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Seders feature endless variety
Jennifer Patterson has a story in the Times Union about changes in the seder, which marks the start of Passover, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the biblical story of the ancient Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt to freedom, including the release of a new haggadah, or guidebook to the readings, from Maxwell House. “The seder (meaning “order”) is one of the most celebrated Jewish home rituals, but no two households conduct it the same exact way,” Patterson writes. “For all, it’s a chance to come together, share a meal and re-enact history. Some last for less than an hour, others go on for a lot longer. Participants read from the Haggadah (meaning “telling”), which spells out the steps with songs, prayers and commentary for the spring holiday’s festive meal.” She then notes how new Maxwell House Haggadahs, offered free at supermarkets, has undergone its first major translation makeover since 1932, with antiquated “thees” and “thous” replaced by the more colloquial “you.”
Man falls at Bash Bish
The Register-Star reports that a man sustained a fall at Bash Bish Falls at 1:48 p.m. on April 17. The Copake Rescue Squad and Copake, Hillsdale, and Egremont Fire Departments responded to the scene, and the subject was transported via Lifenet helicopter to Albany Medical Center. No word on the subject’s condition is available at this time, and no further information was available.
Lawmakers supporting, not opposing, closure of one state correctional facility
Veronica Lewin has reported in the Legislative Gazette what could be good news for Columbia and Greene counties: Westchester state, county and local legislators are calling for the closure of the infamous Sing Sing correctional facility they say is doing nothing for the community. Which could take the pressure off possible closings of other state prisons, including that in Hudson or, less likely, at Coxsackie. “During his State of the State address, Cuomo called for closing a number of correctional facilities around the state,” Lewin writes. “Closing Sing Sing would eliminate approximately 1,700 to 2,000 cells, while preventing an upstate community from losing a correctional facility that its economy depends on.”
Young entrepreneurs prep for Lemonade Day
Colin DeVries reports in the Daily Mail on a Sunday, April 17 event at GNH Lumber in Greenville where area kids learned what it takes to build a successful stand for the upcoming Lemonade Day on May 1. “More than 250 children of Greene County are already signed up to sell lemonade during the nationwide event intended to promote entrepreneurship,” DeVries writes. “Now, with only a few weeks until Lemonade Day, participants are preparing their business plans, recipes, locations, and constructing an attractive stand.”
Front St. work starts Tuesday
The Register Star ran a story this past weekend announcing an earlier Tuesday, April 19 start for the road work that will reduce Hudson’s Front Street to one lane. “The milling up of the old roadway will take place on Tuesday because parking is needed on Front Street Wednesday for a large event at the Shiloh Baptist Church on lower Warren Street,” the piece reads. “There will now be no roadwork done Wednesday. The surface of the street will be rough.” The repaving of the roadway will take place Thursday, April 21 and Friday, April 22.
Hannacroix Creek dumper caught
Colin DeVries reports in the Daily Mail that a 79-year-old Coxsackie man was charged with illegally dumping into the Hannacroix Creek on Saturday, April 9, state police said after a report of a suspicious person dumping household garbage into the creek was reported to them. Lawrence J. Burke was found traveling in his vehicle on County Route 61 and ticketed by police. Police said Burke had dumped a bag of household garbage, containing rancid meat, into the creek. The bag was located and returned to Burke, who was ordered to properly dispose of the refuse.
NYSP makes arrest in underage drinking investigation
The Register-Star reports that a 19-year-old has been charged with second-degree obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanor, after the New York State Police at Livingston arrested him April 8 following an investigation March 18 by the State Police at Kinderhook, who looked into a report of an underage drinking party being held at a private Kinderhook residence. Troopers located an 18-year-old female described as “obviously intoxicated” and turned her over to her parent. Continued investigation into the incident led to the Friday arrest, with police alleging that Pinkowski intentionally interfered with the troopers’ official duties. He was arraigned in the village of Kinderhook court and released, pending court appearance on April 19.
Goodbye, but not forever
Andrew Amelinckx reports on a ritualistic walking of a labyrinth on Sunday, April 10,to honor Benedicta Bertau, the co-artistic director of Hudson’s Walking the Dog Theater. Bertau, who is originally from Germany, is leaving the country for an unknown amount of time while her immigration status is determined. She and fellow Walking the Dog Theater director David Anderson created the labyrinth on the Philmont Village Green two years ago. “Friends came out to say good-bye to Bertau and help clean up the labyrinth, raking leaves and twigs off the stone structure,” Amelinckx writes. “While Bertau is gone—she said it could be up to a year—WTD will continue to produce shows.” Bertau has been in the U.S. for six years working with WTD under a H1-B visa, a non-immigrant visa that allows non-residents to work in specialty areas. A lawyer is trying to help her secure a green card, but while the process unfolds she will have to be outside the country.
Greene County ski season officially ends
Colin DeVries writes in the Daily Mail about the end of the ski season up at Hunter Mountain, who called it quits for the snow on Sunday, April 10, with ski center reps calling the past year “fantastic.” Hunter Mountain ended its 2010-11 ski season with some mud-skimming revelry a week after Windham Mountain closed on April 3. Also closing on April 10 was state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Resort in Ulster County, which faced major state budget cuts and accompanying job losses earlier in the season. Catamount, located in Massachusetts between Hillsdale, NY and Egremont, MA, closed in late March.
Farmers market to stay on Main, but look will change
Doron Tyler Antrim reports on the latest iteration of the Catskill’s farmers market, which now seems poised to will remain on Main Street with traffic flowing through it. The decision — which is not finalized, but was generally agreed to during a discussion among village officials and several business owners on Saturday, April 8, — will see vendors moved to the parking spots on the west side of the road with traffic cones or barriers placed in the road. Board action is expected at an official village meeting on Monday evening, April 11.
More charges for alleged burglar
Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star reports that the case of an alleged Columbia County burglar keeps growing, with new charges being added to those already filed against the HIllsdale man behind bars since October. Authorities now believe Samuel Sampson, 39, is responsible for as many as 50 area break-ins, going back to 2009. He was originally arrested by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Oct. 29, the result of a two-year investigation with the New York State Police in Livingston into a series of break-ins in Hillsdale, Austerlitz, Philmont, Claverack and across the border in Massachusetts. Sampson was initially charged with third-degree criminal possession of stolen property and second-degree assault, both class D felonies. Amongst his loot were four long guns, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Making food available for bears will lead to problems, state warns
The Daily Freeman is running a state Department of Environmental Conservation reminder discouraging human encounters with black bears. “Typically, black bears are timid and will avoid all contact with humans,” said Willie Janeway, the agency’s Region 3 director who lives in Columbia County. “However, bears will become a nuisance and can cause significant damage if they believe they can obtain an easy meal from bird feeders, garbage cans, Dumpsters, barbecue grills, tents, vehicles, out-buildings or houses. Taking preventative action early and consistently is crucial to avoid chronic bear problems.”
South Bay Dumping Update
Carole Osterink updates her own Gossips of Rivertown report by noting that the trucks seen dumping leftover cement in South Bay Friday were located, then reported to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Hudson Police Department. At about 5:30 on Friday afternoon, April 8, Gossips received a report that “two men with pickup trucks, pickaxes, and shovels” were removing the cement from the marsh. Way to go!
Hudson Valley farmers face development pressure
Bill Fallon of HV Biz writes about a new study that reveals that the Hudson Valley is faced with intense development pressure that is pressuring its agricultural heritage. “Farming endures, according to the data, despite a 10 percent loss of farmland in a five-year period, with a corresponding 21 percent increase in the cost of food production,” Fallon writes about “The State of Agriculture in the Hudson Valley,” a report by Glynwood, a Cold Spring-based organization devoted to saving Hudson Valley farming. “Perhaps the greatest impediment to small- and mid-size farm viability is the absence of processing and distribution infrastructure necessary for farmers to get their products to market, according to the report. It also documents how the industry is changing as farmers adapt to a shifting economy and to different market opportunities.” Yet there are some bright lights on the horizon, according to Glynwood, notably the diversity of markets in the region and the region’s proximity to major urban areas:
Nothing to sniff at: Canine adds new tool at Greene County Sheriff’s Office
Ariel Zangla-Girard of the Daily Freeman has a feature story on the training of Blaze, a 2-year-old German Shepherd that the Greene County Sheriff’s Office purchased on March 5, 2010. The dog and his handler, Deputy Gregory Stewart, completed training in April 2010 and were certified for road patrol work by the end of last June. In the past year dog and handler have found a lost Alzheimers patient in the Village of Catskill and a suicide who had burned his mother’s home in Athens. In a few months, Zangla-Girard adds, Blaze will get his state certification for narcotics work, something Stewart said he is excited about.
