4/82010

In Pine Hill...
The Shandaken Town Board took a big step toward okaying a controversial sewer extension plan for Pine Hill at its June 6 meeting, a move that some say could cause the town some headaches and cost Pine Hill residents some money.
On Monday, the Board -- minus supervisor Rob Stanley, who was away on family matters -- passed a resolution to hold a public hearing on a proposed sewer use law, legislation that needs to be in place before the town moves forward with the plan to add 14 properties to the already existing Pine Hill Sewer District.
The hearing, set for Monday, May 3rd at 6pm at Town Hall, will be a chance for town residents to weigh in on the idea of fiddling with the status quo.
Peter DiModica, a Pine Hill resident and former Shandaken Town Supervisor, was on hand before the resolution vote to warn the current board that this could be a bad idea.
"It's keeps coming back again like a bad dream," he said.
DiModica warned that by passing the sewer use law, the town was signing up for the enforcement responsibilities in a district that at this point is, and always has been, the full responsibility of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
In exchange for New York City paying for the construction of the extensions and then giving those new properties free sewer service in perpetuity, the City wants the town to be in charge of monitoring to district.
That means, DiModica said, paying someone to do it.
Furthermore, by getting involved, the town now opens itself up to liability and lawsuits, which would also need to be paid for.
The Village of Margaretville participated in the same program several years ago, DiModica warned. Recently that village was fined $25,000 due to violations that occurred at the City-owned facility.
" We need to be careful," said DiModica.
He went further, stating that back when he investigated the issue as a supervisor he was told by attorneys that since the extension plan did not benefit the existing district, the State Legislature needed to authorize the project.
"I think the process here is flawed," he said.
Shandaken resident Robert Stanley, the supervisor's father, said that he thought the sewer extension was a separate entity from the Pine Hill Sewer District and therefore would not have impacts that DiModica feared. It was agreed that the proposed plan would be reviewed to find out for sure.
But Deputy Supervisor Vince Bernstein said that Monday night was not the time to talk about these issues.
"All we are doing is setting up the public hearing," Bernstein said. "These things can be brought up at the hearing."
The proposed sewer use law can be viewed online at the town's website, www.shandaken.us. Look for it under heading "notices."
Mount Tremper resident Kathy Nolan noted that the website does not provide the sewer extension agreement. It is expected to be posted soon.
Town Meeting...
In other town board news from the April 5 meeting, Councilman Jack Jordan said that he has been in touch with the SHARP and RUPCO agencies about having both search for grants and loans to build a new municipal complex somewhere in an "existing community" to house a new town hall, the ambulance department and also a community center.
Noting that securing funds was hard these days, Jordan said Shandaken has an ace in the hole: The Good Neighbor Fund, which contains over a half a million dollars, could be put up as matching funds. This, he said, could help convince grantors to give to the town.
"The Good Neighbor Fund could go a real long way," Jordan said.
In related news, Councilman Vin Bernstein announced that a $4,000 septic system was going to be installed in about two weeks at the town hall, where last month the old one failed.
Also, the town sold a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria for $227.17. Chuck Perez, who operates a towing business, told the board that they could get almost twice that amount just by giving the car up for scrap metal. The board agreed to sell the car anyway because the new owner was prepared to come and get it whereas the town would have had to find a way to get the car to the scrap heap.
Net Repairs...
It seems that Ulster County was billing the city of Kingston for Social Services clients who actually lived outside the city. As a result, the county is now looking into setting up a new means of determining where welfare recipients live, using the county Real Property Tax Services property locator to verify the municipality of addresses given by clients enrolled in the countywide Safety Net program.
The push for the Safety Net program changes arose after Kingston Mayor James Sottile discovered the city had been billed for a number of clients in the program who had Kingston mailing addresses but actually lived in the town of Ulster and other towns that share Kingston's 12401 ZIP code, adding up to between $25,000 and $40,000 in overpayments per month.
