Newsbriefs

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2/28/2008

Concerned...
An invitation went out this week to all Onteora Parents to attend a community meeting to discuss the Onteora Board of Education’s proposed district configuration and bond measures on Wednesday, March 5th at the Hickory at 743 Route 28, between Kingston and Woodstock, from 7 to 9 PM The meeting has been organized by Onteora Parents (groups.yahoo.com/group/OnteoraParents), a group of parents “who are concerned about the proposed Grades 5-8 configuration for our Middle School, the prospect of closing another Elementary School, and the cost of the related Bond Measures.

Big Favor
Claiming to be doing a favor for a high ranking official with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the town of Shandaken plans to hire the official’s son on a temporary basis so he can get ride time experience with a real Police Department and use that experience to get a real job in law enforcement.
The soon to be intern is said to be from Margaretville. At a Shandaken Town Board meeting on Monday Supervisor Peter DiSclafani said that the request to hire the intern came directly from Shandaken’s Officer in Charge, James McGrath, who knows the DEP official personally.
McGrath, DiSclafani said, felt that the hiring would be “a gesture of good will to the agency (DEP) from the town.”
Councilman Vince Bernstein said he understood the notion of extending a favor, but noted that the taxpayers still must pay the intern for riding around in the car with real Shandaken police. Bernstein felt the salary should be waived.
But DiSclafani, claiming the intern would get something close to minimum wage, said that was not possible for insurance reasons. The intern, he said, needed to be officially hired as a police officer in order to be covered.
“What if he gets shot?” DiSclafani wondered.
There were some concerns raised about hiring someone from out of town. It was reported that the reason the intern hopeful was seeking this opportunity in Shandaken was because there is no local police department in Margaretville.

Town Board
The town board voted to take $7000 out the town’s Good Neighbor Fund to purchase a new defibrillator for the town’s ambulance department. The old one malfunctioned in the squad’s fly car, a first response vehicle used by the squad during emergencies.
The new device actually costs $13,695, but the rest of the money for it came from a private donor.
Lastly, the beleaguered senior meals program in town is set to be handed off to the Shandaken Area Revitalization Project, a non-profit entity that will administer the program after the Ulster County Office of the Aging ran into difficulties.
DiSclafani said the issue that caused trouble was that over $13,000 was used each year to pay rent to the Phoenicia Methodist Church and pay the salaries of some people to oversee the program on the local level.
It remains unclear how the program will operate under SHARP, but in the meantime the meals are being prepared at Brio’s in Phoenicia, thanks to private donations, and delivered to the Methodist Church. Other restaurants have joined in to help as well.

More Towers
The company charged with preparing a cellular coverage plan for Shandaken has finished a survey of the complex town terrain and concluded that at least three towers are needed to provide signal along the Route 28 corridor and that more would be needed to fill in along the rest of the roadways. And even then, total town coverage appears out of reach.
In a February 1 letter to Town Supervisor Peter DiSclafani, Mariner Towers Chief Development Officer Christopher Ciolfi said that this should not be a surprise to anyone and identified the spots that would be best for towers.
Saying the task was “much like building a puzzle that had already been started,” Ciolfi explained that they tested what coverage would be available if all existing towers in town were utilized and that they also added in the projected coverage that the soon to be erected Glenbrook Park Tower would transmit. Those existing towers appear to be the one atop Highmount in the vicinity of the proposed Belleayre Resort and a tower in Pine Hill owned by Peter Goertzel, a local developer who has accompanied Mariner reps to recent town board meetings.
The result of the test, Ciolfi states, is that with two other new towers besides the Glenbrook facility, one located on the south side of Route 28 in Big Indian above Morra’s Market and another on the south of Route 28 above the Phoenicia Diner, most of the highway corridor would have coverage. There would be a gap in the coverage though that could be closed with a third new tower near Ernst Road.
Weak spots, even with the Ernst Road tower, would still exist in Mount Tremper a little east of the route 212/ route 28 intersection and in the hamlet of Shandaken near Golf Course Road and along the Old Plank Road that runs parallel with Route 28 near the Golf Course Road, now known as Creekside Road.
In order for the plan to work, the tower at Big Indian must be “at a high elevation,” Ciolfi states. If such a tower is unacceptable due to environmental or visual concerns a tower could be placed on the north side of Route 28 across the highway from the Peekamoose Restaurant to provide roughly equal coverage.
After all these towers are built it may be possible to fill in the gaps with micro-cells or non tower facilities, according to Ciolfi.
On Monday, DiSclafani said that Mariner Tower will build the Glenbrook Park tower, and is under contract to have it operational by mid-July. As for the rest of the towers in the plan, Mariner is seeking landowners in the areas identified as good tower locations, hoping to find people that will agree to allow a tower on their land. DiSclafani said one holdup is it appears the people contacted have a notion that any tower deal would be more lucrative for them than what Mariner is proposing.
Once operational, the Glenbrook Tower is expected to provide coverage along County Route 42 up to about the Ulster/Greene County line in Bushnellville, up Route 28 about a mile to Golf Course Road and down the highway to Broadstreet Hollow Road. There is no timeline for when the Goertzel tower would become operational.

