[caption id="attachment_6302" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Photo from CLC taken Nov. 30, 2010 at land being protected by William and Deborah Cohan in Ancram."][/caption]Four Columbia County property owners permanently protected 185 acres of their properties on Dec. 29, according to Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC). The non-profit group holds the conservation easements on the properties and now protects more than 21,000 acres of land in the county. Joe and Diane Haley donated the development rights on 110 acres in Ghent and Claverack in addition to the 98 acres they have already protected. In Ancram, William and Deborah Cohan protected their 75-acre property. "Growing up on Long Island in the 1950's, my wife and I saw first hand the result of unplanned development and its impact on farming and the natural world," says Joe Haley, in a CLC press release. "To preserve this land for future generations gives us a great sense of gratitude." Both properties are working farms, and part of the Haley property is leased to Hawthorne Valley Farm. The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) determined that the Cohan property has eleven acres of "prime soils" and fifteen acres of "soils of statewide importance" which grow hay and corn.[caption id="attachment_6303" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo from CLC taken Dec. 9, 2010 of Joe and Diane Haley\'s protected land."][/caption] “My wife and I decided to put our land into a conservation easement because we wanted to preserve its astonishing natural beauty forever. Its essential purpose is farmland and provides a means to enjoy the simpler things in life,” explains William Cohan.
Both properties include protected wetlands: the Haley land includes portions of a 33-acre New York State Department of Environmental Conservation designated Class 2 wetland, and the Cohan property has two acres of a larger 75-acre Class 2 wetland. Both conservation easements will protect waterways. The North Creek, deemed a Class C(TS) trout spawning stream by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation runs through the Haley property for approximately 1,500 feet. A tributary to the Roeliff-Jansen Kill runs through the Cohan property for approximately 2,700 feet. The Cohan property is part of a larger 3,000-acre “Neighborhood Conservation Block” that includes seventeen other properties permanently protected with conservation easements. The area is highly prominent from Route 82 with visible meadows, open hillsides, hedgerows, and bodies of water. The 110 acres of Haley property is directly attached to 98 acres owned and previously protected by the Haleys and this expanded easement property is located across the street from another 47 acres which the Haleys also protected and sold subject to a conservation easement. The property owners donated the development rights of their property to CLC and this ensures that the property is permanently conserved. The property owners retain title to their property, pay property taxes, and can sell or pass the property on to heirs. They can still farm on the land, and are not required to allow public access. CLC now holds 150 easements that protect 21,135 acres.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="185" caption="An Ignition Interlock Device"][/caption]How successful is Leandra's Law, the new statewide measure that went into effect this past August as a means of protecting kids under the age of 16 from being driven by anyone under the influence? The original idea was simple: Impose harsh penalties on first-time offenders who drive drunk with children in their vehicle, with up to four years in prison and a mandatory court order to have an ignition interlock system installed on any vehicle owned or operated by the driver for at least six months, requiring that driver to blow into an alcohol sensor before the engine can be turned on. But according to a story in the Daily Mail by Colin DeVries, it turns out that the devices aren’t being installed. And out of six such cases in Greene County, none have resulted in the proper use of the interlocks, which were also meant to buffer county coffers. “What we’ve found — and what seems to be the trend across the state — is people are disposing of their cars,” said Greene County Probation Department Director Alan Frisbee in DeVries' story. The revenue forecast changed, it goes on, after manufacturers were ordered to cover the fees for offenders who couldn’t afford it. Then potential revenues took another hit when offenders were simply claiming no ownership of vehicles. Offenders would transfer ownership of their cars before conviction to prevent installation of the interlock devices. They were circumventing the fee structure and the alcohol sensor. For the full story see The Daily Mail.

The Holcim cement company, formerly St. Lawrence Cement, has filed a grievance challenging the assessment it has received on its waterfront property in Hudson, and according to the Register Star, City Attorney John Connor has sent a letter of objection to Holcim’s attorney claiming the company’s income and expense statement regarding the parcel is inaccurate and “patently false.”

