Future of a nation: Area residents react to unrest in Egypt
You know it's really really big news, on an international scale, when it jumps to the front page of local papers such as the Register-Star, as this story on a Bard professor's reactions to the explosive situation in Egypt amply demonstrates.

Humane Society rescues 20 puppies
The other theme for the day seems to be animal cruelty, which is being traced in this Ashland-based story about a "puppy mill" from the Daily Mail, also covered in completely different form in the Times Union and Mid Hudson News Network, as well as other animal cruelty stories coming out of Columbia and Ulster counties.

Jury acquits Albany officer
The Times Union played up the trial of police Officer Robert E. Schunk II with a series of gripping stories about an emotionally-charged situation two years ago where Schunk was accused of grinding a loaded .40 caliber pistol against the head of his ex-girlfriend.

Powerball winner to be announced
The state Lottery Division today will introduce the person who bought a Powerball ticket in Greene County that wound up being worth $122 million at a special news conference at 11 a.m. at the Empire State Plaza in Albany.

Former principal disappointed with court’s decision
Former Catskill High School Principal William Ball IV, whose position was terminated by the district effective June 30, 2010, as part of an economic downsizing, said Thursday that the recent loss of his court challenge to get his job back is disappointing, but that the process was as it should have been. Talk about a follow-up!

The National Weather Service says today will have sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High around 30F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight will possibly see the occasional snow flurry developing, which is also in the mix for tomorrow. Low 19F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Town meetings tonight
CITY OF HUDSON Historical Preservation Committee meeting at 10 a.m. at City Hall.

Astronomical bodies

TIDES Hudson: High, 8:00 a.m./Low, 3:31 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 6:57 a.m./5:22 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 10:37 a.m./5:22 a.m.

Birthdays
FEBRUARY 11
Thomas Alva Edison, Mary Quant, Sergio Mendes, and Sarah Palin.