The Town of Ulster is saying that it's prepared to fight such a move and negotiate for the county to take over the entire program instead of charging it back to individual towns. Some housing advocates have said the way the Safety Net program is paid for now significantly impedes the growth of affordable housing in Ulster County, especially outside of Kingston.
The Safety Net program is mandated by the state and provides welfare benefits to single individuals with no children and to families who have exceeded the 60-month lifetime federal assistance limit. In an arrangement unique to Ulster County, the City of Kingston and county towns must reimburse the county for one half of the county's share of the benefits paid out.
Attempts to force a county takeover of the program have been unsuccessful primarily due to opposition from communities, largely rural (such as in our neck of the woods), that currently pay little or no money toward the program.
Updated Regs...
New York City Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway announced this week that updated Watershed Regulations for the protection of New York City's water supply, now part of the New York State Health Code, have gone into effect as of Monday, April 4, amending existing DEP regulations covering the upstate watershed to align them with changes made in federal and state law over the past ten years. The prior regulations were adopted in 1997 as part of the Filtration Avoidance Determination issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, which allowed the City to continue operating its unfiltered drinking system from the Catskill and Delaware watersheds after completion of Upstate/Downstate negotiations reached the 1996 Memorandum of Agreement.
Fourteen sections of the Watershed Regulations have been updated to prevent contamination to and degradation of the City's surface water supply, including:
Enhanced standards for the control of stormwater runoff from certain construction sites. For example, in commercial areas with a large amount of impervious surfaces, the revised regulations will require additional stormwater treatment, such as construction of larger or secondary detention basins.
New provisions to allow for sewage treatment plants in certain areas of the Croton watershed.
Updated criteria defining the quality of drinking water reservoirs consistent with state and federal standards, specifically concerning stricter phosphorus limits for select basins.
DEP started the process of revising the Watershed Regulations more than five years ago. They received approval in February 2010 for final publication in the City Record, which occurred on March 3.
Public review of the new regs, including Upstate input, took place throughout 2007 and 2008.
They're Back...
A Sullivan County man shot and killed a large adult black bear that was menacing his daughter at her home Sunday, the state DEC has reported. The woman was inside with her four children when the bear attempted to break into a bedroom window of the home and swatted at their dog on the porch. DEC and State Police were called to the scene, but before they arrived, the woman called her father, who came over. He fired a warning shot, but the bear did not budge, so he shot and killed the animal.
DEC officials later said the bear was tagged and had been a nuisance to others before. No charges were filed against the man who shot the animal.
The DEC has advice for people to help deter bears from wandering near their homes: Wash out trash cans with ammonia and put them out as close to garbage pickup as possible, and pay attention to where you hang birdfeeders.
Time to be careful...
Season's End
Local skiing is having its last hurrahs for the season as weather conditions, and public perceptions, shift to full Spring mode. At state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, final race days were set for the coming weekend, with a special "ski bump" contest on Saturday, April 10, followed by a golfing long drive shoot-off from the slopes on Sunday, April 11.
Stay tuned in the coming week's for a season wrap up on how things went this past year, following a late start, as well as all the great hopes and spin we're sure to hear about the region's winter sports future, no matter changes in the overall climate (or perception of such).
Last Saturday, March 28, the fourth annual Belleayre Mountain Hall of Fame celebration was held in the ski center's main lodge, honoring individuals who have contributed in extraordinary ways to Belleayre Mountain, the surrounding Catskill region, and to winter sports. This year, recipients included Lou Grocholl, Meg Monell, and John Fishkind for their "efforts to promote Belleayre and the sport of skiing in general."
Eco-Onteora!
The Onteora CSD Board of Education is holding what promises to be an informative and possibly transformative "Local Environment in Education" event on the afternoon of Thursday, April 15, to coincide with Environmental Education Week and the lead-up to Earth Day. The forum, rescheduled from a snowed-out February date, will be held in the newly renovated Harry Simon Auditorium in the Middle School/High School building on Route 28 in Boiceville, NY from 4:00 to 5:30 PM.
