News Briefs 7/3/2008

Quiet Board
The Olive Town Board is chatting it up with a variety of letters coming and going to all points on the compass.
A letter to Olive Town Supervisor Berndt Liefeld from the NY Real Property Board acknowledged receipt of the Town Board’s grievance and challenge of the Office of Real Property Service valuation of $490 million for the Ashokan Reservoir, which triggered designation of the reservoir as a Large Parcel for the year 2008. The unexpected designation could mean steep tax hikes for Olive under the optional so called Large Parcel Law. The statute as written allows for the removal of the Ashokan Reservoir property tax revenues from Town of Olive coffers for redistribution to the other members of either the school district or the rest of the towns in the county if designated by ORPS and enacted by either the school district or the county legislature.
According to Bill Cook, Olive assessor, “If the valuation was $525 million or higher then Olive would not meet the Large Parcel designation criteria. We were very surprised given the agreement reached by Olive and NYC setting the value at $550 million.”
A letter from David Hacker of Hacker and Murphy, Attorneys at Law brought welcome news that NYC has signed the reservoir assessment agreement and it is now in the hands of the judge. A speedy conclusion is expected.
NY Senator Bonacic replied to the Town Board’s letter expressing concern and opposition to the newly proposed NYSDEC open burning ban and he said he supports the position of the Town and individual property rights.
Assemblyman Kevin Cahill responded to the board’s inquiry as to what can be done about the recurring Large Parcel problem. He states in his letter of reply to the Town Board that “I have made a note of your position and I thank you for taking the time to share them…pitting community against community is not the answer.” Assemblyman Cahill has declined to sponsor an amendment in the NY Legislature to restore the Home Rule provision that NY Legislators were told was a feature of the law. Senator Bonacic has put forth an amendment to remove the Large Parcel law from school district purview but Bonacics’ proposed bill leaves the optional county enactment intact. Audience members speculated as to whether Bonacic’s proposed bill is an election year ploy.
A letter from OCSD Superintendent Leslie Ford thanked the Town Board and Highway Superintendent Fugel for the loan and transport of a voting machine during the school election.
Judith Boggess reported that the fall senior art class is full at 20 students and that the spring class is still roaming and painting at large. An art show during August is planned at the library with an opening reception to be announced.
Resolution 10 authorizes Supervisor Liefeld to apply for the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Route 28 scenic byway improvement grant amounting to $43,000. Councilwoman Helen Chase is working on the plans for the Shokan Roadside Picnic Park to be located across from Mountain Rd. near the old rail station.
Resolution 11 authorizes Supervisor Liefeld to enter into an agreement with NYCDEP to codify the Boiceville Sewage plant Maintenance and Operations agreement. Liefeld said “This is the most important document in the whole project. We will live with this for a long time.” Councilman Rank observed that “the projected yearly budget for the plant will be approximately in the $275,000 to $300,000 range.
Bid specs for the Transfer Station roof construction are being drawn up and Supervisor Liefeld asked that qualified Olive based builders review and bid on the project when the plans are completed.
Olive Town Clerk Sylvia Rozzelle reported that zero marriage licenses have been issued in Olive thus far in 2008. The usual number is about 25 to 35 per year. Rozelle said “I am totally amazed. People cannot afford to get married!”
David Edinger of West Shokan volunteered to maintain the town website. He said “ I’m going to work on consistency and removing the dead links. I want to build up the Olive rec part.”
Councilman Bruce Lamonda discussed the upcoming July 19th meeting of Olive residents to discuss the Tompkins County Relocalization Project which seeks solutions to the new energy and financial realities. Communities around the world are now engaging in re-localization plans to help create neighborhood based solutions to the stresses of the huge increases in food, heating, transportation and housing costs. The meeting will be at 10am, July 19th at the Ashokan Center campus on Beaverkill Rd. A wood-fired pizza brunch is planned for the gathering.
On cell phone matters, Verizon is busy installing the electronic equipment sheds at the South Mountain tower and service is expected to commence soon. AT&T corp. has requested permit info for the placement of one of their antennas on the tower as well.
The meeting was adjourned in memory of Hazel Haver, John McCole, Olive Merrihew, Nan M. Owitz, Olive Rose and Evan Wisniewski.

