News Briefs 5/21/2009

That Dog Case…
It had seemed destined to be the big court story of the season… County SPCA Director (and County Legislator) Brian Shapiro against an Olivebridge man charged with 18 counts of animal cruelty for raising and keeping Rhodesian Razorbacks in a barn room filled with feces… in a town court room presided over by an Olive judge who’d previously had his objectivity questioned (and sanctioned) by a state Judicial Oversight board.
Court date for 60-year old David Delisio, originally charged in early April, was Wednesday, May 6. Prosecuting attorney was Alyssa Gotfried of the county District Attorney’s office. For the defense in Judge Ronald C. Wright’s courtroom, Paul Shaheen of Kerhonksen.
“Let’s just say that at this point right now we’re discussing things between parties,” Shapiro said this week after a month of insistent press releases alerting the local media to every move Delisio had made to get his dogs back, even after two puppies wandered away late last month and were taken by Olive town authorities to the Woodstock Animal Hospital. “Mr. Delisio has substantially corrected most of the problems we alerted him to. He’s been cooperative and that’s not lost on us… We’re monitoring the situation.”
Everyone’s now planning to head back to Wright’s court on July 1.

Humanist!
Annie Lee Vankleeck, 6 years old of Shokan, was recently announced as an American Human Society Grand Prize winner in her age group, winning $1,000 and an American Humane prize package, for her work “Comforting Pit Bulls.”
“Every chance she gets, Annie tries to help pit bulls,” said her mother, Sharon.
Wanting to do something to help animals, Annie and her family went online to look at their local shelters’ websites. After finding out that Out of the Pits, a nonprofit pit bull rescue in Albany, needed gently used blankets and towels, Annie made it her mission to fulfill that need. She applied for a spot at the town’s annual Olive Day festival, and sat there all day, collecting used blankets and towels. She went to yard sales and persuaded people to donate their blankets, or she bought them. She collected blankets and towels at school. And she is still going strong.
For her upcoming 7th birthday party, she is asking her guests to forego bringing her gifts, and bring towels and blankets for “the doggies” instead. When her mother asked whether she wouldn’t really rather have presents for herself, Annie insisted on donations, saying,
“It’s the only way, mommy,” she said.

Paper Closing?
The Townsman, the Shandaken-based weekly serving the central Catskills and published by the Johnson Newspaper Corporation, is rumored to be publishing it’s last issue.
The news has proven difficult to confirm. Phones calls and e-mails to Editor J. Blake Killin went unreturned this week, as did calls to Publisher Roger F. Coleman. Even local newspaper legend and Mount Tremper resident Marian Umhey, who founded the paper in 1953, owned it until the mid 1990’s, and continues to write her popular “Marian’s Memos” column, was uncertain as of press time as to the fate of her “baby.”
“I’ve heard talk, but nothing official,” she said Tuesday.
And yet members of the Olive Town Board said this week that Killin had told them, in no uncertain terms at a recent town board meeting, that he would be done this month. One official said that he had been told by Killen that a Johnson Newspaper Corp. direct mail request for subscribers had come back with only two certain yeses.
Johnson Newspaper Corp. publishes several papers, including the Mountain Eagle and the Windham Journal, both of which serve greater Hunter/Windham area. It has owned the Townsman, once the official newspaper of the county and many local towns, for over a decade.

