Hudson’s Lady Moon was on the BET show “106th and Park” on Wed., May 16, performing, “Never Worried.”
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Tags: Lady Moon, local audio, local video
The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a “Severe Thunderstorm Watch” for Wednesday afternoon a a cold front crosses our area. All counties including and surrounding Greene and Columbia are included in the warning. Wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible, as is large hail. The storms should cross our area between 1 and 7 p.m.
Tags: hail, Severe Thunderstorm Watch, weather, winds
Lissa Harris in The Watershed Post rounds up the now-national coverage of the deaths of an elderly couple in Andes, who died from lack of cell phone service. The story was trumpeted by The Daily News Friday, May 11, a week after the accident, and then an Associated Press story ran in The Washington Post and other papers. From The Watershed Post:
Arthur and Madeleine Morris, a Manhattan couple who owned a vacation home on Woodland Hill Drive in Andes, died near their own property after their car slid off the driveway and over an embankment on the afternoon of Thursday, May 3. But neither was injured in the crash. New York State Police investigator Alan Ferrara told the Watershed Post this week that Arthur had died of asphyxiation, probably after he tried to get out of the car and slipped. Madeleine walked to a neighbor’s house in an effort to get help, but sustained a head wound while walking through the woods, and died of exposure during the night.The Daily News reports that Madeleine tried to dial 911 on her cell phone nine times:
Nine times, the call would not go through — so the panicked seniors tried to escape themselves, with disastrous results. Arthur, 88, was smothered trying to crawl out of the Ford Fusion, while brave wife Madeleine, 89, trekked to a road but died of exposure after a rainy night under a tarp.
Tags: cell phone service
The United States Postal Service announced Wed., May 9 that it would keep open post offices scheduled to close, but would reduce hours at many more offices, including more than two dozen locally. “The new strategy would be implemented over a two-year, multi-phased approach and would not be completed until September 2014. Once implementation is completed, the Postal Service estimates savings of a half billion dollars annually,” a USPS press release said. Local post offices affected locally are listed below, with current and future hours listed:
• BERNE PO 12023-9998
8/6
• CANAAN PO 12029-3817
8/6
• CLIMAX PO 12042-2100
8/4
• COEYMANS PO 12045-9998
8/4
• COEYMANS HOLLOW PO 12046-2104
8/2
12050-9998
• COLUMBIAVILLE PO 12050-9998
8/4
• EARLTON PO 12058-9998
8/6
• EAST BERNE PO 12059-2145
8/6
• EAST CHATHAM PO 12060-9998
8/6
• HANNACROIX PO 12087-9998
8/6
• KNOX PO 12107-9998
8/4
• MALDEN BRIDGE PO 12115-9998
8/4
• MEDUSA PO 12120-9998
8/4
• NEW BALTIMORE PO 12124-9998
8/6
• NORTH CHATHAM PO 12132-9998
8/4
• OLD CHATHAM PO 12136-9998
8/6
• RENSSELAERVILLE PO 12147-9998
8/4
• SCHODACK LANDING PO 12156-9998
8/4
• SPENCERTOWN PO 12165-9998
8/6
• STOTTVILLE PO 12172-9998
8/6
• STUYVESANT PO 12173-9998
8/6
• STUYVESANT FALLS PO 12174-9998
8/4
• ACRA PO 12405-9998
8/4
• ASHLAND PO 12407-9998
8/4
• CORNWALLVILLE PO 12418-9998
8/4
• ESOPUS PO 12429-9800
8/4
• FREEHOLD PO 12431-9998
8/6
• HAINES FALLS PO 12436-9800
8/6
• HALCOTTSVILLE PO 12438-9800
8/4
• HENSONVILLE PO 12439-9998
8/4
• JEWETT PO 12444-9998
8/4
• LEXINGTON PO 12452-9800
8/4
• MALDEN ON HUDSON PO 12453-9800
8/4
• MAPLECREST PO 12454-9998
8/4
• PRESTON HOLLOW PO 12469-9998
8/4
• ROUND TOP PO 12473-9998
8/6
• SOUTH CAIRO PO 12482-9998
8/6
• ANCRAM PO 12502-9998
8/6
• ANCRAMDALE PO 12503-9998
8/6
• COPAKE FALLS PO 12517-5324
8/4
• ELIZAVILLE PO 12523-9998
8/6
• LIVINGSTON PO 12541-9800
8/6
• MELLENVILLE PO 12544-9800
8/4
• RHINECLIFF PO 12574-9800
8/6
Tags: mail, post office, post office closings
Celebrated performance artist Marina Abramovic and architect Rem Koolhaus will make a joint announcement about the proposed Center for the Preservation of Performance Art in Hudson, at PS1 in Queens on May 7, WGXC has learned. A WGXC representative has been invited to the private event. Previously, The New York Times and others have reported that Koolhaus will design the interior of the building at the corner of Columbia Street and Seventh St. in Hudson.