Escaped state prisoner recaptured
Mid Hudson News Network has a bit more about the Hudson prison break on Saturday night, April 2. Prison officials at the Hudson Correctional Facility called State Police at Livingston at 10:11 p.m. reporting the escape of inmate Daniel Tariol, 25, who fled into a wooded area adjacent to the work release facility where he was incarcerated. A head count of the inmates revealed his disappearance. He was then located at about 10:40 p.m. and charged with escape in the first degree. Tariol was serving one to three years at Hudson Correctional on a conspiracy charge.
Coxsackie man charged with church arson
Colin DeVries has a story in the Daily Mail about 25-year-old Evan David Donnelly, a one-time resident of Coxsackie, who has been charged in the arson and burglary of a church in Pennsylvania. He has been charged with arson, burglary and institutional vandalism and was apprehended after being observed driving in circles in a field, while bleeding from cuts and scars. Turns out he tried setting fire to a Lutheran Church and ran his Subaru into a non-denominational Bible Church nearby. His passport was found in fire debris in the Lutheran Church and Donnelly said he did what he did, “because someone told him to do it.”
Conference brings area trailblazers together
John Mason of the Register-Star reports on the Columbia Land Conservancy’s daylong conference on Columbia County Trails that drew 70 to the Columbia-Greene Community College on Saturday, April 2. Promises made for progress on a long-planned extension of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail system north of Millerton, as well as creation of a shorter trail in the Kinderhook area.
Bureaucracy still hasn’t corrected 2000 census error in Ulster County
Adam Bosch of the Times Herald Record reports that a paperwork error committed during production of the 2000 census that put state correctional facility populations from one town into another has new ramifications as the effected towns showed huge drops and gains in population in the 2010 count. “The original mistake was caught by Ulster County officials when block-by-block data showed roughly 1,000 people living in a batch of trees in Saugerties,” Bosch writes. “Those people were actually behind bars in Wawarsing.” “I don’t have a good reason for why we don’t correct things,” census spokesman Robert Bernstein told Bosch when Saugerties showed a significant loss in population for the 2010 census, after a decade of growth, while Warwarsing showed gains, despite losing over 700 people.
Board of Education meeting
Carole Osterink of Gossips of Rivertown reminds us that the Hudson City School District’s Board of Education meets Monday, April 4, at 7 p.m., in the Hudson High School Cafeteria. “This apparently is the last meeting before a special meeting scheduled for April 11 at which the BOE votes on the 2011-2012 school budget,” she writes. “Remarkably, in this devastated economy, it appears that the budget for 2011-2012 may be increasing by 1.7 percent over 2010-2011, from $40,932,878 to $41,629,018, while the revenue from local property taxes may be increasing by 14.3 percent, from $17,538,876 to $20,051,754.”
Patrons hold vigil for bar owner
Andrew Amelinckx and Jamie Larson of the Register-Star report on the aftermath of the March 28 fatal shooting death at the Half Moon Saloon in Hudson. They note that it seems to have been a suicide, even though the Hudson Police Department is continuing its investigation. A candlelight vigil was held by more than 50 friends on Wednesday evening, March 30, for the bar’s owner, Fred Martin of Catskill. The death occurred in the early afternoon and involved a long rifle, according to police.
Census: Number of vacant homes rising in Greene Co.
Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail writes about how homes are being increasingly vacated in Greene County and the Hudson Valley region, according to census data released last week. While the total number of housing units increased in 2010 compared to 10 years ago, the number of vacancies in the county increased 13 percent. DeVries also notes that the total number of countywide housing units increased 10 percent since a decade ago, now totaling 29,210 units throughout the 14 towns of Greene County.
Burglars who used Facebook plead guilty
Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star reports on two 18-year-old women pleading guilty to using Facebook to figure out the best time to attempt a break-in at a Hillsdale home. Jessica Schwed and Jennifer Montague, both of Philmont, appeared with their attorneys in Columbia County Court this week and admitted to stealing a flat screen TV, computer, video game system and a large quantity of alcohol while the homeowner was on vacation and the homeowner’s daughter was at work. Schwed and Montague agreed to jointly pay a total of $6,969.90 in restitution. They were sentenced invidividually, to five years of probation and up to six months in jail for Schwed, and five years of probation for Montague.
Cuomo: Schools have waste and fraud, can weather cut
Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union reports on the governor countering claims that his proposal to cut $1.5 billion in education aid would hurt the kids by calling such statements “threats” and “a game.” Cuomo said his proposed cuts could be weathered by districts by trimming waste, abuse, and administrative overhead. “They have to say we’re perfectly managed. We are the Swiss watch of organizations,” Cuomo said in what Vielkind described as a four-minute rant at the conclusion of a meeting with four leaders of the legislative conferences. “They want to oppose the cuts politically, so what do they say? ”They want to hurt your child.’ ”
HCSD lays out high, low budget scenarios
Andrew Amelinckx reports in the Register-Star that the Hudson School Board has started to take serious looks at their budget for the coming year, albeit without any definite figures from the state. But looking at matters from both a high and low end, all options appeared “dire.” “We’ve been dealt a crappy hand to play,” Amelinckx quotes BOE President Emil Meister saying. “Everything is fair game.” Possible scenarios, at present, included the loss of 10 teaching positions and other cuts that would result in a 21 percent tax increase to another that included the loss of more than 60 teaching jobs to produce a 3.9 percent tax increase.
25-cent meal increase would yield $19K in new school revenue
Jim Planck of the Daily Mail reports that Catskill Board of Education members were provided an assortment of potential cost-saving and revenue generating scenarios for the 2011-12 budget by district officials Wednesday night, March 16, including a plan by Food Services and Transportation Director William Muirhead to save a potential $19,300 in new revenue available by forcing school meal prices up a quarter. The board is starting to move beyond its initial zero-based budgeting stance and speak about actual savings and revenue enhancers, instead of cutting all programs to the bone.
Palenville man arrested on child pornography charges
The Watershed Post report a State Police release about the arrest of a 24 year old Palenville man for “Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child,” a class E Felony. The young man was arrested after an investigation conducted by the New York State Police and the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (I.C.A.C.), and was released on an Appearance Ticket returnable to the Town of Catskill Court later today. Prosecution of this case is being conducted by the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.
Sheriff opens eastern front
Diane Valden of The Columbia Paper reports that later this year, the Columbia County’s Sheriff Office will establish its first-ever substation in the Hillsdale Town Hall on Route 23, just west of the Route 22 intersection, which will be vacated for new premises in the coming months. Sheriff David Harrison, Jr., and Captain David Bartlett appeared at the Hillsdale Town Board meeting March 15 to propose that the Town Board enter into an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office to use the old Town Hall as a substation when the town moves into its new digs at the former Roe Jan Library, across from the supermarket on Route 23.
Joke gone wrong lands man in hospital Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star writes about a Ghent man who was seriously injured after falling out of a truck and being run over by that vehicle during an apparent practical joke that went wrong Wednesday afternoon, March 16. Benjamin Keyser, the passenger in a Ford F350 pick-up truck headed south on Route 66 in Chatham, stood up in the vehicle and began exiting through the truck’s moon roof, according to the New York State Police, the investigating agency. “He immediately lost his balance, slid down the windshield and front hood … and the truck ran him over,” said State Police Capt. Scott Brown. The accident occurred just north of Crellin Park in Chatham just before 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Help sought in search for missing teen
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office is distributing flyers to local businesses in hopes of locating 13-year-old Raven Barger, who disappeared from his New Baltimore home on Friday night, Feb. 18, around 7:30 p.m. when his parents checked his room and found him gone, with the window open. The 5 foot 5 inch, 155 pound teen has left home before but has never disappeared for this long, according to a report in the Times Union.
