[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Greene County Legislator Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, was the sole member of the county body to vote against a new resolution seeking new rates for its bonds, charging that actual amounts should have been made, and not so much let to the discretion of the county treasurer's office."][/caption]A resolution was passed by the Greene County Legislature on January 19 that would allow the county treasurer’s office to seek lower interest rates on several construction bonds totaling $11.2 million, spurred by county lawmakers hopes to realize new savings... even though new treasurer Peter Markou has noted that the lower rates are not "a sure bet."

Colin DeVries reports in the Daily Mail that the refinancing will include approximately $11,240,000 in bonds for the county’s solid waste facility built in the mid 1990s, Columbia-Greene Community College improvements from the late 1990s, the county office building completed in 2004, road and bridge reconstruction projects, the Greene County Emergency Services fire training center in Cairo, and machinery for construction.

Though it’s unknown how much savings can be realized, New York-based bond firm Roosevelt and Cross Inc. will be in consultation with the treasurer’s office in finding the best rate.

The only “no” on passage of the resolution was from Legislator Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, who said he voted against the resolution because he felt the legislature should approve a specific rate, not simply allow the treasurer’s office to choose one.



The county’s total outstanding principal debt is $25,771,000. The county’s most recent bonds are $12.2 million for the Greene County Courthouse renovation and $421,000 for capital improvements at the Columbia-Greene Community College, including roof reconstruction and plumbing upgrades. Both of those bonds mature in 2028.

The Special Committee Meeting of the Taconic Hills Central School District Board of Education that was planned for this past Wednesday, January 19, has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, January 26, at 6:30 p.m. The sole purpose of this meeting was to hear a grievance from the school’s Faculty Association, reported on in this newsblog earlier this week. The new session will precede a regular meeting of the district's school board.

Catskill musician/inventor/man-about-town Brian Dewan is half the focus of a Talk of the Town piece by Nick Paumgarten in the January 24 issue of The New Yorker, currently on newstands. The piece is about Brian and cousin Leon Dewan's Dewanatron business making analog synthesizers, and how one, the Swarmatron, seems poised to take off after Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) featured one in his award-winning soundtrack for the film, The Social Network, out this week on DVD. Meaning sales may jump from 9 of the high-priced item, sold at a single music store in Los Angeles (since 2004) to somewhere in two digits.

The Dewans come up with their ideas for instruments together, Paumgarten writes, noting how Brian designs the cabinetry and the controls, while Leon builds the innards—the actual machine.

“My dad started all the trouble,” Leon, who is forty-four, said. His father was a Lebanese immigrant, junior-high-school dropout, and self-taught inventor, who in turn initiated his nephew—Brian’s father, later a physicist in the Air Force, as well as an avant-garde organist—into the tinkerer’s trade. Brian, forty-seven, is a songwriter and visual artist perhaps best known for his deadpan live performances of historical political songs, such as “Jimmy Carter Says Yes,” often on an Autoharp or an electric zither of his own design. Leon is taller and more earnest. Brian, gentle in repose, has additional gears, running from dry all the way to ham—he’s a thinking man’s Jack Black.

Brian Dewan, an Oberlin College graduate, has performed at most WGXC benefit events to date, and will be featured alongside other musical instrument creators in an exhibit at the Greene County Council for the Arts later this year. Which, we guess, could make this newsroom and station the King Kong of community media outlets... at least in Talk of the Town talk. For samples of Dewanatron instrument sounds (and music) click here. For the full piece click here.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Route 9 north of the hamlet of Red Hook, as seen in a Wikepedia Hudson Valley portal site."][/caption]A land use battle in northern Dutchess County could prove a harbinger of coming fights for Columbia and Greene counties as local demographics, economics, and social trends continue changing in the Hudson Valley. A story in the Daily Freeman notes how critical townsfolk came out in force in Red Hook the evening of January 20 to suggest that proposed changes in zoning regulations could hurt village businesses, restrict what remains of local farming, encourage groundwater contamination and leave prime commercial properties out of appropriate zoning districts. The comments came from an audience of about 110 at a public hearing on the Centers and Greenspace plan that would add “Traditional Neighborhood” and “Agricultural Business” districts to the town's zoning law and revise development density requirements in existing zones. Bill Kemble reports that support for the changes came from Scenic Hudson planner Mark Wildonger, who said the zoning revisions would protect historic and agricultural areas. Land use issues, including everything from farm allowances to outdoor wood burning stoves and fire pits to the ways in which construction debris is gotten rid of, are increasingly volatile subjects of dissension between various sub-sects of the local community throughout our region in recent years.