By Gus Murphy

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="160" caption="Junk food is getting banned, now, in Massachusetts... from vending machines and elsewhere. Could the movement be now shifting eastwards, at last? Image from freshhealthyvending.com"][/caption]Massachusetts public health regulators approved regulations to limit the sale of sugary soft drinks, salty and calorie-packed snacks, and even white bread sandwiches from public schools. The rules approved February 9 will apply to a la carte lines, snack shops, and vending machines, but not to the main cafeteria line. They would apply during the school day and a half-hour before and after classes, and now need the approval of the state Public Health Council, an appointed panel of doctors and experts, which is expected to consider them at a spring meeting. They would take effect in 2012. New York State has considered similar laws in recent years but gotten no where with them. In New York City, laws were passed banning Trans Fats five years ago, and schools have worked sugar and fattening products out of their offerings. National discussion on such matters is currently stalled because of home-rule and convoluted privacy/first amendment issues.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Ichabod Crane High School sports fans, as seen on the school's website."][/caption]The Ichabod Crane School District held its third Community Forum on Tuesday, January 8, trying to wrestle with a budget rising without the school board or administration doing anything new. Past sessions have seen the district and its residents packing the high school auditorium to discuss possible closure of elementary schools, diminishment of kindergarten classes to a half day schedule, the ending of all pre-K programs, cutting a number of electives, sports and other extracurricular activities, and possible merger with another school district. This week's talk, covered in the Register-Star as well as on the school district's website, focused on what might happen if the district is not allowed to raise its taxes, and how announced aid cuts will hurt existing programs. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget would cut state aid to Ichabod Crane by $1.7 million. This week's topic, Athletics and Extracurricular Activities, was launched with administrators noting that 31.99 percent of middle schoolers and 38.64 percent of high schoolers participated in sports in 2010-2011, a total of 367 out of 1,001 students. Sports at all levels — modified, junior varsity and varsity — cost a total of $412,942 for operating and transportation costs. This did not include football, which is paid for by its booster club. It was also noted that there were 35 high school clubs and activities, such as the Crane Acting Troupe, the Yearbook, the Ski Club and the Students Against Violating Earth; and 15 in the middle school, such as the Newspaper, Select Band, Peer Mediation and Future Cities. The extracurricular costs for the high school were $47,718; for the middle school, $17,236; with other expenses being $7,025, for a total of $71,979. Almost to a person, district residents spoke in favor of sports programs, music programs, and other elements that helped students with college applications, which want to see extracurricular activities. Others spoke about forcing concessions from district teachers, cutting activities with fewer students, and the possibility of setting up an extracurricular fundraising group. The next forum will be 7 p.m. Feb. 15 in the high school auditorium, and will address the topic of transportation.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="The Rev. Gary Mercure, on trial for raping young boys in the Berkshires, as seen in a photo from www.christianshame.com."][/caption]What may be the most serious story unfolding in the greater area - the Pittsfield, MA trial of a priest on rape charges -- was lent a light air in Times Union and Berkshire Eagle stories on February 10 that includes narrative on how a local radio personality, writer and editor was kicked off the trial's jury for tweeting comments during his service. The report was focused on February 9's closing arguments in the rape trial of Gary Mercure, a former priest who a prosecutor characterized as winning the trust of his victims' families with the aid of prayer, and then threatening the violated boys with damnation to keep them quiet. Mercure's lawyer has countered that the alleged victims made up their accounts of sexual attacks in Massachusetts to take advantage of a longer statute of limitations than New York allows. Mercure, who at one time was stationed in Troy, is accused attacking the boys during incidents in the Berkshires in the 1980s, including several in the parking lot at Brodie Mountain and in the parking lot of an Appalachian Trail trailhead. But gaining equal ink in the story was the dismissal of writer and musician Seth Rogovoy, for mentioning his jury duty on Twitter. Rogovoy, editor of Berkshire Living, author of several books, and a longstanding radio personality on WAMC-FM, countered that his use of the social media platform was innocuous and made no specific reference to the case, just puns. Deliberations were set to continue with a replacement from the 16 reserve jurists chosen for the trial on Thursday morning, January 10.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Chatham's Berry Farm in winter."][/caption]As it gets ready for the remaining three of five focus group meetings to help determine the shape of the County’s first agriculture and farmland protection plan, Columbia County’s Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board sent out some analysis on what has been said to date by the dozens of farmers, farm landowners, community leaders, and interested residents who have gathered in North Chatham and Hudson in the past three weeks. Participants at the meetings have discussed the changing nature of agriculture in the county, heard from the Hudson Valley Agri-business Development Corporation about those who have found success diversifying their operations, but also the support needed for those farmers who want to make the transition from one of the county’s historic types of farming – dairy and tree fruit, for example – to growing vegetable crops, or raising livestock for direct sale to a local market. Other topics have included new markets, relationships between local farms and non-farm landowners, the need for local meat processing and for “added-value” processing facilities, as well as the need to educate the public about how to be a good neighbor to farming. As one attendee noted, county residents like the “rural ambience” of farmland, “but they don’t always understand what it takes to be a farmer.” The next focus groups will be from 10:00 a.m. to Noon on Saturday, February 19th at the Copake Town Hall (snow date: Tuesday, February 22nd, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.), 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 3rd in Germantown, and 10:00 a.m. to noonon Saturday, March 19th in Stuyvesant. For more information contact Ellen Jouret-Epstein, Columbia Land Conservancy’s Land Protection Manager, at 518.392.5252, ext. 208 or ellen@clctrust.org.

Another form of neighbor dispute has arisen in the Columbia County town of Germantown, where a woman, her four children and her husband are saying they can’t drink the water from their well because it’s contaminated with fecal coliform from the town’s wastewater treatment plant just in front of their house... and close by the Hudson River, according to the Register-Star. The culprit for the problem, according to Jennefer Klein, is an overflow pipe, connected to the plant, that empties into a creek that then flows through her property. The town installed it in 2003 through eminent domain proceedings... and Klein’s well cap is just 44 feet away from where that pipe ends. Testing conducted by the county Health Department indicates that water samples from Klein’s well are positive for total coliform, with the agency noting that “this result indicates that the water was not of a satisfactory sanitary quality” and that “water of good sanitary quality should have no E.coli or total coliform bacteria.” The issues started in 2005, when tenants of the home complained of a smell — and continued into 2009, when Klein and her family, who purchased it in 2003, moved back onto the property. Town officials have maintained it’s not the wastewater plant that’s contaminating her water, but Klein isn’t entirely convinced and says she’s frustrated with their lack of communication. The state Department of Environmental Conservation approved the town’s plans to install the pipe in 2003 but the DEC doesn’t regulate drinking water — that’s the health department’s jurisdiction. The well is shared between Klein and Dr. George Verrilli, who said the well was installed in the late 70s or early 80s and there was no problem with water quality before the pipe was installed in 2003. Dr. Verrilli has also written letters to the town and to Town Supervisor Roy Brown, who simultaneously serves as the Chairman of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, about the issue. Brown said he’d met with all involved agencies “and they all agree it’s not the town’s problem... I maintain that we are still within our lawful, permitted requirements. The testing so far is indicating that here are higher levels of E.coli entering the stream somewhere above the plant. My educated guess at this point is the contamination that is seeping into the well is coming from other sources that are linked to that stream.”