In The Clear
Ken Pasternak, a partner in the Crossroads Ventures effort to build the Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park, celebrated recently when U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano cleared the Fleischmanns native of all charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pisano ruled that the SEC failed to prove its fraud case against Pasternak, the former Knight Trading Group chief executive, and another former executive.
The SEC had alleged in the case, originally filed in 2005, that Pasternak and others at Knight engaged in a scheme designed to conceal from their institutional customers the manner in which they were working their orders in 1999 and in 2000. As a result, Knight failed to provide the best execution for its clients, and the company and the defendants received profits that far exceeded the industry norm, the SEC said.
“I am grateful to finally have been vindicated so completely,” Pasternak said in a prepared statement. “I am looking forward to returning the total of my focus to reengaging in the industry with my reputation fully restored.”
According to published reports the verdict came after a 14 day bench trial.
”It was gratifying to hear the judge confirm that the SEC did not have a case against me,” said Pasternak.
Crossroads managing partner Dean Gitter said that it would have been easier and far less costly for Pasternak to have just settled the case out of court to make it go away. “But our system is supposed to be predicated on a concept of innocent until proven guilty and this just goes to show that making charges is one thing and proving them is another,” Gitter said in a story announcing his backer’s win.
Knight itself paid $79 million to settle the case.

Flood Controls?
The House Appropriations Committee has approved funding for flood control projects in the upper Delaware, Esopus and Rondout watersheds The committee cleared $835,000 for the continuation of a flood mitigation study in the Upper Delaware River Watershed for the development of a flood alert system for the entire region. House Members Maurice Hinchey and John Hall secured $600,000 with Hinchey also winning approval for $235,000 for the Delaware River Enhanced Flood Warning system.
“Repeated and devastating flooding over the last several years has made it clear that serious flood control is a high priority,” said Hall. “This study is going to help determine the best ways to protect communities from destructive floods.”
Both measures must still pass through other legislative steps and the funding may also face a challenge from President Bush who has said he opposes such projects.
The Appropriations Committee also approved $250,000 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a feasibility study of flood prevention work along the Esopus, Wallkill and Rondout creeks. Hinchey requested that money, as well.
Last year Hinchey obtained the authority of the Army Corps to engage in long-term activities within the Esopus and Rondout basins that would repair damage caused by continuous flooding, mitigate against future flooding and remove sediment accumulated in portions of the lower Esopus in the towns of Hurley and Ulster. The authorization also allows the Corps to conduct other projects with economic benefits for communities in the watersheds such as relocating the navigable channel in the lower Rondout in downtown Kingston, allowing for marina construction and clearing the way for further economic activity on the waterfront.

