The Times Union’s Scott Waldman reports on the State Comptroller’s recent audit of BOCES, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, refuting the widely held belief the $2 billion educational network saves taxpayer money. The audit sampled four BOCES districts and found taxpayers in reality paid 56 percent more for services that could have been performed by a local district or private vendor. New York’s 37 BOCES were established to save school districts money by bundling services, including special education and vocational programs. Over the years they branched into other areas, such as providing information technology services. Today, BOCES serves 1.5 million students, and offers more than 200 services. Though they claim to offer savings, the comptroller found, BOCES do little to control costs in the non-instructional services they provide for school districts. Read the full story in the Times Union.
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Tags: BOCES, State Comptroller's Office
John Mason reports in the Register Star Steven Spicer has settled the discrimination matter he filed against the Hudson City School District. Spicer, principal of the John L. Edwards School, filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights in October, alleging he was “subjected to disparate treatment for unlawful discriminatory reasons relating to” his race. Among Spicer’s specific complaints: A reprimand of Spicer by Superintendent Jack Howe via email was sent to every other administrator in the district. Spicer was the only administrator not provided a key or key card to access the front door of the district office to attend weekly meetings. He did not receive a $2,000 raise after 10 years of service, as mandated by contract. As part of the conciliation agreement, the district did not accept guilt, but the settlement did specify diversity training be provided for staff. The Board of Education approved the agreement Tues., Apr. 24, without comment. Read the full story in the Register Star.
Tags: Hudson City Board of Education, Hudson City School District, Steven Spicer
Michael Ryan of the Windham Journal writes the award of a $12,000 grant will allow one of the oldest buildings in Prattsville to be restored. The Pratt Museum hopes to develop the site, which includes a vintage barn, as a museum of local history and/or apartment units. The Preservation League of New York State recently presented an American Express grant to the Zadock Pratt Museum for restoration of the Arnold House. The house dates back to the town’s official founder, Colonel Zadock Pratt, who came to the settlement known as Schoharie kill in 1824. He designed and built Prattsville, one of the first planned communities in New York, home to one of the largest tanneries in the world. Read the full story in the Windham Journal.
Tags: Prattsville, Zadock Pratt Museum
In fracking news, DEC (Dept. of Environmental Conservation) Commissioner Joe Martens recently told the Associated Press the state’s review of hydrofracking will likely continue through the summer. New York has not issued permits for shale gas wells using horizontal drilling since it began a review of the technology in 2008. Towns and villages throughout the state have banned or placed moratoriums on hydrofracking, and local judges have upheld bans in Dryden in Tompkins County and Middlefield in Otsego County. The Germantown Town Board approved an 18-month moratorium on the practice, Apr. 16. Read the full AP story. Meanwhile, Jeff Goodall, reporting on “The Fracking Bubble” in the March issue of Rolling Stone magazine, writes that Aubrey McClendon, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy, one of the biggest names in gas fracking, borrowed billions of dollars to finance the company using his own stake in the wells as collateral. Chesapeake is projecting a $10 billion revenue shortfall this year, and according to Goodall, the company’s financial practices raise additional questions about its environmental claims. “If Chesapeake plays this fast and loose with disclosure on McClendon’s loans, why should we not assume they are also playing fast and loose with disclosure about chemicals that are injected underground…or the disposal of polluted flow-back water?” Read Goodall’s story in the March issue of Rolling Stone.
Tags: Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake Appalachia, Chesapeake Energy, DEC, hydrofracking
Bryan Fitzgerald writes in the Times Union, Greene County priest, the Rev. Jeremiah Nunan, was placed on administrative leave after allegations that he sexually abused a minor surfaced. Nunan, 74, is the pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Cairo, and at Our Lady of Knock Mission in East Durham. During his suspension he is prohibited from officiating at any ceremonies, wearing clerical clothing, or presenting himself as a priest. The victim alleged Nunan abused him as a child between 1996 and 2003, and later when he was an adult, between 2007 and 2011. This is the second time Nunan has been accused of the sex abuse of a minor. In 2006, Nunan was accused of abusing a child beginning in 1967, during the time he was serving at St. Mary’s Church in Hudson. Following an 11-month investigation, Nunan was cleared and restored to the ministry. Read the full story in the Times Union.
