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Thank you for your coverage of Repair Cafés, which give “power to the people” in a way that is practical, positive and nonpolitical (“Repair Café volunteers fix old items, piece together growing community,” Nov. 27).

The Repair Café movement hits several sweet spots for me: it keeps items out of the waste stream, gives me a chance to meet my neighbors and saves me money.

I am the proud owner of a capacious gym bag that was on its last legs until it was repaired by a skilled volunteer in New Lebanon. As I sipped coffee, I enjoyed getting acquainted with her over the hum of her sewing machine.

Each Repair Café event is independently organized by community volunteers. Here in Columbia County, ColumbiaNE Repair Café hosted multiple events in 2025. According to its meticulous record-keeping, 440 of 577 items presented were fully repaired, 37 were partially repaired and 96 were deemed beyond repair.

Readers interested in getting items fixed — from jewelry to vacuum cleaners and everything in between — or in volunteering can find a Repair Café near them at repaircafehv.org/our-repair-cafes.

Published Dec. 22, 2025

I am writing to express concern about a proposal to build a 180-foot cell tower on New York State Police property in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Malta. While reliable communications for first responders are essential and widely supported, placing an industrial-scale tower within an established neighborhood raises serious concerns for nearby homeowners.

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