Connor said Holcim is grieving the $4.5 million assessment it received on its deep water port dock for 2010/2011, which the company is claiming is actually worth $1.5 million. Pursuant to a court order issued by Justice Patrick J. McGrath, Holcim provided the city with an income and expense statement on Nov. 30 as part of the grievance process.

The income and expense statement, sent to Connor by Holcim attorney Bruce J. Stavitsky of Clifton, New Jersey, indicates that no income is being generated from the parcel — “Which I think is bogus,” said Connor, since the city is aware that the property is being leased to O & G Industries for the shipping of aggregate material, not to mention Cargill Inc., which unloads and stores salt at the location.

As St. Lawrence Cement, the company proposed a 2.2 million ton, $300 million coal-fired cement plant near the banks of the Hudson River in Hudson and Greenport in the late 1990s, a fight they later gave up in 2005 after much local, regional and eventually statewide opposition. The company was "acquired" by Holcim in early 2008 and aside from some major layoffs at its Catskill plant for the current holidays, and its being listed as one of the state's top polluters by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in recent weeks, has managed to stay out of the local news in recent years. For the full story, read the Register-Star.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="198" caption="Sen. Stephen Saland"][/caption]The Register-Star has a story today on moves by Hudson Democratic Chairman Victor Mendolia to file a complaint against Columbia County Fire Commissioner James Van Deusen. with the Columbia County Board of Ethics, if he can find a county employee or elected official to do it. The idea, as outlined in the story from John Mason, seems to be to augment a similar complaint against New York State Sen. Stephen Saland, R,C,I-Poughkeepsie, on charges that the legislator "used his position to pressure local fire companies into publicizing their support for him in his recent run for re-election," which was filed with the state Legislative Ethics Commission by Mendolia and Hillside Firefighter Lloyd Hamilton.

Mendolia and Hamilton had learned of Saland’s request that fire companies in Dutchess and Columbia counties place expressions of thanks to him on the signs outside their fire stations prior to Election Day. Hamilton learned of it when he saw his fire company’s sign bore the words, “Firefighters for Saland.” Mendolia learned of it when he was given a letter from Van Deusen to various Columbia County fire chiefs.

Van Deusen is also a Republican councilman for the Town of Claverack. Mendolia also volunteers as a recorder of meetings for WGXC, for whom he will also be hosting a regular weekly program. For the full story, which hits pretty heavily on the sometimes not-so-subtle conflicts of interest in our local politics throughout the region, click here.

Renowned poet and prisons activist/teacher Janine Pommy Vega died quietly in her sleep the evening of Thursday, December 23 at her home in Willow, just outside of Woodstock. Born February 5, 1942, Vega grew up in Union City, New Jersey and headed for Manhattan to become part of the "Beat Generation" at the age of fifteen, inspired by Jack Kerouac's On the Road and the poems of Allen Ginsberg. In 1962, Vega moved to Europe with her husband, painter Fernando Vega, returned to New York, and then moved to California, after his sudden death in 1965. Her first book, Poems to Fernando, was published by City Lights in 1968 as part of their City Lights Pocket Poets Series. During the early-1970s, Vega lived as a hermit on the Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian-Peruvuian border. In total she wass the author of eighteen books and chapbooks since 1968, and was heavily anthologized. Her first CD, Across the Table, recorded in Woodstock, and from live performances in Italy and Bosnia, came out in November, 2007. She was the Director of Incisions/Arts, an organization of writers working with people behind bars, and had taught inside prisons for more than twenty-five years, most recently teaching a course in poetics for the Bard Prison Initiative.

And she came as a woman
You remember?
Once as a mother, plucking out
the heartstrings, tender
merciless she came
...wearing jewels
the Dog Star and the Hunter for a belt
Large-eyed and generous she
swooped with beak and talon
mercy dripping from the branches,
You remember?

So she wrote in her poem, "The Bard Owl."

Vega spent the last 11 years with poet Andy Clausen, tending her end-of-the-road garden when she wasn’t traveling the world performing.