Tags: Center for the Preservation of Performance Art, Marina Abramović, performance art, Rem Koolhaus
Mark Clayton at the Christian Science Monitor reports that the U.S. House of Representatives voted 248 to 168 late Thu., Apr. 26 to approve the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a “cybersecurity” bill that would have internet providers turning over internet records without warrants. Techdirt’s Leigh Beadon reports that, in a last-minute amendment to the bill,
“three more valid uses have been added: investigation and prosecution of cybersecurity crime, protection of individuals, and protection of children. Cybersecurity crime is defined as any crime involving network disruption or hacking, plus any violation of the CFAA. Basically this means CISPA can no longer be called a cybersecurity bill at all. The government would be able to search information it collects under CISPA for the purposes of investigating American citizens with complete immunity from all privacy protections as long as they can claim someone committed a “cybersecurity crime”. Basically it says the 4th Amendment does not apply online, at all. Moreover, the government could do whatever it wants with the data as long as it can claim that someone was in danger of bodily harm, or that children were somehow threatened—again, notwithstanding absolutely any other law that would normally limit the government’s power.”
Locally, Rep. Chris Gibson (R-Kinderhook) and retiring Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-Hurley) voted against the bill. President Barack Obama threatened to veto the bill on Wednesday.
Tags: Chris Gibson, CISPA, cybersecurity, search warrant
Today is the Republican Party presidential primary election in New York State, with Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum on the ballot. It is a “closed primary,” so you must be a registered Republican to vote. Polls are open statewide noon to 9 p.m.
Tags: elections, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul
The National Weather Service in Albany is extending the Flood Watch that began Saturday through at least Monday morning, for Greene, Columbia, Ulster, and Rennselaer counties, and other areas nearby. A massive storm is moving up the east coast of the U.S. in classic Nor’easter fashion, and is expected to keep dumping rain on our area off and on through Wednesday.
Tags: flood watch, rain
George O’Neill, the co-owner of O’Neill’s Cafe in Cairo and the former O’Neill’s Tavern in East Durham, died in January, the Keith Gurland Sextet will perform at a tribute concert for O’Neill Fri., April 27 at Gallagher’s in Cairo. Last August, O’Neill phoned in to “The Irish Show” with Tony Fallon, and Fallon introduces this audio recording of George O’Neill on WGXC. PLAY CLIP 8:53
Tags: George O'Neill, local audio, Tony Fallon, WGXC
from levonhelm.com
Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration… he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage…
We appreciate all the love and support and concern.
From his daughter Amy, and wife Sandy
Helm is known for so many things in the music world and this area, from “The Weight” to playing with Bob Dylan, to the midnight rambles in Woodstock for the past decade.
Below, is a YouTube interview with Helm from PBS posted on March 9, 2012.
YouTube video
Levon Helm – drummer and lead singer for The Band – presides over what he calls “midnight rambles” — concerts in his Woodstock, N.Y. barn, where he’s surrounded by musical friends and family, including his daughter, singer Amy Helm. His voice may be raspy, but his energetic drumming and high-beam smile can warm the coldest winter night. Part of the Sound Tracks: Quick Hits series by PBS Arts.