Natural Gas…
The subject of private residents selling natural gas drilling rights on their property drew hundreds to a pair of educational forums last week, with a June 27 session deemed so crowded, in advance, that it had to be moved to Sullivan County’s Liberty High School auditorium to accommodate the anticipated large crowd, which turned out to number over 500.
Sullivan County Legislator Jodi Goodman had asked the county planning department to conduct the session to educate residents about all of the pros and cons of selling natural gas drilling rights, which has come back onto the horizon in parts of the Catskills.
She said it is not just a drilling issue. There are a number of questions.
“It has to do with neighboring properties; it has to do with value of the property that is having the drill site. What would that value do to the neighboring person and their taxes? Can you be robbing the neighboring person of their gas when you drill down and then you go horizontal? Can you truck out on roads with this contaminated water when it spills?”
Gas prospecting companies have been signing up property owners along the Delaware River.
Thursday night, June 27, some 300 people showed up in Walton for a panel discussion on natural gas drilling. They heard a member of the Western Colorado Congress and Grand Valley Citizens’ Alliance talk about whether the economic benefits of leasing natural gas drilling rights outweighs the negative impact.
“Yes, there will be some people who will make a lot of money from this industry, but, look at the people and the ways that your community is negatively impacted, and make sure that you’ve done everything you can to mitigate those things, so that everybody is a winner,” came the answer.
Sullivan County Commissioner of Planning and Environmental Management, William Pammer, noted that based on statistics and experiences elsewhere, the high volume of Class 1 and 2 roads in Western Sullivan County areas where drilling would occur, could factor into a huge impact on infrastructure costs. Expect an “80 percent degradation” warned Pammer.
Another panelist noted that while some property owners have done well, financially, with the leases, there is no guarantee a well will be productive, or will remain productive for an extended period.
When at one point in the program, the audience was asked for a show of hands on how many had actually signed leases, only one hand went up.
Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director William Janeway assumes the pressure will mount to change that number quickly.
“With the energy issues being what they are now, it is likely this issue will continue,” he said. “We are focusing on making sure that any extraction that does occur is done in compliance with all environmental conservation laws.”
The Catskills and the Delaware River Valley sit on top of Marcellus Shale, which oil insiders are seeing as an upcoming boon area for energy exploration. IN this region, it includes possible drilling sites in the Delaware River area, stretching north into the western and northern edges of the central Catskills.
Stay tuned… and vigilant.

Route 28 Trains?
A June 25 meeting of the Central Catskills Collaborative set to get the ball rolling for possible designation of Route 28 as a Scenic Byway in the coming years raised a lot of questions and some vague answers, as well as a state official’s admission that state and federal entities are starting to look at the region’s long-dormant rail corridor for a possible revival in light of the world’s changing energy needs.
NYS Deputy Secretary of State Robert Elliott spoke about byways being one of several mechanisms for getting municipalities to work together, a process that’s being increasingly supported by new grant monies on a state basis. He said just as many say towns do better when they get their town , planning and zoning boards all into one room to share concerns, so regions do better when all such entities start looking at shared problems, and resources, on a joint basis.
After listing a handful of grants currently available to local towns, Elliott spoke about New York’s current push beyond simple employment towards quality of life jobs, and an emphasis on supporting small businesses. And coming up with development ideas from within the community itself.
“What you really want to sell is your sustainability,” he said. “You are a recognizable region… Instead of fighting against things, you need to start fighting for what you want.”
NYC Department of Environmental Conservation official Bill Rudge followed with an information session on scenic byways, noting that money was available within the DEC should the local towns want to pursue such designation. He pointed out how a number of towns in Southern Ulster county had formed a Shawangunks Byway, as had communities along the Delaware River. Hunter was doing the same… there was plenty of precedent.
But did such designation mean a new web of regulations, folks asked? Some brought up past uses of the scenic moniker to fight unwanted development. Others talked about local antipathy towards the idea.
Rudge said designations did not incur regulations. But later he and others acknowledged that actual designations are made based on the creation of corridor management plans judged competitively, and that viable means of such management to ensure, say, a Route 28 scenic byway not becoming lined with self-storage units often involved regulation. Or at least means of avoiding such problems.
Others spoke about ways in which some areas, such as Route 28 farther north in the Adirondacks, created patchworks of regulated and unregulated sections, since the road ran through the middle of business communities there.
“All this is is a vision, but it has to be drawn up at a local level,” said Catskill Center Planner Peter Manning, who chaired the recent session at his organization’s offices in Arkville. “It’s another tool, another shared project to look at. Education will be key…”
“Just the initiation of a byway dialogue can have impacts,” added DEC Regional Director Willi Janeway, noting the importance of single regional voices in bringing funding to areas like the 28 corridor.
Everyone agreed to continue the talks and move the Scenic Byway idea ahead.
Later, talk about progress with the resuscitation of local railroad corridors, and rail trails, yielded further commentary from Elliott when asked what the state was thinking about trains these days, given the rising cost of gas.
“Remember, the whole rail trail idea goes back to the creation of national security corridors during the Eisenhower era,” he said, noting how the nation’s old rail lines were to be preserved, as at least real estate, for possible renewal in the event of an eventual disaster. “There are lots of studies now involving mass transit, but also lots of questions where funding would come from to bring it back.”
The news brought quiet smiles to most faces. But then the old worry lines of concern.