“The Traditional Neighborhood Development district is very thorough in that the purpose and intent of the district is clearly stated, along with specific design standards, complete with illustrations, which should result in the type of development prescribed in the comprehensive plan,” he said.

Resident Linda Keeling, speaking for several people calling themselves Citizens Opposing Sewer Taxation, said extending commercial zones south of the village would reduce available farmland, and that a proposed sewer district would increase the potential for environmental damage. “The Intermunicipal Task Force ... failed to acknowledge or even consider the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation’s spill incident reports over the six years,” she said. “The have failed to heed the warnings of consultants and taxpayers who are sure the central sewer system will be an additional burden to taxpayers.”

[caption id="attachment_7827" align="alignright" width="144" caption="NY Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7833" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Schodack resident Ken Stokum."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7834" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Area resident Mary Driscoll."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7831" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Ravena Mayor John Bruno."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7829" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Elyse Kunz from CASE."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7832" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Ward Stone."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7830" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Susan Falzon of Friends of Hudson."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7828" align="alignright" width="144" caption="John Reagan, environmental manager of Lafarge."][/caption]
From WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren:

About 70 people attended the final legislative hearing for public comments hosted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on the Lafarge cement company's modernization proposal Thursday, Jan. 20 at the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School auditorium in Ravena. A higher percentage of the crowd seemed to be in support of Lafarge, including local resident Mary Driscoll, politicians such as new 108th District Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin, Ravena Village Mayor John Bruno, as well as a representative who spoke for Congressman Paul Tonko, and a spokeswoman from the Albany County Regional Chamber of Commerce. They primarily supported the plant because of the community's need for jobs. Several other citizens and environmental advocate groups included Elyse Kunz from Community Advocates for Safe Emissions, Susan Falzon of Friends of Hudson, and Haley Mauskapf of Scenic Hudson raised concerns over how clean the proposed modernizations will be, and whether they will be monitored.

Sebren took the photos included in the WGXC Newsroom and made an audio recording of the entire meeting, so you can hear for yourself what everyone said. Click here to listen to an mp3 recording, or copy and paste the url below into your computer's media player.
http://www.wgxc.org/media/uploaded_files/2011/01/Lafargelegislativehearing_RavenaHigh_WGXC_SamSebren_012011.mp3



Written comments about this case must be submitted by Feb 22:
Sarah H. Evans
Project Manager/Environmental Analyst
NYS DEC
Region 4 Headquarters
1130 North Westcott Road
Schenectady NY 12306
(518) 357-2069
(518) 357-2460 (fax)
r4dep@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Written comments must be received no later than 4:45 p.m. on February 22, 2011.[caption id="attachment_7834" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Area resident Mary Driscoll."][/caption]

So just how hard are the proposed Cuomo staff cuts of between 12,000 and 15,000 going to hit? We've already seen what happens when 40 or so jobs get downsized or shifted from full to part time hours over in the Catskills and DEC-run Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, and the community rallies in support of local employment. Now, Chris Churchill of the Times Union has a story out about how The Capital Region's job market took a step backward in December, with reductions in state government employment from last year already swamping meager job growth by private companies.

State government shed 3,300 Capital Region jobs over the course of last year, or 6.4 percent of its total local employment, according to new numbers from the state Department of Labor. The private sector added just 300 jobs during the year, a number that surprised and disappointed analysts who had hoped non-government employers would carry the economy through to better times. The local unemployment rate for December was 7.0 percent, just a tick up from the 6.9 percent for the same month a year earlier. Both rates set records as the highest for the month since 1990, when the labor department began tracking Capital Region data. But the unemployment rate would have been much worse if not for a sharp fall in the number of people in the labor force.

Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke at Marist College in Poughkeepsie yesterday about his proposed cuts to government employment, but refused details for now, saying they'd be in his first state budget when it's released in the coming weeks.


There are several possible causes for the shrinkage of the labor force, including an increased rate of retirement. But the trend probably doesn't say anything good about the economy.

"I think it means the market is so bad that people are giving up on looking for work," said James Parrot, chief economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute, an independent Albany group. "They're frustrated and discouraged."

Just a few months back, private Capital Region employers had begun to pick up their pace of hiring, providing a counter-balance to state job cuts.

Now, it's possible that the threat of additional state layoffs, as suggested by new Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is leading companies to shy from hiring.

Ross noted that the Capital Region was the only metropolitan area in the state to show declining consumer confidence -- which is the willingness to spend on big-ticket items -- in a recent poll conducted by the Siena Research Institute.

"It could be that the talk of government layoffs is pulling people back a little bit," Ross said.

Some reports suggest that Cuomo could seek to cut 10,000 to 15,000 state jobs -- a reduction that would have an oversized impact on the Capital Region.

Cuomo, speaking at Marist College near Poughkeepsie on Thursday, didn't address how many jobs his upcoming budget would seek to cut.

"I don't think it's going to be any surprise to anyone that the state's financial condition is dire," Cuomo said. "The chickens are coming home to roost."

The statewide unemployment rate in December was 8.0 percent, a significant improvement from the 8.8 percent rate of a year earlier.

Still, the labor department said New York lost 22,600 private-sector jobs in December.

"Job growth in New York has been inconsistent month to month during the economic recovery," said Norman Steele of the labor department's Division of Research and Statistics.

That's not unusual. Many states -- and the nation overall -- have been struggling with job growth, leading some to characterize this as a jobless recovery.

"As bad as things look here (in New York)," said Parrot, "we are not worse off in terms of unemployment and the labor markets compared to most states."

Likewise, unemployment in the Capital Region is better than in most upstate metropolitan areas.

The Buffalo-area unemployment was 8.2 percent in December, while it was 7.8 percent in Rochester and 8.3 percent in Syracuse.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="197" caption="Propane gas bought through Aux Sable distributors has been recalled for all sales made last spring and summer."][/caption]The Watershed Post, from up in the Catskills, has a piece up about a new propane gas recall. "If you bought propane -- or got it delivered -- between February 25 and September 30 of last year, be warned: Distributor Aux Sable announced a massive recall on January 20, after it was discovered that some of the gas they shipped (sold under a variety of brands) was missing the odorant that allows people to smell a leak. The fuel was sold to consumers under a variety of brands in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. If your most recent purchase of propane occurred between Feb. 25 and Sept. 30 of last year, you are urged to contact Aux Sable at (866) 473-7612 or visit the recall site to see if you're affected and eligible for a free inspection.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Tammy Lacitignola of Cairo is charged with felony and misdemeanor crimes in both Greene and Columbia counties for allegedly bilking her comatose friend of thousands of dollars."][/caption]What had at first seemed like a simple identity theft case out of the Greene County community of Cairo has deepened into a host of felonies involving one woman's bilking her friend in a coma leaped the river and jumped onto the Register-Star's front page today, where reporter Andrew Amelinckx is reporting that Tammy Lacitignola, 34, has now been additionally arrested by the Greenport Police Department Wednesday and charged with seven felonies for allegedly bilking a comatose woman of thousands of dollars Lacitignola is also facing 14 felonies and three misdemeanors in Greene County.

“She was an acquaintance of the victim,” said Greenport Police Chief Kevin Marchetto, who described how Lacitignola altered a power of attorney form, which she then brought to a credit union in Greenport.

She was writing checks, including one for $2,500 for “home improvements” and keeping the money, said the chief. The charges in Columbia County are related to $9,000 she allegedly withdrew in Greenport. According to Greene County Sheriff’s Inv. Adam Brainard, Lacitignola was asked to watch over her friend’s home while she was in the hospital. During that time — between September and December 2010 — Lacitignola had access to the woman’s check books and confidential information, said authorities. Besides taking money from the 63-year-old Catskill woman’s checking account, Lacitignola opened up cell phone accounts and credit cards in the woman’s name, said police. An employee at the credit union heard that the victim was in a coma and got suspicious, Marchetto said.