Tags: Albany Diocese Catholic Church, Jeremiah Nunan, Sacred Heart Parish, St. Mary's Church
Cathleen F. Crowley writes in the Times Union about the tick-born infection, anaplasmosis, that has been showing up more frequently in Capitol region emergency rooms. The infection causes flu-like symptoms like fever, headache, muscle pain, malaise, chills, nausea and confusion. The number of cases is still small compared to the number afflicted by Lyme disease. Anaplasmosis is seen most often in people over the age of 65, an indication that younger people with healthy immune systems are better able to fight off the bacteria. Once diagnosed and treated with the antibiotic doxycycline, patients recover fast. Tick season began early this year because of the warm temperatures. Experts predict this season will be especially bad because of various factors in the tick’s ecosystem. Read the full story in the Times Union.
Tags: anaplasmosis, Lyme disease, ticks
The Daily Mail’s Doron Tyler Antrim writes about runner Todd Jennings, 49, of Monroe (Orange County) who is taking on a 315-mile marathon over eight days to raise money for nonprofit environmental group Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, founded by Pete Seeger in 1969. The group conducts environmental science on the Clearwater, a historic 106-foot-long sloop. The Hudson River Run 2012 will start May 12 at Lake Tear of the Clouds on Mount Marcy — the state’s highest peak — and finish at The Battery Conservancy in Manhattan. Jennings will pass through Greene County on May 16, during a 43-mile stretch from Cohoes to Catskill. He hopes to raise between $50 and $100,000 for the organization. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: Hudson River, Sloop Clearwater
The Register Star may be moving to a new location but, Debby Mayer of The Columbia Paper writes, publisher Roger Coleman intends to keep the staff and the paper’s main office in Hudson. The paper announced the sale of the historic building located at 364 Warren Street to the GalVan Initiatives Foundation in February. The sale is set to close “tentatively in the summer,” Coleman told Mayer. Coleman denied the building was actively marketed for sale; he declined to reveal the final selling price. GalVan’s offer came by way of a referral, he said. The building is one of 38 properties now owned by developers T. Eric Galloway and partner Henry van Ameringen, and adds to the GalVan Foundation’s holdings in Hudson. Of the 17 residential properties owned by Galloway and van Ameringen, 11 are currently vacant; the developers current own or control two percent of Hudson’s properties, according to Mayer. Tom Swope, GalVan’s Executive Director, told the paper the total assessed value of the properties is $8 million, and the foundation pays $200,000 in property taxes. Swope said GalVan will seek exemptions only on properties where the library or other non-profit organizations or activities may be housed. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
Tags: GalVan Initiatives Foundation, Henry Van Amerigen, Hudson, Register-Star, T. Eric Galloway
Rob LeDonne reports in The Daily Mail closing Durham Elementary School is one of the options under consideration by the Cairo-Durham Board of Education as a way to close the budget gap projected for the 2012-13 school year. Closing the school outright could save the district $450,000. Redistricting 91 Cairo elementary students into Durham is another possibility, for a savings of $116,000. An earlier proposal to replace Durham Elementary with a charter school is now off the table after the charter application was withdrawn. The board is looking at everything — “anything that is not a state requirement is currently on the chopping block,” including sports, extracurricular activities and AP (Advanced Placement) classes, LeDonne writes. Superintendent Sally Sharkey framed the issue as a choice between keeping the elementary school open, or closing the school and keeping the sports and extracurricular programs going. Sharkey will leave the district at the close of the school year when her current contract expires. The district expects to hire a one-year interim superintendent to manage the district while a search is conducted to find its next superintendent. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.
Nathan Mayberg reports in the Register Star Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced the state has allocated $9.4 million to fund road and bridge repair in Columbia County this year. The program will oversee the following repairs:
- Deck replacement for Route 23B bridge over Claverack Creek in the town of Claverack at a cost of $4.26 million
- Deck replacement for bridge on Route 20 over Wyomanock Creek in the town of New Lebnanon at a cost of $777,450
- Pavement preservation treatment on Route 66 from Claverack Creek to Route 203 at a cost of $2.016 million
- Pavement preservation on Route 9H, from Route 9 and 82 to Route 66 at a cost of $1.344 million
- Pavement preservation on Route 20 in Rensselaer County to begin at Route 22 overlap in Columbia County at a cost of $1.12 million
The projects are part of New York Works, a $1.2 billion program for infrastructure repairs throughout New York; 75 percent of the funds originate with the federal government. Read the full story in the Register Star.