Catskill man who killed police officer shot self twice, autopsy shows
All the local papers are leading with another installment in the story of Lee Welch, the Catskill man who shot killed his wife, Jessica, and then killed a Poughkeepsie police office after having his three year old daughter wrestled from his arm. Now it seems he shot himself twice in the head before dying.
Justice drops charge against highway chief
Hillsdale Justice Russ Immarigeo dismissed the second degree harassment charge against Hillsdale Highway Superintendent Richard Briggs February 14, Diane Valden reports in The Columbia Paper. Briggs, 41, of Hillsdale, was charged last August 13 because of a complaint signed by a Highway Department employee who alleged that he made sexually suggestive statements. Hillsdale Town Supervisor Art Baer and the Town Board cast a vote of no confidence in Briggs in August, Valden reports, even before he was charged, and called for his resignation. Baer told The Columbia Paper Wednesday that he and board, “were disappointed that the matter did not go all the way through the judicial process.”
Catskill declares snow emergency for Monday
The village of Catskill declared a snow emergency effective 8 a.m. this morning, Feb. 21, 2011 to remain in effect for 72 hours, until 8 a.m. on Thu., Feb. 24, according to The Daily Mail. Residents must follow posted alternate parking regulations and any vehicle parked on the roadway in violation of parking regulations which hinders the removal of snow will be ticketed and towed at the owner’s expense.
Study: NY ranks No. 23 for CO2 output
This Albany Business Journal piece is a nice surprise, given the concentrations of cities and manufacturing still in our state. The worst offenders for power generators? Texas, by a huge amount, then Florida, Ohio and Indiana. Cleanest? Ah… Vermont!
John Mason of the Register-Star has two stories up about the deepening budget talks at Taconic Hills School District, which held a board meeting on February 16. In one, he focuses on a recent speech by District Superintendent Mark Sposato, who put teachers squarely at the center of his budget presentation by talking about individual teachers’ salaries and suggesting means of working through better union contracts, going so far as to charge that the district’s secondary teachers work 3.3 hours a day, a claim that was hotly contested by teachers in the audience, who said their tasks include more than just classroom teaching hours. Sposato said he was responding to media questions about his own rate of pay, which was ranked sixth out of 93 among all superintendents in the Capital Region, while the Taconic teachers’ was ranked 91st, with an average of $41,430, one fifth of what Sposato owns. Mason’s second story, Mason reports on administrative discussions of how state aid cuts will effect Taconic Hills, which Sposato says will mean cuts of approximately $2.3 million from the current year’s budget in the coming year. Specifics, which have included talk of dropping kindergarten classes, all music and art, and most sports in other districts, have yet to be addressed.
HTC supt. says Cuomo’s budget looks dim
Jim Planck of the Daily Mail has a piece about the school budget woes hitting Hunter-Tannersville in Greene County, where called the cut to state aid for schools — $1.5 billion — is “the largest proposed cut within the history of State Education.” And that’s before they got to property tax caps… and more talk of possible district mergers and major services and teachers cuts.
Cops nab alleged firehouse burglars
It turns out the crimes of the recent holiday season were not systemic, or a new trend. Andrew Amelinckx in The Register Star reports that police have nabbed two men for burglarizing the Mellenville Firehouse: Robert E. Perez, an ex-con already facing felony charges after an alleged car chase in January, and Lellan Smith, a parolee who was recently arrested for the armed robbery of a Hillsdale convenience store.
Tractor trailer fire on Thruway
This is largely visual: a flaming truck on the side of the Thruway between exits 24 and 25 from Bryan Fitzgerald at the Times Union.
Dispute arises over legitimacy of sewer claims
Doron Tyler Antrim in The Daily Mail has a story about how some fines OK’d by the Cairo Town Board last month are now being questioned as a possibly illegal move. It all relates back to operating cost overruns based on shrinking budget shares for local municipalities.
Non-profit group seeks new image for Opus 40
Harvey Fite’s bluestone masterpiece in Ulster County is written about in the Daily Freeman by Ariel Zangla-Girard after a political battle broke out on whether the town of Saugerties should have gotten involved in saving the cultural attraction. Now it turns out a new non-profit is getting $400,000 to help purchase the place, and fundraising is underway to make it a first class museum and tourist attraction. Still, some say government should have let it go…
Battling the giant hogweed
The Watershed Post blog has the best headline of the day with a piece by Julia Reischel about the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s look to hire hogweed wranglers, particularly in the western half of the state, to eradicate the growing weed, otherwise known as wild parsnips.
The National Weather Service predicts, a chance for the kiss of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with an amorous high near 45. Southwest wind between 10 and 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Tonight, windy with the embrace of snow flurries and snow showers possible. Partly cloudy later. Low 14F. Winds WNW will be between 20 and 30 mph and could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Town meetings tonight TOWN OF HILLSDALE The Planning Board of the Town of Hillsdale holds a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. at the Town Hall, Hillsdale, NY, to consider Ilya Bykov’s proposed two-lot subdivision at 211 Mitchell St. HUDSON SCHOOL BOARD Hudson City School District Board of Education Special Meeting at 7 p.m. in M.C. Smith Elementary School cafeteria. VILLAGE OF PHILMONT A public hearing presentation on the construction of a proposed new DPW garage at Philmont Village Hall, 124 Main St. 518-672-7032. GREENE COUNTY LEGISLATUREholds Buildings & Grounds, Conservation, Public Safety, Highway, Government Operations, and Finmance committee meetings at 6:00 PM, along with GOP and Democratic Caucus gatherings tonight.
Tune in today WGXC MORNING SHOW Norman Keyser hosts, with reports from Philmont, Rensselearville, Hudson, Ireland, Big Indian, and other towns. 6-8 a.m.
Pulvers suffers another roof collapse
The Register-Star reports that on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 8, another portion of the roof at Pulver’s Glass on Green Street in Hudson caved in, doubling the damage to the 90 year old building next to the Chinese buffet. A spaghetti dinner benefit has been planned for he Historic Blue Store restaurant in Livingston at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18.
$122M Powerball winner comes forward
More than three weeks since the Jan. 22 Powerball drawing, the jackpot winner of a $122 million haul has submitted their ticket to the New York State Division of Lottery, said Lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman. The sole jackpot-winning ticket in the multi-state lottery was sold at the Clothespin Laundromat in Catskill but according to the Daily Mail, the identity of the region’s newest millionaire remains a mystery — with the Lottery not revealing gender, age, or residence of the jackpot winner until a later press conference.
Strong-arm robbery arrest in Columbia County
The Times Union has a front page story on the arrest of a man charged with the Hillsdale convenience store robbery that occurred shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve. Lellan Smith, 37, of Philmont, and on parole, was arrested on Monday on a charge of second-degree robbery and is being questioned regarding a number of other break-ins in Claverack and Philmont..
Indian casino appears dead
According to the Mid Hudson News Network, the Wisconsin Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe casino proposed for Sullivan County appears headed for rejection with a lawyer for the tribe saying Interior Department officials told him it was “highly unlikely” that the casino and resort would be approved despite the fact that former governor David Paterson signed a pact with the Stockbridge-Munsees allowing the gaming facility. “bad vibrations.”
Jobless rate improves in two-thirds of U.S. metros—Albany not included
The Albany Business Journal has a piece stating that a total of 238 metros registered improvements in their jobless rates last year, according to an analysis of new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nineteen metros were unchanged, while the remaining 115 areas suffered increases in unemployment. Albany saw its jobless rate slip from 6.9 percent in December 2009 to 7.0 percent this past December 2010, a lot better than most… except in the downward trend of the numbers.