Tags: Levon Helm, Midnight Ramble
The Cairo-Durham School Board indicated they will close Durham Elementary after next year’s term during their final “Budget Discussion” on Mon., Apr. 16, before voting on a final budget Thu., Apr. 19. The board also indicated it will raise the tax levy 3.8 percent, the maximum amount allowed under the state’s tax cap that requires approval by 50 percent plus one in May school elections. Before the meeting last night, the Cairo-Durham School District was still $164,598 short of a balanced budget with the 3.8 percent total increase in school taxes (individual taxes will go up varying amounts, not 3.8 percent). On Monday, the board decided to close that gap first with an “inter-municipal agreement with Greenville” schools, so both districts share bus maintenance costs. That reportedly saves $40,000, leaving a $124,598 gap. To make up that amount, the board decided to, just three days before voting on a budget, ask the teachers unions for some type of concession. Board member Beth Phillips suggested that if unions took two percent less for insurance, it would make up most of the difference. Union officials were not there to respond to this last-minute request. So the school board made a back-up plan, saying that a teacher’s job at both Cairo Elementary and the district’s middle school, would be eliminated, and an additional $3698 would need to be taken from sports or other after-school activities, if the union’s would not agree to some contract restructuring. School board President Greg Koerner-Fox repeatedly steered the conversation to next year’s $2.5 million deficit. Because of that, the board indicated it will close Durham Elementary in 2013-2014, saving somewhat less then the $642,742 they would have saved by closing the school next year, which two members advocated. Koerner-Fox indicated that closing the school and negotiating further union concessions is the only solution for that $2.5-million problem, or “we will be cutting 30 teachers next year to make up the $2 million.” The public was given a chance to speak after the board made their decisions, and the current Cairo-Durham bus maintenance crew heard the news they were losing their school contract from a text message and arrived to protest. A large group of pro-arts students and teachers were there, as “art and music” were considered for cuts, but the board repeatedly said Monday they were not cutting arts. Few parents begged to keep Durham Elementary open, even as the board reported one other hope. After giving up on turning Durham into a charter school, they are now hearing a “magnet” school proposal from an education company. The Cairo-Durham School Board meets at 7 p.m. Thu., Apr. 19 in the Cairo High School auditorium to vote on the budget. Tune in to a 30-minute recap of the meeting at 2 p.m. Tue., Apr. 17 on WGXC 90.7-FM. And a full recording of the meeting will be here and at wgxc.org soon.
Tags: Beth Phillips, Cairo-Durham School District, Greg Koerner-Fox
The rock band Hole — including bassist and Hudson resident Melissa Auf der Maur, who also runs Basilica Hudson — reunited for a couple of songs late Friday, early Saturday April 14, and this YouTube video was posted. Auf der Maur opens the clip, wondering if Courtney Love was going to join them, and then they play “Miss World.”
Tags: Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melanie Lekocevic in The Daily Mail reports that Coxsackie is organizing a farmers market for this summer for Wednesday nights. While Greenville, New Baltimore, Hudson, and perhaps Catskill hold weekend markets, Coxsackie’s will be 4:30-7 p.m. midweek. “We… thought a lot of people in this area don’t travel to other markets on Saturday mornings, so we thought we could get them interested in a farmers market during the week,” said Melissa Scheriff from the Greene County Rural Health Network. Dan King from Rex Croft Farms is the first farmer signed up for the market. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: agriculture, Dan King, farmers markets, farms, Greene County Rural Health Network, Melissa Scheriff, Rex Croft Farms
Ariel Zangla reports in The Daily Freeman that incumbent Michael Tancredi is running unopposed for another three-year term as Tannersville village trustee. Tancredi, a registered Democrat, is running on the Independent Mountain Party line, for his sixth term at the March 20 election. He is a 59-year-old, self-employed landscaper who owns High Peak Landscapes. “Priorities for the village include completing the replacement of the park pavilion at Dolan’s Lake and renovating a building on Main Street to serve as a new firehouse, Tancredi said,” according to Zangla’s report. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.
Tags: Michael Tancredi
Elaine Fernandez tracks stories of the current economy in her Wii the People blog. This week she travels to Catskill, to preview the March 17 Greene County Council on the Arts ten-week art project about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Fernandez speaks to Fawn Potash from the arts council, who organized the project. See the full story at Wii the People.
Tags: art, Greene County Council on the Arts, Occupy Wall Street
See wgxc.org/events for more information.
Add your own event and have it read on the radio. Go to wgxc.org/events and click on the “Add an Event” button at the top of the page. Then type, or copy and paste, details about your event, and soon they will be read by WGXC announcers on the air.
Important meetings this week
Monday, March 5
• Hudson Schools Budget Workshop focuses on special education. 7–8 p.m. in Hudson High School library.