Tags: bridge repairs, columbia county, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, road work
W. T. Eckert and Audra Jornov report in the Register Star the sale of synthetic marijuana has been banned by the New York State Health Commissioner. The commissioner issued a press release Thurs., Mar. 29, calling for “sales and distribution of these products to cease immediately!” Anyone caught violating the ban will be referred to the Attorney General for prosecution, and civil penalties will be set by a judge, according to the commissioner. The products, sold as a “legal alternative” to marijuana, have been linked to a variety of side effects, including paranoid behavior, agitation and irritability, nausea and vomiting, confusion, headache and hypertension. Synthetic marijuana is commonly sold in convenience stores, smoke shops and tobacco stores, under a variety of brand names, including, “Mr. Nice Guy,” “Chronic Spice,” “Spice Gold,” “Space Truckin” and “K2.” It consists of plant material coated by chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Greene County Director of Public Health Marie Cross Ostoyich told the paper her department’s “main role, right now, is education and awareness.” Columbia County Public Health Department Director Nancy Winch said her department will visit stores throughout the county that carry the product. Read the full story in the Register Star online.
The Associated Press reported New York state prison officials have initiated a new policy of photographing visitors to incarcerated inmates as part of a pilot program slated for a facility in northern New York. The photographs will be filed in a central visitor identification system run by the Dept. of Corrections. There are plans to expand the program to all 60 state facilities housing 56,000 prisoners. The corrections department also announced effective Oct. 1st, all adult visitors to state prison facilities will be required to present photo identification. Read the full story in The Wall Street Journal.
Tom Casey writes in the Register Star the state Dept. of Transportation says its hands are tied until Hudson, Greenport and Claverack come to an agreement on the issue of rerouting truck traffic. On March 20, the Hudson Common Council passed a resolution calling on the DOT to relocate the route outside the city. Officials in the towns of Greenport and Claverack oppose any change to the existing route from routes 9 and 9G/23B that runs through the city. Susan Stepp, a spokeswoman for the DOT, said the city has the right to redraw the route within city borders, but it will need approval from neighboring towns to reroute traffic outside the city. Stepp said her department offered to facilitate a meeting between the towns and the city last year but received no response. Read the full story in the Register Star.
David Lee of the Register Star followed self-proclaimed fly fishing purist John Libruk into Claverack Creek for the first day of trout fishing, Sun., Apr. 1. Lee writes that mild temperatures and a lack of storm water run-off made for ideal conditions in the creek. The fish are more likely to take surface flies when the water is clear. Libruk spotted several “rises,” telltale ripples in the water when the trout take food from the surface. Lee reports Libruk caught four brown trout in quick succession. The largest of the four fish was a healthy 13 to 14 inches long. Read the full story in the Register Star.
Tags: DEC, opening day, trout fishing
Nancy Folbre, an Economics Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, asks why the government continues to nurture nuclear power more than safer, and less costly sources of electricity. Writing in the New York Times “Economix” blog, Folbre compares a $8.3 billion Energy Department guarantee to help utility giant Southern Company build nuclear reactors in Georgia with loan guarantees similar to the incentives awarded to solar panel manufacturer Solyndra. Those loan guarantees drew heavy criticism from Republicans when the business failed, but according to a report published by the Union of Concerned Scientists, “subsidies to the nuclear fuel cycle have often exceeded the value of the power produced,” Folbre writes. What’s more, “the government favors extending the life of aging nuclear plants like Vermont Yankee and Indian Point 2 in Buchanan…, which have reached the end of their projected lifetime operation.” Read the full post online at Economix.
Tags: alternative energy, Indian Point, nuclear power, solar power, subsidies
Brian Nearing writes in the Times Union about Sandra Steingraber, an Ithaca biologist who donated most of a $100,000 award to a coalition of organizations dedicated to preventing the process of natural gas-extraction commonly referred to as hydrofracking, in New York. Steingraber, an environmental studies scholar at Ithaca College and a cancer survivor, has written two books about cancer and the environment. She received the Heinz Foundation award last fall and eventually made the decision to donate the funds to New Yorkers Against Fracking, a coalition that includes Catskill Mountainkeeper, Citizen Action of New York, Food & Water Watch, Frack Action, Water Defense and the Working Families Party. Read the full story in the Times Union.