At a 2000 talk as part of The Moth storytelling series at Joe's Pub in New York, she spoke about her favored physical activity of long walks, and coming across the Andes... the sort of self-challenging she spent a lifetime thriving on, and basing her cathartic art in.


She is best eulogized through her own poetry...

To You On The Other Side of This

You cannot take away this morning
of lilacs, the soft air in the willow tree
and his life again in the little backyard
with his red wooden truck, playing
until it was time for our snack and his packet
of M&Ms until lunch.
You can't take away the eager teenager
bounding down the steps and out to his friends
or his messy room with the socks strewn everywhere
and the drum set awaiting his return
his love of music and magic, the card tricks and rubber
wolf mask, his practice pad alive with
riffs and paradiddles,
the wide excited smile of him sharing the bill with
Tito Puente at the Union City dive.

Your stupid fear, shooting at an interloper in your
ill-timed gas station stick-up, with your gun exposed
as though you'd been caught ex coitus in a phone booth
with your pants down and your eyes still glazed.
The horrible purple flower at his neck, where the blood
flowed: killed on contact.
And you're lucky you did not meet me then
the wild grief in me would've torn you, tall as you are
and strong, limb from limb
I would've knocked you to the ground and choked the life
from you, taken it from you like you did from him.
You're lucky you did not find me then, trembling
with hate and retribution.

Months passed. You have taken away
his forward momentum, but not himself
his spirit still alive in the midst of my grieving.
You crossed over into the mystery of someone else's life
stopped by your hands
And no one will join you in the ring as you wrestle
with that.

They asked if I want the death penalty.
Will it bring my son back?
Let nothing cushion the truth, I say
of having flung up into the face of the sky
his precious life, as though it were an afterthought
Let nothing stop the growth of consciousness
in you, I say, until you reach the place of owning
what you did, and feel the relentless weight of it
on your soul, like an iron anvil.
killing you will stop all that. It will make others
responsible for your justice, when it comes from
within, more terrible and intimate than a faceless
judge and cold contrivance of execution.
May you live, I say, as long as it takes for you to own
what you did, may the coldness turn to grief,
and the grief call out for judgment,
May the judge in you be just, and the fearful mystery
of your penance unfold within.

The Thruway Authority again this year will offer free coffee or hot tea at all of its 27 travel plazas from 11 p.m., Friday, December 31 through 7 a.m., Saturday, January 1, according to a piece posted from a TA press release at Mid Hudson News Network today. "Drowsy driving is a major contributor to highway accidents," said Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael Fleischer. "This New Year's Eve tradition, in partnership with Thruway's vendors, is intended to remind motorists to take breaks to prevent drowsy driving on the Thruway and other roadways." Safety officials recommend taking a break from driving every 100 miles or every two hours," added New York State Police Troop T Commander Major Robert Meyers. "It's a good time to enjoy the hospitality of the Thruway vendors." Travelers are advised to never stop along the shoulder of the road, unless it is a true emergency.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="State employee unions rallied against earlier cuts in the state work force last spring, as seen in this Long Island Press image. "][/caption]The two largest public workers unions are mounting a series of coordinated vigils across the state as a last-ditch effort to plead for the 800-odd workers targeted for layoff as of January 1, including large swaths of the state's Departments of Environmental Conservation, Parks, Motor Vehicles, and Transportation.The largest gathering, Capitol Confidential reports today, will be will be held in West Capitol Park in Albany starting at 4:30 PM where "Leaders and members of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) will gather to call out Gov. David Paterson on the layoffs. Union representatives will light hundreds of candles to symbolize the services being 'snuffed out' should the layoff of 902 state employees go forward December 31, as planned. PEF President Kenneth Brynien and CSEA President Danny Donohue will attend the largest gathering at the state Capitol in Albany. Candlelight vigils also will take place in Hornell, Elmira, Endicott, Utica and Poughkeepsie." All that, according to a joint press release from the unions. A similar rally that was to have been held at the entrance road to state-owned Belleayre Ski Center in Ulster County was postponed from Monday due to the blizzard and has been rescheduled for Friday, Dec. 31, at noon.