New At CCCD
After a nationwide search, Lisa Rainwater has been named the new Executive Director of the Arkville-based regional nonprofit, The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. Formerly the Policy Director at Riverkeeper in Tarrytown, Rainwater will be introduced to members of the organization at The Catskill Center Annual Meeting on July 19th and take the helm in early August.
“I am pleased to hear that The Catskill Center has selected Lisa Rainwater as its new Executive Director,” said Congressman Maurice Hinchey of the 22nd Congressional District. “For years, she has been a strong community leader in the Hudson Valley. It is exciting to see that someone of great talent and background will now be working on behalf of Catskill communities by continuing the outstanding work of The Catskill Center at this momentous time in the region.”
Rainwater’s journey to The Catskill Center began in the Midwestern farm community where she grew up. Coming from three generations of dairy farmers who instilled in her a passion for community and place and an innate connection to the land, she fondly remembers fishing and hunting with her father, grandfathers and great grandfathers. There she also experienced first hand the struggles rural communities face to survive economically and the need for people to work together to maintain their community character during changing economic realities and development pressures.
Infused with these core values, she went on to undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology, sociology and cultural studies, and taught at the Universities of Oregon and Wisconsin. Most recently she has served as the Policy Director for the Hudson Valley group Riverkeeper, where she has worked since 2003 leading their Indian Point Campaign with a broad-based grassroots coalition.
Rainwater has recently joined her new husband in his Catskills home where she found immediate connection and inspiration in the mountains and valleys of the region. “I am so fortunate to call the Catskills home.
“At a time when many feel isolated from one another, the Catskill region offers us strong communities and shared values,” she said recently. “Whether it’s a family spending an evening at the foothills of Overlook Mountain, children hearing tall tales from their grandparents, or local farmers producing bounty from the region’s soil, we hold one thing in common – to preserve and uplift the powerful sense of place that is the Catskill region.”
Interim Executive Director Deborah Meyer DeWan who is The Catskill Center’s Director of Policy and Program Development noted, “We’re thrilled to welcome Lisa to the Catskills and to The Catskill Center at this momentous time in our nearly 40-year history.”