Greenport PD Sgt. Jerald Rowell investigated the alleged crimes in Greenport and was also able to assist the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office in those agencies’ case.

“Sgt. Rowell did a great job on the case,” said Marchetto, adding that the credit union did a good job as well. “It could have gone on for even longer than it did,” he commented.

Lacitignola was charged by Greenport Police with three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, class D felonies, and four counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, class E felonies.

She was picked up by the Greenport Police at the Greene County Jail and brought across the Hudson River to be arraigned Wednesday before Judge Francis Abitabile in Greenport Town Court. She was held on $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond. She will reappear in Greenport Town Court at a later date.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Office charged her earlier this week with seven counts of second-degree forgery, seven counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft, all class D felonies, and three counts of criminal impersonation, a misdemeanor.

The grand total she allegedly took exceeds $10,000, according to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

She was being held in Greene County on $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 bond.

The victim is now out of her coma, according to Marchetto.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Hudson trolley buses, seen here in a recent Register-Star photo, will be running into March according to the latest word from city Mayor Rick Scalera."][/caption]Hudson's City Trolley has gotten something of a reprieve of late, and will now keep running its old schedule through the coming month and possibly longer, according to one of its main drivers... as well as a story in the January 21 Register-Star. "The current last trolley day was to have been Friday the 21st. Now, its been pushed ahead to Feb 25 and it's possible that it may go beyond that," wrote driver Mike Pizza in an e-mail last night. "The County has purchased two news buses that were to have been here by end of 2010. Then it was to have been March. If by, say, Feb 14 they find out that they won't be here until later in March after all, the trolley could go further into March... My emotions have been on a roller coaster for weeks."

The Register-Star story reports that the state Department of Transportation is being blamed for the holdup of a newly planned, and announced, city-county consolidated bus service, which was scheduled to begin on Jan. 1 but has yet to materialize. But it also seems the buses themselves will not be deliverable by owner Coxsackie Transport until late February or March.
In late December 2010 Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera announced the trolley bus would continue to run for another two weeks into January until the new schedule could get approval from all involved parties, several of which were on vacation at the time. Since then, County Commissioner of Planning and Economic Development Ken Flood and Coxsackie Transport owner Wayne Parks, whose buses will replace the trolley, have approved the new bus schedule, which decreases the amount of loops the bus would make around the city and adds four crucial stops to the traditional Greenport Shopping Shuttle route. City residents will still be able to take the bus out to Greenport retailers on Fairview Avenue, but the schedule will now incorporate additional stops at Columbia Memorial Hospital, the Department of Social Services, the Crosswinds housing project and Hudson High School for five trips a day... once the thing actually gets up and running with state DOT approval.

Meanwhile, in addition to blaming the holdup on the state, Scalera is now saying the new schedule cannot be accommodated until the county actually receives new buses, which have been ordered and should arrive by late February or early March. The current county bus is already booked for daily trips to Albany, it turns out. Further complicating matters, the current trolley buses will not be permitted to leave the city for a year once decommissioned, even for Greenport, since the buses are contracted by the DOT and are not qualified to leave city limits during that contract period.

“We’re a little behind schedule, but it’s not because people aren’t trying,” said Scalera. “It’s hard to coordinate everything in such a short amount of time.”

The National Weather Service has posted a Winter Weather Advisory with 2-4" of snow forecast after midnight, with temperatures dropping to five degrees Friday night, and only rising into the teens Saturday.


Town meetings tonight
COLUMBIA LAND CONSERVANCY Six-course dinner to benefit Columbia Land Conservancy farm and agricultural programs with full menu at www.local111.com. Reservations at 672-7801 or info@local111.com at 6:30 p.m. at Local 111, 111 Main Street, Philmont.


Weather
SNOW Ending by morning then turning colder.


Astronomical bodies
TIDES Hudson: High, 3:46 p.m./Low, 10:47 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 7:20 a.m./4:55 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 7:33 p.m./8:09 a.m.


Birthdays
JANUARY 21 Wolfman Jack, Jeff Koons, and Cat Power.