The massive job cuts and service reductions -- which local toll booth workers on the Rip Van Winkle have indicated will effect their ranks, as well -- may be a sign of things to come, according to a recent piece in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, which notes how incoming Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to limit state spending in the face of a $9 billion budget gap next year and expected deficits of more than $40 billion over the next three years. Cuomo has not ruled out additional layoffs even though the ones being imposed by outgoing Gov. David Paterson are the largest since the early 1990s.

As the state plans to lay off as many as 900 workers at year's end, some of the effects are already becoming obvious. Outgoing Gov. David Paterson has warned that the layoffs may mean longer lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles and other reductions in state services. But state officials have yet to fully detail how the layoffs will affect services or specifically detail how many layoffs are occurring at each agency. Moreover, state officials have indicated that the total number of layoffs may be less than 900 because some laid-off workers may find jobs within other departments. Pink slips went out earlier this month.

"Until agencies have a chance to regroup after the work force reduction takes effect at the end of the year and try to redesign and reconfigure the delivery of programs and services, it's hard to say at this point what additional impact there will be," said Eric Kriss, spokesman for Paterson's budget office.

Still, some state agencies are quietly looking to either sell or close facilities because the layoffs will mean there won't be people to man them. And local governments and residents are considering stepping in to keep some places open, such as the Stony Kill education center in Dutchess County.

Two days after the first big snow event of the current winter and most everyone's dug out. Barely. In Catskill, a friend calls in tears, however, when she discovers her car has been towed. With the declaration of a snow emergency, all parked cars had to be moved from one side of the street to another. But she hasn't gotten in the habit of keeping up with the local news yet. In Hudson, it seems no one planned for what to do on Tuesday, when reports started coming in that there was no parking, or proper snow removal, anywhere yet. Just published reports of the mayor saying everything would be okay by today, Wednesday and the Public Works Superintendent saying snow removal would start Tuesday evening, and that signs would be erected all over the city, instructing car owners when and where to move their vehicles. With ten plows working, including removal of the big snow dumps around town so they could keep up with the removal task at hand.

Today's Daily Mail had a note about how the Village of Catskill was prohibiting all parking on Main Street late Wednesday night as crews attempt to remove the large amount of snow that has built up along the curb there, and a reminder about how Main Street property owners are required to remove snow from their sidewalks within 24 hours after a snowstorm. In the town of Cairo, residents have been asked by the Town Police to park off main roads and side streets to allow for highway plows to clear the streets. Countywide, on both sides of the river, everyone's being asked to pay attention to snow removal signs on the sides of some roads... But little else, in terms of snow removal news, has been made public as people dig their own homes out and businesses clear their lots as best they can.

And that law which our friend didn't abide by, costing her $100 plus to get her car back? All vehicles are required to be parked on the even side of the street from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. and moved to the odd side from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. during a snow emergency in both Catskill and Athens. Just as in Greenport, all cars are to be parked off of roads and streets.

Which means, in the end, that the aftermath of our first snow emergency of the season is still with us at least until the warmer weather and rains start to melt this pile over the coming New Year's weekend.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="New York State Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin at a campaign event in Spiegletown. Photo from his Facebook page."][/caption]Emilia Teasdale of The Columbia Paper spoke with incoming New York State Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin (Republican), who beat Tim Gordon (an Independent who caucused with Democrats) to represent the 108th district, includes the towns of Kinderhook, Chatham, New Lebanon, and Stuyvesant, and north Greene County towns such as New Baltimore as well as portions of Rensselaer, and Albany counties. McLaughlin, a Rensselaer County resident, told Teasdale that he is moving his district office to Castleton on Routes 9 and 20, where Gordon had his office. He also says work on a property tax cap, Medicaid fraud, term limits for legislators are on his horizons. "McLaughlin supports Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo's proposed property tax cap proposal but says he is already getting calls from Columbia County schools superintendents about what it will mean for school funding," Teasdale writes. McLaughlin says, “You can't pass a tax cap without mandate relief.” He also came out quickly already against the proposed (now adopted) stricter regulations from the Department of Environmental Conservation about outdoor wood boilers. Read the entire interview in The Columbia Paper.