Local Poverty…
The worsening economy, including how rising fuel costs will effect those already scrimping to keep up with worsening forceasts next winter, surfaced in a new regional economic report as well as a county forum on local poverty last week.
The Marist College Bureau of Economic Research released a report that found that despite a growing population throughout the Hudson Valley, there are fewer and fewer jobs to go around in the region forcing more people to find work outside the region. People in Columbia and Greene counties are gravitating toward the Capital region and residents of the Lower Hudson Valley are finding jobs in New York City, the report said, with Ulster residents caught in between.
“We are going to see more of an integration with New York City and therefore with New York City prices, and I think that is basically the future, unless there are monumental changes and I don’t know what they would be,” said Bureau Director Christy Huebner Caridi, who authored the report.
The report found that employment gains in the service sector compensated for the ongoing loss in manufacturing jobs, but service sector jobs are lower paying – by 62 percent – than the average wages in manufacturing.
Across the region, the bureau also found the cost of buying a home is rising faster than income. At year-end 2007, the average selling price of an existing home in the region was more than $601,000, or 126 percent above the national average, and more than 73 percent above the average for New York State. Average wages ranged from a high of $58,000 in Westchester to $28,000 in Greene County.
“The consequence of this mismatch between income and housing costs is increased outward migration – 28,653 households left the Hudson Valley since 2000,” said Caridi, who added that early indications for 2008 are that the economy won’t get better, but in fact, may get worse.
Meanwhile, at a recent panel discussion on poverty in Ulster County held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Ulster, local experts in the field worried about what was to come.
“I have greater fear for the coming winter than I have ever had for the people of Ulster County,” said Michael Berg, executive director of the human services agency Family of Woodstock, who shared the panel with Rev. Darlene Kelley of the Clinton Avenue United Methodist Church, which runs a soup kitchen in Midtown Kingston, and Roberto Rodriguez, Ulster County’s commissioner of social services.
“We are looking to what I believe will be a very challenging fall and winter,” Rodriguez said, referencing strains on the local heat assistance program he helps run. “The challenge is that we may have more need than we have allocation for. We’re seeing caseloads going up.”
“The impact of the cost of housing, utilities, gasoline, the cost of food and the cost of health care are all hitting at the same time, and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of relief coming from the major governments,” Berg said. “We have a lot of people that were rent-burdened three years ago. How are they going to survive this year?”
“There’s an increasing working poor class in this country,” added Kelley. “If you’re working 40, 50, 60 hours a week without benefits, and you can’t feed your family, there’s a problem.”

Back From Iraq
Seventy-nine Army National Guard soldiers and dozens of their family members celebrated their return from Iraq in March, and late last month they were honored for their service overseas when the New York State Army National Guard paid tribute to Kingston’s 104th Military Police Battalion with a ceremony at the Kingston Armory.
The detachment’s mission had been the security of Camp Bucca, one of the largest operating bases and the largest detention facility in Iraq. The battalion coordinated and commanded nearly 1,600 security patrols in the Southern Iraq region and $14 million in base defense improvements.
Guest speaker at the ceremony Congressman Maurice Hinchey applauded the unit’s efforts. “The National Guard operations across the country are very important to all of us. These people are great. They do a lot of very good work.”
Hinchey focused his speech on increasing the efficiency of veterans’ healthcare plans for both physical and mental health. He noted a bill that is currently in Congress that will streamline the application process and get veterans quicker service.
State Senator William Larkin also welcomed the unit home. “There was not a man lost in action. That tells you the unit was well trained and that they understood their mission. Everyone looked out for everyone else. I’m very proud of this unit.”

Teen Employment
The Ulster County Office of Employment and Training (OET) has announced that applications for the 2008 Summer Youth Employment Program are now available. This program will provide approximately 100 eligible youth in the County with a summer work experience.
The program is scheduled to begin on July 07 and run for 7 weeks. Youth will be paid $7.15 per hour for up to 28 hours per week. Jobs will be at public and private not-for- profit agencies throughout Ulster County. To be eligible for the program youth must be Ulster County residents and have family income that is at or below 200% of Federal poverty income standards, and be between the ages of 14 – 20 years old.
Applications are available at the YMCA, 507 Broadway - Kingston and 257 Main St.- New Paltz; the YWCA, 209 Clinton Ave, Kingston; Ellenville, Highland, New Paltz, Onteora, Rondout, Saugerties, and Wallkill high school offices; all town halls; youth commission offices in Marbletown, New Paltz, Rochester, Rosendale, and Pine Hill; Ulster BOCES and the Boys & Girls Club of Kingston & Saugerties.
Additional information is available by calling the Office of Employment and Training at (845) 340-3170.