A variety of local environmental organizations will be represented, including The Catskill Watershed Coalition, Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners and Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Association, The Ashokan Center, The Woodstock Land Conservancy and The Catskill Center For Conservation and Development. Speakers will present an overview of their organization's educational initiatives, addressing both their current involvement with local schools, and additional educational opportunities their organizations have to offer.
Discussion will be followed by an open question and answer session.
Be there!
Cleanup Time
The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) will once again support groups and individuals who clean litter and other debris from streambanks in their neighborhoods.
Youth and school groups, church organizations, civic and business associations, neighborhood groups and teams of friends are encouraged to scour stream and riversides for trash and to dispose of it properly.
The CWC will provide trash bags, gloves and tokens of appreciation for those who choose to serve their communities in this way. Call Mary Jane Oppenheimer at 586-1400 to arrange to get these items.
Volunteers might wish to do a cleanup in observance of Earth Day April 22, or to coordinate their efforts with National Stream Clean-up Days sponsored by Trout Unlimited April 17 or June 26. Those wishing to connect with a local TU group doing a stream cleanup are invited to email Ron Urban at ronsgonefishing@aol.com.
American Rivers is also calling for groups to participate in a National River Cleanup effort this spring. To register your cleanup activity and to get more information, go to www.americanrivers.org and click on the "Take Action" tab.
Fishing News...
The Obama administration has ended public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters as a means of preventing both overfishing, and the spread of invasive species of various sorts that have harmed increasing amounts of water habitat in recent years.
Opponents of any further regulations regarding such matters are using recreational fishing economic date, including employment figures, as a tool, as well as trying to prove collusion between environmental groups and the government.
Could get interesting...
No More Levers
The push towards new voting mechanisms that replace old lever machines in our area with new touch-screen digital voting machines is continuing to run into opposition statewide.
Based on the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 put in place to deal with the problems inherent in the still-controversial 2000 Presidential election, new laws require, in part, that all states update their voting systems in order to enable individuals with disabilities to vote independently and privately. New York has since adopted the Election Reform and Modernization Act of 2005 as a way to implement the federal measure. But in recent months, Nassau County filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's act, claiming it violates the New York Constitution by introducing voting machines that are inaccurate and subject to tampering.
Locally, officials noted that the voting act does not mandate a switch to computerized voting machines, only the state law. Dutchess and Columbia counties are currently seeking to join and amend the existing lawsuit, while election officials in Greene and Ulster counties have said the legal effort is too late.
The state Election Reform and Modernization Act calls for all lever voting machines in New York state to be replaced in time for this year's primary and general elections. The new machines are so-called "optical scanners."
If Nassau County's litigation were successful, all counties in the state could be allowed to continue using the old machines.
Part of the current lawsuit is based on the fact that the state Board of Elections only certified the new style of machine on Dec. 15, 2009, leaving counties an insufficient amount time to make the transition from the lever machines to computerized voting. Amendments under consideration also state that the Election Reform and Modernization Act does not fund the replacement of the lever machines.
The New York State Association of Towns passed a resolution in February stating the continued use of the old machines was in the best interest of the public.
Stimulated?
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli recently released an audit his office conducted of 11 municipal highway projects in the Hudson Valley that have used federal stimulus money and said they were all bid and awarded appropriately. Altogether, they totaled $24.6 million in stimulus money.
The largest federal award in this group was for over $12.1 million for a bridge replacement in Westchester County. Replacement of the Ulster County bridge known as the Herbert Poppel Bridge over the Rondout Creek in Kerhonkson received $4.7 million.
Also local, a grant of $1.1 million went to rehabilitate the Beckley Drive Bridge in Ellenville, and the city of Kingston got $200,000 for a pedestrian waterfront walkway.
Still coming are funds for repairs along Route 28, and purportedly for local rail trail construction projects, as well.
Pure Catskills
Farm and food businesses focused on the development and promotion of local products are encouraged to apply for funding through the Pure Catskills Sustainable Agriculture and Education Grant Program, sponsored by the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in order to advance the WAC's mission to support the economic viability of agriculture and forestry through the protection of water quality and the promotion of land conservation in the New York City Watershed region.
