Scripts and sounds for WGXC radio hosts to play on the WGXC Morning Show or WGXC Afternoon Show. Breaking news, features, local audio, video, analysis, music, links to events in Greene and Columbia counties, NY. www.wgxc.org
Today on “Between the Lines” at 2 p.m. on 90.7-FM, WGXC host Ann Forbes Cooper interviews playwright Carey Harrison, who runs a Woodstock theater and is the son of the actor Rex Harrison. The Watershed Post offers this preview of the play, “Midget in a Catsuit Reciting Spinoza,” he is debuting this weekend:
This weekend, playwright Carey Harrison, the artistic director of The Woodstock Players, will toss Nazis, historical figures, immortality, Jewish identity, and a bunch of “pantomime rats” together in his latest play, the surreal-sounding Midget in a Catsuit Reciting Spinoza. Midget enjoys its world premiere this Friday at the Byrdcliffe Theater, and, in addition to all the disparate items listed above, will also include some “nudity of a non-sexual nature.”
WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren recorded a debate on hydraulic gas fracturing sponsored by Ulster County Legislature recorded at SUNY-Ulster student lounge Wed. May 25 between natural gas industry representative Scott Cline and Ronald Bishop, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at SUNY-Oneonta. The two sides of the controversial “fracking” debate are rarely in the same room. Read a story by William J. Kemble in The Daily Freeman about the Stone Ridge event here. Or listen to the audio mp3s by clicking on them:
•Audio recording of the debate.
•Audio recording of question and answer session.
The New York State Department of Labor released unemployment figures for April on Tue. May 24 that show joblessness fell in both Greene and Columbia counties, as well as Ulster, Dutchess, and the Capitol Region. In Greene County, the unemployment rated was 8.6 percent, down from 8.8 percent last month and a year ago. In Columbia County, the rate was 7.3 percent, down from 7.9 percent in March and down from 7.5 percent a year ago. In Ulster the rate was 7.7 percent, and Dutchess it was 7.3 percent, down from 8.1 and 7.7 a month ago, respectively. The Capitol Region (Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie counties) fell to 6.8 percent, the lowest in two years, and down from 7.2 percent last month, and 7.1 percent last year. Looking closely at the numbers, there were fewer employed as well as fewer unemployed in Greene County in April. Now, only 20,900 roughly are employed, where in March there were 21,600 jobs, and a year ago 21,400. In Columbia County the number of employed rose slightly to 27,500 from 27,300 in March, but down from 28,500 jobs a year ago.
Bill would give farmers break on tolls Senate bill S742A-2011 is on the Floor Calendar in Albany for Tue. May 24 and would, “Provide that farmers shall receive an exemption from tolls when transporting product to N.Y. city for consumption in the city.” The bill is sponsored by Catherine Young (R, C, I-57th), who represents an area south of Buffalo. The bill says, Farmers are stressed with the price of gas to transport their products to the city for consumption to make little profit after the cost of gas and tolls are included. To help offset these expenses, farmers should be exempt from tolls when transporting product to NYC for consumption in the city.”
Ichabod adopts budget — minus football
John Mason in the Register-Star reports the Ichabod Crane Board of Education voted Mon., May 23 to approve a contingency budget of $33,795,494, after voters rejected their original proposal of $33,837,503 in May 17 school elections. The $42,009 savings comes from cutting football ($31,000) and other items mandated by contingency budget rules ($11,009). When voters reject a budget, boards can pass a contingency budget that is equal to or lower than the cost of living increase, or Consumer Price Index. The board already trimmed $3.9 million from the 2011-2012 budget by closing two elementary schools and cutting staff and programs. “On April 12, the board passed its budget, but in a 5-3 vote added $31,000 for football,” Mason writes. “Football had been funded for the past three years by the Booster Club in a pilot program.” Community members asked at the meeting Monday if football could remain funded by the booster club, and the board punted, postponing that decision until a later meeting, Mason reports. Read the full story in the Register-Star.
Vitaliy Bobkov's proposal to turn the Friar Tuck Resort into a magical place.
Friar Tuck reappears?
Vitaliy Bobkov of the B&B Lounge in Catskill is floating a proposal on his website and a Facebook page to turn the now-vacant Friar Tuck Resort into a magic theme park. Bobkov’s business is a little north of the empty Friar Tuck on Rt. 32 in Greene County, and his proposal hopes to also revive the Catskill Game Farm and Carson City attractions in the same area.
Saugerties comedian on NPR
Jimmy Fallon, who grew up in Saugerties, was interviewed on National Public Radio by Fresh Air’s Terry Gross on Mon., May 23. On May 11 he gave a shout-out to Woodstock radio station WDST on his Twitter feed: “Listening to 100.1 WDST Woodstock Radio. Good morning guys!”
Police plan ‘Move Over Act’ enforcement detail
Andrew Amelinckx reports in the Register-Star that New York State Police will be out in force, beginning Saturday, April 16, looking for drivers who are not obeying the new Ambrose-Searles “Move Over Act” that requires drivers to use “due care” when approaching an emergency vehicle that has its emergency lights on and is parked, stopped or standing on the shoulder of a road or highway. Drivers must reduce their speed and if they are on parkways, interstates or other roadways that have multiple lanes, they must move from the lane adjacent to where the emergency vehicle is located, if they can do so safely.
Greene officials test the water
Doron Tyler Antrim writes in the Daily Mail about the fact-finding mission Greene County officials made on April 15 to the Poconos to learn about its indoor water park and hotel — a resort that a developer wants to replicate along the New York State Thruway in New Baltimore. Under a plan announced last June, the Greene County Industrial Development Agency has agreed to sell its option on an expansive property south of Exit 21B in New Baltimore to developer MAR Holdings (of Medusa, in Albany County) for the purpose of building a resort of the same size and scope as the one visited. Specifically, the plan calls for an 80,000-square-foot indoor water park, 400 hotel rooms, 25,000-square-feet of meeting space, two restaurants, an arcade and other amenities. Details of the transactions, which were reported as a “deal” awaiting Greene County approval now in an April 15 Albany Business Review story, will be outlined in the coming weeks. Reportedly, over $110 million in investments, a future outlet store mall, and about 1500 jobs are entailed.
Attack victim: Spare the bear
Bryan Fitzgerald follows up on his own story in the Times Union with an update about how the victim in the Greene County bear attack is asking that any bears caught in a trap by her Round Top home NOT be euthanized immediately. “Joy Bayer-Mozynski’s northern Catskills home is smeared with sweet-scented syrup and lined with yellow snack cakes. A plastic jug half-filled with honey is tied to a rod in the back that, when pulled hard, will trigger a front door to fall, sealing the cylindrical trap,” reads the story. “Bayer-Mozynski thought she would die when a bear pinned her down in her driveway Wednesday, but she said she doesn’t want the animal killed by state environmental officials, who said there is no way to know if any bear caught is the one that injured the 53-year-old mother of five.” “I don’t want it killed. I don’t know why they can’t take it out into the wilderness. It’s just another one of God’s creatures,” she said Friday, shortly before leaving Albany Medical Center Hospital. “It was just hungry, looking for food.” Bayer-Mozynski was picking up spilled trash — possibly upended by the hungry bear — when the creature approached her, pushed her to the ground and pinned her with a paw. She said the animal held her down while it snatched a white bag of trash. “There wasn’t one second where I thought I was going to live. I begged to God and my guardian angel that my daughters would still have their mother,” she said to Fitzgerald.
Three more months to buy a dirty outdoor wood boiler
Julia Reischel reports in the Watershed Post that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation just gave a small reprieve to anyone who sells outdoor wood boilers, the controversial home heating furnaces known as OWBs. As of April 15, sellers have three more months to sell any old OWBs that don’t meet the state’s new emission standards. The department made the announcement in a press release.
Gtown School budget passes with 2.48 percent increase
The Register-Star reports that the Germantown Central School District Board of Education adopted a 2011-2012 proposed budget with a 5-1-0 vote tally. Shortly after the April 13 budget vote, the board voted to approve an agreement between the district and the Germantown Administrators Association which provided for approximately $49,000 in gift backs to the district over the next two years. It was stressed that as a result of staff reductions over the last two years he and the Board of Education did not want to reduce faculty and staff again this year. In the end they chose to deplete reserves a little more rather than cut into programs and services that would equate to fewer opportunities for students.
HTC adopts $13.2 million budget
Jim Planck reports in the Daily Mail that the Hunter-Tannersville School District has approved a $13,224,338 budget for fiscal year 2011-12, a decrease in total funds of $24,374, or .18 percent, from the current year’s budget of $13,248,712. The tax levy will see an increase of 1.49 percent from 2010-11, for a total of $9,647,540 to be raised by taxes. The administration set a goal for its tax levy amounts and dropped administrative and program expenses while upping capital funds somewhat.
