(News Briefs June 21, 2007)

Jail Probe?
Testimony given by the company Bovis Lend Lease to the committee investigating the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center construction project could be used against the company in litigation, the committee’s leader has said. Bovis was the original construction manager for the project, and a June 11 letter to the committee from company Vice President Mark Balling offered the company’s “full cooperation” with the investigation provided employees could be accompanied by lawyers and that their answers would not be used beyond the committee process.
“I’m not sure that we can actually make that promise,” Committee chairwoman Tracey Bartels responded.
Bovis was hired as the Law Enforcement Center’s construction manager in October 2000 but was fired in 2006, when the project was two years past its target completion date and still not ready for occupancy. The center, which houses the county jail and Sheriff’s Office, was completed in February in 2007, nearly three years behind schedule and tens of millions of dollars over budget. The Albert Street complex originally was forecast to cost $53 million, though the estimate rose to $71.8 million by the time construction began. The cost at completion was $95.2 million, and outstanding claims are expected to push the total past $100 million.
In other jail probe business, former Legislaturive Chairman Ward Todd, who oversaw the entire setting up of the new jail being investigated, has hired an attorney to field all possible investigative questions for him. Todd, a former Town of Shandaken Republican Committee chairman whose wife is a town board member who has just announced her candidacy for town supervisor, left his post in mid-2003 to become head of the county Chamber of Commerce.
The attorney he hired, David Lenefsky, was attorney for the Modoc Tribe in 2002 when they negotiated a controversial deal to build a casino in Ulster County following a series of closed-door sessions with Todd and a handful of area business leaders.
Committee members have since questioned why anyone would insist on a lawyer answering questions for them during the current non-criminal portion of the investigation.
Furthermore, a “tip” line is up and running. Anyone with input that may be of use in the investigation is asked to call 845-340-3356. All calls can be anonymous. There is no trace or caller ID on that line.

Stalled Detours...
The Olive town board has concerns about a New York City plan to replace eight bridges around the Ashokan Reservoir and began taking steps at its regular monthly meeting two weeks ago to make sure that traffic will be able to flow freely during the two and half year long job that’s slated to begin in 2008.
Town officials pointed to the ongoing problems between the town and the city over the closing of Monument Road in 2001 following the terrorist attack on September 11th that year. Supervisor Bert Leifeld announced that the town has filed a lawsuit against the City to show cause why Monument Road remains closed. There is no resolution of the case in sight he said.
Meanwhile, Leifeld said the board is working to make sure similar mistreatments of local travelers don’t occur next year when the City, which the owns roads and bridges around the Ashokan Reservoir, begins a project that Leifeld doubts will actually be done within the 30 month time frame the city states.
In particular, the proposed closing of the Railroad Bridge on Reservoir Road for a three week period next year is “completely unacceptable,” Leifeld said.
But this week, changes in personnel at the DEP, and other concerns, led to the unofficial announcement that all repairs are off until next year... along with any deep planning on the issue.
Bridges scheduled for reconstruction are: Ashokan Spillway Bridge, North Bushkill Bridge, South Bushkill Bridge, Dividing Weir Bridge, Reservoir Road Railroad Bridge, Stone Church Bridge, Traver Hollow Bridge,and Waste Channel Bridge.
In an April 17 notice of Determination of Non Significance, the City’s Department of Environmental Protection states that “the precise sequence of the rehabilitation of the bridges cannot be predicted as well as the exact duration or rehabilitation on each individual bridge.”

Upper Esopus...
A watershed community meeting will be held Saturday, June 23, at 9:30 am at St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church Parish Hall on Old Route 28 (Plank Rd.) Phoenicia. Upper Esopus Creek Watershed residents from Olive and Shandaken are invited to help organize stream restoration and monitoring projects together and get involved in care of local streams. In particular, restoration and/or maintenance of streamside vegetative buffers will be discussed. A short stream walk will follow the meeting, and will include observing invasive species such as Japanese knotweed as well as looking at previous stream restoration efforts. Activities will end at 12:30 pm.
For more information contact Esopus Creek Stream Management Plan at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County: Community Educator: Michael Courtney, Email: mcc55@cornell.edu; Kingston Office: 845-340-3990, or Cornell Cooperative Extension - Phoenicia Office 688-5496.

Indie Endorsed...
The Executive Committee of the Ulster County Independence Party has endorsed candidates for Ulster County Legislature in the November election. Sixteen enrolled Democrats, 14 Republicans and one non-enrolled incumbent received party endorsements, making for a total of 19 out of 33 incumbent legislators getting endorsements. Locally, only Republican candidate Brian Grant, a former Shandaken Independent, got an endorsement for District Two. In District 3, incumbent Democrats Richard Parete, Robert Parete and Peter Kraft all got the nod.