Missing Max
At 7:10 AM on May 14th, a 911 emergency call was received concerning an incident at the Ashokan Reservoir. A New York City Department of Environmental Protection Information officer, reached in Flushing, NY, after a referral from the DEP police in Olivebridge, could only say that it was an apparent suicide and it was under investigation. That was the response to all further questions; “It’s under investigation.” That’s standard protocol.
In Olive, word spread more quickly. Boiceville, Onteora Central School was under lockdown, and grief counseling was made available. A student had died.
Elias Hiller, born in Kingston on Sep. 18, 1992 and known to his friends by his middle name Max, had jumped to his death.
“Max was one of the nicest kids that I knew,” said David Padusnak, one of Max’s closest friends. “I’m shocked. I had no idea. No clue. He seemed a lot happier recently.”
“He was an awesome, awesome kid. Really sweet, really wonderful kid,” said Onteora teacher David Nelsen-Epstein, who has been involved with the school’s INDIE program, teaching film history and television production. He added that Max, regardless of anything that may have troubled him remained enthusiastic about film and that some of his work can be seen in the rotation of student videos on Onteora’s educational cable channel 20.
Bound by strict confidentiality rules regarding minors, there was little Nelsen-Epstein could add but Padusnak, who participated in the school’s Vision 21 media program with Max, noted that “(Max) just came up with great ideas all the time and made a bunch of movies, editing everything. He was really fun and he loved making movies.”
Noting that there was already a memorial display devoted to Hiller on the walls at school, Padusnak said that his friend also played a lot of online video games.
:”He didn’t get out much,” David said. “He spent almost all of his time on the computer.”
There is no formal public service and the family requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to Ulster County SPCA, 20 Wiedy Road, Kingston, NY 12401 to commemorate Max’s love for the family’s big Newfoundland dog, Kenny, the cat, chinchilla, and animals everywhere.

New Bids...
A compromise has been worked out with Marshall & Sterling, insurers of the landfill building which collapsed under heavy snow in 2007, Olive supervisor Brendt Leifeld has advised. A new call for contracting bids to build a structure the same size as the old one, using the original pilings as foundation. Plans for a slightly larger structure were scrapped in the agreement.
“Contractors usually wait until just before the scheduled opening to get their bids in,” said Leifeld.
The scheduled openings of bids is June 5th.

Illegally Shot
In April. Environmental Conservation Police received a call about an injured bear in the Boiceville area, Town of Olive. State Environmental Conservation officers found a 300 lb. large male bear crippled at an address on Bradkin Road. Investigation revealed the bear had been shot while in a nearby yard by Thomas Vanleuvan of 65 Traver Hollow Road, Boiceville. Vanleuvan shot the bear the previous evening with a .308 caliber rifle while it was in his front yard and the bear then crawled to the neighbor’s home where it was found the following morning, and dispatched by NYS Environmental Conservation Police Officer Gillis. Vanleuvan claimed the bear was after his trash. He was charged with taking a black bear during the closed season, a misdemeanor. The case is scheduled for the Town of Olive Court in June 2009.

Bat Disease...
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand have written to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him to provide immediate, emergency funding and resources for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey to tackle White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a growing ecological crisis that has devastated bat populations across Upstate New York and the entire Northeast. Since the first case of WNS was reported in 2006, over one million bats have been killed. This issue has profound public health, environmental, and economic implications: Bats are beneficial animals, keeping populations of insects like mosquitoes, moths, and beetles in check and reducing the need for pesticides, which cost farmers billions of dollars every year and are dangerous to human health. They are also critically important as pollinators. Without immediate action, several bat species within the United States may face extinction.
White-Nose Syndrome has been found in Ulster County, as well as Clinton, Essex, Warren, Washington, Hamilton, Lewis, Jefferson, Columbia, Putnam, Albany, Schoharie, Montgomery, Sullivan, and Onondaga. Counties
“The bat population in New York is declining at an alarming rate and putting our ecosystem at risk,” said Senator Gillibrand. “More research is critical to help protect the bat population, which is vital to the food chain and to our farmers, who rely on bats to reduce pesticide use.”
The first case of White Nose Syndrome was reported in the winter of 2006 in Howes Cave, in Schoharie County. Scientists working for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation observed hibernating bats with a previously unidentified white fungus on their noses and bodies.