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.
Awareness key to progress against sexual violence
The Daily Freeman has a story about a presentation given by Dutchess County Family Services where it was acknowledged that many abuse victims still never report the crime and that creating greater awareness of what’s involved in sexual abuse may get more victims to step forward. District Attorney William Grady said a big step forward is more humane treatment of the victim, who should no longer traumatized by having to wait in a public emergency room with a police officer. Local hospitals, he added, are finally starting to set up private ways of treating such patients. The event was attended by law enforcement and social services officials. Also announced was an upcoming “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event, in which men literally walk a mile in women’s shoes to raise awareness about sexual assault and support survivors. The event is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 30 at Marist College in Poughkeepsie.
Ulster starts ball rolling to form inter-county emergency communications system
Mid Hudson News Network reports that the Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee of the Ulster County Legislature has approved the first step toward joining other Hudson Valley counties in the formation of an emergency communications consortium. The six-county group is working towards fulfilling a state directive to address communications with a regional approach. The goal is to enable emergency services agencies to communicate on the same radio channels in the counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester. Maybe Columbia and Greene should start a similar effort?
Redistricting reforms constitutional, group says
Stephanie Lee of the Times Union writes that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s call for a nonpartisan redistricting system has been deemed constitutional… by leaders of a redistricting reform campaign. “Organizers of ReShapeNY presented a legal memo from Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP that defends the constitutionality of the governor’s proposed bipartisan legislative committee, which would draw redistricting lines without consideration to political advantage,” Lee writes. “ReShapeNY is organized by good-government groups that include Citizens Union, the New York Public Interest Group and the League of Women Voters.” Cuomo’s plan is backed by 89 members of the Assembly, where Democrats hold the majority of the seats. The challenge to his plan’s constitutionality comes from Senate Republicans, who have proposed to create a redistricting panel that wouldn’t draw lines until 2022. New lines will be drawn in 2012, in wake of the just-released census data.
Albany NanoTech awarded $57.5M for solar research
Robin K. Cooper of the Albany Business Journal reports that the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering will receive $57.5 million in federal money for solar-cell research and development. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the award on April 5. SUNY Albany will use the same technology it uses for computer-chip innovation to help make New York a hub for photovoltaic research, the university says. Sen. Charles Schumer had pushed for $100 million in federal funds to help form a Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium with more than 80 corporate and university partners, which mirrors similar efforts in the Mid-Hudson Valley being pushed by Congressman Maurice Hinchey.
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.”
Over 500,000 acres of developable land identified in the Catskills
Mid Hudson News Network reports on a new Open Space Institute study that finds that the Catskills region contains 10 times the land needed to support population expectations through 2035, meaning growth can occur there without negatively affecting open space resources.” The study identifies more than 520,000 acres of private land that could be developed that is more than would be needed to accommodate population growth estimates of about four percent over the next 25 years. The report looks at land in Sullivan, Ulster, Greene and Delaware counties. The report found that Ulster County is the most developed of the four counties at seven percent of its land area. It also contains the most conserved lands – 32 percent, and the least amount of preferred growth area, at 11 percent. In Greene County, 24 percent of its land is already conserved. Six percent of the county is developed, and it contains enough preferred growth area to triple that figure.
BREAKING: Body found at Half Moon
The Register-Star is running a raw police report about an ongoing investigation into a shooting death that happened inside the Half Moon Bar and Grill located at 48 Front St. in Hudson on Monday, March 28. Police responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call around 2 p.m. Police were still on scene as of 3:30 p.m., as was the County Coroner. “A long rifle was apparently found inside the bar,” Andrew Amelinckx’s report concludes.
‘Designer’ cupcakes debut in Catskill
Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail writes about the new Catskill Chocolate Cafe at the corner of Church Street and Brandow’s Alley in Catskill. where a cappuccino and cupcake tasting on Sunday brought a crowd to sample five of the cupcake creations from Elisebeth Stamer, a retired nurse hired by Cafe owner Angelo Amato to provide an array of specialty cupcakes — with two new flavors each week. “Up for tasting on Sunday were coconut, chocolate blackout with chocolate Bavarian cream, plus pink champagne, butter toffee and strawberry cream,” DeVries notes.
Gibson washes hands of redistricting, he says
jimmy Vielkind notes that Congressman Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, is claiming that he’s just too focused on serving his constituents to think about who they might be in two years. “My focus is on serving the 20th Congressional District,” the freshman Republican from Kinderhook said Monday at the Capitol. “I think what the Census data shows is that for our region, we actually grew, for about 30-some-odd thousand. I think that’s encouraging. We’re still going to need to pick up about 30-some-odd-thousand…but this is out of my hands.”
Former Rep. Scott Murphy was NOT one of the top congressional spenders after all
Meanwhile, Richard Dunham of the TU’s Capitol Confidential adds that
The Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, has acknowledged that its original list of top ten congressional office spenders for 2010 was “flawed” and that former Rep. Scott Murphy, the Democrat who Chris Gibson defeated last November, “is not — repeat: NOT — on this ‘top ten’ list that you’d rather not be on.” Instead of spending about $1.7 million, as the original report stated, Murphy spent $1,481,587, the new report concluded.
Fines spark bright idea
Diane Valden reports in The Columbia paper that the Town of Copake will be paying for new solar panels with $21,609.97 it will be getting in court-ordered fines from Salvatore Cascino for violating federal, state and town law by illegally dumping and building at his 300-acre Copake property along the east side of Route 22 over the past 13 years. Cascino also owns Bronx County Recycling, LLC, a waste hauling/processing operation just south of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx that was sued for dumping in Clermont, but later cleared because of longstanding traditions of such dumping on the property he bought there.
Lemonade Day coming to Greene County May 1
Ariel Zangla-Girard of the Daily Freeman reports that Greene County youth will take to the streets May 1 as part of Lemonade Day, a nationwide effort where area youth create their own lemonade stands from the ground up and then run their businesses with an eye towards making a profit that can be shared with charity. “It’s really a great program,” said Bob Phibbs, coordinator of the Greene County Lemonade Day. “And we’re the only ones in New York state doing it.”
Public Hearing on Union and First
Carole Osterlink of The Gossips of Rivertown reports on the standing room only March 24 Hudson Historic Preservation Commission public hearing on the issue of a construction project being proposed by the Galvan Partners for Union and First streets in the city’s First Ward, held at City Hall. Comments ranged from those who characterized the neighborhood as becoming nicer to those who complained about continuing problems at the site in question, as well as the developers’ other unfilled projects. The lawyer for the developers, it seems, lectured both the Commission and several members of the public about what could be discussed and not. The Hudson Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on theproject on April 20.
Town signs contract with Pace to develop Climate Action Plan
The Register-Star is running a piece about how officials in the Northern Dutchess County Town of Red Hook recently signed a contract with Pace Law School’s Energy and Climate Center (PECC) to develop and implement a Climate Action Plan, and has begun taking stock of the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases it emits. The PECC consultants will set a greenhouse gas reduction target for Red Hook, and develop an action plan to achieve that goal. Similar actions have started taking place in communities throughout Westchester County, while discussion has also started in Ulster County and elsewhere around the nation.
$1 million grant to fight Ulster obesity
Mid Hudson News Network reports on the awarding of a $1.01 million grant for a new Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work, and Play initiative to combat obesity and obesity related health issues starting with three communities in Ulster County. The monies, coming through Cornell Cooperative Extension with a match form Ulster County, will be used to effect a shift away from informational campaigns and towards “creating environments, in schools for example, that facilitate healthy living styles.”
Hein said that the best way to create healthy places in every community is by impacting the people. The three communities to be focused on will be Ellenville, Phoenicia, and Kingston. Pay attention, local legislators.
Cuomo: Prisons among the sticking points
Rick Karlin of the Times Union reports that Gov. Andrea Cuomo spoke on FRiday, March 25 about the budget process some thought would be completed this week, saying that there was still a lot of disagreement about how to slim down the state’s prison system. “When you close down prisons in many communities these are the economic engines,” he said. “Don’t underestimate the economic impact that closing prisons would have.” Cuomo went on to repeat that if there is no April 1 budget, he’ll put in the extender bill. If lawmakers reject, then there is a government shutdown. The battles, they do continue…
C-A slashes budget to bone
Melanie Lekocevic of the Register-Star reports that Interim District Superintendent Annemarie Barkman from the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District has presented the Board of Education with a trimmed to the bone budget that meets projected state figures for the 2011-2012 school year. The cuts are in response to reductions in state aid the district is expecting once the state budget is passed, and increases in expenses, primarily negotiated salary increases, employee benefits, transportation and BOCES. Should the budget be kept the same as last year, without any cuts to programs or staffing, the increase in the tax levy would be hefty – 12.77 percent. Most of what’s being proposed involved the teaching staff, and planned retirements, which led some in the audience to ask why the administrative staff isn’t taking the brunt of any of the budget difficulties.