Town meetings tonight
TOWN OF CLAVERACK Public hearing at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall, 836 Rte, #217, Mellenville, New York, regarding the fire protection contract between the Town of Claverack and Churchtown Fire Company No. 1, in the amount of $94,850.00 each calendar year for five (5) years. Year-end town meeting, immediately following the above public hearing.
TOWN OF CLERMONT Clermont Town Board will hold their year end meeting to pay the bills at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall, 1795 Route 9, Clermont. (518) 537-6868.

Weather
WARMER Relatively.


Astronomical bodies
HIGH TIDE Hudson: 8:30 a.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET Catskill: 7:24 a.m./4:31 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET Catskill: 1:28 a.m./12:03 p.m.


Birthdays
DECEMBER 29: Billy Tipton, Mary Tyler Moore, and Marianne Faithfull.

ccscoop includes a report up on what's happening with The Ridge at Columbia Springs near Stottville, which it describes as "the largest housing development project in Columbia County in several years" in a report on its recent appearance before the Stockport Planning Board.

Specifically, Engineer Brandee Nelson detailed for the Planning Board plans for phase one of the development, a 36-town house development that would be located off State Route 9 south of the Stockport monument and north of the hamlet of Stottville. Phase two of the project would see the construction of 76 single family residences on smaller than half-acre lots, mostly along an extension of Sunset Avenue that will connect Chester Avenue to Route 9 near the new water tower on the southern end of the 122-acre development. As shown to planners Tuesday, December 21, the townhouses – which will be known as The Ridge at Columbia Springs - would be constructed in six separate buildings that would be built essentially in two rows. The rows would head east along a driveway constructed off of Route 9.

For the full story click here.

Talk about a classic Upstate Catch 22, one of those situations where you can't seem to win no matter what direction you turn. The Daily Mail reports today that owners of Diedrich’s Mobile Home Park in Coxsackie have learned that their water wells are contaminated, and they are requesting to be hooked up to the village’s water supply. The village’s water treatment plant, however, is currently under an order of consent from the Department of Environmental Conservation, which means it is prohibited from having new users hooked up to the system. The silver lining, however, is that because the Diedrich’s issue is considered an emergency and a public health concern, an exception could be made enabling the mobile home park to connect to the system. The move hasreceived the thumb’s up from the Town of Coxsackie and the state Department of Health has also approved the move, “contingent on the submission of engineering plans”. “We received a letter from the town stating they are in favor of us linking those 21 units to the water system,” Mayor Mark Evans said, who added that management at Diedrich’s will be solely responsible for covering all the costs of the hook-up and for bringing its residents into the system. The mobile home park, located on Rte. 9W in the Town of Coxsackie, is already on the village’s sewer system, but until now has utilized its own water supply. But with that water deemed contaminated, they may have to join the village’s system. “Their water samples have had high levels of bacterial coliform,” Village Trustee Greg Backus said. “That’s a fecal type of contamination.”