• Claverack Public Hearing on proposed subdivisions: ESL Partners LLC Subdivision: Located on the north side of Rte. 217. Two lot subdivision of 142.93 acres into (2) two parcels of 4.12 acres and 138.81 acres respectively; Peter Tjark Reiss Subdivision: Located on Roxbury Rd. Subdivision of 63 +/- acres into four (4) parcels of 1.976 acres, 1.705 acres, 1.615 acres, and 57.903 acres respectively. 7 p.m. at Claverack Town Hall, 91 Church St., Mellenville. 518-672-7911
Tuesday, March 6
• Catskill Board of Education budget workshop, 7 p.m. in the Catskill High School Library.
• The Board of Supervisors of Columbia County holds special meetings of the Health/Medical Services Committee at 4:30 p.m., and a Special Public Works Committee at 5:45 p.m.
Wednesday, March 7
• Conservation Advisory Councils Roundtable rescheduled because of snow Feb. 29. Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) members and interested citizens are invited. The Roundtable is a forum for CAC members to share information about their conservation activities. It’s also a way for interested citizens to learn more about what a CAC can do for their town, including issues related to groundwater, wildlife habitat, open space recreation, and scenic views. To register and get event location, contact Ellen Jouret-Epstein at 518.392.5252, ext. 208 or ellen@clctrust.org. Organized by Columbia Land Conservancy. 7–8:30 p.m. at Churchtown Firehouse, 2219 Rte. 27, Churchtown.
• Kinderhook Town Board holds a special meeting to meet with the members of the Valatie Rescue Squad. 7 p.m. at Kinderhook Town Hall.
Friday, March 9
• Columbia County IDA Public Hearing on proposed assistance to Premier Equity for acquisition and renovation of the former Hudson Fabrics building, and financial assistance including potential exemptions from certain sales, use, and real estate taxes. 2 p.m. at City Hall, 520 Warren St.
Tags: budgets, education, town meetings
Hannaford Supermarkets holds a Job Fair at the Columbia-Greene Community College in the Professional Academic Center Building Room 612, 4400 Route 23, Hudson on Mon., March 5 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tue., March 6, 2012 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., and Wed., March 7, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Hannaford Supermarket will be opening a new store at 3390 Route 9 in Hudson, this fall. They are recruiting for Deli Sales Associates, Grocery Associates, Meat Associates, Grocery Night Crew Associates, Meat Market Cutters, Bakery Sales Associates, Cashiers, and Center Store Associates. Benefits are available and will be based on full-time or part-time status. Paper applications will be available after February 15, 2012 to fill out prior to Job Fair at the Columbia-Greene One Stop, Professional Academic Center Building, 4400 Route 23, Hudson, NY 12534.
Tags: food, Hannaford, jobs, supermarkets
LPFM application window this fall
Paul Riismandel in Radio Survivor reports LPFM and translator stations are on the Federal Communications Commission’s March 21 meeting agenda. The agency is expected to open a window for new applications for low-power stations around the country and in the Hudson Valley later this year. The agency is trying to first resolve the translator issue, as those stations have been gobbling up possible LPFM frequencies. The advocacy group Austin Airwaves expects up to 10,000 applications for low-power stations in the U.S., when a five-day window to apply is opened in September or October. Contact Prometheus Radio Project for more information about starting a low-power station in your neighborhood.
Dave Rabbit, famous pirate broadcaster, dies
Dave Rabbit, the GI disc jockey who headed Radio First Termer, a pirate radio station for troops in the Vietnam War, died Mon. Jan. 27. Listen to Dave Rabbit’s air checks at http://radiofirsttermerrestoration.com/
Israelis shut down legal Palestinian broadcasts
Democracy Now! reports the Israeli military raided two Palestinian television stations in the occupied West Bank this week. “Employees of Watan TV and another station affiliated with Al-Quds University say Israeli troops seized broadcast equipment and computers in overnight raids. Israel says the stations were interfering with air traffic control frequencies, but Palestinians say Israel is committing blatant censorship,” the story said. The Israeli’s claim that the legal Palestinian broadcasts are going to crash airplanes. “Civil aviation waves, according to international parameters, start at 120 megahertz, while TV frequencies start at above 500 megahertz,” Suleiman Zuheiri, undersecretary of the Palestinian ministry of telecommunication in Ramallah, explained in a Maan News Agency story. This is often said about pirate radio broadcasters in the United States, and is false. There has never been a case of an airplane crashing because of a radio broadcast.