Park would greet city, town visitors
Jamie Larson of the Register-Star writes about ongoing plans for a new pocket park to be built at the sharply angled intersection of Columbia Turnpike and Green Street in Greenport, right on the border of the city of Hudson, where a county-owned but abandoned home now stands. A group of local residents have proposed demolishing the building and replacing it with the Greenport-Hudson Gateway Park, which would include an archway with the word “WELCOME”, signs on either side saying “This way to Hudson” and “This way to Greenport” respectively, and hardy plants and flowers that could withstand the proximity to the road.
2010 CENSUS: Population up in local counties, state
The Daily Freeman, and other local papers, leads with a story on the release of new 2010 cenus information, finding that the region’s population grew by 5.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, and only one local county – Delaware – had a decline in residents during that period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Greene County had a population of 49,221, up from 48,195 in 2000, a gain of 2.1 percent; Columbia had 63,096, a gain of just two people from 63,094 in 2000; Dutchess County had 297,448, up from 280,150 in 2000, a gain of 6.2 percent; Ulster had 182,493, up from 177,749 in 2000, a gain of 2.7 percent. Delaware County lost 75 people, for a total of 47,980, similar to losses in the Mohawk Valley and Western New York. The City of Hudson lost 811 people, or almost 11 percent, for a current total of 6.713. The Town of Catskill lost 74 people for a current total of 11,775. The state’s population in 2010 was 19,378,102, a gain of 2.1 percent from 2000’s 18,976,457, the Census Bureau said. More on this info in the coming weeks…
Legislators optimistic of budget deal Friday
Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union reports that legislative leaders in Albany emerged from a closed-door meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo late on Thursday, March 24 optimistic that a budget agreement could be announced Friday, March 25… a week before its April 1 due date. The millionaire’s tax seems to have disappeared from talks, along with any renewal of New York City rent stabilization laws or a property tax cap. But that’s also with Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos taking the media lead, and longstanding Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver expressing some caution on pronouncements for the moment and the Governor staying mum for a day.
Report: Albany area loses 4,900 jobs
The Albany Business Journal reports that government job losses continue to choke the Capital Region’s economy, according to new state data. While area businesses continue to add jobs, albeit at a slower clip than most other areas of the state, job cuts in the public sector keeps overwhelming any of that growth. For the third month in a row, the core Capital Region had the largest job losses of the 13 metro areas in the state, when combining government and private-sector jobs. Right now, the fastest-growing job market in the state is in Kingston.
BOE looks to slim down
Francesca Olsen of the Register-Star writes that the county Board of Elections is planning to consolidate some of its 58 election districts and it will end up with around 51, according to the county’s election commissioners. “While no countywide plan has been finalized, the commissioners have a pretty good idea of what they’d like to do, and will be visiting town board meetings in the coming months to explain their plan to residents and officials,” Olsen reports. “The plan to consolidate districts will save around $32,000 annually, said Republican Commissioner Jason Nastke. That’s $3,750 for every district that’s eliminated and $1,000 for every poll site that’s eliminated. It will also give the BOE an opportunity to address accessibility issues at its poll sites.” The changes should be in place by Primary Day, September 13.
2 C-H trucks up in flames
Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail reports how an electrical fire destroyed two Central Hudson pickup trucks on March 24. He writes that Catskill Fire Chief Jonathan Dees said one of the two charred trucks had not been used for over a week and recently had its electrical system repaired, and that the fire likely originated from a short in the electrical wiring. The vehicle was eventually completely engulfed at the power company’s substation off Route 9W outside the village of Catskill. The fire from the first truck, which was a Dodge Ram, then spread to the Chevrolet pickup truck beside it.
Chatham police chief retires after 35 years
Emilia Teasdale of The Columbia Paper reports that Village Police Chief Kevin Boehme has retired after 35 years on the force. His retirement became official as of 3 p.m. on Monday March 21 even though Boehme filed the paperwork to retire last fall, said Village Clerk/Treasurer Carol Simmons. No one knows whether there will be a new chief. The department has a deputy chief, Mark Leggett, who will stay in that position. Boehme’s older brother, Paul, is the current mayor of the village and will hold that post until the first Monday in April.
The National Weather Service has announced a Winter Storm Warning to remain in effect primarily for Greene and Ulster counties until N12 noon on Thursday, March 24. Heavy wet now with accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are expected for the Catskill Mountains and environs into Thursday morning, although impacts into more snow and poor visibility will make for dangerous travel and roads in the mountains will become snow covered and very slippery. Heavy wet snow may cause some isolated downed tree limbs and power lines resulting in power outages. Strong winds are also possible. For Columbia County and the Hudson Valley, the forecast is for two to four inches of similar wet, heavy snow, with clearing expected by noon tomorrow. School closings for tomorrow are already being announced for most area educational institutions.
Supervisors are divided on closed meetings
Francesca Olsen of the Register-Star follows up on her story about groups of county supervisors meeting outside the public eye in Chatham on a regular basis that gauges board opinion on the matter. Legally, she writes, state OPen Meetings Laws says a quorum can be two things: a simple majority of supervisors — 13, in the case of Columbia County’s Board of Supervisors — or it can be a weighted vote that equals out to just over half of county representation (1,768 votes out of a total of 3,535). According to supervisors who have been at the meetings to talk about county and regional issues, there has never been either sort of quorum — and they’re careful about making sure of that. The real rub, it turns out, is that a handful of supervisors, at least four, haven’t been invited, and even though the meeting supervisors say that wasn’t intentional, those who haven’t gone consider the meetings unethical.
Handel appointed Durham lawmaker
Greene County Legislatures Republicans increased their majority to 9-5 yesterday after appointing 48-year old businesswoman Patricia Handel as the county’s 14th legislator representing Durham on Wednesday night, filling the seat vacated by former Legislator Sean Frey. According to Colin Devries of the Daily Mail, Handel operates the Blackthorne Resort with her husband Roy and manages the Supersonic Speedway, both East Durham businesses. Frey resigned his position after winning two elections because of what he called “an endless investigation” by county powers into mileage reimbursals dating back several years. Frey was a Democrat in this largely Irish, fairly Democratic district.
Quilt stuck in UPS limbo
Cathy Woodruff of The Advocate has a great piece on Coxsackie resident Janet Atkins’ month-long vigil to get her unique, prize-winning quilt, entitled Kaaterskill, out of UPS limbo, where it’s been since getting mailed out of the Golden, CO offices of Quilters Newsletter after a photo shoot on February 16.. The coverlet was to be shipped via two-day air, which should have ensured delivery to her Coxsackie studio by Friday, Feb. 18. But it’s apparently lost in the system…and someone else has filed a claim for it.
Catholic Charities grant splits Council
The Register-Star’s Jamie Larson reports on Tuesday night’s Common Council meeting in Hudson, where “what was easily the most contentious split vote seen in City Hall since Donald Moore was elected Council President” centered on acceptance of a $4,100 grant from Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene Counties to pay for the continued enforcement of underage drinking laws in the city by the Hudson Police Department. “The issue has been simmering with divergent opinions since a Dec. 23 sting operation, also carried out by funding from a Catholic Charities grant, which caught eight out of nine restaurants selling alcohol to an underage informant,” Larson writes. “Business owners and a contingent of council members including Moore and Police Committee Chairman Alderman Christopher Wagoner, D-3rd Ward, have discussed in committee that they would like to see more educational prevention than punishment.” Local businesses caught in the sting, all along Warren Street, said they aren’t the sort of places that attract underage drinkers, because of cost and demographic considerations, making the busts appear that much more like harassment.
Scenic Hudson embraces EPA’s proposed national standard for mercury pollution from power plants
The US EPA has proposed the first-ever national standards for mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollution from power plants in a move that Congressional Republicans are fighting vociferously. The federal agency was under a court deadline to develop the standards, announced Tuesday. Ned Sullivan, president of Poughkeepsie-based Scenic Hudson, announced yesterday that the new laws, once approved, will have environmental and economic impacts for the better, and help the healthiness of the Hudson Valley.
Prisons: Why not sell Sing Sing?
A Times Union report on the March 16 meeting of the Public Protection joint budget committee, which discussed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans to lose 3,500 prison beds statewide over the coming year, yielded two items that could save Columbia and Greene county prisons, which are seen as key local employment centers. First, many talked about the “saleability” or marketability of mothballed prisons. Then there was the growing belief that it’s better to house prisoners closer to their homes, for better re-entry and less recidivism odds, which given New York City’s record, could work well for the Hudson and Coxsackie facilities. Cuomo has yet to name the 16 members of a commission he has called for to make final prison recommendations.