Hillsdale Supervisor Art Baer has filed for an ethics investigation into party caucus influence on county politics. Stay tuned. (Photo from ccscoop.com)
The Columbia County Ethics Committee will take up allegations of misdeeds on the part of county officials against Hillsdale Supervisor Art Baer, who made the request for the committee’s review. According to a piece in ccscoop.com, Baer’s allegations were made in a letter to media outlets that was penned in response to an opinion piece written by the heads of the county GOP, Conservative and Independence parties that demanded Baer, then the county’s budget officer, be removed from county responsibilities and alleged economic missteps on the former board chairman’s part. Columbia County Board of Ethics Chairperson Valerie Bertram, who is supervisor of the town of Stuyvesant, confirmed that the panel will take action on three topics when it next convenes, including the allegations made by Baer in his letter to the media. It is unclear which allegations will be specifically investigated, although Baer said his allegation of “an attempted quick ‘flip’ of land for a new County Commerce Park property at twice the price paid for it” by “county insiders” is being looked at. Besides Bertram, the board consists of attorneys Jason Shaw and John Friedman, as well as John Finley and former Austerlitz Supervisor George Jahn, county officials said. Read the rest of this entry »
The Taconic Hills Board of Education will be holding a special meeting at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, January 19 for the sole purpose of hearing a grievance from the district’s Faculty Association. The Register Star‘s John Mason reports today that Association President Kevin Reis said his entity had requested it be an open session, and he said as far as he knows, it’s the first time a grievance has been heard in open session. The grievance concerns the way the district is implementing a program known as Response to Intervention, which is replacing Academic Intervention Services, which Reis has called “less than they were under AIS.” He did add, however, that he was glad that the board was establishing a legitimate board meeting to hear a grievance, because grievances such as this, that do not concern an individual or contract negotiations, should be heard in open session.
At the Dec. 22, 2010 meeting, New York State United Teachers representative Pamela Melville objected to the board’s intention to consider union grievances without the union being present and without providing adequate time for the union to prepare informational packets for board members. But, speaking during the public comment period, she was not allowed to complete her questions to the board. Later, board Vice-President George Lagonia told the Register-Star Melville is a counsel for the union, and the board wanted to have its own counsel present if she were going to speak.
“I have no issues with anyone making comments in open forum,” he added this week, in the Register Star. “I have an issue with the counsel for the union using the open forum as a stage to make a presentation about the union to the Board of Education. I think that’s inappropriate.” Melville, he said, had been asked numerous times to let the board know beforehand if she would be attending.
For a succinct summary of the recent brouhaha the Taconic Hills board had with its teachers union rep, check out The Columbia Paper‘s account here…
A Chatham man faces felony charges after he allegedly led State Police on a chase early Tuesday, according to this morning’s Times Union, which is reporting that Robert E. Perez, 29, is charged with resisting arrest, unlawfully fleeing a police officer, felony DWI, reckless endangerment and marijuana possession after he failed to stop at a stop sign and led police on a 10-mile chase through Columbia County. Around 2:30 a.m., troopers in Livingston said Perez failed to stop at a stop sign on Route 203. Perez did not pull over for police and drove about 10 miles on various roads before finally stopping at Route 21 and Pheasant Lane in the town of Hillsdale. Perez refused to leave his car and allegedly resisted when police tried to remove him by force, troopers added. Perez’s breath had a strong alcohol odor and he refused to take a Breathalyzer test, troopers said, and he also allegedly had some marijuana. Perez was arraigned in Greenport Town Court and sent to Columbia County Jail without bail. He is scheduled to return to court on Wednesday.
What had been the brouhaha of the moment for the final weeks of 2010, when Hillsdale Supervisor Art Baer questioned party leaders’ decision to oust him as the county’s Chief Budget Officer, quietly receded into history with a unanimous vote at the county’s reorganization meeting this week. What happened and why did things go quiet after a loud series of letters in the local papers between the county’s Republican, Conservative and Independence Party chairmen and Baer, who said governance decisions should be in the hands of the people and their reopresentatives, rather than party political leaders. Francesca Olsen of the Register Star has a piece in this morning’s paper that describes what happened and starts to hint at some of the forces that rule Columbia County these days, as well as the manner of governance, and quieter politics, we can expect over the year to come.
When Ken Wilber – a former Ghent supervisor before becoming County Treasurer 16 years ago – suggested, in an interview with Olsen, that Baer could spend more time campaigning without the added $11,000 job as the county budget officer, the Hillsdale supervisor replied that he hasn’t decided if he’s running yet. “Ken has been the budget officer before and I’m sure he’ll do a good job,” he said, adding that he’s proud of the work he’s done during his budget officer tenure, especially the 0 percent tax levy increase in the 2011 budget.
“This is the lowest increase in county taxes in living memory and it wasn’t easy to get there,” Baer added. “It’s rather significant for the county to have no increase in a time like this… This was Roy (Brown)’s decision. I did it last year at Roy’s request. Now he’s requested Ken to do it. I don’t have a problem with it.” Why he did in 2010, then, seems to be the question. Which may be wrapped up with many political decisions of the year now past. For the full Register-Star story click here.
Two men from Catskill were stabbed early New Year’s morning on the 200 block of Hudson’s Warren Street, city police from the latter town are reporting in a late-breaking Daily Mail story this afternoon. According to the police account, city police responded to the vicinity of 222 Warren Street (West Indies Natural Foods) at approximately 3:18 a.m., after receiving a 911 call reporting a disturbance. There officers located a 27-year-old male victim with multiple stab wounds. The Greenport rescue squad responded to the scene and transported him to Columbia Memorial Hospital. He was later moved to Albany Medical Center where he is in stable condition. A second victim, a 35-year-old male, was also located with multiple stab wounds. He was treated and later released. An investigation is ongoing and no information regarding suspects was released by HPD. Two days earlier, on Thursday evening, police arrested 10 following a drug raid on Columbia Street a block away. The public’s assistance is being requested. Anyone with any information regarding this crime — or any other criminal activity — is encouraged to contact HPD at 518-828-3388 or the Detective Unit and TIPS line at 518-828-9900….Scanner reports also indicated an armed robbery around 12:30 a.m. in Hillsdale.
Snow fell fluffy and fast and was being whipped by high winds. WTEN reports a foot of snow had fallen by 1 a.m. in Canaan and Hillsdale. In Cairo, only four inches had fallen by 2:30 a.m. Eastern sections of Columbia County saw the worst of the storm. National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement warning of heavy snow until 4 a.m. Dutchess County is under a Blizzard Warning until 5 p.m. Winter Storm Warning for Greene and Columbia counties continues until 5 p.m. Athens, Cairo, and Catskill in Greene County declared snow emergencies. Columbia County had 68 employees working Sunday night with 29 plow trucks out on the streets. WGXC monitored scanner reports throughout the evening, including minor car accidents or incidents in Copake, Livingston, and Germantown. The National Weather Service canceled its winter storm warning for the Mid-Hudson Valley, but announced a winter weather advisory will remain in effect until 7 a.m. Tuesday. The advisory is for strong winds of 15 to 25 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph, resulting in blowing and drifting snow. Driving could be hazardous. Columbia County issued a state of emergency, so no one should be driving there. Snow totals from Fox23: Columbia County
•Kinderhook 21 inches
•North Chatham 20 inches
•Hillsdale 20 inches
•Ghent 20 inches
•Claverack 18 inches Greene County
•East Jewett 15 inches
•Freehold 11 inches
•Cairo 8 inches
•Maplecrest 17 inches
•Greenville Center 11 inches
•Ashland 11 inches Windham Mountain say they have 13 new inches of snow, and shot this video, which includes driving through the streets of Windham this morning:
Closings TIMES-UNION reports COARC Adult Transportation, Columbia County: No transportation, staff report; Giving Tree Day Care Center, Catskill, closed.
Opinions of a public letter signed by the county’s Republican, Independence and Conservative party chairmen calling for the removal of Hillsdale supervisor and county budget officer Art Baer from all board responsibilities, and Baer’s equally public response to the matter, were mixed among the members of the county Board of Supervisors interviewed in a Register Star story this morning in which two of the newspaper’s reporters contacted each member of the Board of Supervisors to gauge their reactions to both the letter submitted by Conservative Party Chair Matthew Torrey, Republican Party Chair Greg Fingar and Independence Party Chair John Miller — calling Baer “autocratic and secretive” in his management, pointing out Baer’s “direct involvement in a series of failed policies and poor decisions,” among other charges — as well as Baer’s response to the letter, which was published in Thursday’s edition of the paper (and on this blog yesterday). which asserts that the “self-serving” party chairmen responsible for the letter desire a government run by “the good old boys.”
