State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I-Oneonta) will be in Catskill, Sunday, Sept. 13 attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Catskill Central School District’s enhanced secondary facility at noon. The ceremony will take place during the fourth annual Parents, Partners and Pancakes event. Congressman Scott Murphy (D-NY20) will be nearby on Saturday Sept. 12, with two events in Dutchess County. First, at 11 a.m. he has a "Growing Small Business Workshop" with representatives from the Small Business Administration, the New York Business Development Corporation, and the Empire State Development Corporation at Arlington High School, 1157 Route 55, Lagrangeville, NY. Then, at 1 p.m. he has a "Congress-On-Your-Corner in Pleasant Valley" at Pleasant Valley Town Hall, 1554 Main Street, Pleasant Valley, NY.

New York State Senators James Seward (R-51, in Greene County) and Stephen M. Saland (R-41 in Columbia County) both voted for the Green Jobs/Green NY bill last night. The vote was 52-8 (search for A8901) in favor if the bill which has now been returned to the NY State Assembly. The bill does the following:

1. The bill, (S.5888) is a Job Creation program that pays for itself through energy savings and revitalization of economically distressed communities.

2. The landmark program will create 14,000 permanent jobs while significantly reducing energy costs for an estimated 1 million homes and business, curtailing the dangerous effect of greenhouse emissions on the environment.

3. Green Jobs creates a program where middle-income home and business owners can make their property more energy efficient to save money on their heating and cooling bills.

4. The program will provide $112 million in capital funding for job creation and workforce training, energy audits, program administration and a credit enhancement for critical private sector capital investment. GJ/GNY will front the cost of the work, enabling property owners to afford energy efficient retrofits that will cut energy usage by 30-40% yielding immediate savings on their monthly energy bills. Owners will repay the cost over time through on-bill financing on their utility bills, but their overall bill total would still be lower than what they pay right now.

5. Local contractors, certified to perform the retrofits will be able to expand their crews, creating new and permanent jobs in green construction and additional jobs in local businesses and manufacturing that serve those new workers.

6. By targeting the bill to middle income homeowners, the program has a statewide impact. Green Jobs/Green NY serves homeowners who make too much to qualify for Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) money but don't make enough to afford energy saving retrofits. Upstate, where the median income is lower, the cut-off for WAP is so low that most people can't qualify, but they can for Green Jobs/Green NY.

7. Green Jobs/Green NY costs taxpayers NOTHING. The program doesn't take any money out of the state budget; it save homeowners money on their utility bills and creates thousands of jobs that bring money into the local economy. Funding for the program comes from carbon auction funds which are required to fund energy efficiency. This program uses that available money to save millions of New Yorkers money on their utility bills while putting thousands back to work for good.

8. The greatest barrier to energy efficiency and green job creation is the ability of residential and business property owners to afford the work. The Green Jobs/ Green NY programs breaks down that barrier through the infusion of up-front capital with NO on-budget cost to the state.

Hudsonic%20Series%2C%20No.%201.wmv

Listen and watch environmental video above.
Hudsonic Series, No. 1 by Sam Truitt
Land Trust Site, Ravish Road, Greenport, Columbia County
09.10.09, ca. 8:54 am (1.29 minutes)
2.4 MB, WMV

Check out that headline in The Register-Star by the usually smarter writer Francesca Olsen. If you read deep down in her story you see why the officials are stressing a future building purchase: they don't want you to think about the tax increase they just passed. Five paragraphs in Olsen mentions "Local laws renewing an additional half-percent of mortgage tax and an additional $2 per $1,000 of additional transfer tax on real property were also enacted." Finally, seven paragraphs in, Olsen quotes Rick Rielly, president of the Columbia-Greene Board of Realtors, saying, “These are taxes, any way you look at it.” Olsen doesn't even dare to say who voted for the tax, only that, "The renewal of taxes passed, with Supervisor John Musall, D-Hudson 1, abstaining, Supervisor William Hughes, D-Hudson 4, voting no on the additional transfer tax, and Supervisor Ed Cross, D-Hudson 2, voting no on the renewal." Cross voted no on both taxes.