Massive farms of tiny antennas may bring television signals
Timothy B. Lee in Ars Technica reports that a coalition of major broadcasters are suing Aereo, a startup business that wants to offer New York residents television broadcasts streamed over the Internet. “Rather than capturing content with a single antenna, Aereo plans to have enough tiny physical antennas in its server room that each active user can be assigned his own personal antenna. Aereo claims it is effectively letting each customer use a ‘remote TV’ whose antenna just happens to be located far away from its screen,” Lee writes, and the established broadcasters are challenging that business model. “Ars Technica asked Jimes Grimmelmann, a copyright scholar at New York Law School, to evaluate the case. While Grimmelmann thinks Aereo’s convoluted business model wouldn’t be necessary in a sane copyright system, he believes that the company has a good chance of winning in court,” Lee writes. In 2008 a federal appeals court ruled that Cablevision did not infringe copyright when it created a “remote DVR” system where customers in their homes access Cablevision’s DVR servers in a similar manner to Aereo’s plan. “The court agreed, and its reasoning depended on the fact that Cablevision stored a separate physical copy of a program for each user who requested it, rather than storing a single copy and streaming that copy to every user,” Lee writes.
Tags: Dave Rabbit, FCC, LPFM, pirate radio, radio, radio news, transmission art
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory from 10 p.m. Fri., March 2, through 10 a.m. Sat., March 3 for western Greene County and eastern Columbia County. Sleet, freezing rain, and snow is expected, especially at higher elevations.
Tags: freezing rain, sleet, snow, Winter Weather Advisory
The Prattsville Housing Committee hosts a “Housing Expo & Home Improvement Show” 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., March 3, at the Fire House in Prattsville. “The Expo is open to everyone in the process of rebuilding or new building, whether as a result of the devastation of Hurricane Irene or because springtime renovations are on your mind” notes Annie Hull, the Committee Chair. Vendors are coming to discuss funding, grant opportunities, contracting, suppliers, landscaping, masonry, modular homes, and real estate. Rep. Chris Gibson will attend, around 1 p.m.
Tags: Annie Hull, Chris Gibson, Hurricane Irene, rebuilding Prattsville, Tropical Storm Lee
The heavy, wet snow that fell mid-week might not be the best for skiing, but the three local resorts will take what they can get this year. The Greene County mountains each report about 8 inches fell. Catamount Ski in Columbia County has 29 trails and four lifts open with 18-40″ of snow. Windham Mountain has a snow base between 20″ and 50″ on 46 trails with six lifts open. US Ski Team members Tommy Moe, Donna Weinbrecht, Diann Roffe, Tamara McKinney, Steven Nyman and locals Staci Mannella and Caitlin Sarubbi, will all be on the mountain Saturday. Hunter Mountain has up to 18″ to 72″ of snow on 44 trails with five lifts.
Tags: Catamount Ski, Hunter Mountain, ski, skiing, snow, Windham Mountain
New York hunters killed more than 228,350 deer and 1,250 bears during the 2011 hunting seasons, according to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens. Outside of the Adirondack region the 2011 bear total set new records, substantially exceeding previous record takes in central and western New York. In contrast, the bear take in the Adirondack region dropped to a level not seen since 1998. In 2011, hunters took slightly more than 118,350 antlerless deer (adult females and fawns) and just over 110,000 adult male deer (bucks). In the northern zone, the buck take (about 15,900) was essentially unchanged from 2010, though the antlerless harvest (about 10,900) was down about 13 percent from last year. In the southern zone, excluding Long Island but including the WGXC listening area, the adult buck take (about 93,100) increased nearly four percent over last year while the antlerless harvest (about 105,400) decreased by three percent. For more information, see the DEC’s website.
Many schools and other institutions are closed or opening late Thursday due to the snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
CLOSED
Berkshire Country Day School
Berne-Knox-Westerlo
Catskill
Cairo
Chatham
Coxsackie-Athens
Germantown
Greenville
Hawthorne Valley School
Hudson
Hunter-Tannersville (check website for BOE meeting status)
Ichabod Crane
New Lebanon
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk
Red Hook
Rhinebeck
Roxbury
Saugerties
Taconic Hills
Windham-Ashland-Jewett
Woodstock Day School
TWO HOURS LATE
Pine Plains
OPEN AT 11 A.M.
Columbia-Greene Community College
SNOW EMERGENCY
Catskill is under a snow emergency. All vehicles should be parked on the odd side of Village streets from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., vehicles should then be parked on the even side of the street from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Vehicles should continue to switch sides of the street every 12 hours, until the snow emergency has been canceled. Parking enforcement will remain in effect for a period of 72 hours for clean up purposes. No parking on Main Street from Greene Street to Summit Avenue.