Some supervisors felt the letter was inappropriate and the matters discussed therein should have been dealt with more discreetly. The few defending the party chairmen were muted in their responses, basically saying that all issues should be placed under consideration. The prevailing view was that something seemed to be amiss within the Columbia County GOP.
Art Baer, the Columbia County Budget Officer and Hillsdale Supervisor who was singled out by party chiefs for the county’s GOP, Conservatives and Independence Party in a major public snit of late, has responded to those asking for his removal in a very public letter printed in local newspapers this week, including the Register Star. In it, he lambastes political officers for trying all they can to move the public world of government, an elected entity.
Pamela Dalton's papercutting open house is a must see in Columbia County's Harlemville.
The Village of Athens will be holding its annual Victorian Stroll today,under the auspices of the Athens Cultural Center. According to the Daily Mail, he day starts out at E.J. Arthur Elementary School, where kids and families can enjoy Breakfast with Santa, and where the school will hold its annual crafts sale. Then you can head over to the Athens Cultural Center, where children will be able to take free photos with a Victorian Santa throughout the day. Collector Rob Halley will also be on hand with his vast collection of antique Christmas ornaments and the Center will be all dolled up with its holiday tree, put up by the Athens Garden Club. There will also be refreshments, a harp performance and readings by musician Ann Carter, including not-often-heard Christmas carols and Celtic music. Performances will be held at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. At 3:30, teens from the teen acting class will perform several scenes from “Our Town” and “True West.” And at the D.R. Evarts Library, kids’ activities will include a performance by “Tales ‘n Tunes” at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., while in the afternoon at 2 p.m. the Coxsackie-Athens Community Band will perform at First Reformed Church on Church Street, where cider and donuts will also be served.
In the evening the Cultural Center will host a jazz quintet, including Elizabeth Taylor’s grandson and the new Crossroads Brewery will be open 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. for tastings of their microbrews. In Hudson, meanwhile, Time and Space Limited on Columbia Street is hosting a kids event, presenting works by those students who have been participating in TSL actrivities this fall, at the institution’s Columbia Street digs from 11 a.m. to noon.
Back across the river in Catskill, Open Studio, at the corner of Main and Thompson, is holding a special open hour from 5 to 7 p.m. an always cheerful event full of art, decorations and a goodly bit of surreal glee, to boot. Finally, out in Harlemville, in the town of Hillsdale, renowned paper-cutter Pamela Dalton will be holding her Annual Open House Sale in her home at 322 County Route 21C, right next to Hawthorne Valley School, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 12, alongside four other artists, “kindred spirits” specializing in early 19th-century American art. Forget the cold and threat of bluster, it’s a weekend to get out and about!
While Greene County’s ski slopes opened last weekend, skiing begins Saturday at Columbia County’s Catamount with discounted lift ticket prices for this weekend at $40 for adults, $20 for Juniors or Seniors, and $10 a child, with nine trails open and four lifts operating. 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The Ockawamick School in Philmont, bought by Columbia County for several potential uses, is currently being used for storage. Click on image for a previous Register-Star story on its fate.
Just as Columbia County has started to look to the old Wal Mart property in Greenport as a new home, its last attempt to relocate to the old Ockawamick School in Philmont has led to a rare call for a key county legislator’s removal… by his fellow Republicans, among others. This morning, the Register Star is reporting that the chairmen of the county’s Republican, Independence and Conservative parties have signed a public letter asking for the removal of Hillsdale Supervisor and Columbia County budget officer Art Baer, a Republican, from the county’s main legislative body based on “failed policies and initiatives” allegedly spearheaded by Baer. The letter is signed by Matthew Torrey, Conservative Party chair; Greg Fingar, Republican Party chair; and John Miller, Independence Party chair.
Fingar and Miller said the letter, and the sentiment conveyed in it, originated first during the county’s 2008 decision to purchase the Ockawamick School on Route 217 in Philmont and then during the 2009 general election, when supervisors who had been openly supportive of Baer and his policies lost their respective elections.
Baer, who said he was not aware the letter was being drafted, responded after most of the text of the letter was read to him over the phone. He called it “ridiculous.”
“These are the people that want to go back to the good old days, the three men in a room type of government that existed up until a couple of years ago,” he added.
The county purchased the 77,000 square foot Ockawamick School building in October 2008 for $1.5 million for use as possible county offices and, at one time, a potential site for its social services department, since abandoned following public outcry. The building, unheated, is currently being use for storage of county records, old voting machines, and other governmental detritus.
The Columbia County Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday evening was recorded by Victor Mendolia. It includes adoption of a budget with increase in Columbia County sales taxes. Click here to listen to an audio mp3 file of the board meeting and votes, or copy and paste the following url into your computer’s media player:
Before the vote, the Supervisors held a Public Hearing on the Proposed Columbia County budget. Click here to listen to an audio mp3 file of the public hearing, or copy and paste the following url into your computer’s media player:
Martin Roby also recorded the meeting, and has excerpts broken down on his web page here.
Pledge.mp3 (1.6M)
public_comment_budget_2010_december.mp3 (21M)
resolution_flurry.mp3 (17M)
roll_call.mp3 (1.7M)
sales_tax_discusion.mp3 (43M)
Supervisor Elizabeth Young, R-Taghkanic, was absent from the meeting. Those who voted “yes” on the sales tax resolution included: Art Bassin, D-Ancram; Jeff Braley, R-Austerlitz; Richard Keaveney, R-Canaan; Jesse DeGroodt, D-Chatham; Robin Andrews, D-Claverack; Raymond Staats, D-Clermont; Reggie Crowley, R-Copake; Lynda Scheer, R-Gallatin; BOS Chairman Roy Brown, R-Germantown; Larry Andrews, R-Ghent; Ed Nabozny, I-Greenport; Art Baer, R-Hillsdale; John Musall, D-Hudson1; Bill Hallenbeck, R-Hudson3; William Hughes, D-Hudson4; Bart Delaney, R-Hudson5; Kevin McDonald, R-Livingston; Margaret Robertson, D-New Lebanon; Leo Pulcher, R-Stockport; Valerie Bertram, R-Stuyvesant. Voting “no” on the sales tax resolution was Pat Grattan, R-Kinderhook, and Ed Cross, D-Hudson2. Register-Star’s Francesca Olsen writes an article about the vote here.
Five supervisors voted “no” on the $5,579,000 Columbia County budget: Grattan, Crowley, Cross, McDonald, and Hughes. Supervisors who voted “yes” included: Bassin, Braley, Keaveney, DeGroodt, Robin Andrews, Staats, Scheer, Brown, Larry Andrews, Nabozny, Baer, Musall, Hallenbeck, Delaney, Robertson, Pulcher, and Bertram.
Perry picked for Taconic Hills school board
Christine Perry was chosen to fill the vacant seat on the Taconic Hills School Board at a meeting last Wednesday, according to the board’s website. Perry becomes a replacement for John Mastropolo, who resigned in September. Usually, voters decide on school board officials, but this time the board took over the entire process, making all decisions in executive session. The board picked between Perry, Sally Williamson, and Joan Spencer. In a story about this issue, John Mason in the Register-Star writes, “According to Robert Freeman of the state Committee on Open Government, the only court decision dealing with how school boards may select new members found that such decisions should be made in open, not closed, session.” Perry’s seat will be decided by voters again in May 2011.
Ravitch has low opinion of Capitol press coverage Casey Seiler in Capitol Confidential reports on the interview between host Susan Arbetter of the “The Capitol Pressroom” (which will air live Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. on WGXC) and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch. The outgoing Lt. Gov. told Arbetter that too much coverage of state government was devoted to scandals and “gotcha” journalism, at the cost of a more complete look at pressing problems such as infrastructure decay and the fiscal troubles affecting the state and nation. Ravitch, for instance, said more ink/bytes had been devoted to former Sen. Hiram Monserrate’s antics than to the actual state budget. “What the media does by putting so much emphasis on the misdeeds of very few is to create a culture in which going into politics isn’t attractive,” he said.