Funding will be awarded in three categories: For product development:, including the purchase and installation of equipment and supplies for activities related to adding value to a local farm or food product; for marketing, including promotional expenses related to sales of local farm and food products; and outreach and education, including public events and activities that educate the regional community about local farm and food products.
Eligibility requires a current membership in the Pure Catskills buy local campaign, which is made up of include farms, retailers, farmers' markets, restaurants and food-related organizations that support the local food system within Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster Counties.
Up to $5,000 is available to each applicant with a 25% match required. Projects and events of diverse scale and scope will be considered; large production volume or event attendance will not make individual applications more apt to receive funding.
Request for Proposals are available through the Pure Catskills website, www.purecatskills.com. Applicants are strongly encouraged to access application materials online. Grant proposals must be received by April 15, 2010. For more information, contact Challey Comer at ccomer@nycwatershed.org or (607) 865-7090.

Addictive?
Is junk food as addictive as heroin or cigarettes? Previous studies have shown similarities between drug abusers and compulsive eaters, but a new study published in Nature Neuroscience provides evidence that those who are addicted to junk food experience similar cravings as drug addicts, require increasingly larger amounts of food to feel good and even have a harder time quitting.
Paul M. Johnson and Paul J. Kenny of the Scripps Research Institute in Florida gave certain rats food with high-fat content such as candy bars, bacon and cheesecake. These foods triggered the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that acts as a chemical reward system. In order to feel good, the rats came to depend on higher quantities of the junk food - just like drug users who need to increase their intake to get high - because their dopamine receptors were becoming depleted.
Rats that had junk food available to them throughout the day not only became obese, but they also turned into compulsive eaters and would not stop eating even when they knew they would get electric shock. But perhaps the most disturbing finding of the study was that, while it took only two days for the depleted dopamine receptors in rats addicted to cocaine or heroine to return to baseline levels, it took two weeks for the obese rats to return to their normal dopamine levels.
The new study is expected, now, to enter the growing discussion regarding whether or not the government should control the junk food industry in some way? Narcotics are outlawed unless prescribed by a doctor and while alcohol and tobacco are legal, they carry restrictions and are often taxed heavily to deter people from indulging.
Obesity-related health issues cost the U.S. an estimated $150 billion each year, according to a recent study by the Department of Health and Human Services. An estimated two-thirds of American adults and one-third of children are obese or overweight. And some studies suggest that, by 2020, 45% of Americans will be obese.
Stay tuned...
Sign On Up!
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, a partner of the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program is hosting the First Annual "Ashokan Watershed Conference: Floodplain and Stormwater Management for Towns and Landowners" on Saturday, May 1, 2010 from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm at Belleayre Mountain's Overlook Lodge in Big Indian, NY.
The conference will present tools needed for local towns, landowners, and businesses to benefit from good floodplain planning and low impact development.
"Knowing these tools can save time, money and hassle in regulations, fees and property damage while also improving water quality," said Michael Courtney, educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County.
The event will provide a networking and training opportunity for landowners, realtors, town boards, and planning boards, developers, engineering firms, contractors and others. Municipal training credits will be available to town officials with local town approval.
A conference highlight includes speaker Bill Nechamen, the State Floodplain Manager for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, who will lead a workshop on the National Flood Insurance Program: An Introduction to Floodplain Management. Also of particular interest to town officials, a panel of funding agencies will discuss funding opportunities for stream-related projects.
Teresa Rusinek from Cooperative Extension and Mark Masseo of Masseo Landscaping, Inc. will present one of the landowner-oriented workshops titled, "Slow It Down and Soak It In," to demonstrate how raingardens, swales and other landscape designs can help slow and filter stormwater.
For further info, and registration, visit at www.ashokanstreams.org or contact Cornell Cooperative Extension at 688-3047.
Breast Cancer...