Tags: delays, school closings, snow
Ariel Zangla in The Daily Freeman reports that the Greene County Legislature approved $15.6 million to finance infrastructure improvements needed to build a proposed indoor water park and resort at a New Baltimore business park. Legislators passed six separate resolutions at a special meeting Wed. Feb. 29, for roads and a sewer system, for the proposed Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park resort. The developer, MAR Holdings, must present construction funds for the resort, officials said, before they spend any, and the plan has to go through traditional permitting and planning channels. “Two legislators, Patricia Handel, R-Durham, and Joseph Izzo, R-Catskill, voted against some of the bond resolutions. Handel said she was concerned the water park would hurt small, family-owned businesses in the county, while Izzo said he was concerned the project was being given a 30-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement,” Zangla writes. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.
Tags: Great Wolf Resorts, Joseph Izzo, Patricia Handel, Zoom Flume Water Park
Andrea Macko in The Greenville Mountain View Pioneer reports that 175 investors lost $14 million in a Staten Island-based ponzi scheme that dangled turning Greenville land into a golf course as one of its incentives. “Golden Greens,” a 132-acre golf course on Old Plank Road was even considered at a Greenville Planning Board meeting once, according to the story, and was said to include a 150-seat restaurant, 300-seat banquet hall, and 150 condominium units. On Fri., Feb. 9, Joseph Mazella III was found guilty on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, and the land in Greenville remains untouched.
Tags: Golden Greens, Joseph Mazella III, swindle
Common Cause's proposed Congressional map for the WGXC listening area.
Tags: Common Cause, resdistricting
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Watch for Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon. Four to eight inches of snow are possible, making for possibly the first winter snow storm on the last day of February.
Tags: snow, Winter Storm Watch
John Mason in the Register-Star reports that Taghkanic’s Town Board member Richard Skoda says reclaiming the potentially environmentally contaminated town garage is, “the biggest project the town is ever going to undertake.” At a Wed. Feb. 22 joint meeting of Taghkanic’s Town Board and its Building Committee, identified nine issues that need to be addressed including, awarding the contract for subsoil exploration. There was much discussion of who should engineer such a study, and how, and Councilwoman Joyce Thompson suggested the town produce a five-year projection of operating costs. Eventually, some members of the board would like to put a salt shed on the site. Building Committee Chairman Arthur Baker asked the board to also consider consolidating highway services with an adjoining town. “Highway Superintendent Tom Youhas said Taghkanic already cooperates a good deal with Gallatin and Copake. Gilbert suggested he also network with his counterpart at Taconic Hills,” Mason writes. Read the full story in the Register-Star.
Tags: Arthur Baker, Joyce Thompson, Richard Skoda, Taghkanic town garage, Tom Youhas
W. T. Eckert reports in The Daily Mail that Catskill’s Holcim cement plant is closing permanently, according to a New York State Department of Conservation Environmental Notice Bulletin. “The Feb. 22 completed application stated the DEC reviewed Holcim’s request to ‘dispose of the remaining raw meal slurry, currently stored on-site, in the currently active cement kiln dust landfill,’ Eckert writes. Greene County Legislator Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, wonders in the story what will become of the site. “…if they are pulling the plug and leaving, I certainly don’t want another American Thermostat (a Superfund site in South Cairo), where they pull the plug on a chemical disaster or environmental disaster and just walk away and get away with it.” Read the full story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: American Thermostat, cement, Forest Cotten, Holcim
Video streaming by Ustream
Ariel Zangla of The Daily Freeman reports on the live webstream the paper hosted Fri., Feb. 24 with NY Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald. She addresses infrastructure concerns in the area after last year’s storms, and said last week State Route 42 in Greene County was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, the final major road repair after the August storms. Read the full story and watch videos of the interview in The Daily Freeman.
Tags: Hurricane Irene, local video, roads, State Route 42, Tropical Storm Lee
Schoolhouse No. 5 in Delaware County. Photo from NRHP.
Tags: education, historic places, National Register of Historic Places, one-room schoolhouse
Shohei Shigematsu via Art Info, courtesy OMA.
• Inside the main space will be a sort of main theater space with wide angles and very comfortable chairs for endurance performances.