UPDATE:
Here is who voted for the mortgage tax:
Ancram's Thomas Dias; Canaan's Richard Keaveney; Chatham's Jesse DeGroodt; Claverack's James Keegan; Clermont's Raymond Staats; Copake's Reginald Crowley; Gallatin's Lynda Scheer; Germantown's Roy Brown; Ghent's Lawrence Andrews; Greenport's John Rutkey Sr.; Hillsdale's Arthur Baer; Hudson's 4th Ward-William Hughes, 5th Ward -Bart Delaney; Kinderhook's Douglas McGivney; Livingston's Philip Williams; New Lebanon's Margaret Robertson; Stockport's Leo Pulcher; Stuyvesant's Valerie Bertram; Taghkanic's Elizabeth Young. The same group voted for the transfer tax, except for Hudson's William Hughes, who voted against.

(Michael Davis and Jordan Smith interviewing NY State Assemblyman Peter Lopez Aug. 22 at the Catskill Community Center.)

Click here to listen or download DJ set from WGXC summer 2009 employees and Cairo-Durham High seniors Michael Davis and Jordan Smith recorded for WGXC Aug. 29, 2009..

Hudson's Slink Moss plays songs about dogs Sat. Sept. 5 at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson with Chicago's Uncle Billy helping on keyboards and other guests on vibes and banjo.

In the analog past, before the June 12 switch to digital television, Ch. 6 TV stations could be heard on 87.7-FM on radios. A handful of Ch. 6's, including Freedom Broadcasting’s WRGB-TV based in Schenectady, continued to broadcast on the radio after the digital switch. But Inside Radio is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission is ordering the station off the FM dial. WRGB-TV general manager Robert Furlong says, “We do not have FCC authorization to transmit an analog signal. We only have authorization for a digital signal at this time.” Furlong reports WRGB's coverage area has shrunk with the digital switch.

What sort of town does not want volunteers to create a park? Cairo, apparently. Susan Campriello in The Daily Mail reports on last Thursday's Cairo Town workshop meeting, where the Cairo Nature Center Committee met with the Town Board. The Nature Center opened two years ago, and then the town closed it for a year to argue about what sort of permit process should be instituted, eventually closing the park off to everyone except Cairo town residents who pay a $15 fee. Earlier this summer a bridge railing in the Nature Center was broken and someone left some trash in the facility, which features hiking and biking trails, picnic areas and fishing spots in a reservoir. The small bit of vandalism caused Town Board members Ray Suttmeier and Rich Lorenz to complain that Nature Center was a gigantic headache for the town. At the meeting Thursday, Cairo Nature Center Committee members Michael Esslie, Jim Little, and committee Chairman Neil Schoenfeld disagreed. “Since this place has been open it has been nothing but a political football,” he said. Some of the Nature Center volunteers have also been working to rehab the St. Edmund’s Chapel as a town facility, and Cairo Town Supervisor John Coyne used the town meeting to complain about the tone of a letter from that group, a letter bemoaning how the town government also was trying to stop that project. Suttmeier, at previous town board meetings, said he illegally visited the Nature Center without getting the proper permit. Schoenfeld, who is also working to turn former railroad tracks in the town into a nature trail, is just about ready to give up all his work to benefit the Town of Cairo, just as the Town Board seemingly wants. This Sunday he will help host an Eco-Faire in the town park.

UPDATE: The Greenville Press (no web site to link to) weighs in on the issue with the best headline ever for Cairo politics: "Another project, another roadblock." Linda L. Fenoff quotes Town Board members Rich Lorenz and Ray Suttmeier complaining after the park has been created that the location along the county's main highway, Rt. 23, is too remote.

(JoAnne Lettieri, seated, with her husband, before the Cairo Planning Board. Photo by Tom Roe.)