Tags: Catskill Mountainkeeper, Food & Water watch, Frack Action, hydrofracking
Danny Hakim writes in The New York Times “City Room” blog the state is progressing toward full-scale casino gambling and lawmakers have agreed to overhaul the gambling regulation, “concentrating power in a panel that would be largely controlled by the governor.” Over the weekend the Assembly and the Senate released the details of new legislation to create a New York State Gaming Commission. The new commission will operate the state’s lottery, regulate bingo halls and other charitable gambling, and regulate Indian casinos, horse racing and video lottery terminals at racetracks. It will consist of seven members, five appointed by the governor, one by the Assembly speaker and one by the Senate majority leader. A similar commission was proposed by Cuomo in January. Read the full story in The New York Times.
Tags: casinos, gambling, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo
Debby Mayer reports in The Columbia Paper the Germantown Town Board is considering a moratorium on the natural gas-extraction process, commonly referred to as hydrofracking. A public meeting will be held April 16, to discuss a proposal put forward by Supervisor Roy Brown to impose an 18-month moratorium on natural gas and petroleum exploration or extraction within the town limits. Brown told the board a local business owner was recently contacted and asked if his property could be used for gas exploration. Last month, the state Supreme Court found state law “does not preclude a municipality from using its power to regular land use to ban oil and natural gas production.” The state Department of Environmental Conservation is currently weighing a proposal to allow hydrofracking in New York. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
Tags: fracking, Germantown
Bryan Fitzgerald reports in the Times Union after a week of record-setting high temperatures, the cold weather is back. The National Weather Service predicts temps will peak around 45 degrees this week, close to the average March temperatures of 46 to 48 degrees. The National Weather Service is also predicting “a slight chance of snow showers,” Tuesday. Four record highs were set last week in Albany, ranging from 69 degrees on Sunday to 81 degrees, Thursday. Snowfall this season will be far below 55.5-inch average for the date and the 86.3 inches Albany had seen by this time last year. The area reported a total snowfall this winter of less than two feet — 23.3 inches — as of Monday. Read the full story in the Times Union.
Tags: cold snap
Melanie Lekocevic reports in The Daily Mail on the recent clash between Coxsackie Mayor Mark Evans and former Deputy Mayor Greg Backus over questions surrounding land ownership and an alleged water deal to supply the proposed water park development on Route 9W. During a recent meeting of the Village Board, Backus revealed Evans’ mother, Gina McGrath, owns one-third of the land upon which the park will sit. Evans confirmed the land is held in trust for McGrath, her brother and sister. Backus was under the impression the 103-acre parcel was owned by the IDA, “…as reported in the newspaper,” he said. “Why was I misled and why was there no disclosure of who owns that property?” Backus said the mayor has a conflict of interest and should be excluded from any discussion of how water will be supplied to the park. Backus said Evans favors charging the developer a “bulk rate” for water. Backus opposed the idea, and was later shocked to learn Evans’ family owned the property. Evans denied a deal was in place to provide water. He later told Lekocevic the issue is “…nothing.” Tempers flared after the meeting — Backus called the village “…a communist state;” and later Police Chief Donald Meier called Backus “an idiot.” Read the full story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: Coxsackie Village Board, Greg Backus, Mark Evans, water park
Democrat Didi Barrett will face off against Republican Richard Wager in a special election for the 103rd Assembly seat, Tuesday. The seat was formerly held by Marcus Molinaro, who was elected Dutchess County Executive in November. The 103rd includes the city of Hudson and the towns of Ancram, Austerlitz, Canaan, Claverack, Copake, Ghent, Greenport, Hillsdale and Stockport, and 12 towns in Dutchess County, including Red Hook, Milan, Millerton and Pine Plains. Parry Teasdale writes in The Columbia Paper .there were nearly 81,000 registered voters in the 103rd as of November, 27 percent of those voters reside in Columbia County. Republicans hold a sizable advantage over Democrats among registered voters in Dutchess County. The winner of Tuesday’s election will serve through the end of 2012, the balance of Molinaro’s term. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
Tags: 103rd Assembly District
In Columbia County, village elections will be held Tuesday in Philmont, Chatham and Kinderhook.
Three candidates are running for two slots on Philmont’s Village Board. The candidates are Trustee/Deputy Mayor Brian Johnson, Trustee Barbara Sagal and Matthew Perry. Voters can cast their ballots at the Village Hall, 124 Main St., from noon to 9 p.m.