More Campers!
It might be the economy, or perhaps fuel prices, or even the lure of the region or all of the above, but one thing is for sure. There will be more visitors to the Catskills this summer… and not just from Mountain Jam (see below). The State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced an increase in reservations for campsite space statewide, both in number of campers and length of stay planned.
And while reservations are up about seven percent across the empire state, some local sites are seeing huge increases.
Lori Severino, a DEC spokesperson, said this week that the campsite in Woodland Valley, which had 242 reservations at this point last year, has 312 this year. And those reservations last year were for 591 nights. This year’s reservations are for 821 nights.
In the Catskills, the state operates seven campsites… besides Woodland Valley in Phoenicia there are Beaverkill in Roscoe, Mongaup Pond in Livingston Manor, Kenneth Wilson in Wittenberg, North/South Lake in Haines Falls, Devil’s Tombstone in Hunter and Little Pond in Hardenburgh. Bear Spring Mountain, a campsite in Downsville, will not be open this year, the victim of budget cuts.
“These reservation numbers indicate New York campgrounds have strong appeal to New York families and visitors in tough economic times,” said Carol Ash, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation “Whether they’re providing families with an inexpensive vacation option, helping parents connect their children to nature, or simply offering a comfortable cabin for a rustic getaway, New York’s campgrounds offer wonderful opportunities for escape and exploration.”
More than 100,000 reservations have been booked at state campgrounds, with advance reservations at campgrounds operated by the DEC and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) up 5.2 percent and the number of nights reserved at the properties up 7 percent over last year.

CasiNO… Yes?
Gov. David Paterson has asked U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to approve placing land in trust so the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Band of Mohican Indians can build casinos in the Sullivan County town of Thompson. In a letter to Salazar, the governor asked the secretary to revisit and withdraw the January 2008 “misguided policy” of former Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, which refused to allow land in trust for a total of 30 pending casino applications from Indian tribes around the country.
Stockbridge-Munsee President Robert Chicks said his tribe looks forward to working with the governor to win approval for Indian gaming resorts in the Catskills.
In the fall of 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the state Legislature and then-Gov. George Pataki approved legislation allowing up to three casinos in Ulster and Sullivan counties as a way to help the state’s struggling economy. Nearly eight years later, though, no casino proposals have come to fruition.
Attempts to get a casino in Ulster County came to naught after questionable closed-door negotiations, a round of local referendums against their placement, and more recently a push to have the former Woodstock ’94 site in Saugerties opened up for casino development.
Meanwhile, a recently planned Senecas tribe signing of a casino mitigation agreement in Monticello did not happen due to weather, even though officials are saying , a huge $1.3 billion casino project could, if everything falls into place, break ground yet this year with the help of RotateBlack.

Election Bills?
The Ulster County Legislature has defeated, 15-14, the latest attempt to establish a formula for assessing localities for election services provided by the county Board of Elections. A committee consisting of representatives of the county’s 20 towns and the city of Kingston returned a recommendation to the Legislature for chargebacks starting in 2010. The committee’s recommendation was designed to “maximize the utilization of actual billable costs per municipality, while at the same time utilizing multiple allocation formulas.” The panel also saw the potential for cost savings “by rewarding efficiencies, such as consolidating polling sites.”
That made sense to Democratic Legislator Gary Bischoff of Saugerties. “Every taxpayer in Ulster County is paying, whether they are paying on the tax bill or their county bills,” he said. “This is the fairest way that we could distribute it uniformly and evenly throughout the county. We got buy-in from the supervisors of the association, from the three supervisors that were on this group.”
But another Democrat, Richard Parete of Accord called the plan an unfunded mandate.
“We are asking the towns to pay for a portion of the election costs, and the towns have no say,” Parete said. “They have no say in the staffing levels. They have no say in the salaries.”
Parete and Mary Sheeley and Joseph Stoeckeler of Ellenville were the opposing Democrats. Republicans were unanimous in their opposition.