Watershed News
A new Catskill Watershed Corporation grant program will offer an incentive for municipalities within the Schoharie Reservoir Watershed to anticipate and prepare for the impacts of potential development. The grants to create Generic Environmental Impact Statements (GEIS) are being provided within the CWC’s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP). The Schoharie Watershed’s 13 towns and villages are eligible for apply for funds to assess potential environmental impacts of future build out, paying particular attention to turbidity and infrastructure.
“This is a great opportunity for communities to consider how best to prevent or reduce stormwater runoff and flooding that may result from future development,” said CWC Executive Director Alan Rosa.
Grant applications have been sent to eligible municipalities. They can also be found at http://www.cwconline.org/, go to Programs/LTAP. The program is one of several initiatives that are designed to reduce turbidity through education, stream rehabilitation, planning and water quality data collection. The projects are funded by New York City as conditions of a 2006 State Pollution Discharge Elimination (SPDES) permit issued to the City for its discharges of turbid water from the Schoharie Reservoir via the Shandaken Tunnel into the Esopus Creek/Ashokan Reservoir Watershed.
In other watershed news of late, Congressman Maurice Hinchey has formally submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) in support of the agency’s proposal to grant a ten-year waiver that will allow New York City to avoid using a filtration system for drinking water taken from the Catskill/Delaware system. In his comments, the congressman urged New York City to be a much better partner in protecting the watershed but also pointed out what a financial burden to the entire state filtration would prove.
“Avoiding filtration must be the ultimate priority for all of the Catskill/Delaware watershed stakeholders,” he wrote.
In his comments, Hinchey praised the EPA’s decision to expand the critical land acquisition program, which is used to acquire land surrounding the watershed to serve as a buffer between the water supply and any outside runoff or pollution, while also noting that local municipalities are adversely impacted by these land purchases because they lose the ability to generate property tax revenue at those locations. To address those concerns, Hinchey wrote in his comments that, “New York City owns no property of greater value to its residents than the property within the watershed and they should therefore pay an amount in property taxes that is commensurate with the value of the land.”
Hinchey also used the formal comment period to express his concern over New York City’s interaction with watershed communities relating to flood protection, recreational access to City lands and a more flexible flow management plan.
“The City must also acknowledge that their water system contributes to flooding in communities in and around the watershed and they should engage themselves as much as possible to work with the communities to better protect against future flooding,” Hinchey wrote in his comments to the EPA.
The EPA is expected to review all public comments and finalize its watershed proposal in the coming weeks.

Street Fight!
The Shandaken Police Deportment responded to multiple 911 calls for a large fight in progress on Main Street, Phoenicia. late Sunday night, June 10, which started after a rock throwing incident. Police state that 8 to 10 persons were involved in a fight to which multiple police agencies were called. After interviewing persons at the scene, police arrested Brandon D. Grant, 21 of Mt Pleasant Road, Mt Tremper who was charged with one count of Menacing, a misdemeano, and one count each of Disorderly Conduct and Harassment, both violations. Also charged was Fred W. Wood Jr, 20 of Palenville, with two counts of Harassment and one count of Disorderly Conduct, all Violations. Patrick M. Wood, 18 of Route 28, Shandaken and Vincent Grant, 48 years of State Route 28, Big Indian, were each charged with one count of Disorderly Conduct. Brandon Grant and Patrick Wood were both remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $250 cash bail. The Shandaken Police were assisted by the NY State Police and DEP Police. Police state that the investigation is continuing and more charges are forthcoming.

Poor Attendance
With the exception of county staff, two legislators, and a few reporters, no Ulster County residents attended the county’s first ever regional public budget summit held June 18 in the Town of Lloyd, a first of four scheduled dates to help the public give more input during the early stages of the budget process.
County Administrator Michael Hein set up these summits to let county residents get their feet wet in the budget process four months earlier this year than any other before, usually set in late October when all departments have already reviewed and presented their tentative budget to the oversight committees.
Hein said that regardless of whom or how many residents show at these summits, the county will do its best to present the components of the budget and address the issues of the residents.
Hein said he wants to concentrate on the real purpose of these summits, not how many people come.
“We look at something like this as essential to opening up government. That’s what this is all about,” Hein said, noting the lack of public turnout. “Instead of waiting until October 30th when the opportunity for the public to come in is really late in the process, this is very early in the process making it a wide open process for the public. What we really care about is producing the best possible budget for the people of Ulster County.”
Hein noted some major components of the budget this year will be the increased costs of Medicaid, renovations to the 30-year-old Golden Hill Healthcare Center, “unfounded and under funded mandates”, and additional costs associated with the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center, including mandated staff increases, and further litigation costs.
Three other public budget summits were scheduled for Tuesday, June 19 at the Accord Fire District Building in the Town of Rochester; Wednesday, June 20 at the Woodstock Community Center; and Thursday, June 21 in the Ulster County Office Building in the City of Kingston, all starting at 7 pm.