Up to a third of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, researchers are saying, renewing a sensitive debate about how lifestyle factors affect the disease.
Better treatments, early diagnosis and mammogram screenings have dramatically slowed breast cancer, but experts said the focus should now shift to changing behaviors like diet and physical activity.
Figures released from the International Agency for Research on Cancer European at a breast cancer conference in Barcelona last month showed that 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women were thinner and exercised more. The agency is part of the World Health Organization.
The new research is in line with recent health advice that lifestyle changes in areas such as smoking, diet, exercise and sun exposure can play a significant role in risk for several cancers.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. In Europe, there were about 421,000 new cases and nearly 90,000 deaths in 2008, the latest available figures. The United States last year saw more than 190,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths.
A woman's lifetime chance of getting breast cancer is about one in eight. Obese women are up to 60 percent more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women, according to a 2006 study by British researchers.
Many breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. So experts suspect that the fatter a woman is, the more estrogen she's likely to produce, which could in turn fuel breast cancer. Even in slim women, experts believe exercise can help reduce the cancer risk by converting more fat into muscle.
The American Cancer Society Web site says the connection between weight and cancer risk is complex. It says risk appears to increase for women who gain weight as adults, but not for women who have been overweight since childhood. The cancer society recommends 45 to 60 minutes of physical activity five or more days a week to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Drinking less alcohol might also help. Experts estimate that having more than a couple of drinks a day can boost the risk of breast cancer by 4 to 10 percent.
After studies several years ago linked hormone-replacement therapy to cancer, millions of women abandoned the treatment, leading to a sharp drop in breast cancer rates. Experts said a similar reduction might be seen if women ate healthier and exercised more.
Meanwhile, the federal Food and Drug Administration announced in February that it would take stringent action to regulate "the most potent forms of medical radiation," particularly those from increasingly popular CT scans, as another means of reducing breast cancer rates.
Cancer Prevention Coalition Chairman Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. commended the FDA for warning that such radiation is unsafe and equivalent to that of about 400 chest X-rays, 0.4 rads (radiation absorbed dose), and "can increase a person's lifetime cancer risk."
However, says Dr. Epstein, "the FDA remains strangely unaware that radiation from routine premenopausal mammography poses significant and cumulative risks of breast cancer."
This warning is contrary to conventional assurances that radiation exposure from mammography is trivial, about 1/1,000 of a rad, and similar to just that from a chest X-ray. However, Dr. Epstein explains, the routine practice of taking two films of each breast results in exposure of about 0.4 rads, focused on the breast rather than on the entire chest.
"Thus, premenopausal women undergoing annual screening over a ten-year period are exposed to a total of at least 4 rads for each breast, at least 8 times greater radiation than FDA's "cancer risk" level," Dr. Epstein calculates, warning, "Such high radiation exposure approximates to that of Japanese women living approximately 1 mile away from the site of the Hiroshima atom bomb explosion."
This alarming information is not new, explains Dr. Epstein. In 1972, the prestigious National Academy of Sciences warned that the overall risks of breast cancer increase by 1% for every single rad exposure. This totals a 10% risk from 10 years annual premenopausal mammography.
A 1993 Swedish study involving 42,000 women showed that those under the age of 55 who received regular premenopausal mammography experienced a 29 percent greater risk of dying from breast cancer.
Real Estate...
Sales of existing single-family homes in the Hudson Valley/Catskill region continued to fluctuate in February, according to the New York State Association of Realtors. In Sullivan County, sales fell by over 23 percent when comparing February 2010 numbers to the same month last year. That was the biggest decline in the region.
Realtors' spokesman Salvatore Prividera, Jr. said February weather added to the somewhat slow sales.
"What we're seeing in some of the data, some of the smaller counties, some of the northern counties are doing a little bit better than, perhaps, the southern part of the Hudson Valley," he said. Prividera also noted the weather in the Hudson valley, with its back-to-back snowstorms, slowed down home sales.
The least expensive homes in the region in February were in Sullivan County, where the median selling price was $95,000. The highest was in Westchester County where the median price was $607,500.