Up At Belleayre
Belleayre Mountain is promising all visitors an event-filled Memorial Day Weekend beginning Saturday, May 23 when their First Annual Splash-Into-Summer Extravaganza kicks off the season at Belleayre Beach with a Kayak Regatta at 10am. After the kayak race, children’s crafts and games will highlight the opening day of the waterfront and swimming will be available all weekend. A Mountain Bike Drag race sponsored by Catskill Outback Adventures will then follow beginning at the Overlook Lodge at 12pm. Beginning at 3pm the first ever Memorial Day Rail Jam will conclude the Belleayre Triple Crown Event with prizes and music by DJ Wavy Davy accompanying a BBQ held at the Overlook Lounge and Deck. At the same time, Belleayre has also announced its summer music fest line-up, all geared to accentuate the mountain’s new theme, “Good Times.” Among the headliners will be the Original Wailers, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, and Abba The Tour. This year1s opera Die Fledermaus, even has a comic theme. The season kicks off on Saturday, July 4 at 8 p.m. with a rousing free show of patriotic tunes by the West Point Band Jazz Knights and continue July 11 with Michael Feinstein, considered by many the cabaret act of our times. For additional information, please call 800 942-6904, ext. 1344 or visit: www.belleayremusic.org. For more on the beach, visit www.belleayre.com.

Better Health?
Going back to school may belong on your to-do list for good health, because better health tends to go along with more education, a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America says. The commission analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and CDC surveys conducted from 2005 to 2007, in which more than 174,000 U.S. adults 25-74 rated their own health as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. Overall, 45% of participants reported their health as being less than very good. But education was a tipping point. The more education people had, the more likely they were to report better health, regardless of race or ethnicity.
That difference didn’t just show up when the commission compared people with the fewest and most years of schooling. Even a few years of education made a difference. For instance, high school graduates were nearly twice as likely as college graduates to report being in less than very good health.
“Education is a marker for an array of opportunities and resources that can lead people to better or worse health,” David Williams, PhD, the commission’s staff director, said in a news conference. “For instance, poor education can lead to limited job options, lower incomes, and greater work-related stress. Down the road, that can limit a family’s chances to live in a healthy home and neighborhood, increasing their exposure to harmful conditions and further emotional stresses that can lead to illness.”
In contrast, “better-educated people are more likely to have jobs that provide health insurance coverage, to be more knowledgeable about their health, and to have more time to attend to their health,” Williams says. “We cannot separate education from health. A good education can lay the foundation for a healthy life.”

Flu News… While Swine Flu continues to grip people’s fears, especially since its first victim, an assistant principal, was claimed in New York City last week, we’ve recently learned an equally scary fact… that former Bush-era Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is a key owner of the Tamiflu vaccine and built his personal fortune on a series of panics stretching back to the mid 1970’s. The Government has stockpiled two billion dollars worth of Tamiflu, the drug developed a decade back by Gilead, of which Rumsfeld was the CEO. Earlier, the current Secretary of Defense successfully marketed aspartame, a suspected carcinogen, as “Nutrasweet.” Before that, he exploited scare tactics on an earlier outbreak of swine flu, to the extent that President Ford ordered massive inoculations in 1976. When fifty people died from the drug he was proffering, however, its administration was suspended.

Wood Heat?
On Thursday, May 21, a Wood Energy Specialist from Richmond, Vermont, is set to visit the Onteora Middle/High School board room in Boiceville to present the results of a preliminary biomass heating analysis conducted for the Onteora Middle/High School. The study examined the potential for converting a majority of the school’s primary heat load to come from locally produced biomass energy in the form of green wood chips or wood pellets. Estimates suggest that installing a centralized wood chip heating system to service both the Bennett Elementary School and the high school could save the district more than $8 million in operating costs over the lifetime of the system and more than $188,000 in fuel savings in the first year alone.
The specialist stated that good candidate facilities for biomass energy systems include those that have high heating bills, steam or hot water heating distribution systems and ready access to reasonably priced biomass fuel. Currently, over 35 schools in Vermont are heated with renewable biomass at an average cost savings of 53% over conventional heating fuels and a total reduction of CO2 emissions by 12,382 tons.
The middle and senior high school facilities in the Cairo-Durham and Onteora districts were among five regional facilities in three counties selected to be part of the feasibility study through the Watershed Agricultural Council. In addition to the local schools, Catskill Craftsmen, O’Connor Hospital and South Kortright Central School, all in Delaware County, will be included in the study.
For more information on the project, contact Collin Miller at (607) 865-7790 or visit www.nycwatershed.org.