Central Hudson cleanup video
Albany-based television station YNN is hosting a video from Central Hudson showing their experiments in cleaning the Hudson River. From YNN, but sounding like it came straight from a press release: “Crews were hard a work using a crane to pull the two ton mats off the river floor. Central Hudson says the mats have been in the river for more than a year and says they are testing them to see how well the mats trap contaminants that have made it into the river from the company’s old Manufactured Gas Plant site. The plant closed in 1972 and the site is on the Poughkeepsie waterfront. The company says they expect the project to last until the end of the month.”
Skiing this weekend?
WGXC reported Friday that Windham Mountain began making snow last weekend, and both Hunter Mountain and Catamount Ski in Hillsdale in Columbia County report they will begin snowmaking after this week’s rain passes. Hunter and Windham hope to be open this weekend.
HUDSON, N.Y. — The Berkshire Eagle out of Pittsfield, MA has a gripping and exhaustive story on its front page this morning about the murder case of a Berkshire County, Massachusetts man who escaped from a secure mental health facility at Berkshire Medical Center in 2006, then stabbed, bludgeoned and burned a school teacher in New York state, now in the hands of a Columbia County jury in Hudson.
Attorneys delivered closing arguments Monday, November 22 in the trial of 27-year-old William Demagall, a former Stockbridge resident who killed 56-year-old George Mancini on Feb. 11, 2006, at the retired teacher’s home in Hillsdale, N.Y.
There’s no doubt Mancini was killed by Demagall, a fact Demagall’s attorney, Richard Mott, readily admits. But whether Demagall was of a sound mind when he stabbed Mancini 37 times, bludgeoned him with a paperweight, then set fire to the teacher remains to be seen.
The jury must weigh if Demagall was sane or insane at the time of the killing. The difference between an insanity finding and a murder conviction is the institution in which Demagall would possibly be confined — a psychiatric facility or a prison.
Columbia County Supreme Court Justice Jonathan D. Nichols ordered jurors to return today to the Columbia County Courthouse to begin deliberations in the high-profile case.
The trial began earlier this month and marks the second time Demagall has faced murder charges in connection with the case.
In 2007, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. But that sentence was overturned after an appeals court ruled that the prosecution’s failure to call a witness to the stand justified a “missing witness” charge.
HARLEMVILLE — The Registar-Star in Hudson reports this morning that the Hawthorne Valley Association held an open house on Sunday, November 21, where visitors were informed of the various projects that the organization has undertaken over its years of operation, as well as its goals for the future and its ever-growing role in the community.
The Hawthorne Valley Association consists of several different bodies under its umbrella including Hawthorne Valley Farm (which includes a full-line organic grocery store), Hawthorne Valley School (an independent Waldorf school for kindergarten through 12th grade), the Visiting Students Program and Summer Camps and the Farmscape Ecology Program.
CLC gets grant for trail linking Copake and Hillsdale
The Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC), in conjunction with the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association (HVRTA), are getting a $121,965 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation to fund preliminary designs and final construction plans for a five-mile addition to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail from the current terminus in Copake Falls into the hamlet of Hillsdale, according to a CLC press release. The project will link Taconic State Park in Copake Falls, the Roeliff Jansen State Park, The Roeliff Jansen Community Library, the Hamlet of Hillsdale, the Hillsdale Community Wetland, and the Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Sanctuary on a trail corridor already owned by New York State. “Extending the trail would bring enormous economic, recreational and development opportunities to Hillsdale,” says Art Baer, Hillsdale Town Supervisor. “It is an important first step in the implementation of our recently completed Hamlet Design and Development Plan.” Named after the Harlem Line from New York City to the Village of Chatham on the New York Central Rail Road, the trains stopped running in 1976 and the tracks were removed, leaving a 46-mile corridor ideally suited for a rails-to-trails project. In 1989, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (NYS Parks) purchased 20.38 miles of the right-of-way in southern Columbia County and northern Dutchess County.
Voters pass bus proposition, elect Hafensteiner Hilary Hawke in The Ravena News-Herald reports Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk voters passed by 82 votes a reworked bus proposition that previously failed in a May vote, and elected Sarah Hafensteiner to fill the Board of Education seat vacated when Rosemary Puckett resigned over the summer. Hafensteiner won by four votes over Rodney Krzykowski, 230 to 226, with Judith Sylvester (192) and Darcy Micelli (179), following. The bus proposal was $100,000 and one bus less that voters shot down in May.
Hannaford supermarket chain signed a lease with the owner of the Valley Plaza Shopping Center in the Columbia County town. The full-service supermarket and pharmacy will be built on the site of the Capital District Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., next to the Route 20 plaza that contains the former New Lebanon Supermarket. OTB will move into the former New Lebanon Supermarket.
Marc Molinaro at Space360 in Hudson April 21, 2010.
Molinaro named to Cuomo’s transition team
Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo today announced that Assemblyman Marc Molinaro (R,C,I-Red Hook), who represents Columbia County, was named to a transition team to recruit, review, and recommend candidates for key positions in the next administration, according to Molinaro’s staff. Molinaro will serve on the State and Local Government Reform Committee of the transition team. “The magnitude of the challenges confronting our state may be immense, but so are the opportunities before us to implement meaningful, long-lasting policies to improve the quality of life and quality of government in New York,” Molinaro said in a statement. “I am honored to serve with so many distinguished individuals committed to improving New York.”
Loaf opens Saturday
The Lick ice cream parlor on Warren St. closes each winter, and now the space is being used and the Lick logo changed just slightly into Loaf, a bakery. The 253 Warren St. location opens this Saturday, Nov. 20 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is taking orders for Thanksgiving pies at loafhudson@gmail.com.
Healthcare Consortium receives FCH grant
The Healthcare Consortium was awarded a $20,000 transportation grant from the Foundation for Community Health in Sharon, CT to provide transportation for residents of Ancram and Copake to and from health-related appointments in 2011.
Meetings tonight
In Kinderhook, John Mason in the Register-Star reports that Kinderhook residents are invited to an upstairs in Village Hall “Public Information Meeting” on the reconstruction of Hudson Street and Albany Avenue at 7 p.m. tonight. “The proposed reconstruction will extend on Hudson Street for about 600 feet from Sylvester Street to the traffic light at Route 9 and on Albany Avenue for about 1,600 feet from Route 9 to Sunset Avenue,” Mason reports.
In Craryville, the Taconic Hills school board says it will vote on a replacement for John Mastropolo, who resigned in September, at a meeting tonight at Taconic Hills High School in the board room. The board has been holding all proceedings around the seat, which is usually elected by voters, in secret, held in executive session. The board is choosing between Christine Perry, Sally Williamson, and Joan Spencer. This meeting is also at 7 p.m., and note the meeting’s agenda says the board will first vote on the replacement seat, and then the public gets a chance to comment, not before for a seat the public usually chooses at the polls. In a story about this issue, Mason in the Register-Star writes, “According to Robert Freeman of the state Committee on Open Government, the only court decision dealing with how school boards may select new members found that such decisions should be made in open, not closed, session.”
Voting to raise your taxes and fees Doron Tyler Antrim reports in The Daily Mail that the entire Greenville town board voted to raise building permit fees $6000. The board is made up of Supervisor Paul Macko, Diane Fallon, Ken Stern, Richard Bear, and Louis Kraker.
187 permanently protected acres in Hillsdale, NY. Photo from Columbia Land Conservancy.
Family protects 187 acres in Hillsdale
Mother and daughter Irene E. Gibson and Irene L. Gibson are permanently protecting 187 acres of their Hillsdale property, signing a deal with the Columbia Land Conservancy placing a conservation easement on their land. The property includes a prominent wooded hillside, highly scenic open farm fields, rocky ledges, and outcroppings, and stream corridors and 21 acres of wetlands near Taghkanic Creek Headwaters. The creek, a DEC-designated Class C Trout stream, runs through the protected property for 6,582 feet. The Gibsons donated the development rights of their property to CLC but retain title to their property, and can sell or pass the property on to heirs. They can still farm on the land, and are not required to allow public access. CLC holds 148 easements that protect 20,930 acres.