Ulster County seemed in the middle of the trend, with lower than expected sales and a slight dip in year-to-year costs, but still a rise since the fall.
Exonerated!
The first of several British investigations into what was dubbed Climategate last fall, involving e-mails leaked from one of the world's leading climate research centers, has largely vindicated the scientists involved. A similar investigation into the work of a leading U.S. scientist working at Penn State has similarly been cleared, despite continuing cries of foul by dedicated climate change deniers.
The House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee said last week that they'd seen no evidence to support charges that the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit or its director, Phil Jones, had tampered with data or perverted the peer review process to exaggerate the threat of global warming - two of the most serious criticisms levied against the climatologist and his colleagues.
In their report, the committee said that, as far as it was able to ascertain, "the scientific reputation of Professor Jones and CRU remains intact," adding that nothing in the more than 1,000 stolen e-mails, or the controversy kicked up by their publication, challenged scientific consensus that "global warming is happening and that it is induced by human activity."
The e-mails' publication ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit sparked an online furor, with skeptics of man-made climate change calling the e-mails' publication "Climategate" and claiming them as proof that the science behind global warming had been exaggerated - or even made up altogether.
Phil Willis, the committee's chairman, said of the e-mails that "there's no denying that some of them were pretty appalling." But the committee found no evidence of anything beyond "a blunt refusal to share data," adding that the idea that Jones was part of a conspiracy to hide evidence that weakened the case for global warming was clearly wrong.
In a briefing to journalists ahead of the report's release, Willis said the controversy would ultimately help buttress the case for global warming by forcing the University of East Anglia - and other research institutions - to stop hoarding their data.
"The winner in the end will be climate science itself," he said.
Now, to speed up the shifts in energy consumption and retooling of the economy first raised as part of the issue, which we in the Catskills now seem to be ahead of the curve on...
Broader Bands...
Despite the fear put into the Internet world this week by court rulings against the web's unfettered freedom, Ulster County seems poised for increased use of the essential modern tool. County Executive Michael Hein announced this week that he has submitted an application for the Google Fiber for Communities Program, a privately-funded initiative offering to build out an ultra-high-speed (1 gigabit/second) fiber network for one or more communities across the country. Such a network would offer speeds at 100 times faster than the average broadband connections currently available. It would provide a tremendous and unique competitive advantage, in terms of attracting and creating new businesses, to any community that was able to build and offer it.
"High-speed conductivity is essential infrastructure for business activity," Hein said. "As a county that has a rapidly growing high-tech renewable energy manufacturing sector as well as the best city for artists and the coolest small towns in America, we are poised to take full advantage of a network like the one offered by Google Broadband is the backbone of the modern digital economy."
The Google program sought communities of at least 50,000 as applicants. The County Executive made application for some of the most populated area by combining Kingston, Town of Ulster and Saugerties into a regional application. The Ulster County application was matched by applications from community groups including Kingston Digital Corridor, Tech City, The Solar Energy Consortium and What's the Big Idea.com
"This application by Ulster County represents a unified effort to bring a needed service to our local economy. Broadband is the backbone of the modern digital economy. Significant applications from community groups indicate the level of widespread support for this project," said Fred Wadnola, Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature.
Ulster County has also vigorously pursued funding for wireless broadband funding in areas of the County un-served by any service and recognizes that broadband is required for business of today.
Palens Paid
Dean and Deborah Palen, the former county health director and his wife in the news elsewhere in these pages this week, have been paid $142,000 in back pay owed them since their sudden dismissal from county employment last year. County Executive Michael Hein said the payment was money owed to the couple for unused vacation, sick and holiday time.
The county paid $109,115 to Dean Palen, the county's former public health director; and $32,802 to Deborah Palen, Dean's wife and assistant at the Health Department.
Hein called the payouts "outrageous" but said that, under county policy, the county was obligated to pay the money to the pair.