Cairo Main Street mayhem
Click here to listen or download mp3 of Cairo Planning Board meeting 090209
Click here to listen or download mp3 of Cairo Planning Board meeting talking about amending the site plan law

On August 18, police arrested JoAnne Lettieri in her store, McBride's Resale Shop, at 465 Main St. in Cairo for violation of the town's site plan law. The store, which used to be a restaurant a long time ago, apparently never went before the town's planning board. The owners then left a note on the door of the store, next to the notice of violation that said in part, "Apparently it is easier to sell drugs in this town then a table and chair." Last night Lettieri appeared before the Cairo Planning Board (listen to the link above, at 36:30), and claimed the town's code enforcement officer said she was shutting down the store on orders of the Planning Board. Most Cairo Planning Board members said Wednesday that they had nothing to do with the enforcement issue. Lettieri, clearly upset, left the meeting crying, and her husband said that countless other buildings on Main St. in Cairo had similarly changed businesses without appearing before the Planning Board each time. Lettieri, in fact, said the store had been operating at the location since 2000, selling used items and hosting a few functions for the local Democratic Party. Later in the meeting, two Planning Board members, Eddie Forrester and Tony Puorro, noted that the Cairo Chamber of Commerce on Main St., "is in violation now." Letttieri's husband said he might have to make complaints to the enforcement office about all the other businesses in Cairo that have not properly appeared before the Planning Board. "Main Street just got shut down," Forrester said, as they left. The Cairo town web site already is, and has been dark for over a week. After the meeting's official business, Chairman Dan Benoit brought up his plans to amend the town's site plan law, which was enacted last October. He cited four main issues that needed changing: 1) Noise. Benoit said that the Greene County Planning Board told him that Cairo cannot average out its noise estimates over a 24-hour period, and Benoit said this made mowing lawns illegal; 2) Signs. Benoit wanted new small signs to not come before the board; 3) Waivers of Less Extensive Plans; 4) Waiving Public Hearings for Less Extensive Plans. Puorro seemed to agree with Benoit's proposal, while Frank Pambianchi kept warning, "I think you are leaving yourself open," with the changes. The board decided to continue the conversation at the Oct. 7 meeting. They will hold a special meeting Sept. 14 for the Deschaine project.

Watch video above for artist talk for the show "Afterglow: Four Photographers & the Hand-Held Light" with artists David Lebe, Robert Flynt, Gary Schneider, and Warren Neidich that WGXC aired live from Carrie Haddad Photography in Hudson, NY. From Twittercam feed on WGXC Online Radio Aug. 28, 2009. (Video does not "see" first artist.) Audio recording is also available here by turning the "Audio" triangle on right.

Brown replaces Scheer as deputy on county board
From Parry Teasdale in The Columbia Paper

HUDSON — Chairman of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Art Baer (R-Hillsdale) shuffled the leadership of the board, with Germantown Supervisor Roy Brown (R) replacing Gallatin Supervisor Lynda Scheer, as a deputy chairman of the board. Baer’s announcement of the move Friday said that Ms. Scheer resigned from the post “for personal reasons.” Brown stood with Baer on his controversial plan to buy the Ockawamick School building on Route 217 in Claverack and, initially, move much of the Department of Social Services there from Hudson. The change takes effect September 1.

COPAKE - This is the sort of amazing story about local town meetings that is almost never written 'round these parts. Instead of deciding one of the night's actions constituted a story and the rest did not, Valden bullet points 10 items that the usually contentious-across-party-lines town board agreed on last week. Then she writes how Councilman Bob Sacks, who has advocated cutting the town's police force to cover the recently discovered large deficit, reported he was told by the Sheriff's Office that patrols from that office cover Copake and all of Columbia County 24/7. Sacks also quoted the supervisors of other towns saying they could not afford their own police force and had no need for one because of coverage by the Sheriff's Office and State Police. Copake Town Police Commissioner Jeff Nayer, then shouted, “Other towns don't set what we do!” Mr. Nayer said that the Police Department had offered to cut 17 percent of its budget to help the town deal with the deficit, while other departments offered nothing.