Police continue search for missing Catskill woman
The Daily Mail reports that Catskill Police are continuing to search for a missing person, Paula E. Werenczak, 22, who left her residence at 65 West Bridge St. in the village on Wednesday, March 9 around 5 p.m. She was reportedly on foot wearing a light colored T-shirt, dark pants and no shoes or socks. She was last seen walking east. She has not been seen since.
Helsinki Hudson takes home the prize
The Register-Star reported on Saturday that the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce gave its most coveted business award, the Crystal Apple, to the newly moved Club Helsinki on Columbia Street in Catskill. The award was given out Friday night at the Columbia Golf and Country Club in Claverack.
Proposal for Union and First Streets
Carole Osterink has comprehensive coverage of the long-standing but little notice (until lately) plan for new construction of three buildings in a 19th century style on the corner of Union and First streets at a meeting of the Hudson Preservation Commission on Friday, March 11. The revised plans seems to gain much favor, despite some concerns regarding materials and the ensuring public review process, which the developers lawyers said was largely unnecessary, given previous approvals gained for the project. The project is scheduled to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals for an area variance on Wednesday, March 16. The ZBA granted an area variance to the project four years ago, but, like the certificate of appropriateness, it has expired. The ZBA meeting is at 7 p.m. in City Hall. A public hearing on the project will be held before the Historic Preservation Commission on Friday, March 25, at 10 a.m.–the HPC’s regular meeting time.
Demolition Opposition Update
Osterink’s Gossips also has an update on the petition drive to force the Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties to reconsider plans to raze an unofficially historic 19th century brick building for new housing for its clientele, wherein she runs a letter from the MHA sent to two other local blogs, Rural Intelligence and Scott Baldinger’s reglar blog, defending its actions in terms of larger picture ideals. The odd thing… they didn’t send their missive to Gossips, which has been key in the drive to save the classic structure.
Minor flooding reported around Capitol Region
The Times Union sums up the thankfully less-than-predicted weather of the past week’s end and how it played out in Columbia and Greene counties, which the Daily Mail, Daily Freeman and Watershed Post also covered. The worst rains came in the Catskills, where approximately five inches fell THursday and Friday, leading to a number of closed roads. Worst damage may have been in Kiskatom and Leeds, in Greene County. At least a lot of the snow’s now melted…
There have been a number of stories updating everyone on the village elections coming this Tuesday, March 15, which we will copver more extensively in our Monday Newsroom and radio broadcasts, with analysis.
There have also been some school board and staff skerfuffles around the listening area as local school boards start working towards bu\dget proposals, which we’ll also be covering with Newsroom stories and longer brodcasts over the coming week.
Flooding remains a concern in region
The Daily Freeman is looking hard at the weather, noting that sunny skies aren’t expected until Monday. They highlight flood warnings in along the Wallkill River in New Paltz, and planned water releases from the Ashokan reservoir into the Esopus Creek… as well as a wind advisory for western Ulster and western Greene counties that would affect mostly the higher terrains, with winds of 25 to 35 mph, and gusts up to 45 to 55 mph predicted overnight in the Catskill Mountains. A state of emergency has been declared in Shandaken. Roads flooded on Monday in Columbia County are also expecvted to get repeat flooding today and tomorrow.
Dealing with the fallout of flooding
The Register-Star has a story about the things one should be aware of when surviving floods, from the avoidance of contaminated water and food to turning the power off in one’s basement before evacuating a house, clean-up tips, and ensuring that one stays attentive to cleaning any minor wounds because of the threat of infection from flood waters.
Cuts in state aid hit C-A district hard
Melanie Lekocevic reports in the Daily Mail that the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District is looking for ways it can trim down its budget, facing rising costs for salaries, which will increase by $610,000, employee benefits, which will rise by $680,000, transportation, and a BOCES’ increase in addition to sliced aid. This is THE topic of the year, and possibly our younger generation…
We just didn’t salt away enough
The Times Union has a story about how Capital Region communities have scraped the bottoms of their salt barrels to clear away the 83.6 inches of snow and ice that have piled up this winter.
USDA: Let’s revise lunch
Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star has been asking around to see how local school districts in Columbia County are reacting to the recent proposal by the United States Department of Agriculture to change the way school children eat, and has found that while many are enthusiastic about offering more fresh fruits and vegetables, they are also worrying we may not be able to afford such healthiness.
Assembly proposing a bona fide millionaire’s tax
The Times Union’s Capitol Confidential notes that the state Assembly is drafting a budget plan to be introduced next week with an actual millionaire’s tax, meaning that people at seven figures of income and above would be assessed an additional surcharge above the rest of taxpayers. The measure dovetails with similar calls from the GOP-dominated State Senate, and may work to whittle away the state deficit via revenue, despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state opposition to renewing such taxes on the wealthy.
NY among country’s healthiest states
Need some good news? The Albany Business Journal reports that a new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index report says 25 percent—one-in-four—of New York residents are obese, putting it below the national average of 26.6 percent. The state with the lowest obesity rate was Colorado, where 20 percent of its residents are obese. The south and upper Midwest have the worst obesity rates, at present.
Chambers of Commerce weigh in on biz climate
Francesca Olsen of the Register-Star reports on the 25th annual business climate survey, which polls the members of area Chambers of Commerce in the Capital Region, including the Columbia County Chamber. The survey, put together by Marvin and Company, P.C., and the University at Albany School of Business, finds that the Columbia Chamber seems optimistic about the future, with 52% of respondents believing their businesses would “remain stable” in 2011, 37% saying they believed their business would increase and 11 percent saying they thought business would decrease. Only 6.7 percent, meanwhile, saw their employment levels dipping in any way.
Peckham to expand with Greene IDA help
Mid Hudson News Network has a story about how Peckham Industries will lease and redevelop more property in the Town of Athens, with the aid of the Greene County Industrial Development Agency. The transaction will provide for the expansion of the existing Peckham material business and its facilities and creation of five new jobs. Now to see what happens with the proposals in terms of local planning reviews and public hearings…
Redistricting debate roils Senate
The Times Union ports on yelling and threats in the state Senate this week as Senate Republicans rejected the Democratic minority’s attempt to push for a public hearing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s redistricting bill, which would create a nonpartisan commission to draw new district lines based on recent census figures, instead of leaving such matters to existing majorities and incumbents, with the GOP is saying is the only way to do things now, legally.
Flood watch is issued
The Daily Freeman has passed on a flood watch from the National Weather Service in Albany for the region from Thursday morning through Friday afternoon. The combination of 1 to 4 inches of rain expected, snow melt due to warmer temperatures, poor drainage from blocked storm drains, and lack of rainfall infiltration due to a frozen ground could result in flooding. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.
State job cuts negate private-sector gains
The Albany Business Journal has a story in which it is noted that losses of government jobs in the Capital Region swelled at the start of 2011, easily negating private-sector gains, according to new data. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area, covering five counties, had a net gain of 1,000 private-sector jobs from January 2010 to January 2011. The health care sector led the way, along with one covering scientific, engineering and technical jobs. But the region had a net loss of 6,400 jobs over the 12-month span, a drop of 1.5 percent. No other metro market came anywhere close to that decline. “There’s just so much government here, it’s hard for the private sector to outweigh those losses,” said James Ross, an analyst with the state.
Where to find shelter, supplies
The Register-Star reports that the Red Cross Shelter at the Taconic Hills High School on County Route 11 in Craryville will close at 8 a.m. today so school can resume there, with a two hour delay. Two new shelters will be opening at the Taghkanic Fire Company on Route 82 in Taghkanic and the second one will be at the Copake Community Building located at the Copake Town Park on Mountain View Drive. Additionally, dry ice and water will be available at the Copake Fire Department located at 390 County Route 7A Copake or the Ancram Firehouse at 1306 County Route 7 Ancram. Several thousand are still without power in the area and local fire companies have been going door to door in the northeastern portion of Columbia County to check that folks are alright.
School officials look into future of employment
Colin DeVries of The Daily Mail reports that a delegation of Greene County school officials and economic developers toured the $4.6 billion GlobalFoundries semiconductor manufacturing facility being constructed north of Albany, getting a first-hand look at “the future of employment in the region.” GlobalFoundries, an international computer chip producer, will be hiring about 1,400 people by the end of 2012, many of whom will be educated at community colleges, receiving two-year degrees in electronics, science and semiconductor manufacturing. The Greene County Industrial Development Agency accompanied officials and school board members from Cairo-Durham Central School District, Coxsackie-Athens Central School District, Greenville Central School District, and BOCES Questar III.