Landfill Scare
A recent slow day at the Town of Olive transfer station was punctuated by a cautious law enforcement response to the report of a possible incendiary device seen by an off duty police officer who was dropping off his refuse.
Upon examination of the device by County, State and Homeland Security law enforcement officers, Angelo Nogue, 42, of West Shokan, a part time employee of the transfer station was charged with placement of a false bomb. He was questioned at the Ulster County Sheriff’s office in Kingston and issued an appearance ticket for Town Court, where he was arraigned on Feb. 20th and given a March 5th return date.
Mr. Nogue said that “It was a potato shooter that I was making from junk,” and added that “It looked like a bomb without the tube attached”.
A potato cannon is an old time rural diversion that consists of a combustion chamber into which a liquid or aerosol fuel is injected and ignited, thereby propelling a potato out of an attached tube high into the air over a long distance.
Town of Olive Supervisor Berndt Liefeld, foster father of Mr. Nogue said, “It was a half made potato cannon that was left out overnight and it looked like some sort of device. It’s frustrating but they had to play it safe with the increased security concerns. Angelo has been put on unpaid leave until this is resolved. Unfortunately it did look like some sort of home made incendiary device. I hope it’s resolved soon.”

Jail Inquiry?
According to Ulster County’s new District Attorney Holly Carnright, the much-anticipated Grand Jury investigation into the budget and time overruns that occurred during construction of the county’s new Law Enforcement Center is currently “active,” albeit without any clear closure dates, or public information, in view yet. Except for the fact that it all has to be wrapped up by the end of March.
“It’s before the grand jury now,” Carnright said in an interview this week. “The grand jury will eventually choose to 1) come up with criminal charges, 2) decide there will be no such charges, or 3) create an investigative report.”
The D.A. added that he was not at liberty to say how the proceedings were going to date, or predict either a timeline or outcome for how the case will be continuing.
The current Grand Jury action was first announced last September when Carnright’s predecessor, Donald Williams, sent out a press release noting his receipt of a copy of the final report from Ulster County Legislature’s Special Committee to Investigate the Planning, Pre-Planning and Construction of the U.C. Law Enforcement Center, prepared by that committee’s consultant, John Mavretich.
“The Special Committee has now requested that this Office examine its findings and, due to the Special Committee’s own resource and time constraints, other allegations that the Special Legislative Committee was unable to explore more fully,” Williams wrote on September 25, 2007. “In the course of our communications with the Committee, we were advised that based upon newly discovered information, a referral to our Office was likely. In light of that, on August 24, I made a formal request to the Office of Court Administration that a Special Grand Jury be convened.”
That Grand Jury, Williams noted, started its work on October 3, 2007, “for a Term of up to six months.”
“The Grand Jury will conduct its inquiry as expeditiously as the scope and the importance of this matter permits,” Williams concluded. It is my desire that the Grand Jury complete its work by the end of my term on December 31st, 2007, but there will be no constraints upon its review, other than as provided by law.”
At the time, Williams seat was being contested by a Democrat candidate, an Independent, and Carnright, a fellow Republican.
Carnright, speaking about another Grand Jury investigative report completed by Williams before the end of his term, involving charges against a West Hurley couple who allegedly allowed alcohol to be served at a post-Prom party that a driver in a fatal DWI accident attended, noted that any such report would be kept secret unless all parties named in it moved for its release.
“Grand Jury Investigative reports go to the presiding judge in each case,” Carnright said. “If a person is named, or involved, they have to get notice. Only they can move to open up such a report… These matters are sealed.”
As for the jail investigation, he added that unless charges were made, a report would need the okay of those named in it to be released to the public.