Writers Awarded
Five local high school seniors received the Catskill Heritage Alliance (CHA) writing prize at graduation ceremonies held by the four area high schools. The winners were Anthony Mincarelli, Andes, with a futuristic science-fiction view of his putative great-great grandson considering the 21st century generations from now; Brandon LaBumbard, Margaretville, writing about a life-changing experience gained in a summer naturalism program; Alyssa Fane, Roxbury, with an essay about how wide a world one can find in a small town; Hannah Connelly, Onteora, in a rhythmically lyrical exploration of what the Catskills means; and Meaghan Harper, Onteora, with a richly poetic two-part evocation of the harshness and magnificence of a Catskills childhood.
The prize, open only to graduating seniors, is awarded for the best written entry on the subject of My Catskill Heritage. Typically, only one prize is awarded per school, but this year, says Susanna Margolis, who chaired the CHA’s jury committee, “there were so many entries from Onteora, and the quality of the entries was so excellent across the board, that we felt we needed to take a more proportional approach. In truth, we were sorry we could not award more prizes this year.”
Each student received $100 in scholarship money and a copy of A Catskill Woodsman, Mike Todd’s Story, published by Purple Mountain Press.
The winning entries can be read on the CHA website, http://www.catskillheritage.org

More Water…
The flexible flow management program that is now being used to manage the water releases from the three New York City reservoirs on the upper Delaware River must be changed immediately to release more water into the river, according to three organizations that say the high water temperatures could kill off fish.
Trout Unlimited, Theodore Gordon Flyfishers and The Delaware River Foundation say with the current amount of water being released from the Cannonsville reservoir into the West Branch of the Delaware, water temperatures get too high and could be lethal to some trout. Ron Urban of Port Ewen, chairman of New York State Trout Unlimited, said more water can be released.
“Our modeling shows there is plenty of water still available if we can release up to 350 cubic feet per second or even 450 CFS under a new proposal we are working with,” he said. “This would greatly improve the habitat and protect it, even in the hot weather. There’s plenty of water and as we know, the reservoirs right now are around 93 percent capacity with the Rondout about 96-97 percent.”
Resistance to increased water releases come principally from New York City, say the environmental and sporting groups.
In recent years, the same entities pushed for less releases into the Esopus Creek, where added water was raising turbidity levels to dangerous levels for localized trout populations.

Plant A Row…
The vegetable growing season is in full swing, and the Master Gardener program at Cornell Extension is looking for gardeners to help feed people who are hungry in Ulster County by joining their Plant A Row for the Hungry (PAR) campaign. They are asking vegetable gardeners to grow a little extra this season to help feed the hungry right here in Ulster County.
Fresh produce can be dropped off at the following designated locations: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, 10 Westbrook Lane, Kingston between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm, Monday – Friday; Family of New Paltz, 51 North Chestnut Street, New Paltz between the hours of 10:00am and 5:00pm, Monday – Thursday; or the Caring Hands Soup Kitchen, Clinton Avenue in Kingston at the Methodist Church between the hours of 9:00am and 2:00pm, Monday – Thursday. All donations should be washed prior to delivery.
This season’s co-sponsors include The Garden Writers Association, The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, and Eat Smart New York.
For further information, call the Master Gardener Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension Ulster County at 845-340-3990 or visit http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/ulster.

New INDIE Funds
The Woodstock Town Board recently pledged to help fund Onteora’s Indie program - which, in recent years, has provided services under a contract with the district –in its use of media arts to help students become more engaged in academics.
Onteora school district officials have credited the 9-year-old program with improving attendance and academic scores, but support from Board of Education members has been mixed during annual district budget discussions. Indie program officials say the organization has a $220,000 budget to handle referrals for about 115 high school students throughout the county, including 85 in the Onteora district. Of the budget, the Onteora district provides about $145,000 annually.
Town Board members voted unanimously to determine if a donation could be made to the organization and suggested including Indie programs as part of the town’s recreation budget.