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Retiring Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) has completed a final report on excesses in the state's authorities legislation."][/caption]The Assembly Corporations Committee Monday released its final report of 2010 on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions that recommends consolidating hundreds of unnecessary or duplicative authorities, including county Industrial Development authorities, according to a piece in this morning's Mid Hudson News Network blog. The committee, headed by outgoing Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester County, said authorities should stop giving away public funds with the public getting nothing in return. “You’ve got to find ways to make sure that when the public gives money to a private company, a corporation, that the public gets benefits back,” he said. “There’s no reason, for example, when ESDC puts literally billions into a project or a large corporation, that it shouldn’t get an equity interest in that project just like a private bank would get.” Brodsky pointed to the nearly $4 billion given to the new Yankee Stadium project to what he said is one of the wealthiest corporations in the world with almost no job creation. "The success of the authority reform effort is by no means assured," he added. "Vested interests, both within and without the network of public authorities are already seeking to weaken the new legal reforms, and to minimize enforcement of the law. It would be unfortunate and unnecessary if this were to occur." For the full Brodsky report on public authorities in New York State, click HERE.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Rip Van Winkle Bridge"][/caption]Traffic and revenue on the five bridges operated by the New York State Bridge Authority showed increases in the latter part of 2010 that could signal better economic times in the future, according to Joseph Ruggiero, executive director of the authority, who added that the figure could be a harbinger of an economic recovery already under way. “A few years ago, I have been told, our staff actually showed a decline in traffic almost indicating that the recession was to come and, then, it did,” he said in a Mid Hudson News Service report that ran in the Kingston Freeman today. “Hopefully, this (increase in traffic) is an indication that maybe we will be coming out of it.” The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, which is part of the I-84 system, typically carries the most traffic of the five bridges. The others operated by the Bridge Authority are the Rip Van Winkle, Kingston-Rhinecliff, Mid-Hudson at Poughkeepsie-Highland, and Bear Mountain Bridge. The New York State Thruway Authority operates two bridges, the Tappan Zee Bridge to the south and the Berkshire Extension bridge to the north, known as the Castleton Bridge, separate from the NYSBA.

Eight Hudson bars and restaurants are being charged with allegedly serving alcohol to a minor following a Hudson Police and State Liquor Authority detail throughout the city last Thursday, Dec. 23. The Register Star reports this morning that out of nine bars/restaurants checked, only one passing muster, authorities said. And according to HPD Lt. Richard Paolino, there were so many violations they weren’t able to hit all the establishments they originally planned to visit. Among the establishments that allegedly sold beer to the minor were: Wunderbar & Bistro, the Warren Inn, Mexican Radio, Baba Louie’s, Ca’mea, Swoon Kitchen Bar, Red Dot Bar & Restaurant and the Spotty Dog Books & Ale. The only establishment checked that didn’t sell alcohol to the minor was American Glory, according to police. “They need to ID customers,” Paolino said of bars and package stores, adding that it wasn’t just important for the bartenders, clerks and businesses, but that it helped “prevent underage drinking fatalities. We’re trying to keep people safe.”

The detail was through funding made available by Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene Counties to help curb underage drinking through a $20,000 grant the not-for-profit organization that was awarded by the New York state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services/Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The first detail, on Dec. 10, focused on package stores. Police went to 13 stores in the city and netted two alleged violators who sold alcohol to a minor, according to HPD.

Last Thursday’s detail sent a 19-year-old working with police into bars and restaurants around Hudson. Eight people ended up being charged with first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child, a class A misdemeanor, and prohibited sale of alcohol, for allegedly selling the minor beer.

Those charged were Christina Bohnsack, 25, of Germantown; Rebecca M. Rogers, 32, of Livingston; Elizabeth T. Carney, 75, of Albany and Hudson residents Stephanie D. Ruff, 50; Laura T. Rogers, 46; Cassandra Cummings, 41; David Drake, 59; and Abby M. Puca, 26. All eight people will be facing charges in Hudson City Court.

Paolino said is especially important to ID customers during this time of year, he said, since college students were on holiday.

“The point is: check IDs,” he said.

The possibility of more of these kinds of details are possible. According to Mary Minahan, senior prevention educator for Catholic Charities, that agency may be getting the grant again next year.

