|
CLEAN
UP TIME... By midday on Friday, October 1, folks were working
to clear away mud and debris from that early morning's big floods,
caused by over 7 inches of rainfall. Talk about missing disaster
by a hair!
The
October 1 Deluge
Region Misses Tragic Damage Despite Massive Rains and Roaring
Waterways 10/7/2010
By Paul Smartt
"Please note," came an e-mail from the Catskills Watrershed
Corporation early Friday morning, October 1. "Catskills
Local Government Day which was to take place in Hunter today
has been cancelled." By then, town fire and road crews,
along with plenty of shopowners and just plain residents, had
been out in Phoenicia watching the rivers flow down Main Street.
The Phoenicia Plaza, out on Route 28, was under water. As was
Margaretville and much of the Schoharie Valley in Greene County.
In Olive, people were busy getting branches and whole trees
out from under bridges, out from the entrances to culverts.
Continue>>>
The
State's Ripple Effect
Belleayre Progress Stimied By Threats To Cut DEC &
Other Agencies To The Bone
10/7/2010
By Paul Smart
A couple of weeks ago, on September 23, NY Governor David
Paterson sent a memo to his divisional commissioners ordering
that 2,000 state jobs be cut through layoffs and attrition
by the time he leaves office on December 31.Reactions
were immediate: first, those departments, especially that
involving Environmental Conservation, started contacting
journalists around the state about the effects such cuts
would have on already decimated offices and activities.
Then the state's public worker unions vowed to fight any
layoffs in court. By September 24, it was front page news
across the state.
Continue>>>
True
Tax Rates Waiver
OCS Explains How Real Estate Values Change The Amounts
For One's Taxes
10/7/2010
By Lisa Childers
Onteora Central School district has the lowest
true tax rate in Ulster County, according to
a presentation given by the district's Assistant
Superintendent for Business Victoria McLaren.
At the September 28 Board of Education meeting
at Bennett Elementary, McLaren explained that
out of seven school districts, Onteora's true
tax rate was $10.48 per $1000 per household.
Preferring to stay impartial, McLaren didn't
list the school districts by name, but instead
numbered the districts for comparison purposes.
District five holds the highest tax rate at
$19.47 per $1000, nearly double of the Onteora
district.
Continue>>>
|
Our
local Trout Unlimited Chapter's LEAPING
TROUT project reaches a finale with a live
auction this coming Sunday, October 10 at The Arts
Upsatairs Gallery, 60 Main in Phoenicia. You can
bid online at www.theleapingtrout.com, too.
Better
Than Most...
Town Spending Plan Has A 6% Tax Hike, Bigger
Fight Still Centers On Sewer
10/7/2010
By Phoenicia Times Staff
"These figures are not set in stone,"
Shandaken Supervisor/Budget Officer Robert
Stanley told a very small audience at the
October Town meeting Monday night, October
4.
One could almost hear a sign of relief, not
about the 2011 town budget figures not yet
fixed, but over the fact that they were not
worse.
That evening, Stanley released his tentative
budget plan, which was made the town's official
Preliminary Budget by meeting's end... as
required by law. For the first time in history,
it now costs over $5 million a year to run
Shandaken. $5,032,447 to be exact.
It's
Over...
On A Paper's Farewell
10/7/2010
By Lissa Harris, WatershedPost.com
When newspapers die, there's
no headstone to mark their passing.
But I'd like to imagine that
somewhere in the Catskill mountains,
in a clearing on a hillside
ringed with a crumbling stone
wall, there's a little plot
where mourning readers can pay
their respects. There are teetering
slabs, their inscriptions barely
legible, for long-dead circulars
with bold names: the Hancock
True Flag, the Pine Hill Sentinel,
the Star of Delaware. There
is a sober obelisk for the New
York State Newspaper Project,
fallen in 2007 after twenty
years of working to preserve
the state's news history. And
there's a depressingly large
section full of freshly-dug
graves and shiny granite blocks,
where two sisters, ages nine
and seven, will be interred
this week: the Phoenicia Times
and the Olive Press.
Continue>>>
Jay & From
Tetons To Ashokan
Molly's
Reviving Center Hires
A New Director With
Visionary Experience
10/7/2010
By Paul Smart
The Ashokan Center, formerly
the Field Campus for SUNY
New Paltz, certainly is
abuzz with activity these
days. First came all the
activity involved in its
new life under the guidance
of long-time renters Jay
Ungar and Molly Mason,
who have reshaped the
old campus' future, and
its programming, beyond
their own music and crafts-oriented
camps towards something
blending environmentalism,
heritage, and culture
in a uniquely Catskillian
way. Then came their hiring
of noted veteran of the
local not-for-profit world
Deborah Meyer Dewan as
the organization's Associate
Director in charge of
publicity and a good amount
of programming.
Continue>>>
|
|
/images/FunFest/AvaVictoria.jpg)
