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Thursday headlines PM
Mar 17, 2011 3:28 pm
Cuomo: Schools have waste and fraud, can weather cut
Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union reports on the governor countering claims that his proposal to cut $1.5 billion in education aid would hurt the kids by calling such statements “threats” and “a game.” Cuomo said his proposed cuts could be weathered by districts by trimming waste, abuse, and administrative overhead. “They have to say we’re perfectly managed. We are the Swiss watch of organizations,” Cuomo said in what Vielkind described as a four-minute rant at the conclusion of a meeting with four leaders of the legislative conferences. “They want to oppose the cuts politically, so what do they say? ”They want to hurt your child.’ ”
HCSD lays out high, low budget scenarios
Andrew Amelinckx reports in the Register-Star that the Hudson School Board has started to take serious looks at their budget for the coming year, albeit without any definite figures from the state. But looking at matters from both a high and low end, all options appeared "dire." “We’ve been dealt a crappy hand to play,” Amelinckx quotes BOE President Emil Meister saying. “Everything is fair game.” Possible scenarios, at present, included the loss of 10 teaching positions and other cuts that would result in a 21 percent tax increase to another that included the loss of more than 60 teaching jobs to produce a 3.9 percent tax increase.
25-cent meal increase would yield $19K in new school revenue
Jim Planck of the Daily Mail reports that Catskill Board of Education members were provided an assortment of potential cost-saving and revenue generating scenarios for the 2011-12 budget by district officials Wednesday night, March 16, including a plan by Food Services and Transportation Director William Muirhead to save a potential $19,300 in new revenue available by forcing school meal prices up a quarter. The board is starting to move beyond its initial zero-based budgeting stance and speak about actual savings and revenue enhancers, instead of cutting all programs to the bone.
Palenville man arrested on child pornography charges
The Watershed Post report a State Police release about the arrest of a 24 year old Palenville man for "Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child," a class E Felony. The young man was arrested after an investigation conducted by the New York State Police and the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (I.C.A.C.), and was released on an Appearance Ticket returnable to the Town of Catskill Court later today. Prosecution of this case is being conducted by the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.
Sheriff opens eastern front
Diane Valden of The Columbia Paper reports that later this year, the Columbia County's Sheriff Office will establish its first-ever substation in the Hillsdale Town Hall on Route 23, just west of the Route 22 intersection, which will be vacated for new premises in the coming months. Sheriff David Harrison, Jr., and Captain David Bartlett appeared at the Hillsdale Town Board meeting March 15 to propose that the Town Board enter into an agreement with the Sheriff's Office to use the old Town Hall as a substation when the town moves into its new digs at the former Roe Jan Library, across from the supermarket on Route 23.
Joke gone wrong lands man in hospital
Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star writes about a Ghent man who was seriously injured after falling out of a truck and being run over by that vehicle during an apparent practical joke that went wrong Wednesday afternoon, March 16. Benjamin Keyser, the passenger in a Ford F350 pick-up truck headed south on Route 66 in Chatham, stood up in the vehicle and began exiting through the truck’s moon roof, according to the New York State Police, the investigating agency. “He immediately lost his balance, slid down the windshield and front hood … and the truck ran him over,” said State Police Capt. Scott Brown. The accident occurred just north of Crellin Park in Chatham just before 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union reports on the governor countering claims that his proposal to cut $1.5 billion in education aid would hurt the kids by calling such statements “threats” and “a game.” Cuomo said his proposed cuts could be weathered by districts by trimming waste, abuse, and administrative overhead. “They have to say we’re perfectly managed. We are the Swiss watch of organizations,” Cuomo said in what Vielkind described as a four-minute rant at the conclusion of a meeting with four leaders of the legislative conferences. “They want to oppose the cuts politically, so what do they say? ”They want to hurt your child.’ ”
HCSD lays out high, low budget scenarios
Andrew Amelinckx reports in the Register-Star that the Hudson School Board has started to take serious looks at their budget for the coming year, albeit without any definite figures from the state. But looking at matters from both a high and low end, all options appeared "dire." “We’ve been dealt a crappy hand to play,” Amelinckx quotes BOE President Emil Meister saying. “Everything is fair game.” Possible scenarios, at present, included the loss of 10 teaching positions and other cuts that would result in a 21 percent tax increase to another that included the loss of more than 60 teaching jobs to produce a 3.9 percent tax increase.
25-cent meal increase would yield $19K in new school revenue
Jim Planck of the Daily Mail reports that Catskill Board of Education members were provided an assortment of potential cost-saving and revenue generating scenarios for the 2011-12 budget by district officials Wednesday night, March 16, including a plan by Food Services and Transportation Director William Muirhead to save a potential $19,300 in new revenue available by forcing school meal prices up a quarter. The board is starting to move beyond its initial zero-based budgeting stance and speak about actual savings and revenue enhancers, instead of cutting all programs to the bone.
Palenville man arrested on child pornography charges
The Watershed Post report a State Police release about the arrest of a 24 year old Palenville man for "Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child," a class E Felony. The young man was arrested after an investigation conducted by the New York State Police and the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (I.C.A.C.), and was released on an Appearance Ticket returnable to the Town of Catskill Court later today. Prosecution of this case is being conducted by the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.
Sheriff opens eastern front
Diane Valden of The Columbia Paper reports that later this year, the Columbia County's Sheriff Office will establish its first-ever substation in the Hillsdale Town Hall on Route 23, just west of the Route 22 intersection, which will be vacated for new premises in the coming months. Sheriff David Harrison, Jr., and Captain David Bartlett appeared at the Hillsdale Town Board meeting March 15 to propose that the Town Board enter into an agreement with the Sheriff's Office to use the old Town Hall as a substation when the town moves into its new digs at the former Roe Jan Library, across from the supermarket on Route 23.
Joke gone wrong lands man in hospital
Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star writes about a Ghent man who was seriously injured after falling out of a truck and being run over by that vehicle during an apparent practical joke that went wrong Wednesday afternoon, March 16. Benjamin Keyser, the passenger in a Ford F350 pick-up truck headed south on Route 66 in Chatham, stood up in the vehicle and began exiting through the truck’s moon roof, according to the New York State Police, the investigating agency. “He immediately lost his balance, slid down the windshield and front hood … and the truck ran him over,” said State Police Capt. Scott Brown. The accident occurred just north of Crellin Park in Chatham just before 6 p.m. Wednesday.