Snow, snow, and more snow... that was the gist of the headline patter in today's newspapers, charting declared states of emergency in all our local counties and the City of Hudson. The Register Star reports on how Columbia County was pelted with between 17 inches and 2 feet of snow from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning, with 35-to-40 mph winds making it seem like more. Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Roy Brown declared a state of emergency from 4 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. Monday. Non-essential vehicles were requested to stay off the roadways, and non-essential county offices were closed for the day. In Greene County, the Daily Mail reported nearly a foot and a half of snow falling in some places, though most high accumulations being around 12 inches in depth. The county was under a winter weather advisory until 7 a.m. today, according to the National Weather Service in Albany, and parking was restricted on all roads and streets throughout the county. The advisory cautions strong winds of 15 to 25 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 miles per hour could cause blowing and drifting snow, making driving conditions hazardous. Parts of Dutchess County had it worst, although throughout the region only a few thousand homes suffered electrical blackouts of any length. Some of the highest snowfalls in the region were recorded with West Hillsdale in the lead at 2 feet, followed by Ghent, 22 inches; Kinderhook, 21 inches; North Chatham, 20.3 inches; Claverack, 20 inches; Taghkanic, 19 inches, Livingston, 17 inches, 17 inches in Maplecrest, 15 inches in East Jewett and 13.5 inches in Ashland and Athens. Eleven inches in Greenville and Freehold, and seven inches in Durham. Pine Plains, in Dutchess County, registered 25 inches of snow. In Hudson, Mayor Rick Scalera declared a snow emergency Monday morning in response to the blizzard that struck the city Sunday and Monday. As of 8 p.m. Monday, all vehicles were required to be parked on the even side of the street on streets that have odd/even alternate side of the street regulations. As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, all vehicles were to bebe moved to the odd side of the street. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, the snow emergency will be terminated, unless conditions call for an extension, Scalera said.

The National Weather Service was predicting a “nice stretch of three or four days,” starting today, with temperatures getting up around 32 degrees, winds dropping to 10 to 20 miles per hour from Monday’s 35 to 40, and sunshine replacing precipitation until the weekend.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect until 7 a.m. for Greene and Columbia counties.

Town meetings tonight
TOWN OF CANAAN Zoning Board of Appeals meeting last Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. upstairs at the Town Hall, 1647 County Route 5, just off NY Route 295.
TOWN OF GREENPORT Planning Board meeting. Several public hearings followed by regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Greenport Town Hall, 600 Town Hall Drive, Hudson.
CANCELED Town of Stuyvesant Zoning Board of Appeals December 28 meeting has been canceled.

Weather
COLD Clear.


Birthdays
DECEMBER 28: Guy Debord, Alex Chilton, and Chris Ware.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Taconic Hills Central Schools"][/caption]A top story in both the Register Star and Daily Mail today charts the ways in which Columbia County's Taconic Hills High School is offering its students a number of new electives for the 2011-2012 school year in spite of the economy that's seeing a growing number of school districts cutting back on all they offer. The fields in which new electives will be offered are science, technology, agricultural science, social studies and English. School budgets have been slammed by rising insurance and benefits packages, as well as mandated spending, while teachers have been a brunt of anti-tax rhetoric. A key item up for discussion this year is the possible implementation of a statewide two cercent property tax cap, which would put most local education funding below mandated levels.

The rest of the story runs like this:

“We’re trying to keep our students engaged, keep them from dropping out and enrich their career opportunities,” Principal Kathy Cioppa told the Board of Education Wednesday. “We want to attack the high school graduation rate and allow students to succeed in their chosen fields.”

“Science Research in the High School” would allow highly motivated students to do original science research with the option to earn college credit and be matched with a professional mentor, Director of Instruction & Staff Development Sandra Gardner said. “Advanced Placement Chemistry” would fill in the gap created with the loss of a teacher last year.

In the field of Technology, two new courses will be offered, “Communications Systems” and “Energy and Power Technology.”

Gardner said one out of three Taconic Hills students will have an agriculture-related job. Given the strong community interest in an ag program, courses will be offered in “Agricultural Issues,” “Animal Science,” “Environmental Science,” and “Plant Science,” which would include greenhouse management.

In the field of Social Studies, “The Role of the Family in Society” would look at how the family has changed throughout history; and in the field of English, students will now be able to opt for “Introduction to Drama and Theater I” and “Introduction to Drama and Theater II.”