Dems fire first volley at Molinaro
Mid Hudson News Network notes that regional Democrats have started firing shots at the just-announced candidacy of State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro for Dutchess County executive, with that county’s party chairwoman, Elisa Sumner, saying Molinaro is “unfit” to be county executive. Sumner pointed to an audit of the Village of Tivoli, where Molinaro served as mayor for 11 years after first being elected to the village board at the age of 18, noting the state comptroller’s office was critical of the municipality’s “financial condition.” She added that a few potential candidates have expressed interest in running for the county’s top job, some in government and others in business. New York State Bridge Authority Executive Director Joseph Ruggiero and Beekman Town Supervisor Daniel French have been mentioned as possible candidates on the Democratic ticket.
More snow days might mean canceled days off for schools
The Times Union looks into the situation regarding weather days in the Capitol District… as we’ve known here, none are left… meaning special days off are gone for the remainder of the year, with the probability growing that we’ll be pushing the 2011 school year up to its end-of-June legal limit this year.
Union, TH board relations deteriorate
John Mason of the Register-Star reports that relations between Taconic Hills school officials and its employee unions, already strained, took a turn for the worse last week when a board member claimed he was being personally attacked by the union, and a union president said he was physically threatened by the board member. On Friday, March 4, many teachers wore orange to school to signify “anti-bullying,” after Faculty Association President Kevin Reis filed a complaint with the police and the district alleging Board Vice-President George Lagonia Jr. had threatened him. The chain of events began with union officials filing a petition with the board seeking the removal of three Taconic Hills school board members for being employed by the district as sports coaches, or having siblings also on the board… citing State Education Law that stipulates that board members cannot be employed by the school board they belong to, and that no more than one family member shall be a member of the same board of education.
Changes seen for Farmers’ Market
The Daily Mail reports on a recent discussion about the coming Catskill Farmers Market by village officials, including the possible appointment of a market manager, which market participants don’t see the need of, and prospects of opening the market to those receiving federal assistance for food purchases.
Cops look for flasher
The Register-Star reports that New York State Police at Livingston are looking for a man who allegedly exposed himself to minor children while inside the Walmart department store at Greenport Commons on Feb. 24 between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. The man was observed, authorities said, driving a red or maroon medium sized hatchback or small SUV style vehicle.
Flooding, outages strike the county
The Register-Star reports, with text and plenty of images, on the weather damage caused by raging creeks, ice, and nearly six inches of snow in some areas. Over 11,000 were without power on Monday afternoon, March 7, with states of emergency declared in Ancram and Livingston. For those remaining without power Monday night and today, “warming centers” were opened at the Kinderhook Fire Station and Niverville Fire Station 1, and a Red Cross station set up at Taconic Hills School in Copake. Roads, which were blocked off into Hudson from most directions at one point, were being cleared for today as much as risen creeks would allow. Those who require more information about the Red Cross shelters should call 518-458-8111. Residents who need transportation to a shelter can call 518-828-1212.
Ice, snow, flooding batter Greene
The Daily Mail’s storm report is a simple photo of a car pulled over on the side of a road. Travel was difficult but, at least in valley towns, no power was lost, or major flooding reported.
Storm leaves outages, flooding; 2 rescued in New Paltz
The Daily Freeman highlighted downed trees and power lines in northern Dutchess and southern Columbia counties, as well as closed roads and a car rescue outside of New Paltz, in its storm coverage. About 6,500 were without power in Dutchess County, and two in Ulster. The worst part? They quote a meteorologist who notes that, ““Coming in Wednesday night through Thursday, another complicated storm, possibly becoming a Nor’easter. It could be another significant one.”
Thousands go to bed in the dark
The Times Union adds on to the power outage news, reporting National Grid’s estimate of hundreds of homes without power Monday evening, March 7, in Rensselear, Saratoga and Washington counties, as well as Columbia. NYSEG noted another 7,300 without power and suggested some might not get their lights back on until Wednesday.
Agency head raps release of Catskill man who later killed wife, cop
The Daily Freeman reports that Michele McKeon, chief executive officer of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, is saying that the Catskill man who fatally shot his wife and a Poughkeepsie city police officer before killing himself last month should not have been released on bail after he violated a court order mandating him to stay away from his spouse. More focus needs to be placed on perpetrators of domestic violence crimes and on holding them accountable for their actions, McKeon said, noting that as it stands now, more emphasis is placed on the victim and what they did to possibly cause violence or fail to escape from an abusive situation. The legal system tells the victim what they have to do to keep themselves and their children safe in such situations, but in no other crime do people look at the victim and ask them why they stayed or what buttons they pushed to cause the violence. “I think the systems involved need to take domestic violence much more seriously,” McKeon said, adding that proposed cuts to domestic abuse programs in Gov. Cuomo’s budget proposal could prove disastrous.
Kohl’s grand opening slated
John Mason of the Register-Star reports that Kohl’s Department Store, the newest store in Greenport Commons, will hold its grand opening Wednesday. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Kohl’s executives and local officials, will be at 7:45 a.m., followed by the official store opening at 8 a.m. The 64,000 square foot store is located next to the Lowe’s Home Improvement store.
Financial troubles may force choices
The Daily Mail has a story about how Cornell Cooperative Extension has combined its Columbia and Greene county offices to save money as a key means to keeping its ambitious Agroforestry Resource Center in Acra afloat. “It’s challenging times for all of us,” said Andrew Turner, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene counties, noting that things are no different the academic organization devoted to providing agricultural, environmental, health and youth programming to communities around the state, which has seen a $13 million decrease in the organization’s $100 million statewide budget over the past two years.
BOS interest in DSS building grows
Francesca Olsen of the Register-Star reports that the Columbia County Board of Supervisors is now expressing serious interest in purchasing and continuing its use of 25 Railroad Ave. in Hudson, the home of the county Department of Social Services, which Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera has also expressed serious interest in purchasing the building to use as its police and court facilities, even going so far as to contact the state Office of Court Administration for its approval. This, after much debate — and actions — on alternate spaces ranging from the closed Ockawamick School in Philmont to the old Wal Mart in Greenport.
Sewer plant project pricier than expected
Melanie Lekocevic of the Daily Mail writes that bids for a major renovation project planned for the Athens wastewater treatment plant have come in, and they are higher than originally anticipated by about 5%. Village officials are expected to vote on whether the bids should be accepted at their next board meeting. The total cost of the renovation project will cost in the vicinity of $3.3 million.
Baby ‘doing great’ in wake of dog attack; man, boy lauded for efforts
The Daily Freeman reports that the three-month-old who was badly hurt in an attack by a pit bull about three weeks ago in Saugerties is expected to have recovered fully within a month, the infant’s mother says. The boy suffered wounds to his neck, chest and legs, including a broken femur, in the Feb. 18 attack at his babysitter’s home, where the babysitter also was attacked. The dog, belonging to the babysitter’s son, was put down immediately. The son was attacked, as well. No charges have been filed.
STOP-DWI program handed to sheriff’s dept.
The Daily Mail has a story about the Greene County Stop DWI program, which, in the wake of the retirements of its two staff members, is going to be administered by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
Labor talks, layoff plans
Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union notes that formal talks with public employee unions will start next week, and representatives of the Cuomo administration are saying that planning is underway for up to 9,800 layoffs — a “last resort” under the governor’s proposed budget — if new contracts are not largely settled by the current contracts’ expiration on April 1. They add that things could be even worse if those talks drag on. How’s that for a starting negotiation stance?
There’s a lot of school budget talk going around this week…
Budget Grade: Incomplete
Jim Planck of the Daily Mail reports that Catskill School District Board of Education President Andy Jones is now saying that the preliminary budget currently before the public and discussed in an emotional meeting on March 1 is not what the end product will be, and that the BOE does not intend to adopt it as written. The district’s preliminary budget for 2011-12 is structured, he explained, as a mandated-programs-only budget, usually termed a “bare bones” budget, in which funding for all non-mandated programs and services has been removed. Numerous speakers called the release of such figures as irresponsible on the board’s part, and nothing but a “scare tactic.” A second hearing on the bare bone figures has been scheduled for March 14 at 6:00 p.m.
HCSD holds first budget workshop
Daniel Wiessner of the Register-Star reports that the Hudson City School District Board of Education warned at a meeting March 1 that layoffs and steep cuts are in the cards in order to close a $3.6 million budget gap, along with increased class sizes, reduced AP classes and electives, and cuts to music and art classes.
Kingston school tax levy hike up 10.8% in latest budget draft
Although not in our listening area, the Kingston City School Board is also wrestling with its figures, according to the Daily Freeman, working to reduce spending while maintaining enough programs to keep the district competitive for its graduating seniors looking to go on to college.
Positions clash over teacher seniority rules
Taking away the idea of experience, and years on the job, from teacher evaluations is creating friction between New York City and the state, as well as students, teachers, parents and everyone else… according to new reporting from the Times Union.