Trail Mixer…
The Hurley Rail Trail Committee is holding a “Trail Mixer” to honor National Trails Day and this year’s Quadricentennial commemorating Henry Hudson’s 1609 journey up the Hudson River on Saturday, June 6 from 9 am to 1 pm. Amid kids and other Meet & Greet activities will be a demonstration of the new Quadricentennial Geocaching Challenge. The Hurley Rail Trail is part of the D&H Heritage Corridor along the former O&W Railroad, and is planned to eventually hook up with a proposed rail trail into the Catskills along the Ulster and Delaware rail lines (see front page story). Check www.hurleyrailtrail.blogspot.com or www.townofhurley.org for more info.

Drug Law Shifts
The Office of Ulster County Public Defender Andrew Kossover is cosponsoring with the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the SUNY New Paltz Center for Research, Regional Education, and Outreach, a seminar for attorneys on the recently enacted Rockefeller Drug Law Reforms. The program will be held at the State University of New York at New Paltz on Friday, May 29, 2009 beginning at 12:00 noon. Alan Rosenthal, Co-Director of Justice Strategies, Center of Community Alternative from Syracuse, will speak on the Rockefeller Drug Law legislation. Ray Kelly, former President of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, will add an ethics component based on new ethics regulations applicable to all attorneys, and Ulster County Assistant Public Defender Russell Schindler will discuss the trial of a drug case. For further information, please call (212) 532-4434.
The so-called Rockefeller Drug Laws, in effect since the 1970s and resulting in overcrowding of New York prisons due to drug crimes being treated on the same level as violent crimes, was shifted as part of the recent budget overhaul by Governor Paterson and the state legislature.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting “a war on drugs,” a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use. In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said last week that the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation’s drug issues.
“Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them,” he said. “We’re not at war with people in this country.”
Kerlikowske’s comments are a signal that the Obama administration is set to follow a more moderate - and likely more controversial - stance on the nation’s drug problems. Prior administrations talked about pushing treatment and reducing demand while continuing to focus primarily on a tough criminal-justice approach. The Obama administration is likely to deal with drugs as a matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone, with treatment’s role growing relative to incarceration.
Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports legalization of medical marijuana, said he is “cautiously optimistic” about Kerlikowske. “The analogy we have is this is like turning around an ocean liner,” he said. “What’s important is the damn thing is beginning to turn.”
Meanwhile, recent polls suggest increased support for decriminalizing and taxing the drug as a means of dealing with rising deficits… similar to FDR’s New Deal repeal of Prohibition. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said it was time to debate the issue, and a new nationwide poll suggests a majority of voters favor decriminalizing the drug.
The Massachusetts state legislature is also set to consider a bill to tax and regulate the sale and trade of marijuana. Last year, voters there approved an initiative to reduce the punishment for possession of small amounts of marijuana to a $100 civil citation.