• Plans also include a “library, meditation room, gym, something to do with body and mind, and a basic back of the house, including offices, meeting rooms, storage, and classrooms.”
• The budget varies from bare-bones $4 million to a world of lifting stages at $15 million.
Then lead architect Shohei Shigematsu ends the interview with this exchange:
“We were thinking about redeveloping Hudson into an art destination. That’s also part of her ambition — not just this venue, but Hudson, as a city, to become a place where many performances and events can happen.”Art Info: Can you tell us more about her proposed hotel?
“We are conceptualizing where the hotel would be. There’s a vision in the main scheme which includes a main square where the hotel would sit and have synergy with the venue. The performance venue will look into this square. It’s a similar thing, almost like a reflection of what’s happening in our building itself: Many activities happen around the main stage.”
Art Info: Is OMA taking on the design of the hotel, too?
“Design, no — this is an existing building. She’s talking to many hotel developers, including Andre Balazs, but we don’t know anything yet. The idea is to make a more focused presentation to potential donors and potential artists and developers — whoever wants to contribute.”
Tags: Center for the Preservation of Performance Art, Marina Abramović, Rem Koolhaus, Shohei Shigematsu
Jonathan Meiberg from Shearwater, on WGXC Sun., Feb. 26. Photo by Ron Diamondstein.
Brian Dewan performing at WGXC's first anniversary party Sun., Feb. 26 at the Catskill Community Center. Photo by Tom Roe.
Tags: Jonathan Meiberg, local audio, Shearwater
Violet Snow in the Woodstock Times reports that Michael Koegel in Phoenica has ordered a broadcast transmitter kit over the internet, and is looking for someone to help him solder it together. He says he wants to put the transmitter at his Mama’s Boy Cafe and Market in Phonecia, where he would pick up the internet webstream of WIOX (91.3-FM) Roxbury. He says the signal would reach a mile around, which is not true of the tiny micro-transmitters legally sold in stores for iPods to broadcast on personal radios. Read the full story in the Woodstock Times.
Tags: Mama's Boy Cafe and Market, pirate radio, radio, WIOX
The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning for Greene and Columbia counties through 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 25. Expect winds between 20 and 40 mph and gusts up to 65 mph.
Tags: High Wind Warning, weather alert
All three local ski resorts hope the mix of snow and sleet and rain predicted for this weekend stays snow on the mountains. Catamount Ski in Columbia County has 31 trails and six lifts open with 18-40″ of snow. Night skiing is tentative so check beforehand. Windham Mountain has a snow base between 14″ and 44″ on 40 trails with six lifts open, and evening skiing Sat., Feb. 25 until 8 p.m. Hunter Mountain has up to 18″ to 72″ of snow on 47 trails with eight lifts. Sun., Feb. 26 Hunter hosts “Hope on the Slopes,” an all day ski and snowboard event that raises money to support the mission of the American Cancer Society.
Tags: Catamount Ski, Hunter Mountain, skiing, snow, Windham Mountain
In The Daily Freeman, Ariel Zangla interviews John Gerner, managing director for Leisure Business Advisors, who, on Wed. Feb. 22, gave a fiscal opinion to the Greene County Legislature’s Government Operations Committee about the proposed Great Wolf indoor water park resort in New Baltimore. The water park’s hotel would need to maintain a 40 percent occupancy rate over 30 years to pay back the $26.9 million in infrastructure improvements from a room rental fee. Occupancy rates at other Great Wolf resorts are all above 60 percent, according to Lerner. “The county has been asked to borrow up to $15.6 million to pay for infrastructure improvements at the Kalkberg Commerce Park in New Baltimore,” Zangla writes. The $115-million project includes a 400-room hotel, an 80,000-square-foot indoor water park, restaurant and lounge, and an 18,000-square-foot space for a conference center, arcade, gift shop and other services. The proposed park has come up with local resistance, particularly from Durham, and the Zoom Flume Water Park owners there. Read the full story, and watch the video interview with Lerner and Catskill Legislator Joe Izzo in The Daily Freeman.
Tags: Great Wolf Resorts, Greene County IDA, John Gerner, Joseph Izzo, Kalkberg Commerce Park, Leisure Business Advisors
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the western part of Greene County and the eastern part of Columbia County, as one to three inches of snow are expected to fall in the mountains and hills in the area. The Advisory is through 2 p.m. Friday, though the snow is expected to turn to rain in most of the area earlier in the day.