Four people are competing for two seats on Chatham’s Village board. Board member George Grant is seeking another term. The other candidates are former Mayor Paul Boehme, Lenore Packet and Adrienne Morrell. Grant has served on the board for nearly 20 years and Boehme was mayor from 1980 to 2011. Adrienne Morrell is an assistant to the Director of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. Lenore Packet runs a preschool in Chatham. Voters can cast their ballots at the Tracy Memorial on Main Street. Polls are open from from noon to 9 p.m.
In Kinderhook, Mayor Carol Weaver is running unopposed. Incumbent trustees Rich Phillips and Brian Murphy are being challenged by Sue Chiafullo in the three-way race for two seats on the village Board of Trustees. Voting will take place at the Village Hall on Rte. 9 from noon to 9 p.m.
To contact the Columbia County Board of Elections, call (518) 828-3115.
Three Republicans will vie for the chance to unseat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York). New York City lawyer Wendy Long, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos and Congressman Bob Turner all received enough delegate votes at the GOP convention Rochester, Fri., Mar. 16, to qualify for the primary. Long led the field with 47 percent of the delegate votes; Maragos and Turner received 27 and 25 percent of delegate votes, respectively. Turner, a relative political newcomer, won a surprise victory last fall in a special election to fill the Ninth Congressional District seat vacated by Anthony Weiner. The new redistricting plan will eliminate that district. Turner jumped into the Senate race one week before the convention. The GOP primary is scheduled for June 26. Read the full story online.
Tags: GOP, Sen Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senate
The Columbia Paper reports Stewart’s Shops has donated its vacant storefront located at 116 Main Street in Philmont, to Philmont Beautification, Inc., a community development organization. Stewart’s vacated the 2,100-sq-ft. building on a 1.1 acre site in December 2010, at the same time it opened a new store in Chatham. “The donation has provided a head start for renovating the building and site and taking the next steps of Main St. development in Philmont. Discussions are on-going with the Philmont Market and Café Cooperative to determine how renovations for the building can meet the needs of the start-up cooperative,” Philmont Beautification Executive Director Sally Baker said. Stewart’s Shops is an employee- and family-owned business based in Saratoga Springs. It operates seven stories in Columbia County, as part of a network of 328 stores throughout upstate New York and southern Vermont. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.
Tags: community development, Philmont Beautification, Stewarts
John Mason reports in the Register Star the Bingham Mills Road Bridge will not be replaced any time soon, according to Columbia County Engineering Director Dean Knox. The bridge was the focus of a recent Clermont Town Board meeting. The single lane bridge crosses the Roeliff Jansen Kill where Bingham Mills Road meets Mill Road on the Clermont/Livingston border. The span was closed in mid-July after it was red-flagged by the state Department of Transportation. The bridge carries 400 cars a day, Knox said. As a result of the bridge closure, Bingham Mills Road and Mill Road now dead-end. In a report released in January, Ryan-Biggs Associates estimated the cost of bridge repairs at $560,000 to $670,000. Knox said the bridge’s ultimate fate will be determined by the county Board of Supervisors. Read the full story in the Register Star.
The Times Union’s Paul Grondahl writes about the discovery of the world’s oldest forest near the Gilboa Dam in Schoharie County. The fossilized forest, estimated to be 385 million years old, dates from a period marked by the early evolution of trees. Researchers at the New York State Museum were part of a team that made the discovery in the spring of 2010, after working a riverside quarry exposed when the dam was built in the 1920s. The site is located about one-quarter mile below the dam on Schoharie Creek. The forest flourished during the Middle Devonian period, predating the dinosaurs by 160 million years. The discovery included the identification of two new species of prehistoric trees. Read the full story in the Times Union.
Tags: environment, fossils, Gilboa, New York State Museum
Casey Seiler in Capitol Confidential reports a judge formally dropped charges against 88 protestors arrested over the course of Occupy Albany’s two-month downtown encampment last fall. City Court Judge Thomas K. Keefe dismissed more than 100 charges that were technically still pending against the protesters after District Attorney David Soares announced that he would not prosecute protesters arrested for nonviolent offenses that did not involve property damage. Read the full story in Capitol Confidential.