Fighting Grants
Vincent Grant, 50, and son, Brandon Grant, 22, were both arrested after a report of shots being fired in the area of 8846 Route 28 in Shandaken after a domestic dispute wound up with each attacking the other. Police say Brandon pushed his father down a flight of stairs and hit him over the head with a glass bottle. The father then took a rifle and threatened the son. The son then wrestled the rifle from the father and shot at the house nine times.
Brandon Grant was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, assault in the second degree and harassment in the second degree. Vincent Brant was charged with menacing in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
Vincent Grant is the son of former Shandaken town supervisor Neil Grant. The father and son were also arrested last summer after a rock fight on Main Street in Phoenicia, which involved 10 arrests.
The father, Vincent, was released to appear at a later date; the son, Brandon, was remanded to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 bond.

Stream Protection
The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) has launched a new grant program to fund stream corridor protection projects where floodwaters threaten lives or property in populated areas.
The Stream Corridor Protection Program is intended to mitigate or correct existing situations in hamlets and villages that present imminent and substantial danger to homes, businesses or other structures and the people who occupy them. Projects must be consistent with recommendations in applicable Stream Management Plans.
Municipalities may apply for grants up to $100,000 for projects to correct or alleviate flood impacts. It is recommended that applicants seek assistance from local Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), and request an on-site consultation with program staff, before developing their proposal. Design fees, permit and environmental assessment costs, construction expenses and labor provided by municipal workers are eligible expenses under this program. Matching funds are not required.
Grant proposals will be reviewed by CWC and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, in consultation with local planning boards, code enforcement officers and SWCD technicians. Proposals may be submitted at any time. Application forms and guidelines can be found at www.cwconline.org/programs/stream_corridor.

Drinking Laws…
After months of debate, Ulster County legislators passed a new “Social Host” law in recent weeks on a 29-2 vote, with ‘no’ votes from Jeanette Provenzano and Robert Aiello. The legislation puts the responsibility for providing alcoholic beverages to minors at a private residence on the adults or parents who are there, with $250 fines and up to 15 days in jail for those caught not complying. Currently New York State law provides for a fine for someone who purchases alcoholic beverages for minors, but does not address situations like house parties, where many minors often drink, and may be offered the alcohol by parents or other of-age adults.
Some at the final session argued there should be an element of education in the legislation that sanctions the judge in the case to send the defendant or defendants to a county-approved agency as part of the punishment. Former County District Attorney Don Williams, who is also fighting for the state to act on the issue, said education is a huge part of the punishment for the crime, but the decision should be at the discretion of the judge. He also lambasted those supporting the education component.
Called by most in attendance, “one of the more wrenching debates in recent memory,” the session involved families who have lost members in alcohol-related accidents sharply divided on whether the new law would live up to its intent. Marie Shultis, who lost a brother many years ago in a drunk-driving crash, and has spearheaded a student activist group, fought for the ‘education component’ with a number of local students backing her up. Howard Dean-Lipson, whose son Andrew died in a crash involving several young people last May, made an emotional plea to adopt the law as is, mandating penalties for both the drinker and the parent and along with Williams, was critical of Shultis for working with Zephyr Dresser-Peck, the teenager who Williams is prosecuting for being the driver of the car in which Dean-Lipson died.
Shultis later said she would keep fighting to add an educational component, supported by local law enforcement agencies, to the law in the coming years… something that several legislators said they could eventually support.

