and honestly I still am.

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jul 3

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 24

Weird! Anyway, here’s what we’ve got:

U.S. House 17 (Philipstown voters)
The Associated Press called the race for Conley at 9:44 p.m.
John Cappello (2%)
/ Cait Conley (49%)
Beth Davidson (32%)
Effie Guadalupe Phillips-Staley (16%)
Michael Sacks (2%)

State Senate 39 (Beacon/Philipstown voters)
The Associated Press called the race for Kaul at 10:33 p.m.
• Lisa Kaul (63%)
Gay Lee (7%)
Evan Menist (30%)

State Comptroller
The Associated Press called the race for DiNapoli at 9:13 p.m.
• Thomas DiNapoli (65%)
Raj Goyle (14%)
Drew Warshaw (21%)

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 21

In honor of Father’s Day: A few months ago one of my students interviewed me for the school’s IG page and this is how I answered one of the questions:

Best Advice He Has Received
"Never get on the roof or touch the gas line. Other than that, you can probably figure it out yourself." - My Dad

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 17

*slowly reaches for hammer*

Canva
2:16 PM
Meet your Al assistant in Canva
Ask @Canva anything in the comments Design with Canva Your Al assistant is already in your designs Di...

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 12

Next week! Come through! We're doing another round of MEET THE REPORTER so that people can learn about how we actually put out a newspaper every week without going crazy (or crazier.) I'm speaking in Beacon on Tuesday and Leonard is speaking in Cold Spring on Wednesday. Also: snacks!

The Highlands Current presents: Meet the Reporter!
Choose a session or come to both!

Ever wonder how journalists dig up the truth and craft compelling stories?
Here's your chance to find out!
Join The Highlands Current's award-winning journalists for an inside look at how they research, write and publish their stories.

with Reporter,
Brian PJ Cronin
Tues. June 16
6:30-8:00 PM
at Beahive in Beacon

with Senior Editor,
Leonard Sparks
Wed. june 17
6:30-8:00 PM
at The Current office
in Cold Spring

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 11

Hey remember when no one on Bluesky watched sports

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 8

“I see you’ve been fighting people in your mentions for over an hour! Maybe it’s time for a snack and a nap?”

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 8

Speaking as an environmental reporter I feel like it’s not great that everyone is getting rid of their environmental reporters

It’s the Ralph Wiggum “I’m in danger” meme

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 6

#Knicks

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· Jun 2

“You get that picture of Mamdani riding his bike?” “Sure did boss, real fuckin’ wholesome, just like you asked.“ “What?”

It’s the New York post cover and the headline says “CYCLE OF HATE
Zo snubs Israel parade, goes on bike ride instead” and it’s accompanied by a picture of mayor Mamdani on his bike and smiling beatifically and enjoying the simple pleasures of life

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 29

It's the well-groomed young go-getters of Hooray For Everything on The Simpsons, performing their salute to the greatest hemisphere on earth....The Western Hemisphere!!!!!!

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 27

It’s the VEEP “What the fuck?” Meme with Paddington in place of JLD.

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 24

Man, “See the weiners” was RIGHT THERE.

The Best Hot Dogs
Wirecutter experts tested 31 different hot dogs. See the winners.

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 23

The Gang Gets Stuck In A Time
Loop Because Nobody Ever
Listens To Riker

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 22

FYI:

NEW YORK - Battleground New York spokesperson Andrew Grossman issued the following statement in reaction to Trump’s strange, untethered speech in support of Mike Lawler:

“Yikes.”

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 19

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 19

On a related note to the several intertwined narratives of the day, I put into Google "Why is autocorrect getting worse" and the first thing it showed me, instead of a link, was an AI Overview, and the AI Overview told me that autocorrect was getting worse because of AI.

AI Overview
Autocorrect often feels worse today due to aggressive AI predictive models attempting to guess your entire sentence rather than just fixing spelling, hidden keyboard touch-input bugs, and corrupted personal dictionaries that have learned your past typos

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 18

They are changing the packaging on all of the Bob’s Red Mill products and I need everyone to please be normal about this.

An unveiling of the new Bob’s Red Mill packaging with the slogan “Easier to find, harder to miss” and here’s the thing, I think these look great. The “Bob’s Red Mill” is in huge flowing white letters against a red background and it really pops. No more dr. Bronner shit of way too much tiny text. Bob (RIP) is still on all the packages but now as a tasteful line drawing. The bottom half of the bags are color coded depending on the product. Nice work everyone!

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 18

Also y'all might recognize the guy they talk to at the end of Episode 7:

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 12

Not sure about this one, NYT Cooking

It says “Ali Slagle Has Put Grimace into the fuckin blender” and there’s a cool refreshing glass of what looks like Grimace after you put him in the blender. I resent your accusation that I have altered this image in any way.

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 6

Brian PJ Cronin@brianpjcronin· May 5

Can't believe Jared Leto went to the Met Gala as an Andy Goldsworthy cairn, absolutely incredible