Some of the stories that made the news, June 14 to June 16:

Nathan Mayberg reported in the Register Star state legislators and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently reached a deal to restore $90 million in funding cuts in this year's state budget to organizations like Coarc, which serve the developmentally disabled. Coarc, the Claverack-based group, was projecting a loss of $1 million for the coming year after lawmakers approved a state budget that slashed funding for the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities. Assembly member Steve McLaughlin said a vote on the deal is expected early next week. McLaughlin said, “It’s the best news I have heard all session. I am cautiously optimistic.” Assembly member Didi Barrett said, “I am thrilled to hear that a consensus has been reached." Read the full story in the Register Star.

Brian Hubert reported in The Daily Mail the Cairo-Durham school board last week approved a name change for two elementary schools based on the district's realignment plan. Durham Elementary School will now be called Cairo-Durham Elementary School, and house grades Kindergarten through 2. The Cairo elementary building will be home to grades 3 through 5, and has been renamed Cairo-Durham Intermediate School. These changes will be effective at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year. Superintendent Mary Fassett said the outcome of the budget re-vote Tues., June 18, will not have any impact on implementation of the plan. Fassett said, “The realignment plan is still on even if there is a contingent budget." The Cairo-Durham spending plan was one of 30 budgets defeated statewide on May 21. According to the exit poll conducted that day, the biggest reason people voted ‘no’ was the grade realignment plan. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

Emilia Teasdale reported in the Columbia Paper the Kinderhook Town Board will hire a New Jersey-based ballistics specialist to follow up on a complaint from residents of the Bell Acres neighborhood that a bullet from the Tri-Village Rod and Gun Club flew past their house last year. At a recent town meeting, Kinderhook Supervisor Pat Grattan said that before the board starts paying the expert $110 an hour to investigate, town Building Inspector Wayne Voss, a former state trooper, will be asked to collect information and interview the residents of the neighborhood about the incident, which happened last summer. Bell Acres lies off of Route 203 just outside the Village of Valatie. Several residents came to the board last September to discuss the incident. The Town Board will hold a special meeting July 8, for a briefing on the Voss findings. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.

Claude Haton reported in The Daily Mail the town of Cairo celebrated its prohibition history and ties to the notorious bootlegger and mobster Legs Diamond this weekend. The third annual Temperance and Tommy Guns Festival was held Saturday. Laurel and Hardy, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford, Shirley Temple, Marlene Dietrich and Mae West made appearances, as did a young Herbert Hoover, America's 31st president. Sylvia Hasenkopf of the Cairo Historical Society said, “This is an event we could only put on with cooperation from the community. People have been really supportive.” The weather also cooperated, with sunny skies replacing the storm clouds and rain that recently plagued the region. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.