Schumer gets new job as Democrats’ messenger-in-chief Jennifer Dlouhy New York on the Potomac reports Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced New York senior Senator Chuck Schumer is now in charge of coordinating the party’s communications and messaging for the next two years. “Reid described the change as part of a new mission ‘to strengthen our strategic operations’ and ‘better integrate our legislative- and message-crafting functions into a central, coordinated nucleus managing policy, press and politics,’” she reported. Read the entire story here.
Scott Murphy at Coxsackie Senior Center April 1, 2010.
Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20) announced today that Mid-Hudson Cablevision will receive $3,473,919 in USDA funding for rural broadband infrastructure projects. Murphy sent letters and made calls in support of Mid-Hudson’s application, in addition to working with the USDA. Murphy says the funding will allow Mid-Hudson Cablevision to expand coverage in Columbia and Greene counties, specifically the Towns of Ashland, Jewett, Lexington, Cairo, Catskill, Windham, Coxsackie and New Baltimore in Greene County, and The Towns of Taghkanic, Copake, Claverack, Ghent, Chatham, Hillsdale and Austerlitz in Columbia County. “Expanding rural broadband in our Upstate communities is key to building businesses and creating jobs,” said Rep. Murphy in a press release. “This project will benefit everyone from farmers and small businesses looking to sell their products online, to volunteer firefighters needing high-speed Internet to keep the public safe.” In Murphy’s press release, James Reynolds, president of Mid-Hudson Cablevision, said, “This government support will help make it possible to extend service to rural marketplaces that would otherwise be very difficult reach.”
Republican congressional hopeful Chris Gibson (running against incumbent Democrat Scott Murphy) will be in Canaan Wednesday, and Hillsdale and Coxsackie Saturday. Wednesday, he will be at a Canaan Republican Association Meet and Greet from 7 to 8 p.m. at Canaan Town Hall, on County Route 5. Gibson will be at Hillsdale Day from noon to 1 p.m. at The Old Roe Jan School, Route 22, Hillsdale, and at the Riverside Festival, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Riverside Park in Coxsackie.
Hillsdale’s Roe-Jan Community Library hosts a variety of summer youth programs:
July 16 FAMILY CONCERT AT THE PARK
Roeliff Jansen Park, 9140 Route 22, Hillsdale, NY. 6:30 p.m.
Join the Roe-Jan Community Library in kicking off their summer youth programs with a free concert performance featuring Jeffrey Friedberg of The Bossy Frog Band. Bring a picnic and enjoy this family-friendly evening concert. For more info contact the Roe-Jan Community Library: (518) 325-4101.
July 23-Aug. 27 BACKYARD DETECTIVES
Roe-Jan Community Library, 2609 Route 23, Hillsdale, NY. Fridays, July 23-August 27, 10-11 a.m.
Children ages 3-5 explore critters and creatures from our own backyards through stories, songs, dramatics, crafts, and backyard discoveries. Registration required. Free. (518) 325-4101.
July 20-Aug. 5 MAKE A SPLASH! READ!
Roe-Jan Community Library, 2609 Route 23, Hillsdale, NY. Tuesdays and Thursdays, July 20-August 5, 9-10 a.m.
Make a splash this summer! Children in grades K-3 are invited to join the library for stories, songs, crafts, and more! Registration required. FREE. (518) 325-4101.
July 22-Aug. 19 MAKE WAVES AT YOUR LIBRARY!
Location TBA, Hillsdale, NY. Thursdays, July 22-August 19 3:30-5:30 p.m. (tweens) and 6-8 p.m. (teens).
Program for tweens (9-12) and teens (13-19). Learn how to make and share videos, use stop-motion animation techniques to bring objects to life, create radio for webcasting, and make fun and engaging paper crafts! Registration required. Free. (518) 325-4101.
Applications for the Twin Counties Cultural Fund Decentralization Program for Columbia and Greene Counties are available for the 2011 funding cycle. Could your organization use a boost to its arts programming? Are you an artist with an idea for an interesting public program or a community inspired idea for your own original work? Do you represent a village, library or other nonprofit that wishes to showcase the rich natural and historical heritage of our region through literature, music, film, or visual arts? We may have the solution! This year DEC programs offer two categories of support. Project Support for Not-for-Profit Organizations awards grants to community-based nonprofit organizations, local municipalities, towns and villages. Conduit – Artist Project Support awards individuals or artistic teams who partner with a nonprofit the opportunity to apply for project support. The conduit (nonprofit) agency acts solely as a fiscal manager while the idea is initiated and implemented by the artist or artistic team. Applicants may request up to $5,000 in support. Due to the number of quality applications, average awards are usually $1000-$1500. Have a solid idea but lack a nonprofit sponsor? Our DEC Coordinator may be able to help. Funding for both types of projects is primarily intended to be applied toward artist fees for cultural and arts programs that increase appreciation for the arts and provide a direct and easily accessible benefit to the public. Deadline for 2011 Project Support & Conduit-Artist applications is Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010. We also anticipate having a second category of funds available – Individual Artist Grants. The Individual Artist Grant Program offers $2,500 to artists (visual, performing, or literary) for the creation of a new body of work that significantly challenges the artist AND creates a dialogue with the local community. “Community” can be defined as geographic, racial, ethnic, or philosophical. Community engagement can be accomplished in a number of ways: through setting, creative interaction between artist and community, public participation and input, etc. These grants are not artist fellowships and are intended to support original works by imaginative artists interested in engaging in discourse with a community. Deadline for 2011 Individual Artist Grant applications is Oct. 2, 2010. Both categories of funding are competitive, and proposals are reviewed by individuals from the local community who are sensitive to the needs and challenges specific to Greene and Columbia County artists and small nonprofits. There will be a series of free 2-hour grant workshops in your county to clarify eligibility, guidelines, and offer guidance and extensive support for applicants. New applicants must attend one single-session workshop (in either county) or meet with our DEC Coordinator prior to submission.
Workshop Dates & Locations
Applicants may attend in either county regardless of residence. The first six will primarily cover Project Support grant categories, with less emphasis on the Individual Artist category. The final two will address only Individual Artist Grants. Greene County
· Wednesday, July 28,. Athens Cultural Center, 24 Second St, Athens. 5:45 – 7:45 PM
· Sat, July 31, Catskill Mountain Foundation, Main St, Hunter. 10 AM – 12 Noon.
· Tues, Aug. 17, Greeneville Library, Community Room, Route 81, Greenville. 5:45 – 7:45 PM.
· Wed, Sept 1 INDIVIDUAL ARTIST GRANT WORKSHOP ONLY. Greene County Council on the Arts, 398 Main St, Catskill. 6 – 7:30 PM Columbia County
· Mon, Aug 9, Kinderhook Library, 18 Hudson St, Kinderhook. 5:30 – 7:30 PM.
· Thurs, Aug 12, Roeliff Jansen Community Library, 2609 Rte 23, Hillsdale. 5:45 – 7:45 PM.
· Sat, Aug. 14, Columbia County Council on the Arts, 209 Warren St, Hudson. 10 AM – 12 Noon.
· Mon, Aug 30, INDIVIDUAL ARTIST GRANT WORKSHOP ONLY. Hudson Opera House, 327 Warren St, Columbia St, Hudson 6 – 7:30 PM
Interested individuals should contact our DEC Coordinator at 518-943-3400 or Colettegcca@hotmail.com for further information or to register. The Decentralization Program (DEC) is funded by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and administered by your local arts council. Consequently, Decentralization funding does not support organizations already receiving funding directly from NYSCA.
“It’s complicated,” he said of the situation. The Clapps “have had it tougher than a lot of other farmers,” said Dr. Beneke, who has over 40 years of experience in the field. “They haven’t had any excess money for treatment and vaccinations, and I wished they had wormed them, but there was feed in front of those animals, though there was not money for grain,” he said. “Some of the animals looked very well and others looked very thin, but there are a lot of thin animals in the county right now, if you look closely,” Dr. Beneke said. “They were trying to do the best with the feed stuffs they had–haylage and corn silage–but some of it had spoiled. Though they tried to use only the best of it, it was very difficult.” Before the sale of the milking herd, the three of them were trying to take care of 175 head, which is more than they should have been doing, he said. The family hoped to make it through the winter, waiting for the spring grass so they could pasture the animals. The dead animals died of gangrene, mastitis, giving birth and scours–none of them died of starvation, the vet confirmed. “Their judgment could have been better,” says the vet who remained sympathetic to the difficulties the family faced. Still “it takes some source of income” to pay for an adequate parasite treatment and vaccination program, he said. Ron Perez, humane society president and investigator, agreed the “economic woes” of dairy farmers is a factor in the case, but he said that the Clapps are experienced dairy farmers and should have asked for help from the humane society and the local dairy community. Read the entire story in The Columbia Paper.