Have A Voice candidates Karen Deyo, Keith Valentine, Linda Overbaugh, and Joseph Izzo will appear on the November ballot, as will Grassroots of Durham candidate Les Armstrong. The Have a Voice folks are Republicans, joining fellow GOPer Overbaugh in this bid to stay on the ballot for the four Catskill Greene County Legislature seats, after errors in her previous petitions kept her off the Republican line. Likewise with Armstrong, a Republican attempting to primary against Elsie Allan but now facing Allan and Democrat Sean Frey for the Durham seat on the legislature. Overbaugh and Armstrong's third-party bids went unchallenged by opponents.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation shows attendance at parks in the Taconic Region of the state park system, which includes Columbia County, is down 3.7 percent in the period from July 2008 through July 2009. Across New York, park attendance is down 4.5 percent, to 27.2 million visitors. Attendance dropped at the Clermont State Historic Site 18.5 percent to 43,456 visitors, at the Clermont State Historic Site 4.1 percent to 61,896 visitors, at the Olana State Historic Site 14.1 to 61,896 visitors, and at Lake Taghkanic State Park, 5.2 percent, to 95,862. At Taconic State Park in Copake attendance was up 12.9 percent to 13,313, and in Copake Falls attendance rose 5 percent to 73,066 visitors.

Last Tuesday the Planning and Economic Development Committee passed a resolution to apply for state grant funding for developing a Farmland Protection Plan, with matching funds to be provided by the Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), as Columbia County is one of the few in the state without such a plan. The Columbia County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board submitted drafts of a plan to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, but was not approved.

VALATIE — Mario’s True Value Home Center is planning a new 20,000-square-foot lumber supply warehouse, and hopes to have closed on the new location by sometime in early September, with winter construction.

(NY State Assemblyman Peter Lopez interviewed by Cairo-Durham High students Michael Davis and Jordan Smith at the Catskill Community Center Sat. Aug. 22, 2009. Photo by Galen Joseph-Hunter.)

Politicians turn out in Catskill despite rain
Click here to listen to or download mp3 interview of NY State Assemblyman Peter Lopez by WGXC's Jordan Smith and Michael Davis at the Catskill Community Center. WGXC interviewed members of the community yesterday in the Catskill Community Center.
Catskill and regional politicians and artists turned out Saturday despite the rain to celebrate the Quadricentennial (400 years of European folk on the Hudson River) Parade in Catskill. Organizer Fawn Potash wrangled all sorts of fabulous sorts such as singer Lex Grey as a mermaid on a float, a Rip Van Winkle impersonator, Kelly Benjamin on WGXC's Radio Bike, Catskill Community Center's Drum and Bugle Corps, bagpipe player Ian Rawlinson, and the Freehold Civil Air Patrol Vanguard Squad, as well as local politicians such as Vincent Seeley (Town President), Peter Lopez (district Assemblyman), Greene County Legslators Keith Valentine (R, majority leader), Karen Deyo (R), and Forest Cotten (D), Catskill Town Supervisor Peter Markou, Town Councilmen Patrick Walsh and Michael Smith, and many others. Hilary Hawke has a good overview of the day's events and more images on The Daily Mail's web site.

Signs of the times



McBride's Resale Shop at 465 Main St. in Cairo was shut down this week. Read all about it in these two images. A sign on the building still calls it Main St. Cafe, though that business has been closed awhile.

Over two thousand without power in Columbia County
National Grid reports over 2300 homes without power in Columbia at 10:30 p.m., with power not expected to be restored until 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Sam Pratt's Facebook status reports that 23B, 9H & Rt. 23 into Hudson are closed, and power lines are down on 29. He also says it seemed dark in Taghkanic, Claverack and Greenport.

Attorney General's new web site not very up-to-date
The attorney general's office showed off its new Sunlightny.com open-government web site Thursday with workshops in Valatie and Cairo. Perhaps Mr. Cuomo will update the site before his gubernatorial campaign starts -- right now the site's Greene County listings do not include any Cairo officials, and report John Bull is still mayor of Coxsackie.

Town trapped in shallower hole
From Jamie Larson in The Register-Star

COPAKE - Through a combination of adjusted revenue statements and reduced spending, the Copake Town Board cut the town's newly-discovered deficit down from an estimated $180,000 to $80,000. On party lines, the board then voted to borrow $100,000 from The Salisbury Bank and Trust Company to cover the revenue shortfall and tax the town based on assessed value in a one-time tax. The loan will be paid back in 2010. Republican supervisor Reggie Crowley, and board members Daniel Tompkins and Walt Kiernan voted to take out the loan, while Democrats Bob Sacks and Linda Gabaccia voted no.