"In a seemingly normal, quiet village community, the recent threat of gun violence against children has put a neighborhood on edge," reads the lede sentence in a Daily Mail front-pager next to a photo of one of Catskills' more striking historic homes. "Last week, a Greene County Court decision has allowed a 63-year-old woman to keep a 9mm pistol that she told police she would use to kill a neighbor’s child." The story is all about how a non-practicing attorney and real estate dealer who renovated a classic old home in the village over the past three years, told police in a 911 call last year that she would open fire on juveniles because she felt threatened by them. Leading up to that incident, the woman described months of intimidation and harassment from others renting some some of the multi-family homes still dominating the once-staid neighborhood. She added that she has carried a pistol in her pocket each time she walked her dog since receiving a concealed weapon permit in March 2010. Following her September 26 call, however, a county judge ordered the woman's pistol permit be suspended since Catskill police told the judge they felt she was unfit to possess the weapon after she had made threats against her neighbor's children, with the county district attorney’s office in agreement. Further revocation hearings in November brought out further accusations between the woman and one of her neighbors, including intimations of gender discrimination, anti-Semiticism, sexual bias, and economic disparity.Multiple calls to the Catskill Police Department included complaints about leaves being raked onto sidewalks, loud music being played, harassment of contractors, and yelling outside. As a result of the back and forth, Catskill Police Chief David Darling called for a stop on basketball courts in village streets and is exploring an ordinance to do so. At the conclusion of Colin DeVries story, whose use of names we felt uncomfortable with given the delicacy of the situation, Chief Darling said he doesn’t want this situation to escalate and a gun should have never been involved.

Panel turns to Main Street
The Daily Mail looks into the next step for the Town of Cairo's push to give itself a zoning ordinance for the first time... uniform setbacks for their historic lower Main Street. Plus a lot of exceptions to cover what's there already.

Mayoral race this year for village
It seems politics is heating up in Philmont, where 39 year old Brian Wheeler, with the fire department, is challenging long-serving Mayor Skip Speed, saying more has to be done for the good of the place. Two trustees, meanwhile, are running for reelection unopposed.

Austerity budget for Saugerties schools would raise property tax levy nearly 8%
This district on the edge of our coverage area was forced to take on an austerity budget by its board last year, which still resulted in huge tax hikes. Now, to make up for state budget cuts and catch up with other districts, their tax rise will be close to ten percent for the coming year. Now what was all that talk about 2 percent tax caps?

New firm tackles troubled Knolls atomic cleanup job
After a long-pending cleanup of materials spilled during the 1950s was stalled by new spills, Knolls Atomic Power Labs has hired another firm to take over the stalled cleanup project, doubling its expected cost from $75 million to $145 million, all to avoid further escapes of radioactivity, and not repeat the three leakage incidents of last fall.

Casino not dead yet, say local officials
Despite Tribal and state officials having gotten "bad vibrations" about the US Interior Department’s impending action on the Wisconsin Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe’s proposed casino-resort in Sullivan County, local officials, from town supervisors to state legislators, are refusing to give up hope, with Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther (D-Forestburg) going so far as to say it is time for the state to pass a constitutional amendment to allow gaming in New York. “I’m sure the coffin is closed, but the nail’s not in it yet,” came one statement.

Disposable Hudson
Gossips of Rivertown has stories up about the ongoing battles involving low rent housing for the homeless in the riverside city, as well as a history of Hudson's arcane weighted voting system for ward aldermen (and women).

Finally, all our papers seem to have stories about neighbor disputes this morning, which we will give their own due on the Newsroom in the coming hours. Could it be the residue of cabin fever rising?

The National Weather Service says today will be partly cloudy, with times of sun and clouds. Cold. High 21F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Tonight, will continue the partly cloudy thing with a low of 4F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow will be sunnier and just a tad warmer.

Town meetings tonight
CHATHAM VILLAGE MEETING, 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 77 Main Street
COPAKE TOWN BOARD meeting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 230 Mountainview Road, Copake
TOWN OF GALLATIN 6:30 meeting at Town Hall, 667 Route 7, Ancram
CITY OF HUDSON Industrial Development Agency meeting at 5 p.m. at City Hall
described months of intimidation and harassment from others renting some some of the multi-family homes still dominating the once-staid neighborhood. She added that she has carried a pistol in her pocket each time she walked her dog since receiving a concealed weapon permit in March 2010. Following her September
TOWN OF KINDERHOOK Planning Board Workshop meeting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 4 Church St, Niverville
TOWN OF LIVINGSTON meets at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 119 County Route 19
TOWN OF STUYVESANT at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 5 Sunset Drive
VILLAGE OF TANNERSVILLE at 7 p.m. in their Village Hall on Route 23A.
TOWN OF WINDHAM 8 p.m. at Town Hall, Hensonville.