EMS Benefits...
The Administrative Services Committee of the Ulster County Legislature have voted to grant volunteer firefighters and EMS workers a five percent deduction on their income tax bill. The measure is now subject to full legislative support.
Committee Chairman Brian Cahill said lawmakers feel it is a way to say “thank you” to the dedicated volunteers.
“The impetus that we hope to do is get the towns and school districts to come along with us to give them a significant exemption from their property tax,” he said. “The county tax alone is not a whole heck of a lot of money, but it what it does is it sends a message to the towns and school districts that these people need to be acknowledged.”
Right now, the volunteers are eligible to a $200 deduction from the state. If the county approves their proposal, volunteers would have to choose between the state or county plans. The county would offer up to a $3,000 maximum deduction, said Cahill.

Vitamin Scare?
There's more worrisome news about vitamins: Taking too many may increase men's risk of dying from prostate cancer.The study doesn't settle the issue. But it is the biggest yet to suggest high-dose multivitamins may harm the prostate, and the latest chapter in the confusing quest to tell whether taking various vitamins really helps a variety of conditions - or is a waste of money, or worse.
Government scientists turned to a study tracking the diet and health of almost 300,000 men. About a third reported taking a daily multivitamin, and 5 percent were heavy users, swallowing the pills more than seven times a week.
Within five years of the study's start, 10,241 men had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Some 1,476 had advanced cancer; 179 died.
Heavy multivitamin users were almost twice as likely to get fatal prostate cancer as men who never took the pills, concludes the study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
But here's the twist: Overall, the researchers found no link between multivitamin use and early-stage prostate cancer.
The researchers speculate that perhaps high-dose vitamins had little effect until a tumor appeared, and then could spur its growth.
While similar but smaller studies have suggested a link, too, more rigorous research is needed, caution the National Cancer Institute scientists. This newest study involves men who voluntarily took vitamins, and those most at risk - perhaps because they had a family history of the disease - may have been more likely to take the pills in hopes of avoiding their fate.
Still, "the findings lend further credence to the possibility of harm associated with increased use of supplements," Dr. Christian Gluud of Copenhagen University Hospital and Dr. Goran Bjelakovic of Serbia's University of Nis wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Mental Health...
Ulster County’s Wellness and Recovery Steering Committee has added a comprehensive Family and Children Services component to its website that provides a quick overview of services and offers an easy way to access the right service for a family’s specific needs.
The website is located at www.wellnessrecovery.org
“We have worked hard to build a comprehensive continuum of care for both children and families in Ulster County," says Cheryl Qamar, Children Services Program Director at the Ulster County Mental Health Department. As a result, it can be overwhelming for families and providers to navigate the system.
The website functions as a single point of access for the myriad of children and family services available. It organizes the choices by categories, such as Case Management and Day Treatment, and provides links for more detailed information.
The Ulster County Wellness and Recovery Steering Committee consists of representatives from the following Ulster County agencies: Mental Health Association in Ulster County, PEOPLe, Inc., the Resource Center for Assisted Living, Gateway Industries and the Ulster County Mental Health Department. The committee’s mission is to promote health and wellness with an emphasis on recovery within the mental health community.