CATSKILL - Democrat Robin DePuy of Palenville may have joined the never-dull election for the four Catskill seats on the Greene County Legislature, by forming the "Common Sense" party. Earlier, Linda Overbaugh was ruled not eligible to run on the Republican line because of petition errors, and started the "Have a Voice" party to get on the ballot. Now Overbaugh may be knocked off that line too, as witnesses witnessed two of the "Have a Voice" candidates collecting signatures without witnesses. Can I get a witness?

Retiring Greene County Legislator Ken Dudley (R-Greenville) withdrew his $80,000 Quantum Fund loan application for his business Tip Top Furniture in Greenville. Minority leader Sean Frey (D-Durham) said he thought the loan was, "not illegal, but unethical for the county to make a Quantum loan to a business owner who is also on the Greene County Legislature."

CAIRO - Cairo Town Supervisor John Coyne says individuals involved in lawsuits against the town can be appointed to positions on Cairo boards. Several Cairo officials wanted to institute such a ban during a discussion about the ethics board. In a May 5 letter to Supervisor John Coyne, Cairo Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea, and the Town Board, Melanie Trimble, of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the board should not reject a party interested in serving on a board based upon their involvement in such litigation. "Such blanket exclusion must be viewed as retaliation against people for exercising their rights," the letter said.

COBLESKILL - The Theater Project of Schoharie County will hold auditions for an evening of radio theater. Two plays: “His Honor, the Mayor” and “The War of the Worlds” plus commercials and musical interludes. Auditions: Sept. 10 6 - 9 p.m. and Sept. 13 2 – 5 p.m. at Teen Town, 45 North Grand St, Cobleskill.

(Local journalists including, from left, WGXC's Paul Smart, WGXC's Erin Roberts, The Columbia Paper's Parry Teasdale, Bard College's Danielle Riou, unmuffled's Lynn Sloneker, A Few Dollars More's William Schmick, and The Register-Star's Andrew Amelinckx meet about at Parlor coffeeshop in Hudson Thu. Aug. 20, 2009. Photo by Tom Roe.)

WGXC discusses journalism with local practioners
Click here to listen to the WGXC meeting with local journalists from Aug. 20, 2009 at Parlor Coffee Shop (formerly Muddy Cup) in Hudson.
Click here to listen to the WGXC meeting with local journalists from Aug. 20, 2009 at Catskill Community Center.
New community radio station WGXC held meetings in Hudson and Catskill with local journalists Thursday, to discuss possible working relationships. WGXC is developing news policy, and just beginning a Newsroom blog with many audio clips from area meetings and events. Many local journalists met with WGXC staff and Radio Council members, at the two meetings, and also discussed the possibility of different publications and blogs co-sponsoring local political debates and meet-the-candidate forums. WGXC will certainly be interviewing local journalists about the important stories of the day throughout Greene and Columbia counties. WGXC's Erin Roberts spoke about her experience with KBUT in Colorado, where her community radio station paid local journalists a bit extra to create audio versions of their texts, traing the print writers how to record and edit audio, and share files. Several local journalists (including local bloggers and independent producers) were ready to propose their own shows, about subjects such as local history, the outdoors and nature, and the arts, all topics WGXC plans to discuss and include in programming. WGXC will have both a morning and afternoon "magazine" type news shows with news reports, headlines, interviews, phone calls from listeners, the occasional song, and other features such as a brief serial radio drama. Local journalists might be regular contributors to these prime time (6-10 a.m./4-7 p.m.) shows, or part of other shows. WGXC is also encouraging all citizens -- locals who regularly attend meetings, journalists who cover them, and others -- to record and/or learn to create a live web stream of any local meeting possible. The raw recordings will be available for any person to download or listen. Please send other ideas for local news policies to news(at)wgxc.org.