Prelim tax levy increase for NLCSD at 0 percent
Paul Crossman of the Register-Star reports that in the New Lebanon School District, the board is predicting their budget for the coming year won’t be a burden to taxpayers, the key concern from last year, while also not cutting programming in any drastic way, the chief aim for school communities this season. Their trick? They used stimulus funds for one-time-only projects and started trimming back staffing levels, and the costs of rising benefits, over the past decade.
Mid Hudson News Network is running a story about Community activist Paul Fowler of Saugerties, who suffered a broken leg while he was incarcerated at the Ulster County Jail last year and is pushing a legal case for the sake of “making sure security equipment is up to snuff rather than for any monetary award.” Fowler was injured by another inmate and he has filed a notice of intent to sue the county for damages, contending the security camera system was not working properly; therefore, his attacker could not be identified. “This problem has happened before and I stand fast and I stand hard as a community advocate and as an activist; they can offer me $100 million, I don’t care,” he said. “I will not accept any settlement unless they prove to myself and my attorney, David Clegg, that they have repaired that camera system and that it is up and running for the protection of the officers and the inmates of the Ulster County Jail.” Fowler, who was doing time for criminal contempt tied to his advocacy campaign to keep the Ulster County methadone clinic open on weekends and holidays, was injured last November 14 when he left his cell to get medication. In his court papers, he charged he was “violently assaulted” by another inmate.
Mid Hudson News Network reports that the body of the pilot whose aircraft crashed into the Hudson River just north of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge on Saturday afternoon, February 26, was recovered by divers late yesterday afternoon, February 27. Thick ice on the river made it difficult for emergency crews to get to the wreckage of the British-built BAC-167 Strikemaster military training jet that nosedived into the river killing the pilot and sole occupant, Michael Faraldi, 38, a doctor with Northern Dutchess Hospital who lived in Germantown. In order to recover the wreckage of the plane, state police said, a special helicopter was brought in to place the wreckage onto a barge where it would be transported to an undisclosed location and examined by the FAA and NTSB. The plane had initially departed from Nashville, TN en route to Columbia County Airport. FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said the plane’s last stop prior to crashing was at Johnstown, PA airport. The single-engine, two-seater jet plane was built in 1969.
L-R, Andrew Joffe, Ann Forbes Cooper, and Joan Geitz perform a radio play at WGXC's first broadcast live from the Catskill Community Center, Sat. Feb. 26. Photo by David LaSpina/David Bush.
Since Saturday, WGXC has been broadcasting on 90.7-FM. If you have tuned in, at times the signal may have sounded spotty or weak. We’re working all the time to make it sound better, and here is an explanantion from Andy Gunn, a technical advisor for WGXC who is on the board of free103point9, which holds the license:
Right now you might be wondering why you can get the signal in some places, but can’t get it in others. There are a few reasons. For one, WGXC has a directional antenna. Which means the signal is stronger in some directions, over some other directions. This is because we have to protect [the signal's of] some other broadcast stations in the area. There is also an initial period where the Federal Communications Commission mandates we operate at half-power while some paperwork is filled out. That may take a few weeks, but once that paperwork goes through, we will be allowed to turn the transmitter to our fully allowed power. You should be able to receive the signal better once that happens. That said, there are always some initial glitches, so be patient while we work out the kinks in the system. Hopefully we wil be able to get the signal up and strong in as many areas as we can. In the meantime, reports of where the signal is strong and where it is weak will help us determine where we might need to fix a few things. You can call the WGXC studio line at 518-828-0290 with reception reports, or e-mail info@wgxc.org or tweet @wgxc. We hope we can get you a strong, clear signal in the very near future.
Some of the reports of very good reception have included: Germantown, Cairo, Valatie, Claverack, Coxsackie, Chatham, Medusa, Hunter, Windham, Kinderhook Lake, and Philmont.
In Athens, Hudson, Catskill, and Saugerties, it is coming in, but perhaps not so clearly yet.
Hundreds, including locals, rally in Albany
The Register-Star had a big story by John Mason following Columbia County residents, and workers, who traveled to Albany on Saturday for the big rally there, like others across the nation, in solidarity with state workers in Wisconsin, where the new governor, Republican Scott Walker, is pushing to strip collective bargaining from public employee unions.
Germantown pilot feared dead; search resumes
The Daily Mail updated local reports on the vintage military jet, privately owned, that went down into the Hudson just north of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge on Saturday afternoon, noting that its pilot appears to have been a Germantown man, 38 year old Michael Faraldi, was flying the 1969 British-made BAC 167 Strikemaster, now flown in air shows, from Nashville via an airfield in Johnstown, Pa., and headed for the Columbia County Airport in Ghent. Police were still dragging the river for Faraldi’s remains on Sunday.
REPORT: EPA, drilling industry know hydrofracking dangers are greater than has been understood
The Daily Freeman and other regional publications were running stories about the New York Times report published February 27 about the many grave health posed by gas drilling, proposed for parts of New York and other areas in the Northeast, noting that internal documents obtained by the Times “from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.”
Work on courthouse could begin this year
Francesca Olsen of the Register Star reports from this past week’s Columbia County Public Works Committee that “architectural drawings are at 90 percent completion and everyone’s expecting bids for renovation work to go out and construction to begin by the autumn of this year” on repairs to the historic county courthouse in Hudson.
The Sting, Part II
Sam Pratt has a riveting piece on his blog that follows up on the January underage drinking busts of several Warren Street establishments in Hudson by taking an assessment of growing charges that the cases, along with an attempt at follow up “stings” in February, may have been a set-up.
New York lags in “race to top” of education
Kathy Kahn of HV Biz reports from a recent talk by Jonathan Drapkin, president of the Hudson Valley think tank Pattern for Progress, where he noted how “New York ranks No. 1 in spending per student and 34th nationwide in outcomes. Although the business community is concerned about the taxes it pays, there is seldom any involvement by the business community in the activities of school districts. Why not?” Drapkin noted the major reductions in school aid projects, loss of federal stimulus funds, and the fact that elected officials are loathe to raise property taxes any higher as a call for business leaders to enter the discussion… and realize new solutions are needed to save education and other key elements of the state’s social fabric.
Local police delegation to honor hero cop
The Daily Mail, like all Hudson Valley newspapers today, has a story about local police agencies sending reps for the giant service being held in Dutchess County for Poughkeepsie police officer John Falzone, who was killed on duty January 18 after wrestling a three year old child from the hands of Catskill resident Lee Welch, who also killed his wife and then himself in the tragedy near the train station.
County space studies abound
In the wake of this week’s county decision not to fund another space study for the proposed move of Social Service and other county services to the former Wal Mart facility in Greenport, Francesca Olsen of the Register-Star has a story about all the other space studies completed in recent years… and the time restraints county DSS has in its present home in Hudson.
FBI requests records from Kingston school district in Matthews probe
That case involving a Kingston city cop caught double-dipping for his private and public beats keeps stretching deeper into local governance, involving the local school district, but also possibly the way drug task force funding got spread among participating municipalities. We’re waiting for this one to cross county lines before long…
Hundreds pepper DRBC with comments on drilling
The Watershed Post has some strong aggregate reporting on how those new hearings on gas drilling in the Delaware River basin are going, including video of the less-well-attended but still volatile and emotionally-wrenching events that are likely to shape state and federal regs concerning this controversial new energy industry.
RPI student on the inside for a ‘first’ in space
The Times Union has a piece up on a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student, 21-year old Nathaniel Quillin, who is among a team of scientists that will soon put the first mechanical humanoid robot into space aboard space shuttle Discovery, which is scheduled to launch at 4:50 p.m. Feb. 24 after four months of mechanical and weather delays. The robot essentially looks like the top half of a person, or the video game character Metroid, and combines human dexterity with mechanical strength, and could eventually work outside the space station or on other risky jobs now performed by astronauts.
Welch had a troubled, violent past
Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star takes up the story of Lee Welch, the Catskill man who killed his wife, a cop, and himself with bullets to the head near the Poughkeepsie train station on Friday, February 18, with a look at past crimes, including a domestic incidence in Hudson where he threw a rock through a car window at his wife and child.
Schumer, business leaders talk expansion
The U.S. Senator met with local business and community leaders at the Greene County IDA offices in Coxsackie on Monday, Feb. 21, according to the Daily Mail, where among other things he voiced support for a local nuclear power plant.
NYSUT ad sets up stark choice: kids vs. the wealthy
The state teachers union has a hard-hitting new ad out, pitting kids education against maintenance of tax breaks for the wealthy. A Times Union story implies that the Wisconsin class wars are moving east, as well as all across the nation.
Gas drilling hearings set for this week
The hearings are with the Delaware River Basin Authority, and focused along those counties which border Pennsylvania. But they’re still part and parcel, according to the Watershed Post, with what remains one of the state’s (and nation’s) top environmental issues of the day.