Up In Albany…
Rumors were flying up in Albany all week as Gov. Spitzer was said to be set (by several leading longtime journalists there) to try and oust Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno as soon as next week if Democrats actually won an all-important special state Senate election set for this Tuesday.
“Democratic insiders said secret talks between Spitzer’s operatives, key Democrats and potentially supportive Republican senators have taken place during the past few weeks to prepare for ousting the Rensselaer County-based GOP Senate leader since 1995,” wrote the New York Post’s Fred Dicker, who’s also been ghosting recent Belleayre Resort pep rallies of late. “While Bruno was picked last year for what is supposed to be a two-year term, he can be replaced immediately if Senate rules are changed by a Democratic majority. A Democrat win would give Republicans just a single vote control in the 62-member Senate, and “flipping” one Republican senator would bring about a tie. That would allow Democratic Lt. Gov. David Paterson to cast the decisive vote in a rule-changing battle aimed at picking a Democrat as the Senate’s new majority leader.”
According to Dicker and other Albany insiders, the possible flipper everyone’s been talking about is none other than our own Sen. John Bonacic, who has not only stood up to Bruno in the past, but has more recently stood close to Spitzer, especially over the Governor’s on-the-table plans for a ramped-up Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, complete with support for the Belleayre Resort.
Complicating matters has been a Senate move by Bruno supporter Sen. Jim Seward of neighboring Greene County, which is seeking to set up a Blue Ribbon Commission to look into private/public competition in the ski and other recreation industries around New York state. Bonacic has been noticeably mum on the Seward moves, and all other matters, over recent weeks.
Stay tuned…

New Machines
Ulster County will receive 108 new voting machines for its like number of polling places for use in the November election. The county elections commissioners agreed to buy the Sequoia ballot marking device with optical scanner, which will cost Ulster County about $1.4 million, 95 percent of which will be reimbursable.
The Sequoia voting machines include ballot-marking devices with a built-in optical scanner. Much of the concern county Legislators had over the new machines was whether or not they left a paper trail, ensuring that a recount - if needed - would be as accurate as possible.
County officials have said that the machines are not complicated, but some level of voter education is necessary in order the make the process run smoothly. One possible difficulty is that if voters forget to mark part of the ballot, the machine recognizes this and rejects the ballot. Similarly, if too many votes are cast the ballot is rejected.
This doesn’t mean the voter’s ballot is negated, say ofcficials. The machine simply points out the issue to the voter and double checks if they purposely withheld a vote.
Part of the impetus to buy new machines stems from the Help America Vote Act, a national mandate that will require counties to purchase up-to-date voting machines.

Alworth Leaves
The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development announced on February 26 that Executive Director Tom Alworth has accepted a position with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) as Deputy Commissioner for Natural Resources, where he will be responsible for the stewardship of the resources in parklands across the state.
“After seven years of outstanding leadership, which has brought the Center to an unprecedented level of respect and influence, Tom Alworth will be leaving us shortly” said Catskill Center Board President, Claude Shostal, “He will be sorely missed.”
Alworth has been with the Catskill Center for seven years and reflecting back on them he said, “It has been an honor to work in such a special place as the Catskills with a very special and unique organization like the Catskill Center. I have made many great friends here.”
Shostal added, “Although the Center will certainly miss Tom, we know he has left us on solid footing and the Catskill Center will continue to provide the leadership and vision to maintain a sense of place across the Catskills through education, policy development, regional planning and diverse cultural programming.“
The Catskill Center’s mission is unchanged and will continue to be the region’s advocate for the Catskill Park and the New York City watershed.
Alworth will begin in his new position with OPRHP in mid-March but will continue living in the Catskills.
“We love it here and look forward to enjoying this place for a long time.” he said.
A search committee has been formed by the Catskill Center Board to find a new director in the coming months.
The Catskill Center recently created some controversy by signing onto an agreement for the building of a large resort adjacent to state-owned Belleayre Ski Center after leading a coalition of environmental organizations against same project.
It is currently working with municipalities along the Route 28 corridor to come up with a means of distributing $500,000 in state-provided Smart Growth funds made available in the so-called Agreement in Principal put forth by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in Kingston last September.

Bad Bonding?
A wave of bonds sold by U.S. municipal borrowers with rates set through periodic auctions have failed to attract enough buyers recently as banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. that run the bidding wouldn’t commit their own capital to the debt. Rates on $100 million of bonds sold by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, with bidding run by Goldman, soared to 20 percent yesterday from 4.3 percent a week ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Presbyterian Healthcare in Albuquerque and New York state’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority also had failures, officials said.
Our own Onteora School District is presently considering taking a bond measure between $60 and $75 million to public vote in the coming year for needed repairs to local schools along with a major district restructuring.
Investor demand for the securities, according to Wall Street, has declined on waning confidence in the credit strength of insurers backing debts, and on reluctance by dealers to submit bids and risk ending up with too many bonds. The failures in a market where local borrowers have more than $300 billion of debt outstanding follow unsuccessful auctions of student loan-backed bonds last month.
“It’s the beginning of the end for the auction-rate market,” said Matt Fabian, a senior analyst with Concord, Massachusetts-based Municipal Market Advisors. “Banks have stopped supporting the market.”
The turmoil in the auction-rate market is the latest fallout in a credit squeeze that began with the subprime mortgage market collapse last year and led to at least $133 billion in credit losses and asset writedowns. For borrowers, the failures mean higher borrowing costs just as the economy is slowing, threatening revenue.