Live on WGXC Friday
*6-8 A.M.: WGXC Morning Show Hosted by Casson Kennedy, and Mark Lacoy. A mix of news headlines, audio features, and conversation. This morning there will be updates about the storm, possible closings, and more.
6:30 A.M.: WGXC Farm Report
7 A.M.: WGXC Newsroom Headlines
7:15 A.M.: Paul Smart calls in with live news update.
7:30: Audio recordings from Thursday night's legislative hearing in Ravena about the Lafarge cement plant modernization. Seven sound clips from last night's speakers.
*2-3 P.M.: Que Cocinare Hoy? Mariel Fiore and Antonio Flores-Lobos host an hour en espanol.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="166" caption="Andrea Smallwood on WGXC in December. Photo by Tom Roe."][/caption]Athens Democrats nominated Mayor Andrea Smallwood for another term at a caucus Thursday night at the town's municipal building, according to an eyewitness account. Democrats also announced town Trustee Tom Sopris switched back to the Republicans and that the Dems are nominating political novice Anthony Patsky to replace him on the March ballot. Sopris has reportedly been a registered Republican before (he was said to be considering a previous switch to challenge Smallwood in 2009). Patsky is a member of the Rotary Club, teaches history at Coxsackie-Athens High, and runs Lincoln Auctions in Coxsackie.

The New York State Agricultural Society just awarded Hudson Valley Fresh, 2011 business of the year. The dairy collective includes Taghkanic's Triple Creek Farm, Ancramdale's Tollgate Farm, and Walt's Dairy and Langdonhurst Farm in Copake, and five others. In this YouTube clip from CNN, Hudson Valley Fresh founder Sam Simon from Plankenhorn Farm in Dutchess County explains why the struggling dairies needed to band together to survive.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="The Village of Catskill, as seen in an early 19th century print."][/caption]Here we are at the end of January, 2011, watching the repercussions of the 2010 elections take effect across the board and activity is starting for the upcoming local village contests in March. In Catskill, local Democrats will be meeting at the Greene County Courthouse, 320 Main St., at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 20, to discuss and possibly decide on candidates for two open positions in the Village of Catskill election set for March 15. Two positions are up for re-election, one Village Trustee and one Village Justice. Incumbent Joe Kozloski, a Democrat, has communicated his intent to stand for re-election, and party officials noted in a recent email that they are currently seeking candidates to face incumbent Village Justice Bill Wooten, a Republican. Expect more news of local village caucusing, and candidate declarations, in the coming weeks as well as a slew of Meet the Candidate events sponsored by WGXC with moderation by local chapters and officials of the League of Women Voters.

Think the job situation is bad out there? According to new reports in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, things could get much more competitive in the coming year as Gov. Andrew Cuomo mulls laying off more than 10,000 government workers, rivaling the number of pink slips handed out by his father a generation ago, according to individuals familiar with budget discussions.

While Mr. Cuomo has not settled on a figure, the governor in recent days has told lawmakers and other officials that he is looking at dismissing 10,000 to 12,000 workers, or more than 5% of the state's public work force, the individuals say. Not since the early 1990s, when Mario Cuomo was grappling with a recession, has a New York governor threatened layoffs of that magnitude. Talk of layoffs has escalated as Mr. Cuomo prepares to submit his budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Since taking office on Jan. 1, after a landslide victory in November, the former state attorney general has enjoyed robust public support and has courted cooperation across a spectrum of government players: labor leaders, upstate advocates, real-estate developers and Wall Street bankers.

The governor's first budget is expected in the coming two weeks, and is pegged for instant opposition by state employee unions, including teachers, who have already joined a nationwide campaign to stop the anti-public employee rhetoric, and actions, of the past year, pointing out that those with careers doing government jobs are not lazy, or trying to take advantage of taxpayers, and play as important a role in local economics as businesses, the self-employed, or investors.

"It's obviously going to be an extreme amount of pain and suffering for families across the state," said a Republican senator on Wednesday evening. "The dark days of the '70s have returned."

The number of full-time, salaried state employees is around 200,000, about 15 percent smaller than 20 years ago, according to the state. About 93 percent of the state work force is unionized.