Columbia-Greene Cancer Services Program PSA
Click hear to hear Columbia-Greene Cancer Services Program PSA
Free cancer screening information. More details here: http://www.columbiahealthnet.org/

Council puts hold on new homeless shelters
From Jamie Larson in The Register-Star

HUDSON - The Hudson Common Council voted at their regular meeting to approve a new local law establishing a one-year moratorium on the expansion of existing, and the creation of new transitional housing and homeless shelters, in excess of four units, in the city. The law came in response to the county's proposal to house homeless in the historic St. Charles Hotel in Hudson. Eventually, the city and county agreed instead on the Charles Williams school to be turned into a homeless facility, and this law, apparently, won't stop that deal. Before Mayor Richard Scalera can sign the proposal into law, the moratorium must be discussed at a public hearing, to be held Aug. 28.

(Cairo Town Clerk Tara A. Rumph, and board members Alice Tunison and Janet Schwarzenegger at the Aug. 19, 2009 town board meeting. Photo by Tom Roe.)

Cairo has another strained town meeting
Click here to download or listen to the Aug. 19, 2009 Cairo Town Board meeting.
CAIRO - At town board meetings in Cairo, the board's women are separated from the men by Town Clerk Tara Rumph. Last night there was a real back and forth, as board members Rich Lorenz and Ray Suttmeier made comments after Janet Schwarzenegger's attempt to pass a resolution to redact the names of folks who make complaints in Cairo from Freedom of Information Law requests. Alice Tunison asked Schwarzenegger several questions about her resolution. Lorenz (at 1:05:10 in the recording linked above) interrupted their discussion, and Tunison said, "I wish you wouldn't do that Rich." Tunison grilled Schwarzenegger, and then the entire group failed to second her motion, killing the resolution. Then (at 1:09:00) Lorenz waved a flyer and said "Tomorrow night the attorney general is going to have an open government transparency initiative, come to that and he'll tell us what to do." Tunison was livid. "Rich, I'm usually able to refrain from, but I just want to react a little bit here. I don't know if that was just," Tunison said. Lorenz interrupted, "Well that was just what this is," Lorenz said, holding the flyer. Tunison shot back, "I can appreciate Janet's effort, her work, she copied this, we had a very benefical discussion in my opinion. We gave time to look at it from every angle, and and I think it is a little flip and it seems somewhat disrespectful to her and her efforts. And I would personally just ask you not to do that." "Shame on you Rich," Suttmeier then sarcastically repeated three times. "And shame on him is very juvenile," Tunison then said. Suttmeier said something else, which I cannot make out. Can you? (Listen at 1:09:50, put guesses in the comments.) "That's ridiculous," Tunison responded. Fortunately for decorum, someone wandered into the room at that point and Supervisor John Coyne was able to change the subject. But at the meeting's conclusion (1:32:09) Tunison brought the kerfuffle back. Coyne then noted that the women were also talking during the meeting. Tunison responded, "it is two separate things," comparing talking while others talk to board members making snide comments. "It was a put down, it's unprofessional," Tunison said of Lorenz's comment with the flyer.

Club Helsinki in Great Barrington heads to Hudson
From Club Helsinki
"Berkshire County will see the end of an era," their web site says, announcing that 15-year-old Club Helsinki closes its door there August 31. Club Helsinki will move the equipment over to the much-delayed, about-to-open second location in Hudson. "The Hudson venue will be everything the Great Barrington club was and more; a larger capacity without losing the intimate feel, a full service event space, recording studios, and an infrastructure custom designed for music production," said owners Deborah McDowell and Marc Schafler in an e-mail statement. "It will be a Mecca for artists, agents, music fans and technicians alike."

AG’s Office comes to Valatie, Cairo for fraud talks
From The Columbia Paper

A representative from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s Office will speak to seniors and veterans about consumer fraud issues as a part of the AG’s statewide Smart Seniors Program. The events take place at the Valatie Senior Center at 212 State Farm Road, Thursday, August 27 at 11 a.m., and at 7 p.m. for the Disabled Veterans, Chapter 186, at Cairo Town Hall, 512 Main St. in Cairo. The seminar concerns how to best avoid consumer scams that frequently target seniors, such as sweepstakes, mail orders, and identity theft. Both events are free. For more information visit the Attorney General's website at http://www.oag.state.ny.us.