Board President Ron Morales asked, “How do we find out if the students want these?”

Gardner suggested that electives answer that question by their nature.

“We put it on the table for students, they make their choice,” she said. “We find out what is most popular.”

“You’ll have the course catalogs in January,” Gardner said. “By the break, all students will be scheduled. Finalization will be the last week of January and first two weeks of February.”

It’s important for students to start thinking about NCAA accreditation early, she said, because scholarships carry course requirements.

Morales asked whether the courses would require additional staff, and Gardner said, “We’re looking for guidance from the superintendent and you. We’ll run the numbers.”

Board Vice-President George Lagonia asked whether the courses would be grantable.

“Yes, but to rely on grants is tricky,” Gardner said. “It’s hard to find that niche.”

Grants would likely pay for supplies and materials, she said, but probably not for the teaching.

Some of the positions could be filled from within, she said. Agricultural courses do not fall into that category, however, Gardner said, since she’s the only one in the district certified in that area. But in drama, there’s a teacher “chomping at the bit” to teach courses, she said.

A drama course, she said, couldn’t replace a regular English course, but could replace another elective.

Asked by district resident Robert Piper how the courses were chosen without a survey of student interest, Gardner said the guidance counselors and committees of teachers picked them. For several years, she said, they have known there’s been a high interest in drama.

GED courses were not included, Gardner said, since they are already offered through BOCES.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, says he'll sleep in his office once in Washington, as if his new job were a military deployment."][/caption]U.S. Rep.-elect Chris Gibson plans to make his congressional office his home when in Washington D.C., eschewing paying rent on an apartment or house... and going along with his aides' description of his upcoming first term in office as being like the deployments he's faced as part of a 24-year military career. A Journal Register News Service story in today's Daily Freeman describes the continuing military jargon Gibson is using as he takes office next week after having defeated one-term Kirstin Gilllibrand fill-in Chris Murphy, who he bested by touting his military background and riding the national wave of anti-government rhetoric of the past year with a large amount of financial support from forces outside the state.

“He’s going to look at it as a deployment,” Dan Odescalchi, a spokesman for the Kinderhook Republican, joked about Gibson’s accommodations.

Beneath the joking, however, is some truth. Gibson invoked his military experience often on the path to winning his first elected office in November and portrayed himself, like many other successful Republicans across the nation, as a man on a mission to bring fiscal conservatism to Capitol Hill.

“He’s a guy who is going to Washington with his eyes wide open and who believes in his stump speech, which is less government is better government, less taxes are better than higher taxes,” Rensselaer County GOP Chairman Neil Kelleher said. “He believes it, and I think he’s going to do everything he can to make it happen, too.”

For the full story click here.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Lafarge's quarry mining map, from Logimine.com."][/caption]In its attempts to recover from a greater-than-anticipated amount of public opposition at a pair of recent public hearings and information sessions on its plans to expand its Ravena cement plant facility, Lafarge Cement has been quick to point out the good it's been doing of late. In today's Daily Mail, a new story has appeared all about how the beleaguered company, which was also listed near the top of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's list of New York state polluters in a recent report, has been reclaiming its old quarries for eventual use as a public park. "While most know Lafarge focuses on digging out limestone out of its vast quarries and turning it into cement, few know of the company's behind-the-scenes restoration of the land once it's been mined to capacity," reads the story. "One example of their good stewardship is the recent reclaiming of seven and a half acres of previously mined land in the quarry."

Environmental Manager John Reagan said the land, covered with topsoil and planted with various indigenous plants will eventually become part of a public park. The 400 foot deep quarry produces 8,000,000 tons of limestone a year. According to Lafarge, that's enough "to fill the Empire State Building three times."

After a preview story on possible outcry against Lafarge's permit processes with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and state Department of Health ran last month, representatives of the national company phoned WGXC to question our headlines and story slants. The company is currently in the midst of a SEQRA Environmental Impact review process. For the story in today's papers, read here.