Tags: snow, Winter Weather Advisory
Town meetings of note this week:
MONDAY
Greenville Public Hearing
Feb. 20, 2012: 7:30 p.m.
At Greenville Town Hall, 11159 Route 32, Greenville. 518-966-5055
Public hearing on changes to the dog ordinance. Followed by the regular town board meeting.
TUESDAY
Germantown Board Meeting
Feb. 21, 2012: 7 p.m.
At Germantown Town Hall, 50 Palatine Park Road, Germantown. 518-537-6687
Proposed Town Board agenda includes:
• Town Attorney – Ratify agreement to continue old business with Whiteman, Osterman Hanna LLC;
• National Grid – Removal from demand meter and demand rate;
• Sewer Issue with Peter Fingar Property – Estimate to scope line to determine needs and mapping.
• Karol Harlow – Removal of synthetic marijuana and paraphernalia from local store shelves;
• G-Tel – Presentation;
• Gerald Smith – Request to add Mr. Smith to History Advisory Committee.
WEDNESDAY
Cairo Special Meeting
Feb. 22, 2012: 4 p.m.
At Cairo Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo, 518-622-3120.
The Town Board of Cairo holds a special meeting with the Highway Department in Executive Session to discuss labor matters. In October, during this season’s only snowstorm, several highway department employees were unavailable to plow, because their contract had not been resolved. A regular general town board meeting follows at 7 p.m., with a guest speaker from the Park Task Force to discuss the progress and vision for Angelo Canna Park.
also
Taghkanic Special Meeting
Feb. 22, 2012: 6 p.m.
At Taghkanic Town Hall, 909 Route 82, Taghkanic, 518-851-7638.
The Taghkanic Town Board holds a special meeting to discuss appointments and personnel as a joint meeting with the Town Board and Building Committee to discuss the procedural list outlining the committee’s approved Highway Department Facility Proposed Improvement program.
SATURDAY
Farming Our Future
Feb. 25, 2012: 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
At Taconic Hills High School, 73 County Rt. 11A, Craryville, 518-325-0390
“Growing Food, Farms and Community” is the subtitle of this series of workshops. The First Annual “Farming Our Future” will engage the agriculture community to think about its work in the context of a rapidly changing local, regional, and global food system. Just as the Hudson Valley sits at the crossroads of the consumer market positioned between the New York Metro area and New England, area farmers sit at the crossroads of the future of agriculture. See wgxc.org/events for full list of speakers.
also
Kinderhook Workshop Meeting
Feb. 25, 2012: 9 a.m.
At Philmont Village Hall, 124 Main St., Philmont, 518-672-7032.
The Town of Kinderhook Town Board holds a workshop meeting to discuss the Martin H. Glynn building acquisition.
Tags: town meetings
Tom Casey in the Register-Star reports that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) plans to dredge and cleanup a section of the Hudson waterfront, and is seeking public comment on their plans. The DEC holds a public hearing at the Hudson Area Library at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 to discuss its “proposed remedial action plan” to excavate/dredge and dispose of contaminants at the Water Street Manufactured Gas Plant site in Hudson. National Grid needs to remediate the site “to a level that is protective of public health and the environment” to the satisfaction of the DEC and New York Department of Health. National Grid and its predecessor companies contaminated the site operating the gas manufacturing plant through heating coal from 1853 to 1949. The DEC is also accepting written public comments through March 19. Questions can be directed to Project Manager Anthony Karwiel at 518-402-9662 and site-related health questions to Maureen Schuck of the state Department of Health at 518-402-1860. Read the full story in the Register Star.
Tags: DEC, DOH, Hudson River, Hudson waterfront
On The Air
WGXC is on 90.7-FM now, at full-power, 3300 watts. We cover all parts of Greene County except parts of the mountaintop, and all of Columbia County except for a bit of Western Columbia County south of Germantown. WGXC also covers a large part of southern Albany County. We have heard reports that the signal is getting from Delaware County to Great Barrington, from Selkirk to Saugerties, from Pine Plains to the I-90 extension.
Local weather/webcams
National Weather Service, Albany
Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page
When the computer is turned on, the Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page reports weather information in Harlemville. Check dates and times to see whether reports are live or from when the computer was turned off.
Greene County webcams:
Catskill webcam: Thomas Cole House Claude Mirror
Nearby webcams:
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