Franceseca Olsen in the Register-Star reports that Columbia County Board of Supervisors’ Space Utilization Subcommittee, which is trying to find a location for Department of Social Services within 60 to 90 days, meets today at 4:15 p.m. at 325 Columbia St., Hudson. Olsen reports that at a Columbia Economic Development Corporation meeting this week, BOS Chairman Roy Brown, R-Germantown, and Supervisor (and county budget/corporate compliance officer) Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, “vocally opposed the CEDC’s plan to use $14,000 to fund a study of the economic impact on moving DSS out of Hudson.” The CEDC will pay Camion and Associates from New York City, “for the purpose of conducting a study on the economic impacts derived from the location of … DSS.” Read the entire story in the Register-Star.
UPDATE: Register-Star’s Olsen attended meeting and says, “the Board of Supervisors’ Space Utilization Subcommittee Thursday evening… voted unanimously to, ‘limit site selection to only within the city of Hudson without documenting the need for DSS to remain within the city limits.’”
The Register-Star reports that the Columbia County Board of Supervisors voted for a two percent pay raise for county employees Wednesday night. Supervisors voting “yes” on the pay raise were: Chairman Roy Brown, R-Germantown; Jeffrey Braley, R-Austerlitz; Reggie Crowley, R-Copake; Deputy Chairman Larry Andrews, R-Ghent; Art Baer, R-Hillsdale; Ed Cross, D-Hudson2; William Hallenbeck Jr., R-Hudson3; Deputy Chairman Bart Delaney, R-Hudson5; Pat Grattan, R-Kinderhook; Kevin McDonald, R-Livingston; Leo Pulcher, R-Stockport; and Valerie Bertram, R-Stuyvesant. Voting against: Art Bassin, D-Ancram; Robin Andrews, D-Claverack; Ray Staats, D-Clermont; Minority Leader Jesse DeGroodt, D-Chatham; Lynda Scheer, R-Gallatin; Ed Nabozny, I-Greenport; John Musall, D-Hudson1; William Hughes, D-Hudson4; and Margaret Robertson, D-New Lebanon.
The New York Times profiled Frank Serpico, the New York City policeman who complained about corruption on the force, and got a movie made based on his life. The Times interviews him at a health-food store in Harlemville, near his Columbia County home where he raises chickens and guinea hens on 50 acres with no TV or internet. At the end of the story the writer, Corey Kilgannon, shows Serpico the Al Pacino-starring movie, he claims for the first time, at the Kinderhook library.
Check out that headline in The Register-Star by the usually smarter writer Francesca Olsen. If you read deep down in her story you see why the officials are stressing a future building purchase: they don’t want you to think about the tax increase they just passed. Five paragraphs in Olsen mentions “Local laws renewing an additional half-percent of mortgage tax and an additional $2 per $1,000 of additional transfer tax on real property were also enacted.” Finally, seven paragraphs in, Olsen quotes Rick Rielly, president of the Columbia-Greene Board of Realtors, saying, “These are taxes, any way you look at it.” Olsen doesn’t even dare to say who voted for the tax, only that, “The renewal of taxes passed, with Supervisor John Musall, D-Hudson 1, abstaining, Supervisor William Hughes, D-Hudson 4, voting no on the additional transfer tax, and Supervisor Ed Cross, D-Hudson 2, voting no on the renewal.” Cross voted no on both taxes.
UPDATE: Here is who voted for the mortgage tax: Ancram’s Thomas Dias; Canaan’s Richard Keaveney; Chatham’s Jesse DeGroodt; Claverack’s James Keegan; Clermont’s Raymond Staats; Copake’s Reginald Crowley; Gallatin’s Lynda Scheer; Germantown’s Roy Brown; Ghent’s Lawrence Andrews; Greenport’s John Rutkey Sr.; Hillsdale’s Arthur Baer; Hudson’s 4th Ward-William Hughes, 5th Ward -Bart Delaney; Kinderhook’s Douglas McGivney; Livingston’s Philip Williams; New Lebanon’s Margaret Robertson; Stockport’s Leo Pulcher; Stuyvesant’s Valerie Bertram; Taghkanic’s Elizabeth Young. The same group voted for the transfer tax, except for Hudson’s William Hughes, who voted against.
Brown replaces Scheer as deputy on county board From Parry Teasdale in The Columbia Paper
HUDSON — Chairman of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Art Baer (R-Hillsdale) shuffled the leadership of the board, with Germantown Supervisor Roy Brown (R) replacing Gallatin Supervisor Lynda Scheer, as a deputy chairman of the board. Baer’s announcement of the move Friday said that Ms. Scheer resigned from the post “for personal reasons.” Brown stood with Baer on his controversial plan to buy the Ockawamick School building on Route 217 in Claverack and, initially, move much of the Department of Social Services there from Hudson. The change takes effect September 1.
Copake board finds ways to agree except on the deficit From Diana Valden in The Columbia Paper
COPAKE – This is the sort of amazing story about local town meetings that is almost never written ’round these parts. Instead of deciding one of the night’s actions constituted a story and the rest did not, Valden bullet points 10 items that the usually contentious-across-party-lines town board agreed on last week. Then she writes how Councilman Bob Sacks, who has advocated cutting the town’s police force to cover the recently discovered large deficit, reported he was told by the Sheriff’s Office that patrols from that office cover Copake and all of Columbia County 24/7. Sacks also quoted the supervisors of other towns saying they could not afford their own police force and had no need for one because of coverage by the Sheriff’s Office and State Police. Copake Town Police Commissioner Jeff Nayer, then shouted, “Other towns don’t set what we do!” Mr. Nayer said that the Police Department had offered to cut 17 percent of its budget to help the town deal with the deficit, while other departments offered nothing.
New parties make ballot for November From Jim Planck in The Daily Mail
Have A Voice candidates Karen Deyo, Keith Valentine, Linda Overbaugh, and Joseph Izzo will appear on the November ballot, as will Grassroots of Durham candidate Les Armstrong. The Have a Voice folks are Republicans, joining fellow GOPer Overbaugh in this bid to stay on the ballot for the four Catskill Greene County Legislature seats, after errors in her previous petitions kept her off the Republican line. Likewise with Armstrong, a Republican attempting to primary against Elsie Allan but now facing Allan and Democrat Sean Frey for the Durham seat on the legislature. Overbaugh and Armstrong’s third-party bids went unchallenged by opponents.
State parks in Columbia County fare better than most From Mike McCagg in ccScoop
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation shows attendance at parks in the Taconic Region of the state park system, which includes Columbia County, is down 3.7 percent in the period from July 2008 through July 2009. Across New York, park attendance is down 4.5 percent, to 27.2 million visitors. Attendance dropped at the Clermont State Historic Site 18.5 percent to 43,456 visitors, at the Clermont State Historic Site 4.1 percent to 61,896 visitors, at the Olana State Historic Site 14.1 to 61,896 visitors, and at Lake Taghkanic State Park, 5.2 percent, to 95,862. At Taconic State Park in Copake attendance was up 12.9 percent to 13,313, and in Copake Falls attendance rose 5 percent to 73,066 visitors.
Farmland Protection on the way From Francesca Olsen in The Register-Star
Last Tuesday the Planning and Economic Development Committee passed a resolution to apply for state grant funding for developing a Farmland Protection Plan, with matching funds to be provided by the Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), as Columbia County is one of the few in the state without such a plan. The Columbia County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board submitted drafts of a plan to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, but was not approved.
Mario’s moves forward with new warehouse From Paul Crossman in The Register-Star
VALATIE — Mario’s True Value Home Center is planning a new 20,000-square-foot lumber supply warehouse, and hopes to have closed on the new location by sometime in early September, with winter construction.
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