Tags: David Soares, Occupy Albany, protestor arrests, protests
Gasoline prices rose on Fri., March 2 for the 24th straight day, as pumping stations pass along the rising cost of oil. The national average for gasoline hit $3.74 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That’s an increase of 46.5 cents per gallon since the start of 2012 and a record for this time of year. Some market analysts say it could reach a record of $4.25 per gallon by late April. Oil prices have been rising since January on fears that world supplies will suffer as the West confronts Iran over its nuclear program. Iran is the world’s third-largest oil exporter. Locally, The Daily Freeman reports $3.97 gas at the QuickChek in the Town of Ulster. The Daily Mail reports several local gas prices, with the lowest at $3.85 in Chatham at the Mobil at 2 Church St.; also $3.87 at Catskill’s Gulf at 260 West Bridge St., and $3.89 at the Stewart’s Shops at 61 Chatham St (US-9) in Kinderhook.
Tags: gas prices, Iran
Larry Rulison of the Times Union reports on a proposed Quebec-New York City electricity line that could relieve bottlenecks in the system, including those in Greene and Dutchess counties. Champlain Hudson Power Express would create a 333-mile transmission power line that would run from Quebec to New York City and pass through our area in the Hudson River. According to previous reporting in The Daily Mail, the proposed line is in the Hudson River a little north of Coeymans in Albany County, and stays there until well past the southern end of Columbia County. On Mon., Feb. 27, two Hudson Valley environmental groups endorsed a slightly different path in the river for the line. “Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson concluded that adverse impacts to the river are expected to be negligible and will be outweighed by a mitigation fund for projects that benefit habitats and ecosystems of the Hudson River and other areas along the project’s course from Canada,” their press release said. According to the proposal, cheaper power generated by Canadian hydro plants would effectively lower electric rates for consumers across the state by $650 million a year. New York’s powerful unions and trade groups such as the Independent Power Producers of New York oppose the plan because the line will not be connected to the rest of the state’s electrical grid. Rulison writes that the line would help replace the 2,000 megawatts of power that would be lost if the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester County were forced to shut down. Read the article in the Times Union.
Tags: electricity, environment, Hudson River, power transmission lines, Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson
The Columbia Paper’s Emilia Teasdale reports that the Town of Kinderhook received nearly $50,000 of reimbursement from Pegeen Mulligan-Moore, for money she embezzled over the years she worked in the town office for the former supervisor. Supervisor Pat Grattan, who was not in office when the theft occurred, said that Ms. Mulligan-Moore still owes over $100,000 to the town. He’s vowed to get the full amount reimbursed. In other Kinderhook news, the town is putting out a Request for Proposal for Town Engineer. Also, Teasdale reports that the town’s codes will now be online at ecode360, a website at www.generalcode.com that is used by other towns and villages including New Lebanon. Read the article in The Columbia Paper.
Tags: Pat Grattan, Pegeen Mulligan-Moore
There’s more on Germantown’s school budget crunch in The Columbia Paper. Debby Mayer reports that School Superintendent Patrick Gabriel projected budget calls for several “full-time equivalent” positions to become part-time. He told the town’s board of education it was part of an effort to keep layoffs to a minimum and preserve some programs. He also told the board the property tax has to go well above the two-percent increase allowed by state law. Mr. Gabriel suggested 6.2 percent, which would need approval this May from 60 percent of Germantown residents. Even if such a measure passed, Gabriel said the board would still have to find $200,000 to $300,000 to cut from the budget. Read the article in The Columbia Paper.
Tags: Germantown School District, Patrick Gabriel, property tax
Some two hundred farmers and their supporters attended the “Farming Our Future” panel on Saturday at Taconic Hills High School, according to John Mason of the Register Star. Keynote speaker Steffen Schneider, the general manager of Hawthorne Valley Farm, told the crowd that farmers needed to encourage, “mentorship, coaching, learning pods,” in order to meet the challenges of the future. Ben Shute, the owner of Hearty Roots Community Farm in Clermont, moderated a panel discussion with Schneider, farm-to-table advocate Amy Cotler, farmers Bruce Davenport and Ellen Poggi, and Taconic Hills ninth-grader Ian Perry on the panel. They discussed a variety of strategies that farmers are using to try to stay profitable during challenging times. Cotler said there’s definitely demand these days, but it’s hampered by the “astronomically high” price of land in the Northeast. She agreed that more has to be done to encourage young farmers, as well as to open up markets for farmers. Read John Mason’s article in the Register Star for the full story.