Global Foundries plans second building, another 1500 employees
The Albany Business Journal has been running a piece about the Saratgoa County microchip manufacturer’s expanding plans, which many have said will include satellite “feeder” businesses in Columbia and Greene counties… So this is the high tech future of the region?
Domestic violence activist and victim says more is needed to fight the scourge
Mid Hudson News Network has a story about how the murder/suicide in Poughkeepsie demonstrates the need for stronger domestic violence laws, which advocates are saying also needs more program help, instead of the cuts currently being proposed.
NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's own legal counsel may have written the tough no-recount election law interpretation that cost him his long-held supermajority this year.
Celeste Katz of the New York Daily News has a piece about the recent case that saw incumbent Democrat Frank Skartados concede the seat for the 100th Assembly District last week while only 15 votes behind the man he defeated two years ago, Thomas Kirwin. According to Katz, Skartados’ lawyer, who had been Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s adviser, wrote the vague state law that may have cost Silver his powerful and long-held veto-proof Democratic supermajority. Kathleen O’Keefe, while she worked as Silver’s chief election counsel, interpreted state election law NOT to include mandated recounts in close elections, setting the stage for a Brooklyn appeals court to rule unanimously in favor of Kirwan when it tossed out about 60 contested affidavit ballots that many felt would have swung the election back to Skartados. Read the rest of this entry »
Tree falls on home in Mellenville
A photo on the front page of the Register=Star captures all our fears… and hopefully an occurrence that won’t be reoccurring as the high winds of February 19 and 20 now abate.
County to settle tar drum dispute
Two residents filed suit against Greene County for illegally burying 72 55-gallon drums of road tar on their property. Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail reports that Greene County Attorney Carol Stevens worked out a deal to pay the landowners, and New York State, $3,000 each for the offenses after a six year investigation. The settlement was unanimously approved by the county legislature at its February 16 meeting.
Power back on at Windham Mountain ski area
The Times Union has a brief follow-up piece about how the popular ski area got its power back an hour and a half after losing it on Saturday. No one was harmed, it seems, and there’s been no mention yet of what happened on the ski lifts, which we assume weren’t running because of the high winds.
Proposal to close two elementary schools in Kingston meets opposition
The education funding woes have popped up again with a Daily Freeman story about city board of ed discussions in the Ulster County seat, now bubbling over into local politics beyond the school board as neighborhoods and communities fight to keep their schools, and all parents work to keep class sizes low and kindergarten available on a full day basis.
Hudson in 1969: The Intrusion of Outsiders
Carole Osterink of Gossips of Rivertown has another look back at earlier preservation battles, back when her city was less friendly to those making new homes in our area. Unfortunately, the historic General Worth Hotel wasn’t saved…
Halfway through the great Backyard Bird Count
Talk about easy fun at the window… just tally up what you see and get your data in by March 1… it’s one of many ways of charting our earth’s healthiness.
Power outage at Windham Mountain ski area
The Times Union reported on the afternoon of February 19 that shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday, the ski area posted on its website that high winds had caused a power outage. Crews were working to restore power and were hoping to do so within 30 to 45 minutes. It was unknown, as of press time, whether anyone had been caught on any ski lifts.
Poughkeepsie cop killer suspect from Catskill
The Daily Mail has a story on how the deceased suspect in a Poughkeepsie shootout that resulted in the death of a city police officer on February 18 has been identified as Lee Welch, 27, of Catskill, who also fatally shot his wife, Jessica Welch, at 1:07 p.m. near the train station, after Welch was found holding the couple’s 3-year-old child and waving around a pistol. The officer pulled the child child from Welch’s arms, handing it to the care of a nearby civilian, before another chase and struggle during which both men shot each other in the head. More on this tragedy following a February 20 press conference on the matter.
Community rallies behind Pulver’s at fundraiser
The Register-Star reports that hundreds came out to support the Hudson glass business whose roof collapsed earlier this month, helping it to get back in business in a matter of weeks.
Feds reject Stockbridge Munsee Tribe’s proposed casino compact
Those dreams of casinos in the Catskills, and Sullivan County in particular, finally got the kibosh on February 18 when the US Department of the Interior said it just wasn’t kosher to be okaying reservation privileges to a Wisconsin tribe in New York.
CSEA: Wisconsin is Ground Zero
The repercussions of Midwestern anti-union actions and current national news hit home Friday, February 18 when union employees held a solidarity demonstration at CSEA headquarters in Albany and provoked a large story in the Times Union by veteran reporter Rick Karlin.
Police kill dog after it attacks baby at sitter’s Saugerties home
The Daily Freeman has a piece about a pit bull that attacked a 3 month old and cable guy at the child’s baby sitter’s home, resulting in reconstructive surgery for the baby and euthanasia for the dog, which allegedly belonged to the baby sitter’s son.
Rough winter leaves mounds of trouble in its wake
The Daily Mail has a piece about how property owners in Coxsackie have been reminded that there are sidewalk clearance laws, and seven have been fined up to $250 for not shoveling. They’re saying it’s time to get the problems of winter cleared up.
Police chase crosses county, state lines
The Register-Star has a thrilling piece by Andrew Amelincks about a morning car chase on February 18 that started in Rensselaer County, wound through CHatham and out Route 295 to Route 22, sidestepped into Massachusetts, and ended on Route 20 in New Lebanon where this morning ended with Gerald Felitti Jr., 40, of Troy, being charged with a number of crimes, including drug possession. The best details? His teenage son was in the truck with him… and the chase included a helicopter.
Wes Gillingham. Photo from Stroud Water Research Center.
WGXC volunteer Sam Sebren recorded all sorts of sounds and speakers at the SnowFlow festival last weekend down in Ulster County at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian. At the event’s dinner, Sebren recorded Catskill Mountainkeeper Program Director Wes Gillingham who spoke about the organization which recently opened a Woodstock office (and is holding an open house Feb. 26). Gillingham also revealed that Catskill Mountainkeeper and other environmental groups are organizing a large-scale protest against hydraulic fracturing natural gas extraction on April 11 at New York’s capitol. Click here to listen to the recording Sebren made.
The ongoing Ulster County story involving charges that cops in the Kingston city police department have been double-dipping on expense claims just got regionally interesting as the Daily Freeman runs with a story about how the FBI’s now gotten interested, and expanded their scope to include the county-wide URGENT anti-drug task force that had been gaining popularity as a possible model for other Hudson Valley counties. According to city beat reporter Paul Kirby, the FBI is now conducting a wide-ranging investigation of the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team, which used to be led by now-suspended Kingston police Detective Lt. Timothy Matthews… who was suspended after being charged with stealing $9,000 from the city and later was accused of double dipping by charging both the city and the Kingston school district for simultaneous work. Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum and Kingston Mayor James Sottile said on Feb. 17 that large amounts of documents have been subpoenaed by the federal law-enforcement agency from the Sheriff’s Office, the city police department and City Hall. The mayor said that the FBI’s interest in URGENT may be related to the task force’s use of federal money provided to the crime-fighting effort by the city of Kingston, which has provided $45,000 in federal Entitlement Program to URGENT, some of it to buy drugs from suspected dealers. Mayor Sottile urged local residents not to jump to any conclusion as a result of the FBI subpoenas.
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.
MidHudsonNews.com reports that the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court Wednesday voted 4-0 to declare Republican Thomas Kirwan the winner in the 100th District State Assembly race. He defeated Democratic incumbent Frank Skartados of Milton, who held the seat for the last two years, by a final tally of under 15 votes, with 58 tossed by the court and dozens more never qualified for counting. The Appellate Court will now ask the Supreme Court justice handling the case to certify the results with the boards of elections since the district is comprised of portions of Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties. The fact of the extra seat for the GOP means it will now be harder for the assembly to override any vetoes by Governor Andrew Cuomo, as is expected on the Property Tax Cap issue, if it ever gets an Assembly vote. “Winning is better than losing,” Kirwan told MidHudsonNews.com.
Council considers youth dept staff cuts
Hudson kids are facing a troubled time ahead, with not only the schools talking draconian cuts, like all our education in this exceptional land of ours, but also the city’s youth bureau… which was created for the good of everyone years back.
Catskill CSI: School to offer forensic science
Out goes the arts and music, and the sports in many cases… and in comes the study of forensics in our local high schools? At least it’s a better headline than the deepening cuts being called for everywhere in our public lives.
Koch: Pass reforms or I’ll set your pants ablaze
Remember how hizzoner, the former New York City mayor, got candidates to sign pledges to make redistricting bipartisan this year? Now, with the state senate in GOP hands, he’s spitting mad that the promises are being broken.