Celebratory $$
Former county legislator Tara Sullivan has been busy of late making plans for next year’s anticipated statewide Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration, marking anniversaries for the Half Moon’s voage of discovery up the river later given its captain’s name, similar explorations down the great northern lake given its explorer’s name, and Robert Fulton’s inaugural voyage in a steamboat.
Among events being outlined for funding in Ulster County, with the state receiving $45,000 to offset its own costs currently earmarked at $70,000, will be a countywide tulip bulb giveaway (100,000 bulbs have already been purchased), a fall planting day, an international conference at SUNY New Paltz featuring Dutch scholars ,and a three-site site historical exhibit and series of special events featuring historical documents and artifacts. There also will be various exhibits and performances, a Dutch artist-in-residence/exchange program, a Native American Conference and Ceremony (Kingston and New Paltz), an African-American cultural event (Kingston), and participation in Video Legacy, Poster Legacy and Publication Legacy projects whose details are currently being worked out.
Congressman Maurice Hinchey, meanwhile, announced that he has secured initial approval of $1 million in federal funding for the celebration, for which he anticipates large numbers of visitors to the region next year. “
We think we will be attracting a substantial number of people from other places around the United States and from other places around the world, particularly from Europe, and particularly Western Europe, from the Netherlands, Great Britain, France and elsewhere,” he said.
Of the $492,000 Hinchey has secured in federal funds so far, the money will go toward teaching about the quadricentennial, a trail system, posters, banners along the Hudson, a maritime project and money for the Hudson Valley and Champlain Valley. The largest chunk of the money — $152,000 – will be used for the Canal Schooner Lois McClure’s Voyage to Quebec City, Canada later this year.

Not For Oil?
The Iraqi government has set itself to award a series of key oil contracts to British and US companies, fuelling criticism that the Iraq war was largely about oil. The successful companies are expected to include Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Total. Non-Western companies, notably those in Russia, lost out.
The technical support contracts will give the companies access to Iraq’s vast untapped oil fields. Oil production in Iraq is at its highest level since the invasion in 2003. The Iraqi government wants to increase production by 20%, as the country has an estimated 115bn barrels of crude reserves.
The US state department was involved in drawing up the contracts, providing template contracts and suggestions on drafting, but were not involved in the “final” decisions, US officials said.
Democratic senators last week lobbied that the awarding of the contracts should be delayed until after the Iraqi parliament passes laws on the distribution of oil revenues.
Last year Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve said: “Everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”
Meanwhile, the US army has told of errors, poor planning and complacency among its own top commanders in a warts-and-all official history of the steep descent into violence that followed the Iraq war. In a 696-page account, army historians fault military and political leaders for focusing excessively on toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003 without looking towards a broader transition towards a stable society. Actions by the former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the top US commander during the Iraq invasion, Tommy Franks, are singled out in the study, which was delayed for six months to allow senior army figures to review drafts.
“The transition to a new campaign was not well thought out, planned for and prepared for before it began,” says the history, On Point II: Transition to the New Campaign, published by an internal army think tank called the contemporary operations study team. “The assumptions about the nature of the post-Saddam Iraq on which the transition was planned proved to be largely incorrect.”
The blunt language used in the army’s historical study is effectively endorsed by the force’s present chiefs. The document is based on 200 interviews with participants including the present chief of staff, General George Casey.

Artists’ Tour!
From July 18 through 20, art lovers will have the rare opportunity to visit more than 30 Shandaken-based artists in their homes and studios, as well as many more in galleries and shops. The one a kind event stretches from Friday to Sunday and features plenty of time in between to let visitors take in all the rest that the town has to offer, organizers say.
The Arts Festival begins at 7 PM on Friday with an artist slide show, talk & snacks at the Town of Shandaken Historical Museum. The heart of the festival happens Saturday and Sunday from 11-5, when you can tour over 30 artist’s studios, starting at either The Arts Upstairs Gallery in Phoenicia or the Pine Hill Community Center, both of which have art and fine crafts on view.
To close the eveing on Saturday there will be an art opening and free buffet at The Arts Upstairs gallery starting at 6 PM. Also on Saturday. At Mt.Tremper Arts, will be the group exhibition SIGNS and a dance installation from 8-10 PM followed by a dance party with klezmer/punk band Golem from 10 PM till midnight. Tickets are $20.
Participating Artists Include: Barneche Designs, Joel Benton, Durga Bernhard, Michael Boyer, Susie Brown, John Byer, Dave Channon, Margarete de Soleil, Ric Dragon, Wendy Drolma, Bronson Eden, Lynn Fliegel, Dana Fraser, Jim Gardner, Chip Gallagher, Shalom Gorewitz, Wendy Grossman, Hot Stuff Blown Glass, Peggy Kay, John Kilb, James Knight, Dakota Lane, Ken Lovelett, Mt. Tremper Arts, Naugatuck Narragansett, James Nevin, Margaret, Gavin and Jesse Owen, Paloma, Christie Scheele, Rita Schwab and Salvatore Scalisi, Judith Singer, Michelle Spark, Faye Storms, Anique Taylor, Richard Treitner, Peter Wye and Mighty Xee.