The governor met privately with the Senate Republican majority conference on Tuesday, January 18, where he is reported to have told them they should brace for mass layoffs but did not give a specific figure. They were later briefed that the number could be around 12,000. Others familiar with budget talks said Mr. Cuomo was considering at least 10,000 layoffs. At the meeting with Republicans, Mr. Cuomo also warned that he would be calling for billions of dollars in cuts to public schools, eliminating spending growth and possibly reducing it below this year's level. And he's also drawing up a health-care budget that could knock $2.1 billion or hundreds of millions of dollars more out of the state's share of projected Medicaid spending in the next fiscal year. Since then, state officials said his budget proposal numbers were still moving.

[caption id="attachment_7796" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Production was underway Thursday, January 20 on an NYU student film shooting around Hudson, including this quick set up on the 200 block of Warren Street."][/caption]Hudson and Columbia County seem to be well-loved by filmmakers, according to a story in the Register-Star about a new student film from New York University senior Logan Lamson, who is shooting his short "Forming a Guise" with a crew of around 24 over the coming weeks. The film came to Hudson based on local residents' recommendations, as well as aid from the Hudson Valley Film Commission, based in Woodstock and tied to the film festival there. Shooting will take place this Sunday, January 23 at Hudson High School on Harry Howard Avenue. They were shooting between Front and First street, at the Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, and on Warren Street this Thursday, plus doing interior and exterior shots at the Spotty Dog on Warren Street’s 500 block. Extras for a crowd scene are needed. Call O’Brien at 813-508-1419 or e-mail formingaguide @gmail.com for more information.

The Town of Ashland in Greene County's western Mountaintop area, which lost its town hall and firehouse to fire a little over a year ago, discussed stopping its current construction of a replacement facility at a town board meeting on January 14. According to a story in the Daily Mail from reporter Michael Ryan, frigid temperatures and the associated expense of keeping poured concrete warm as it dries had caused town board members to have second thoughts about proceeding further this winter.

Engineers have estimated that as much as $10,000 will be spent on propane heaters and coverings to slowly cure the various footings and foundation walls for the structure, which replaces a facility lost to fire a year ago. There is also a need to install temporary corner shoring, due to the freezing weather. Interior flooring won't be set until after the building is put up, giving rise to concerns about heavy snow and high wind loading. Local officials felt helpless, watching what they believed were thousands of extra dollars piling up, summoning representatives from Delaware Engineering and Gallo Construction to the table, last Friday afternoon.

Although Ryan reported that town elders didn't prefer a slow down, because of the delay of several months that would result, they are worried about money. Like all government, business, and most local residents these days. For the full story read The Daily Mail.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Mescal Hornbeck, a longtime Woodstock-based activist and 50-year nurse, passed away January 18 at the age of 99. Photo from Daily Freeman."][/caption]Mescal Hornbeck, who passed away at the age of 99 in her hometown of Woodstock on Tuesday, January 18, may have had her biggest impact in Ulster County, but her activities on behalf of local Meals on Wheels programming and the establishment of strong Offices of the Aging were regional in scope... and ultimate effect. Moreover, Hornbeck's weekly letters to local papers were read far and wide... to the point where people started worrying when they stopped appearing in recent weeks.

The Kingston Freeman has a story about the feisty Hornbeck's passing in its January 20 issue. A memorial will be printed in the Woodstock Times later today.

Even at her advanced age, Hornbeck remained “sharp as a tack” and “politically astute,” said town Supervisor Jeff Moran. And she always was a “doer and a shaper,” said Amy Godes, who organized a “Mescal Appreciation Concert” in 2001.

Godes said Hornbeck spearheaded the community’s Senior Recreation Committee and that the group’s activities grew to include classes, art, drama and exercise. “She really breathed life into it,” Godes said.

When it came to senior citizens’ activities in town, “she was basically the head of the whole shebang,” said Toni Weidenbacher, one of the organizers for Woodstock’s annual All Day Christmas Parties.

Hornbeck, who was a nurse for nearly half a century, also is remembered as a political advocate for issues she believed were important — particularly universal health care and campaign finance reform. For a full appreciation of this "cantankerous" original, click here...