HUDSON - "A dozen young men, primarily from the city’s Bangladeshi community, voiced their displeasure with the city’s position not to allow them to play at the Henry Hudson Riverfront Park," Larson's story said. Hudson's Michael Chameides said the city’s signs at the park forbidding soccer are unjustified. Chameides said he doesn’t understand the argument voiced by Mayor Richard Scalera and others, that their activity damages the grass, since most of the time they play without shoes, and don’t play when the ground is wet. Mayor Scalera said the complaints he hears most often from residents about the park are about dogs running around off leash and soccer player disrupting their peace. His solution was to have the footballers play at the Charles Williams Park on the north end of Second St., which is in disrepair.

ANCRAM—Town Democrats picked Art Bassin for Town Supervisor over Rick DuBray 74 to 25, with 3 Democrats voting No, meaning they did not support either candidate at the Democrats’ August 8 caucus. Bassin, the chairman of the town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee, narrowly lost his bid for a seat on the Town Board in 2007.

(7 Second Delay perform at Cairo Open Mic, 081409. Photo by Tom Roe.)

More Cairo Open Mic recordings
Click here to listen or download 7 Second Delay's set.
Click on the above link to hear local band 7 Second Delay's set last Friday night in Cairo town park. The band includes Mike Dwyer (vox/bass), Will Paulicin (gtr), and Dave Monkell (percussion).

Online message board riles Copake officials
From Jamie Larson in The Register-Star

COPAKE - How do you run a story with a headline about a message board, and then not name the message board? The story, about how Copake Councilman Robert Sacks responded in a meeting to an e-mail from Town Supervisor Reggie Crowley that was posted on Copakepolitics, a Yahoo group. Crowley's e-mail implied that Sacks was using the town's $200,000 deficit for political gain. The Register-Star mentions it is a Yahoo message board, where the message was posted. There's also this site if you need more Copake vitriol.

RHINEBACK - The Town Board will take comments tonight, Wednesday Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. at Rhinebeck High School on North Park Road, on the final generic environmental impact statements to be used for proposed comprehensive plan revisions and related zoning law updates and the proposed town Freshwater Wetlands Law, which would be included as part of zoning regulations.

Bard College gets full-power FM license
The Federal Communications Commission awarded Bard College a license for 88.1-FM. The signal will barely overlap with WGXC's coverage area (mostly around Germantown), and will mostly cover Duchess County. Plans are to get under way soon at Bard from a temporary studio planned for campus. To the north, the FCC has denied applications for Hudson Valley Community College for 89.7-FM in Troy and "Media Alliance" (folks associated with The Sanctuary for Media Justice in Troy) for 89.9-FM.

Road construction to close Route 9W for three weeks
From The Daily Mail

CATSKILL - The Department of Transportation will re-route Route 9W to replace several culverts, beginning today. The detour: Route 9W rerouted at Route 23A out of Catskill to Route 32 to Route 212; through Saugerties (Ulster Avenue to Market Street to Main Street), returning back to Route 9W (Malden).

(David Woodin and Jonathan Woodin performing at Cairo Open Mic 081409. Poet Nancy Henry reads her recent work, including one that topped the library's poetry contest. Photos by Tom Roe.)

Cairo open mic night
Click here to listen or download mp3 of Jonathan and David Woodin_081409 performing at Cairo Open Mic.mp3
Click here to listen or download mp3 of Tony Fallon_poetry_081409 performing at Cairo Open Mic.mp3
Click here to listen or download mp3 of Nancy Henry_poetry_081409 performing at Cairo Open Mic.mp3
The Town of Cairo Public Library and WGXC, your new community radio station, co-sponsored the second Cairo Open Mic last night in the Cairo town park. Lots of performers, including the three audio clips above. We will post the band 7 Second Delay's set tomorrow.

Seward/Lopez in Athens Saturday
From Seward's office
New York State Senator James Seward and Assemblyman Peter Lopez will join the West Athens-Lime Street Fire Company for community inspection day as officials unveil two new fire trucks at 1 p.m. Sat. Aug. 15 at the West Athens-Lime Street Fire Company, 921 Schoharie Turnpike, Athens, NY.