Sewer Talk...
A block grant of $7.7 million to develop a community wastewater management system for the Greene County hamlet of Ashland was approved by the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) Board of Directors on June 24. Lamont Engineers of Cobleskill was authorized to conduct the pre-construction phase of the project, involving final design of a small diameter gravity sewer with a sand filter wastewater treatment plant. Each property in the yet-to-be-formed septic district will have its own septic tank where solids will be collected. Liquid effluent will then be piped to the plant, the location of which has not yet been determined. Lamont will also map the sewer district and compile a sewer use law for approval by the Ashland Town Board, write bid documents, and develop operation and maintenance plans and contracts.
In other business, two Delaware County projects were approved for funding under the Stream Corridor Protection Program to mitigate or correct conditions that present an imminent and substantial danger to people or property in populated areas, including a $100,000 award to stabilize and prevent further erosion of Delaware & Ulster Rail Ride property along the Bushkill in Arkville.
The CWC Board of Directors also approved two low-interest business loans. Carrier Enterprises (Lina and Lubov Lerentracht) will receive a $300,000 loan to complete renovations to the former Liberty Hospital which has been transformed into a 135-bed adult living center, medical offices and a day care center. Donald and Marcella Hasenflue will utilize a $155,000 REDI Loan to help purchase property at 4162 Route 209, Stone Ridge. The couple will open Cherries on Top Luncheonette and Ice Cream Bar in the commercial space currently occupied by TJ Scoops.

Cell Dangers…
Nineteen European scientists have launched an appeal to sensitize public opinion to the risks cell phone use could pose to the brain, notably for the young.. The scientists, mostly oncologists, believe the risk is too great to be incurred.
“We’re in the same situation today as we were 50 years ago with asbestos and tobacco,” notes Thierry Bouillet. “Either we do nothing and accept the risk, or we admit that there are a cluster of worrying scientific arguments.”
The scientists agree on two things: there’s no formal proof of the cell phone’s harmfulness, but a risk exists that it promotes the appearance of cancers in cases of long-term exposure.
A Swedish study shows that the risk of having a cancerous tumor on the side where the telephone is used doubles in ten years. The American BioInitiative report adds that there is also a significant risk of increase in infantile leukemia and neurological problems (including Alzheimers).
In a list of ten precautions to take they ask that parents of children under twelve forbid their children all cell phone access, except for emergencies.

Pure Catskills!
The 2008 Pure Catskills Guide to Farm Fresh Products, a regional resource for buying local food, is now available as a free 60-page, full-color guide listing nearly 200 local farms, farmers markets, retailers, restaurants and community organizations, as well as a searchable directory available online at www.purecatskills.com. To have a printed guide mailed to you, contact Challey Comer at ccomer@nycwatershed.org or call (607) 865-7090.
Pure Catskills is a Buy Local Campaign that aims to educate people in the community about opportunities to support local farms and forestry businesses across the Catskill region. Communities in Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties are served by the Pure Catskills campaign. For more information, visit www.purecatskills.com or www.catskillwoodnet.org.