In its first two months of operation, a prescription drug discount program has saved Greene County residents more than $18,000, according to the county in a local sidelight story commenting on the current healthcare hullabaloo down in the U.S. Congress. The Daily Freeman's Ariel Zangla-Girard reports January 20 that the Greene County Prescription Drug Discount Card, offered to county residents through a partnership with ProAct Inc., has saved locals $18,243.61 since it was introduced last November, according to information provided by the county. The county said 384 cards were used in November and December for an average savings of $27.81. “Obviously, there’s tremendous benefits to those without insurance and those who need medicine not covered by their insurance,” county Legislature Chairman Wayne Speenburgh, R-Cosxackie, said while adding that he would like to see more county residents take advantage of the free discount card. ProAct, at its own expense, mailed more than 24,000 prescription drug discount cards to county residents beginning the week of Nov. 8. While the program was advertised as being of most benefit to people lacking prescription drug insurance and seniors paying out of pocket for the Medicare Part D coverage gap, all county residents are eligible to participate, regardless of age or income. The discount card also can be used for pet medications.

Speenburgh said that when ProAct originally approached Greene officials about offering the discount card, the county took a “wait and see” approach because a lot of other counties were offering the program. But after a time, the county contacted ProAct to offer the program in Greene, Speenburgh said. He noted the card carries no cost for the individuals who use it and no cost for county taxpayers.

Neighboring Ulster County also offers the ProAct program to its residents. Between July and October 2010, Ulster County residents used the discount card 3,833 times for a total savings of $125,971.62. In Dutchess County, a partnership with the National Association of Counties had served nearly 8,600 residents as of November, with a total savings of $354,676.

If individuals need the card, they should call ProAct at (877) 776-2285, Speenburgh said.

Wetter, cooler summers can have a detrimental effect on the milk we drink, according to new research published by Newcastle University in England, Science Daily reports. Researchers found milk collected during a wet, cold UK summer and winter, had significantly higher saturated fat content and less beneficial fatty acids than in a more 'normal' year. But the scientists discovered organic supermarket milk showed higher levels of nutritionally beneficial fatty acids compared with 'ordinary' milk regardless of the time of year or weather conditions. "The study, which is published in this month's Journal of Dairy Science (January 2011), leads on from previous research undertaken nearly three years ago which looked at the difference between organic and conventional milk at its source -- on the farms," says Science Daily.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been accused by pro-fracking advocates, and the New York Post, of having conflicts of interest within his anti-gas drilling stance of late."][/caption]The battle over gas drilling, or fracking, heated up in advance of its move to the halls of our nation's capital this week, with the New York Post running a piece earlier this week claiming that New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who they describe as "leading the fight to block a type of natural-gas drilling in New York" - has a conflict of interest regarding his stance due to the fact that his private law firm is trying to drum up multimillion-dollar lawsuits against the practice in other states.

The speaker's massive Manhattan-based personal-injury law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, plans a pair of public forums this week in Pennsylvania and West Virginia to "listen to the concerns of the community, share information and discuss legal options" about the gas-exploration phenomenon known as "hydrofracking" or "fracking." Silver (D-Manhattan) -- citing risks of water contamination by chemical byproducts from the process -- has emerged as a leading foe to expanded natural-gas drilling, which proponents argue could improve New York's energy independence and revive upstate's long-stagnant economy.

The process, formally called "horizontal hydrofracturing," for the first time allows engineers to unlock stores of gas trapped in the vast underground Marcellus shale deposit that stretches from central New York to Virginia. Last month, former Gov. David Paterson extended an environmental review period after vetoing a six-month ban shepherded through the Assembly by Silver.



Silver was relatively late to the drilling issue, following the state Senate, and its current Senate majority, in promoting or passing moratorium legislation against the practice while its effects are studied in New York.

Drilling advocates, government watchdog groups and even some Democrats say Weitz & Luxenberg's anti-drilling push, which follows a similar forum last month in Pennsylvania, raises questions about the powerful speaker's independence on the high-stakes issue.

Things are going to get messy as this issue heats up beyond its regional battleground in the coming year...