Second attempt, but with 3rd party
From The Daily Mail

DURHAM - The Democrats knocked Republican Linda Overbaugh off the Catskill ballot and she is starting a new political party to stay on the ballot for a Greene County Legistlature seat; in Durham, the Republicans are keeping one of their own, Les Armstrong, off the ballot, and he is starting the Grassroots of Durham Party, to stay on the ballot, for the Legislature seat now held by Democrat Sean Frey. In 2006, Armstrong beat GOP challenger James Karkheck in the Republican primary, but Karkheck was on the general election ballot on the Conservative line, and Frey won by 11 votes.

Seward complains about driving costs
NY.Sen.James.Seward_Cost%20to%20Drive%20-%2008-11.MP3
Starting September 1, 2009 registration fees are scheduled to increase 25 percent for passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, trailers, taxis, busses, motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, construction vehicles, motorboats and custom vehicles. Fees for drivers licenses fees will also go up by 25 percent. In total, the fee hikes will create an additional cost to New York drivers projected to be almost $152 million over the next two years. New York State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I- Oneonta) comments on those rising cost in the above audio clip you can click on to listen to or download.

Polling places not ADA accessible
From The Register-Star

COLUMBIA COUNTY - A survey of polling places in Columbia County currently underway could not find one polling place that is compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act checklist for voting sites or with standards outlined in the 2002 Federal Help America Vote Act. The survey was taken by Project HAVA, run by The Catskill Center for Independence, based in Oneonta, and funded by a grant from the New York State Commission on Quality Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.

WINDHAM - The Greene County Council is considering closing the Mountaintop Gallery in Windham Jan. 1, or keeping the gallery running with the help of artist volunteers, Executive Director Kay Stamer told the Greene County Legislature Wednesday. The arts council’s general operating budget was cut by 11 percent this year, while decentralization — the Council’s funding that is redistributed to other arts groups across the county — was reduced by five percent, and arts and education programming remained at 2008 levels.

CATSKILL - Village Board President Vincent Seeley wants to eliminate his job and put in a business manager or administrator to oversee department heads but be answerable to the Village Board. The article is unclear what, if any, role Seeley would have under that scenario. Catskill Trustee Patrick McCulloch said the Village Charter would require modification before any managerial position could be created, and any changes would be put before voters in a referendum.

Catskill Community Orchestra at Union Mills
Click here to listen or download Catskill Community Orchestra's performance of Musical Director David E. Woodin's "A Hudson Journey" last Saturday at Union Mills in Catskill
CATSKILL - The Catskill Community Orchestra premiered Musical Director David E. Woodin's "A Hudson Journey" to finish the night at Union Mills along Main St. in Catskill. Click on the above link to listen or download the mp3 recording. Click here to hear other Catskill Community Orchestra recordings.

New party forms in wake of court rulings
From The Daily Mail

CATSKILL - Republicans have set up a new political party to get Linda Overbaugh elected to one of the four seats for Greene County Legislature District No. 1. Overbaugh, Karen Deyo, Keith Valentine, and Joseph Izzo are setting up The Have A Voice Party and need 188 registered voters' signatures to get on the ballot. They have set up party headquarters at 347 Main St., Catskill, the Day & Holt building, and registered voters will stop by. This all comes after the wrong Linda Overbaugh (there are two in Catskill) was listed on petitions for the Republican ticket, Democrats challenged the petition, and a judge excluded Overbaugh from the GOP line.

General Electric resumed its clean-up of PCB's in the Hudson River, after high levels of the chemical in the river prompted a four-day shutdown. The story says, "The unsafe PCB levels were found about 20 miles upriver from drinking water intakes used by the towns of Waterford and Halfmoon. Neither town has used the intakes since dredging began; both are using water purchased from Troy. Despite the PCB spikes upriver, chemical levels at the intakes have remained well within the safety standard."

GHENT - The article is a bit unclear, but implies the Department Of Environmental Conservation ruling that the Vincent and Lisa Molinari mining project on Carpenter Road would not have adverse environmental impacts, which led the town planning board to grant a Special Use Permit, limiting hours of operation to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays only with dust must be controlled with water and by limiting processing to 150 cubic yards per hour.