Clean Energy…
On May 28, the local Ulster County Council of MoveOn is organizing a Clean Energy Jobs Day that will feature a tour of local green manufacturers and businesses. The day will begin at 10 AM at Hudson Valley Clean Energy, 13 Hook Rd, Rhinebeck, a full service solar electric, solar hot water and geothermal installer serving the region. There will be a tour of the facility and a short presentation. The next stop is Prism Solar’s new manufacturing facility, 180 South Street, Highland at 1 PM. Prism Solar utilizes holographic technology that improves solar collection efficency. The event is free and open to the public. For more info call 255-0179, or e-mail ulstermoveon@gmail.com.
As climate change and clean energy bills have started to move towards, and eventually through Congress this year, a surge in oil, gas and coal industry lobbying against Democratic leadership on “cap and trade” legislation has become apparent, with America’s oil, gas and coal industry increasing its lobbying budget by 50%, with key players spending $44.5m in the first three months of this year in an intense effort to cut off support for Barack Obama’s plan to build a clean energy economy. The spoiler campaign runs to hundreds of millions of dollars and involves industry front groups, lobbying firms, television, print and radio advertising, and donations to pivotal members of Congress. Its intention is to water down or kill off plans by the Democratic leadership to pass “cap and trade” legislation this year, which would place limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
A defeat for the bill, its proponents are saying, would have global consequences. The international community is depending on America, as the world’s biggest per capita polluter, to set out a firm plan for getting off dirty fuels in the months before crucial UN negotiations in Copenhagen in December. Without such action, the chances of getting a deal that scientists say is vital to limiting dangerous climate change are much reduced.
Recent studies have started to demonstrate that the world will overshoot its long-term target on greenhouse gas emissions within two decades. It is the first time scientists have calculated accurately the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be released into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2050 and still have a reasonable chance of avoiding temperature rises higher than 2C above pre-industrial levels - widely viewed as a “safe” threshold.
The study concluded that the world must agree on a cut in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 50 percent by 2050 if the probability of exceeding a 2C rise in average temperatures is to be limited to a risk of 1 in 4.
A key global conference on oceans opened recently in Indonesia with a warning that climate change will accelerate the destruction of already precious marine resources.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted in 2007 that sea levels may rise by up to 59 centimetres (23 inches) by the end of the century, drowning low-lying island nations. That prediction now calls for a 10 inch ocean rise within the next 30 years. Scientists also say rising temperatures and over-fishing could lead to the collapse of key species that feed millions and help preserve key ecosystems.
Meanwhile, a Green Roof Workshop with Paul Mankiewicz will take place May 29, from 9 a.m. - 4 pm, at Seven21 Media Center, 721 Broadway, Kingston, New York. The class is a project of Sustainable Hudson Valley with Seven21, the Kingston Green Trail Alliance, and the Second Chance Project, to bring the first of many green, vegetated roofs to cool and beautify midtown Kingston’s neighborhoods while saving energy and putting people to work. Please pre-register by May 26 by calling Melissa Everett at 845-384-1189 or emailing melissae@earthlink.net.

Who’s Happy?
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says people in Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are the most content with their lives. The three ranked first, second and third, respectively, in the OECD’s rankings of “life satisfaction,” or happiness.
There are myriad reasons, of course, for happiness: health, welfare, prosperity, leisure time, strong family, social connections and so on. But there is another common denominator among this group of happy people: Northern Europeans pay some of the highest taxes in the world. Danes pay about two-thirds of their income in taxes. Why be so happy about that? It all comes down to what you get in return.
The Encyclopedia of the Nations notes that Denmark was one of the first countries in the world to establish efficient social services with the introduction of relief for the sick, unemployed and aged. It says social welfare programs include health insurance, health and hospital services, insurance for occupational injuries, unemployment insurance and employment exchange services. There’s also old age and disability pensions, rehabilitation and nursing homes, family welfare subsidies, general public welfare and payments for military accidents. Moreover, maternity benefits are payable up to 52 weeks.
The U.S. ranked 11th on the OECD list. In addition to the top three, we were beat out by Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Norway. To be sure, we were ahead of France, Great Britain, Japan and China, among many others.
With the highest gross domestic product in the world, we are the richest country. On a per capita basis, though, we don’t even make the top 10. The U.S. ranks 15th in this category, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, another new report is showing that Americans grow happier as they age, surveys find. And a new Pew Research Center survey shows the tendency is holding up as the economy tanks.
Past studies have found that happiness is partly inherited, that Republicans are happier than Democrats, and that old men tend to be happier than old women. And even before the economy got nasty, seniors were found to be generally happier than Baby Boomers. Some of that owes to the American Dream being lived by past generations, while Boomers work two jobs and watch the dream wither.
Why? Many people 65 and older retired and downsized their lifestyles before the economy imploded, according to Pew analysts. Most aren’t raising kids and many are not so worried about being laid off. Loss of income can be, of course, a source of stress and displeasure. (While money doesn’t buy happiness, a study in February showed cash can help, especially when people use it to do stuff instead of buy things.)
If you’re thinking that Republicans are happy just because they perhaps make more money, that does not seem to be the case. The study that found Republicans to be happier than Democrats also showed that it held true even after adjusting for income.
Now for the good news: A study in January found that key groups of people in the United States have grown happier over the past few decades, while other have become less so. The result: Happiness inequality has decreased since the 1970s. Americans are becoming more similar to each other on the happiness scale.