Passport Stall
Congress has moved to postpone until June 2009 requiring passports for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean after complaints about vacation-ruining delays by the State Department in issuing them. The State Department has been flooded with applications since new rules went into effect in January requiring passports for air travelers returning from the same destinations. The resulting backlog has caused delays of up to three months for passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of thousands of people. In response, the government last week temporarily waived a passport requirement for air travel, provided people can demonstrate they’ve applied.
The Homeland Security Department is still pressing ahead to require passports of everyone crossing into the U.S. from Canada or Mexico beginning in January 2008 - a rule that some experts believe will lead to a fourfold increase in demand for new passports.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expressed disappointment with what Congress wants to do.
But lawmakers have been besieged with pleas for help from constituents who can’t get their passports even though they applied up to four months ago. Last year, Congress gave the Homeland Security and State departments additional time to get ready for the new passport rules, but they opted not to take advantage of the leniency. Now, increasingly frustrated lawmakers want to mandate the delay.
“The administration is walking blithely toward a cliff with this program, and they’re threatening to take millions of Americans with them,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. “Their competence in being able to get this right was already in question, and when they keep insisting they’ll be ready in six months, so is their judgment.”
The surge in applications has doubled target turnaround times for passport applications from six to 10-12 weeks, and 500,000 applications have already taken longer.
Those numbers pale in comparison to what lies ahead. According to government estimates, about 6 million Americans will need formal documents to travel to the Caribbean, Canada or Mexico by air or sea. The estimated need for land crossings is more than four times that: Those numbers do not include the regular year-to-year demand for passports.
Last year, the State Department processed 12.1 million passports.

Few Teen Jobs
The summer job outlook for teenagers is beyond bleak. A modest 157,000 jobs were added to the nation’s payrolls in May. But teen employment fell for the fifth consecutive month, an ominous trend as we head into the summer months when millions of additional teenagers join in the hunt for jobs.
From January through May, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, “the national teen employment rate averaged only 33.1 percent, tying for the lowest employment rate in the past 60 years.”
Years ago the federal government played a major role in bolstering job opportunities for teenagers. There was substantial bipartisan support for both year-round and summer employment programs. But that important commitment vanished with the conservative onslaught of recent years.
The result was inevitable. As the center has reported, “Far fewer youth across the nation are gaining exposure to the job market and to the real world of work than in the late 1980s and 1990s.”

Funded To Help
CASA: Advocates for Children of New York State (CASANYS) has just been awarded a $49,000 grant from the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association. These funds will be used to expand advocacy for abused and neglected children throughout the state. Currently, there are local CASA programs in 35 New York counties.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are highly trained and supervised volunteers who are assigned by Family Court judges to gather information and monitor court cases involving children who are abused, neglected or at risk. The CASA mission is stability for children in safe and permanent homes.
Currently more than 900 CASA and volunteer guardian ad litem offices exist across the country. One hundred and eighty-one of these programs received funds this year from a $6.1 million allocation from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice, as authorized under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. CASANYS began in 1979 as a grassroots effort in New York City and Monroe County. As CASA success stories spread, programs grew up around New York State, and local program directors began to identify a need for communication, consistency, and a presence with state policy makers. They formed a State Association in 1991 to provide support, training and technical assistance to their network and assist in the start up of new programs.
For more information, contact CASANYS Executive Director Robin Robinson at 518.426.5354 or email CASANYS at mail@casanys.org.

Urth Arts!
Urth Arts in Samsonville hosts its second year of arts programs for children and adults -Summer Moons ’07. The classes which include (but are not limited to) painting, ceramics, and masks and puppetry are organized into two sessions taking place from 6/29/07- 7/7/07 & from 8/5/07-8/16/07.
Urth Arts is the creation of Bryan and Susan Perrin, teaching artists who “celebrate and promote the gentle relationship between art and life.” By opening their studios and offering classes, these artists allow students to be inspired by the materials, the work, and the environment. Remotely located up a hillside on a dead end road with organic gardens, forest, and a beautiful stream, Urth Arts provides a natural focus for the visual arts.
The first event, taking place June 29-31, is a weekend lecture and painter’s workshop on ‘’Natural Patterns - Nature’s Design”. Open to those 16 and older the class takes a close look at the uncommon beauty of the common world - a study of botanical and atmospheric structure and anatomy. Next on July 5, 6 &7 is “Clay, Daisies, Rocks” an intensive for artists ages 6 and up which focuses on solidity and flexibility thru the mediums of ceramics, mosaics, mixed media, & collage.
The second session starts with a one-day lecture and workshop in “Spirit and Masks” (for people 12 & older) on Aug. 5, followed by “Masks and Puppets” Aug. 6-9 which is open to all ages. The historical use of this art form will be explored in addition to construction of pieces that student will perform. Continuing on the masquerade theme is a course in “Outdoor Pageantry”; a 2 day workshop subtitled “Participatory Art Parade”. Taking place on Aug. 10 & 11 students are encouraged to make it big (or small) and move it around. “Clay, Heat, Leaves & Crayons” trom Aug. 13-16 is open to artists ages 6 and up and studies the process of ceramics and decoration.
For more information please call 845-657-5701 or go to www.urtharts.com