Tags: agriculture, Ben Shute, farming, Hawthorne Valley Farm, Hearty Roots Community Farm, Steffen Schneider
The Columbia Paper’s Emilia Teasdale reports in the Feb. 16 edition of the paper, a standing room only crowd filled the Tri-Village Firehouse in Chatham recently to hear state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka discuss recent burglaries in Columbia County. The incidents discussed included an alleged burglary at a Route 17 residence, and another in Stuyvesant. Suspects in both cases were arrested, but authorities acknowledged a “rash of burglaries” have occurred, many in Kinderhook. State Police Captain Scott Brown said he has increased the police presence in the northern part of Columbia County. Residents asked about alarms, dogs and guns, and sought advice on the most effective prevention strategy. Czajka reminded attendees that state law prohibits the use of deadly force by a civilian if the person can retreat from the situation. Tim Jackson, a state trooper stationed in Kinderhook, advised weekenders to make a residence look occupied, with lights and a parked car in the driveway. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.
Tags: Paul Czajka, Scott Brown, State Police
Chris Hawley writes for the Associated Press that New York City Police Department surveillance of Muslim students was far more widespread than previously known. City police monitored Web sites from Buffalo and Albany to Syracuse and Stony Brook, and student names were recorded for reports submitted to city Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Documents obtained by the Associated Press show police placed undercover officers at Muslim student associations at colleges within the city limits, and also used a student informant in Syracuse. Muslim student organizations in Syracuse, Clarkson University and SUNY campuses in Buffalo, Albany, Stony Brook and Potsdam were monitored on a daily basis. Kelly and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said police only follow legitimate leads about suspected criminal activity. Read the full AP story.
Tags: Muslims, NYPD, police surveillance, students
Crimson Sparrow from Jamie Larson on Vimeo.
Jamie Larson’s interview with chefs Ben Freemole and John McCarthy appears in the Feb. 21 edition of the Register Star. The chefs honed their skills at Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50, the restaurant that brought “molecular gastronomy” to Manhattan’s LES. In this video, Larson accompanies the chefs as they tour the site of their future restaurant in Hudson’s Keystone building. Read the full interview in the Register Star.
Tags: Ben Freemole, Crimson Sparrow, cuisine, Hudson, John McCarthy, local video
A walleye, from Wikipedia.
Tags: Catskill Creek, DEC, Esopus Creek, fish, fishing, walleye
The Watershed Post’s Lissa Harris writes about a feature about skiing the Catskills in The Washington Post. In “The Impulsive Traveler,” freelancer Irwin Curtin takes his family for a weekend of skiing at Hunter and Windham, and compares the experience at the mountains which are ten miles apart. He also gives a thumbs up to several of the area’s inns and restaurants. Read the Washington Post’s feature about Hunter and Windham.
Tags: Hunter Mountain, ski, skiing, Windham Mountain
Anne Pyburn offers a tribute to two recently deceased local activists in this month’s issue of Chronogram. First, Dara Greenwald taught and curated art exhibits, focusing on visual representations of radical culture. She and her partner Josh Macphee organized a traveling exhibit called “Signs of Change: Social Movement Culture, 1960s to Now,” that premiered at Exit Art, New York in 2008, before traveling to several other venues.
Also, Gale McGovern was active in the gay rights movement in New York in the 1970s. After moving to Ulster County in 1982, she founded several organizations and led others including WEB (Women Escaping Batterers), the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Youth, the Coalition for an Ulster County Human Rights Law, Friends of Comadres, People Against Racism, the Ulster County Global Warming Project. Read more about their lives and work in Chronogram.
Tags: activism, chronogram, Dara Greenwald, Gale McGovern, visual arts
Audra Jornov in the Register Star writes Christopher L. Anderson, 24, and Jeremy Bost, 22, of Ghent, and Joshua Spencer, 28, of Hudson, appeared in Columbia County Court, Tuesday. All three entered pleas of “not guilty” to four counts of first-degree burglary; Anderson and Bost pleaded “not guilty” to two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, in connection with a January incident in Chatham. Anderson is represented by David Seth Michaels, Bost by Ann Weaver and Spencer is represented by Steven Patterson. The charges arise from an alleged burglary at a private residence. Katrina Lewis, 19, and Shavanyce Q. Anthony-Lewis, 18, both of Hudson, were arrested and arraigned at the time of the incident, but District Attorney Paul Czajka said Tuesday, “they are not being indicted,” according to Jornov. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 8. Jury selection will begin June 11. Read the full story in the Register Star.
Tags: burglaries, Paul Czajka
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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