Orientations…
The Onteora Guidance Department will be hosting Middle and High School orientation meetings for parents this coming week. The High School meeting will be held on May 28 at 6:30 p.m. in room #121A. Topics will include course offerings, graduation requirements and tips for High School success. The Middle School meeting is on June 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Library. Topics covered will include transition planning, course requirements and activities available at the Middle School.

Lost Hikers...
Two men in their 50s who went hiking on Slide Mountain and became lost, were found safe and sound early Sunday morning, State Police reported last week. The two starting hiking around 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 9 and were expected to return home around 5 p.m. When they didn’t get to their homes in Hopewell Junction by late Saturday night, they were reported missing by the wife of one of the men. State forest rangers and Shandaken Police were called in for assistance. Two teams of searchers followed trails through the rugged terrain before locating the men around 4:30 a.m., several miles off the trail for which they had signed up. The men were cold, tired and had minor injuries from the hiking ordeal, but both refused medical attention.

Raingardens?
Did you know that over 15,000 gallons of storm water has been recharged at the Town of Ulster Town Hall rain garden since its installation in the spring of 2008? Rain gardens are designed to capture and filter storm water run off from the roofs of buildings that can other wise cause flooding and erosion. The water is routed into the rain garden which includes specific native plants.
Learn more about rain gardens at the workshop “What’s a Rain Garden,” hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension Ulster County’s Horticulture Educator, Teresa Rusinek. Rusinek will shed light on the functions of rain gardens, the types of plants used, site selection and design. She will also share some great success stories of the rain garden built at the Town of Ulster Town Hall.
The workshop will be held on Wednesday, May 27 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the Ellenville Public Library and Museum located at 40 Center Street (Rt. 54W off of Rt. 209) in Ellenville.
If you would like more information about this workshop or want to attend, call 340-3990 or 647-5530.

Walked A Lot!
The Triple Cities Hiking Club (TCHC) of the Binghamton, Johnson City, Endicott Broome County area recently hosted the 2009 Spring Outing for The Finger Lakes Trail Conference, Inc. at the Frost Valley YMCA over the May 8, 9, & 10th, weekend.The event was attended by 140 members of the various hiking clubs with members coming from Buffalo, Rochester,Corning, Cuba, Bath, Watkins Glen, Ithaca, the Binghamton area, Norwich, and many other small towns across the state of New York. Hikes covered the Claryville/Slide Mountain area all weekend, and outside events included a Mother’s Day Pancake Breakfast at the Claryville Fire House. Everyone reports that the weather was great… and thanked the region for that and the terrain.

Trike-A-Thon
A St. Jude Trike-A-Thon event will take place the week of May 25th at the Windy Ridge Pre-School. The event will help teach children riding-toy safety while raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the premier center for the research and treatment of childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. The surrounding community can sponsor children in the Trike-A-Thon by pledging an amount-per-lap the kids ride or a one-time donation.
“St. Jude is the leader in the fight against catastrophic childhood diseases such as leukemia, brain tumors and sickle cell disease,” said Mary Garraffa, coordinator of the event. “Through events like this Trike-A-Thon, we will be supporting the St. Jude mission of finding cures and saving children across the country and around the world.”
Trike-A-Thon participants will learn riding-toy safety lessons through a series of interactive stories. At the end of the week, children will bring their trikes or riding-toys to school and practice the safety lessons they have learned. Throughout the week participants will get to listen to the Trike-A-Thon theme song written by children’s band Hot Peas ‘N Butter, “Different Spokes for Different Folks.”
If you would like to sponsor a child or make a donation to this worthwhile cause, please contact Mary Garraffa or Jenny Bella at the Windy Ridge Pre-School, (688-7631).