Katrina Aid…
The cash-strapped city of New Orleans is turning to foreign countries for help to rebuild as federal hurricane-recovery dollars remain slow to flow. Kenya Smith, director of intergovernmental relations for Mayor Ray Nagin, said city leaders are talking with more than five countries. He wouldn’t identify the countries, saying discussions were in the early stages. But he said the city is “very serious” about pursuing foreign help.
“Of course, we would love to have all the resources we need from federal and state partners, but we’re comfortable now in having to be creative,” Smith said. He did not know if the city would have to overcome any obstacles if it got firm pledges for aid, but “we want to make sure we’re leaving no options unexplored.”
As of June 8, the city said it had received just over half of the $320 million FEMA has obligated for rebuilding city infrastructure and emergency response-related costs. The city has estimated its damage at far more than that - at least $1 billion. And that doesn’t include other improvements - such as raised neighborhoods - meant to help build the stronger city promoted by Nagin and his recovery director.
Discussions with foreign representatives have been occurring off and on since the storm, but Smith said the city became re-engaged after a news report in April that millions of dollars in aid offered by foreign countries after Hurricane Katrina went unaccepted. It wasn’t clear how much of the $854 million in aid originally offered remained on the table. In Katrina’s wake, Cuban President Fidel Castro’s proposal to send more than 1,000 medical personnel to New Orleans was among the offers of aid.
The federal government accepted about $126 million from foreign sources and encouraged some countries to give instead to private groups such as the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice told a congressional committee last month. Nagin said city officials are now trying to skirt the Bush administration and contact foreign governments directly “to see if we can get some of those dollars coming here.”

Alz-What?
For the first time, scientists are targeting what they believe may be a root cause of Alzheimer’s: brain damage from clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid. New drugs are testing three approaches: enzyme blockers to stop the amyloid from forming; a drug called Alzemed to stop the amyloid from clumping and vaccines to help the immune system clean up the amyloid.
“We could be quite close to slowing or stopping the progression of disease,” said Dr. Paul Aisen of Georgetown University said.
There’s other promising news: Improvements have been made in diagnosing the disease through brain scans and blood tests.
“Early diagnosis matters a lot because you want to catch the disease before it destroys brain cells,” said Dr. Murali Doraiswamy of Duke Medical Center.
Doctors believe they will one day approach Alzheimer’s the way they do heart disease — by identifying who is at risk and prescribing drugs and lifestyle changes to keep them healthy.
“We are very close to doing for the brain what we are already doing for the heart,” said Doraiswamy.
There are about three dozen Alzheimer’s drugs in the development pipeline.

College $$$
Ulster County Community College has been awarded a $397,506 federal grant to help students meet academic performance goals and keep them from dropping out. The grant was awarded under the U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening Institutions Program.
“This is great news for Ulster County Community College,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a press release announcing the grant. “By addressing the specific needs of the student body, Ulster County Community College will increase the level of student success and retention, ensuring the future stability of the college. It is essential that our schools have the resources they need to help students succeed in higher education,” the senator said.
The college will use the money to address low rates of retention and persistence among students. Those rates are measured in terms of academic performance, completion of coursework, withdrawals within a term, persistence between terms, academic progress and probation rates, and degree completion and graduation rates.

Roster Change
Rock legends Dr. John and Los Lobos have been added to the Belleayre Music Festival’s 2007 lineup. Dr. John returns to the Belleayre stage on Saturday, July 14 at 8 p.m., four years after he thrilled a packed house with his Cajun-flavored hits, including “Right Place Wrong Time” and “Such A Night.” Dr. John graciously agreed to fill in for Mary Chapin Carpenter who was scheduled to play Belleayre but was forced to cancel her summer tour at the last minute due to back surgery. Los Lobos will close on the 2007 season on Labor Day weekend on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. The band was added to the Belleayre lineup when scheduling conflicts forced the cancellation of the Blues Traveler show.
The 2007 Belleayre festival opens on Saturday, June 30 at 8 p.m. with a show titled “Mozart in the Mountains with Fireworks.”
Maestro John Covelli will guide the Belleayre Festival Orchestra and Richard Tucker will conduct the Community Chorale of the Catskills for this special event. The evening will be topped off with a huge fireworks display.
“Doo-Wop Legends” the Cornell Gunter’s Coasters, The Platters and Beary Hobbs’ Drifters will all perform on Saturday, July 7 at 8 p.m.
To purchase tickets for all shows during the 2007 summer concert season at the Belleayre Music Festival, call, 800 942-6904, ext. 344 or visit: www.belleayremusic.org or www.ticketweb.com. The festival’s e-mail address is: festival@catskill.net.