Gillibrand introduces property tax relief bill
Our senator’s pushing a bill that would allow homeowners to deduct the full amount of money they pay from their federal income taxes. Right now, only homeowners that itemize their federal taxes can deduct the cost of property taxes.
Hannaford asks for smaller lot at new store
The Columbia Paper reports that the Livingston Zoning Board of Appealss heard a presentation and viewed plans for a downsized Hannaford supermarket and pharmacy proposed for a site located between Routes 9 and 82 last week after the proposal was denied a building permit by the town Planning Board on January 7 because its plan called for fewer parking spaces than town code requires.
In the same week that one of its principals literally broke a leg, the Watershed Post received news yesterday that it will be receiving a $20,000 grant from the International Women’s Media Foundation that the Watershed Post, one of three new-media entrepreneurship projects to do so, that they are planning to use to jumpstart a NewsShed project, a network of town news sites that — like their main site — will feature original news and arts content, curated links to news stories and blogs, events, and targeted local advertising. “The town sites will function symbiotically with the Watershed Post’s regional Catskills news portal, and we’re working on a few new features for them as well — forums, classifieds, and a section for things like wedding and funeral announcements, to name a few,” said Lissa Harris and Julia Reischel of the Post. “The first towns we’ll launch sites in will be Shandaken and Olive, because the demise of their terrific local newspapers (hat tip to WGXC’s Paul Smart, those publications editor, here) is still very fresh, and folks are really feeling the need for a truly local news outlet.” The goal for each town page: fiscal self-sufficiency, a budget for paying a stringer or two to cover meetings and other ‘hard’ news, a part-time ad salesperson, and a few trusted volunteers who can contribute more community-oriented content. If they succeed in Shandaken and Olive, they’re planning to bring the model to other Catskills towns, starting with those that don’t already have their own newspaper. Hats off for another new media project in line with the community enhancement WGXC is working on in the Hudson Valley!
Food costs continue to inch upwards
Wondering why those grocery bills have been so hard to keep in line with your budget? Mid-Hudson News Network reports that dairy and beverage cost hikes are offsetting slight drops elsewhere, according to the Ulster County Consumer Fraud Bureau survey for the week ending January 28.
Freehold Civil Service Air Patrol flying high
The Daily Mail has a piece about the Civil Air Patrol Vanguard Composite Squadron located in Freehold, who held a benefit dinner at the Quarry Steakhouse on Feb. 12, and how they maintain old-style air force-like training in old WW2 cockpits. Cool.
Heavy snowfall creates slippery sidewalk debate
Who should shovel sidewalks, the municipalities we pay taxes to or we the people? The idea of efficiency stretched to the reality of sharing resources to buy a good village snowblower in Kinderhook, where the inconsistencies of local walking became a real issue last week.
Selkirk man arrested on weapons charge
The Times Union has a blotter item, with photo, about a man of color pulled over for undisclosed reasons in Albany and then busted for pot, as well as a loaded 9mm handgun with hollow point rounds in the chamber of the gun and the magazine.
Gas prices stay steady in Albany area
The Albany Business Journal reports that a gallon of gas was selling for an average price of $3.345 in the Capitol Region on Feb. 11, up slightly from $3.343 a gallon, a week ago, and $3.282 a month ago, a lot more than $2.829 a gallon a year ago, but at a slower rate of rising than we’ve gotten used to this winter.
Claverack town board changes meeting days
They now get together the second Thursday of every month, rather than the first Wednesday. Why? The Register-Star doesn’t say, but it may have to do with the loss of weekly newspapers throughout the region.
WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren reports from the WGXC aired a live broadcast of the SnowFlow festival at the Full Moon Resort Sat. Feb. 12 in Big Indian, in Ulster County, in the middle of the Catskill park. The event celebrated water, with artist Matt Bua creating a snow house warm enough for him to sleep in for two nights, and others skiing down Belleayre Mountain with no-fracking signs, and all sorts of talks about the Catskills’ water supply. Saturday night’s broadcast was run by WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren, and included performances from Kingston’s legendary Pauline Oliveros; Tianna Kennedy and Hannah Marcus; and Bard professor Miguel Frasconi and and former Mercury Rev member Suzanne Thorpe. Frascone and Thorpe literally played with water, with Frascone’s poured into glasses of different amounts, and Thorpe playing a mixture of snow and Pop Rocks in some type of instrument. Click here to listen to a recording of Kennedy and Marcus opening up the show. Click here to listen to Thorpe and Frascone perform. WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren also made lots of other recordings of snow, ice, water, and people talking about all those things. Those recordings will be posted in the coming days.
The Olana Viewshed, as seen on the Rural Intelligence website.
Who’d have thought that a quadricentennial would last three years? According to the Daily Freeman, the Hudson River Valley Greenway and National Heritage Area programs have announced $50,000 has been awarded to a dozen projects around the region under the Hudson River Valley Quadricentennial Implementation Grant Program, set up to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s “discovery” of the river that bears his name, and Robert Fulton’s inauguartion of steamboat travel on it 200 years later, in 2009. A pair of Columbia County projects were awarded money, including $2,500 for the Olana Partnership to hold a symposium to focus on preservation of historic viewsheds and $3,950 for Historic Hudson to host an exhibition allowing viewers to trace the evolution of business and adaptive reuse of architecture on Warren Street in Hudson. Funding also includes $5,000 for SUNY New Paltz’s Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art to produce a catalog documenting an exhibition titled “Made in the Hudson Valley,” which will consist of works from the collections of the Hudson Valley Visual Arts Collections Consortium. Friends of Senate House, which is based in Kingston, got a $2,943 grant to hold an event called “Sustainable Living, 17th and 18th Century Hudson Valley Style.” Highland Landing Park Association Inc., was awarded $3,550 for a water storage and delivery system, including a water storage tank, pump, pressure tank, and necessary piping. In Northern Dutchess, Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum was awarded $5,000 to create an experiential interactive display which will focus on the collection’s most significant airplanes. And the town of Hyde Park got a $4,500 grant to construct two kiosks with “interpretive panels” along the northern section of the Hyde Park Heritage Greenway Trail.
Onteora schools adopt three-hour delay plan
The Catskill Mountain district has used up all its snow days plus three of its spring vacation days… meaning that from here on in, they’ll be simply delaying the start of school in most cases. Look for this to become a trend.
Roof buckles under snow, ice
It may not be as bad as the collapsing barns that have killed cows and chickens throughout the area, or the partial collapse of the sports center up in the Adirondacks, but the buckling of the roof at Pulver’s Glass and Bicycle property on Green Street in Hudson, next door to the Chinese buffet, seriously hinders an almost century-old local business.
Fire reveals pot harvesting operation
After being called in for a house fire, authorities found that the former Baldwin Flowerland property in New Baltimore was the site of an extensive marijuana harvesting operation involving 700 plants, with ownership by a local man and another from Hudson. File this one as a new agriculture story?
What could it be?
Gossips of Rivertown has up a great collection of images of the Hudson Correctional Facility, in the news as one of ten state prisons possibly set for closure, back when it was first the Women’s House of Refuge, and later the New York State Girls’ Training School.
RPI revives business incubator program, now called Emerging Ventures Ecosystem
Talk about the power of modern semantics… the Albany Business Journal has a piece on the development of an alumni-backed angel investment fund that plans to underwrite startup grants for new businesses and ideas to the tune of $50,000 to $150,000… to create better economic ecosystems, it seems.
Senator Charles Schumer is seeking an investigation behind possible price-gouging and collusion among road salt producers. “We’ve had a lot of snow this winter; they have to keep the road clean. Snow removal is something you have to do. It’s about safety,” said Schumer in Kingston on Monday, February 7. “In the past five years, it’s skyrocketed at an unprecedented pace.” In Ulster County road, a Mid Hudson News Service story on the announcement noted, salt prices have increased 40 percent in five years and 25 percent in the last two to three years. Investigations in other states have found evidence of price-gouging and collusion, said Schumer, so now he’s going to write the Federal Trade Commission and ask for a national investigation. If the FTC conducts an investigation and finds evidence of unfair business practices, Schumer said he wants the agency to crack down on offenders. Maybe he can go after fuel oil and propane dealers next, including their lock-in and add-on pricing?
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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.
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WGXC Town Recorders
The following folks have recorded town meetings and other events that aired on WGXC. You could too! Email info@wgxc.org.
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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.
The 
In the same week that one of its principals literally broke a leg, the 
Senator Charles Schumer is seeking an investigation behind possible price-gouging and collusion among road salt producers. “We’ve had a lot of snow this winter; they have to keep the road clean. Snow removal is something you have to do. It’s about safety,” said Schumer in Kingston on Monday, February 7. “In the past five years, it’s skyrocketed at an unprecedented pace.” In Ulster County road, a 
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