Hein ousted Dean Palen as public health director last June, citing the county charter's requirement that the Health Department be led by a medical doctor. But the next day, county officials discovered more than $33,000 in uncashed checks and unissued permits locked in a safe behind Mrs. Palen's desk.
Hein then called on County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach to conduct an investigation into what the executive called "financial irregularities" in the Health Department, and he froze the "separation pay" to which the two were entitled pending the outcome of that investigation. Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright also conducted an investigation into Dean Palen's oversight of the Health Department.
"I refused to make that payment until the comptroller's report and the district attorney's investigation were complete," Hein said. "It was important to make sure no criminal wrongdoing was found."
Hein said if the county had paid the Palens the money, and then discovered legal wrongdoing, it would have been difficult to recoup the funds.
Auerbach, a Democrat like Hein, ultimately issued a report in which he said the Palens ran the Health Department "as if it were their personal family business." But Carnright, a Republican, found no criminal wrongdoing and characterized Auerbach's report as "highly politicized."
Think Libraries!
It's National Library Week, a time to celebrate the contributions of libraries, librarians and library workers in schools, campuses and communities nationwide.
The Olive Free Library is kicking off National Library Week with an Afternoon Tea at the Library on Saturday April 10th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. All the members of the community are invited.
Libraries are the heart of every community and our library helps our community thrive. At your library, people of all backgrounds come together for community meetings, lectures and programs, to do research with the assistance of a trained professional, to get help finding a job or to find homework help. We have concerts, Book Clubs, Story Hour and lots of other activities for the entire family.
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.
For more information, visit the Olive Free Library, call 657-2482 or see the library's Web site at http://olive.westshokan.lib.ny.us/
Green Design?
Ulster County Women's Network presents "Green Design: How to Design, Organize and Clean Using Recycled and Green Products," Tuesday, April 20.
From "green" paint to a natural window cleaner to free cat litter to yard sale treasures, Cher Laughlin, of Cher Laughlin Design, will demonstrate how to be creative and earth-friendly on a budget at the monthly meeting of the Ulster County Women's Network.
The program will also feature a Spring Women United Cirle ceremony. Members and guests are invited to bring spring flowering branches and stems for the ceremony. Participants in the potluck dinner are encouraged to share food prepared from last year's stored crops: for example, squash, potato, leek, garlic, onion, apple and dried fruits, along with new young greens, ciders and dried herbs. Each dish should include the recipe with the cook's name - and may be submitted to the evening's cooking contest.
UCWN's gathering begins at 6 pm for networking; dinner around 6:30, followed by a short business meeting and the evening's program.
The program will be held at the home of Angel Ortloff, vice president of the Ulster County Women's Network.
For directions and to R.S.V.P., please contact Ulster County Women's Network President Melody Newcombe: 845-688-5472 or melody at melodynewcombe.com.
Onteora Opera!
Onteora Central School District's "Visiting Artists' Series" will be presenting a special performance by internationally-recognized opera singers Maria Todaro (Opera Nacional di Rio di Janeiro), Louis Otey (The Metropolitan Opera), Kerry Henderson (Opera Australia), and special guests Native American composer and musician, Dennis Yerry, and the Onteora High School vocal ensemble, Sounds of Jazz, directed by Krista Cayea, on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 3:00 pm in the MS/HS Harry Simon auditorium in Boiceville.
Concertgoers will be treated to an afternoon of best-loved operatic arias and duets, highlights from Broadway shows and vocal treasures from the world of song.
The concert will serve as a prelude to The Phoenicia Festival of the Voice slated for August 13th-15th on the Parish Field in Phoenicia, a reprise of last summer's successful and hugely popular Opera In The Park event there.
The festival is being organized by Ms. Todaro and Messrs. Otey and Henderson and will promote the human voice as an instrument of healing, peace and artistic expression, through performances of opera, choral music, lieder and sacred song, as well as music theater and the vocal arts of indigenous cultures.
Admission to the concert is free. For further info please visit www.onteora.k12.ny.us.
The Phoenicia PTA is an additional sponsor of the event.