Astronomical bodies

TIDES Hudson: High, 7:19 p.m./Low, 2:19 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 6:58 a.m./5:20 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 9:59 a.m./1:06 a.m.

Birthdays
FEBRUARY 10
Bertolt Brecht, Roberta Flack, Glenn Beck, and Laura Dern.

The Columbia County Healthcare Consortium contracted with Siena Research Institute to survey Greene and Columbia county residents about their health, lifestyles, and opinions on health issues. The survey of 1,200 households revealed:
• 90 percent of respondents said they have a primary care doctor, a high number compared to other regions.
• 97 percent of people with a doctor saw theirs within the past two years.
• 60 percent surveryed are either overweight or obese in our two counties, and only about 25 percent are trying to lose weight.
• 75 percent favor restaurants promoting healthier menus.
• 70 percent favor requiring restaurants to post calorie amounts.
• 90 percent favor restaurants offering smaller portions for a lower price.
• 70 percent oppose a five-cent tax increase on soda or junk food items, or increasing the tax on beer by a nickel per 12-ounce serving.
The full results of the survey on on the Consortium's website.

Congressman Chris Gibson, who represents Greene and Columbia counties in the U.S. House of Representatives, released a statement Wednesday evening saying he is trying to secure disaster aid for local farmers hit hard by heavy snow this winter. “Several farms have experienced barn collapses, loss of livestock, and other damages," Gibson's statement said. "My office is working with the USDA to seek the disaster designation for the counties impacted to ensure that relief is available for those that need it. My staff is also available to assist farmers in 20th District wherever possible, and I encourage anyone who has questions regarding federal assistance to contact my office.”

Submission deadline for the 14th annual Rip Van Winkle poetry competition is March 31, 2011, sponsored by All Arts Matter in Greenville. Manuscripts of original poetry, in English, are eligible if they neither have been published nor are committed to be published. The contest is divided into two age categories; contestants 14 years or younger should indicate with a check mark in the appropriate box on the entry form. Three winning poets in each category will receive cash prizes. In the 14 and younger category, the cash awards will be $25, $15, and $10 respectively. In the adult category, the cash awards will be $100, $75, and $50 respectively.

The Times Union's Capital Connection has a piece by the intrepid Brian Nearing this morning that notes how there will be no threat of park closures this year, but a return of fracking issues to the front of the news cycle come June, when acting NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens says new regulations on gas drilling for the Marcellus Shale, which runs through central New York and touches on the southern and western Catskills, will be made public. According to the story, Andy Beers, acting commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, told a panel of state lawmakers on Feb. 8 that there would be no park closures during an Assembly Ways and Means committee hearing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed 2010-11 budget. He credited layoffs during the waning days of the Paterson administration with giving the park system breathing room to absorb the additional spending cut of 6.2 percent, or $19 million, sought by Cuomo. But a park advocacy group that includes former parks commissioner Carol Ash took Beers' announcement with a grain of salt and said they couldn't see how the parks system could maintain all its services and maintenance schedules with such cuts.


Continued...

