WGXC-90.7 FM
Thursday headlines PM
Mar 31, 2011 4:31 pm
Board unveils $37.1M draft school budget
Jim Planck of the Daily Mail reports on the presentation of a budget to an SRO crowd in Catskill on March 30. It calls for a spending package of $37,191,010, up from the current year’s of $36,699,599. The $491,411 difference — a 1.34-percent increase — is part of a $781,565 tax levy increase, with projected revenue for next year is $290,154 less than needed. The draft tax levy represents a 4.89-percent increase. Cuts include Pre-K transportation, now up to parents, an expansion of the no-busing zone around the school to one mile for all 6-12 graders, and seven staff positions for art and music, science, foreign language and social studies teachers, plus a social worker. Most, however, involve early retirements. The ski team was also eliminated.
Schodack, ICC merger study moves forward
John Mason of the Register-Star writes that the Ichabod Crane Board of Education has agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a potential merger with the Schodack Central School District in Rensselaer County. In August 2010, Schodack and Ichabod received a state grant for the study in the amount of $49,500. The districts issued an RFP for a qualified contractor to do the study and received three responses. Total cost of the study is $54,500. The $5,000 over and above the grant amount will be shared between the two districts. Also Monday, the board approved the closing of two elementary schools, Martin Van Buren and Martin H. Glynn, and created a committee to explore all possible uses of the buildings. Elementary students will move to the district's main campus in Kinderhook.
Disgraced horse breeder Paragallo loses appeal
The Times Union reports that horse breeder and owner Ernie Paragallo lost his appeal of a March 2010 conviction for starving thoroughbreds at his Center Brook Farm in the Greene County community of Climax. Paragallo, 52 of Long Island, asked the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court to overturn his conviction because of questionable things that were included in a probation report compiled before his sentencing. The appeals court said Greene County Judge George J. Pulver Jr. did not consider the issues Paragallo objected to when he imposed a two-year sentence to local jail on May 18. He was convicted on 33 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. The Columbia-Greene County Humane Society and the Equine Rescue Resource cared for the 177 emaciated horses after they were seized.
NYSEG plans new 115 kV lines
Kristi Berner of The Columbia Paper writes that NYSEG, the power company which serves much of northern and eastern Columbia County, is planning a new power substation in Ghent and a new electricity transmission line that could run through parts of four towns in the county. The idea is to alleviate power outages. "The project faces multiple hurdles in various federal, state and town approvals, but if all goes as NYSEG officials expect, the new substation and transmission line would be in place by the fall of 2012," Berner writes. The new transmission line would connect NYSEG's existing Klinekill substation in Chatham, National Grid's existing 115-kV transmission line and a new NYSEG substation proposed for Ghent. The new 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line would likely through the towns of Ghent, Chatham, Kinderhook and Stockport. Town officials have been speaking with NYSEG, but public review still needs to happen.
Hannaford confirms attendance at meeting
Doron Tyler Antrim has a story in the Daily Mail that confirms that Hannaford Supermarkets owill be on the agenda at next week’s Cairo planning board meeting on Wednesday, April 6. This will be its inaugural meeting with local officials, and the Cairo public, since the grocery store chain announced in January that it will acquire Slater’s Great American and build a new store on the property.
Jim Planck of the Daily Mail reports on the presentation of a budget to an SRO crowd in Catskill on March 30. It calls for a spending package of $37,191,010, up from the current year’s of $36,699,599. The $491,411 difference — a 1.34-percent increase — is part of a $781,565 tax levy increase, with projected revenue for next year is $290,154 less than needed. The draft tax levy represents a 4.89-percent increase. Cuts include Pre-K transportation, now up to parents, an expansion of the no-busing zone around the school to one mile for all 6-12 graders, and seven staff positions for art and music, science, foreign language and social studies teachers, plus a social worker. Most, however, involve early retirements. The ski team was also eliminated.
Schodack, ICC merger study moves forward
John Mason of the Register-Star writes that the Ichabod Crane Board of Education has agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a potential merger with the Schodack Central School District in Rensselaer County. In August 2010, Schodack and Ichabod received a state grant for the study in the amount of $49,500. The districts issued an RFP for a qualified contractor to do the study and received three responses. Total cost of the study is $54,500. The $5,000 over and above the grant amount will be shared between the two districts. Also Monday, the board approved the closing of two elementary schools, Martin Van Buren and Martin H. Glynn, and created a committee to explore all possible uses of the buildings. Elementary students will move to the district's main campus in Kinderhook.
Disgraced horse breeder Paragallo loses appeal
The Times Union reports that horse breeder and owner Ernie Paragallo lost his appeal of a March 2010 conviction for starving thoroughbreds at his Center Brook Farm in the Greene County community of Climax. Paragallo, 52 of Long Island, asked the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court to overturn his conviction because of questionable things that were included in a probation report compiled before his sentencing. The appeals court said Greene County Judge George J. Pulver Jr. did not consider the issues Paragallo objected to when he imposed a two-year sentence to local jail on May 18. He was convicted on 33 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. The Columbia-Greene County Humane Society and the Equine Rescue Resource cared for the 177 emaciated horses after they were seized.
NYSEG plans new 115 kV lines
Kristi Berner of The Columbia Paper writes that NYSEG, the power company which serves much of northern and eastern Columbia County, is planning a new power substation in Ghent and a new electricity transmission line that could run through parts of four towns in the county. The idea is to alleviate power outages. "The project faces multiple hurdles in various federal, state and town approvals, but if all goes as NYSEG officials expect, the new substation and transmission line would be in place by the fall of 2012," Berner writes. The new transmission line would connect NYSEG's existing Klinekill substation in Chatham, National Grid's existing 115-kV transmission line and a new NYSEG substation proposed for Ghent. The new 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line would likely through the towns of Ghent, Chatham, Kinderhook and Stockport. Town officials have been speaking with NYSEG, but public review still needs to happen.
Hannaford confirms attendance at meeting
Doron Tyler Antrim has a story in the Daily Mail that confirms that Hannaford Supermarkets owill be on the agenda at next week’s Cairo planning board meeting on Wednesday, April 6. This will be its inaugural meeting with local officials, and the Cairo public, since the grocery store chain announced in January that it will acquire Slater’s Great American and build a new store on the property.