As for fracking, Martens said DEC was 85 percent complete on new rules while it continues to review more than 14,000 comments on draft rules issued by DEC in September 2009, after more than a year of study, and expects to issue results near a June 1 deadline set under an executive order issued by the Paterson administration. Word is that he accepted his new post on condition that fracking would not be allowed in New York state without strict regulatory oversight. We'll see come Spring.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Young's Agway in Prattsville."][/caption]It looks like Agway's moving back to Catskill with plans to renovate the former Aubuchon Servistar building on Boulevard Avenue near Catskill Commons if current lease negotiations work out. According to The Daily Mail, the Catskill Village Planning Board has approved building and sign permits for the family-owned business in Prattsville looking to build a second store in the county seat, for which it was awarded a $120,000 loan from the county Department of Economic Development, Tourism & Planning by county legislators last fall. Brian and John Youngs’ store, which will be given a "western" theme, will primarily sell hardware, pet food, and animal feed.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Sunset Motel, Greenport, seen before it was utilized for housing the county's homeless population. "][/caption]The disparity between the actual plight of the poor and the procedural difficulties of caring for those in need, while also maintaining local housing standards, reared its troublesome head at a Hudson public hearing earlier this week on February 6, when a new local law which would strengthen the language of the definition of “transitional service facility” and “transitional service facility resident” in the city code was discussed and Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera used the occasion to spit some nails at the county Department of Social Services. Lindsay Suchow and Kate Mostaccio of the Register-Star report how things came to a head when the owner of a residence denied use as an official "transitional home" due to zoning constraints housed three homeless men, moved in from county-subsidized rooms at the Sunset Motel on Route 9 in Greenport. Scalera raised issue with the fact that DSS was giving housing money to clients without checking where they were moving to, while County Department of Social Services Commissioner Paul Mossman explained the difference between aid for those considered homeless, who are given temporary emergency housing, usually in motels or specified housing, and cash assistance grants that are given to individuals on public assistance programs, such as the county’s Safety Net where living expenses are at the recipient's discretion, and often not considerable given that the grants are only $350 to $360 a month. The emphasis, Mossman added, is to get people to share apartments when possible, which seems to have been the case in the situation Scalera was referring to at the recent hearing. Things rose to the present situation, the Mayor added, when numerous nopise complaints with the police led to eviction notices for the three men in question, at least according to what he heard. He called the whole kit and kaboodle "evidence of the dysfunctional relationship between the city and the county when it comes to housing the homeless," at least according to the two reporters. “This was an arrogant, in-your-face move by the county." Fortunately, no one seems to have used the term NIMBY anywhere in the hot talk on a chilly evening.

The Daily Mail reports that the lawsuit filed against Catskill Central School District, the Board of Education, and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Farrell by former Catskill High School Principal William Ball IV alleging improper termination has been decided in favor of the district. Ball was placed on leave by CSD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Farrell on Jan. 28, 2010, for undisclosed reasons, and the BOE subsequently formally suspended “Employee No. 4” in an 8-0 vote at its Feb. 24 meeting.


Continued...

Ball’s last official day of employment with the district was June 30, 2010. In his petition before State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi, Ball sought reinstatement to the position and back pay since his leaving, stating his belief that his termination was “in bad faith and a subterfuge.” Ball has said he believes it stemmed in part from his actions as President of the Catskill Administrators Association — the negotiating unit that represents administrators at the district. The district said it was not, but was based on a need for “restructuring” — meaning to downsize — because of the economy, and that Ball’s termination was mirrored by other staff during the same action. The judge Terisi agreed with the district, writing, “Because Petitioner (Ball) failed to demonstrate that Respondents’ termination of his position was made in bad faith, his petition is denied.”

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Aerial photograph of Hudson taken February 7 by Daniel Nilsson of DA|BA. "][/caption]Both the Register-Star and The Gossips of Rivertown have reports on the Hudson Common Council meeting that took place on Monday, February 7, where a number of grievances were heard about the snow emergencies this winter, parking fines, and removal of the white stuff from city streets. The Gossip's Carole Osterink spoke at the meeting about what she called “Draconian” measures of enforcing snow emergency violations, and how several of her neighbors on Allen St. were ticketed twice, and some cars were towed just 15 minutes before the most recent snow emergency was over.

Continued...

Alderman Abdus Miah, D-Hudson 2, agreed that the snow emergency situation in Hudson was “a mess,” and that he, too, had been ticketed throughout the ordeal. Wagoner said he had dozens of constituents calling him during the last snowstorm, and agreed that “our signs are not understandable.” Mayor Rick Scalera noted that the snow emergency laws have been in effect in the city since 1996. "This year went from little-or-no enforcement to very strict enforcement,” he said. “You’re either going to enforce the snow emergency law or take it off the books.” According to the RS, Time and Space Limited owner Linda Mussmann further noted that the snow has made Columbia St. nearly impassable to tractor trailers.

The Daily Mail's Colin DeVries has a story about how Greene County has retreated from a renaming of its mental health facility to the “Greene County Center for Behavioral Wellness” after about a year of the new title. The facility is again called the Greene County Mental Health Center, and Director Margaret Graham is quoted saying that the name change, approved by county lawmakers in January 2010, was originally part of a “stigma campaign” designed to redefine the image of mental health treatment. In a new resolution presented to the county health committee Monday, February 7, it was stated that, “It has become apparent that many people, staff and patients alike, do not find the new name appealing or representative of the services being provided.” Graham, who was not director of the department at the time of the change, said the name “doesn’t lend itself well to the services that we provide... our patients don’t understand it." The resolution will be voted on by the full Greene County Legislature at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 16.