Merged Baseball
The Woodstock Little League and the Olive Town Board have agreed to apply to Little League International to merge their respective children’s baseball teams in 2008 in order to strengthen both leagues and field better competition in Little League District 16. The move comes in response to changing demographics and increased competition from other activities, two critical factors that have resulted in decreased registrations for most children’s baseball programs over the past few years, most notably in the age nine through 12 division of Little League known as the ‘major leagues’.
‘Woodstock had three major league teams last year but many of the kids have aged out. We might barely field two major teams this year. That’s a real problem because if we can’t, we are in danger of losing our charter,” said Woodstock Little League President Lee Wind. “We’ve had very good numbers in the five to eight year old group, but it will take at least two years before those kids can move up to the majors and I’d hate to think ‘What if they have nowhere to move up to’?”
Olive Recreation Director Gene Sorbellini is similarly faced with the possible demise of Olive’s independent leagues going into the 2008 season. If he cannot maintain his program, Olive children would be forced to register with Hurley Little League which already has six strong teams, having won the district championship last year.
By merging with Woodstock in what will prospectively be called the ‘Onteora League’, Sorbellini and Wind hope that they will create at least four major league and four t-ball/minor league teams (for 5-8 year olds) and thereby increase the possibility of viable competition with Hurley, Kingston and other District 16 leagues.
“A merger of two smaller equals helps to ensure that children are not assigned to a team where they don’t play with their friends or interact with parent volunteers familiar to them, “said Sorbellini
The fact that many of both town’s children attend the same Onteora schools, (potentially for a longer period going forward with the proposal of a new grade 5-8 school) as well as the proximity of the towns’ fields, seem to make Olive and Woodstock natural partners.
“Merging with Woodstock is a very exciting and welcome change that will offer many benefits to both communities, “said Sorbellini. “I see this expansion creating new friendships, better players and most importantly, a stronger Little League in District 16.”
Wind cited the high price of gasoline as a factor that discourages Shandaken parents from driving their kids three or four times a week down to Woodstock fields. “Our boundaries go far down Route 28 to Pine Hill, but if those kids could play at Olive fields, we’d see more of them I’d imagine. The same goes for Olive since Hurley extends far south. Woodstock is closer to Olive on the whole.”
The application process now involves several levels of review beginning with District 16 Administrator Nick Gantner, the Regional Manager and finally, Little League Headquarters in Williamsport, PA.

Planner Training
The Catskill Watershed Corporation will sponsor two training sessions for members of area planning boards and zoning boards of appeal on Wednesday, Mar. 19 (snow date Mar. 20) at American Legion Post #216, Main St., Margaretville. Trainers from the NYS Department of State will lead the classes which may meet state training mandates for planners and zoning board members if their respective town boards approve. Verification forms will be provided to those who attend the classes.
“Local Planning and Zoning: Who Does What to Whom and When?” will be offered from 10 a.m. to Noon. “Making a Good Record: Minutes, Findings and Decision Documents,” will follow from 1 to 3 p.m.
Advance registration is required by March 7. Call Kim at 845-586-1400 for a registration form, or go to www.cwconline.org/news/events.html.

Solar Future?
In what is being billed as a major boost for the Hudson Valley economy, Congressman Maurice Hinchey joined leaders of The Solar Energy Consortium recently to announce the signing of the first big manufacturing partnership with the consortium. The deal will create new jobs in Ulster County this year with a total of more than 400 new jobs over the next four to five years. The manufacturing partner will work to produce solar panels that are more efficient than existing photovoltaic technologies.
Hinchey has been aggressively pushing the House leadership to quickly pass a bill that will extend tax credits for alternative sources of energy in order to boost the research and production of solar products and to provide tax credits for consumers so that solar panels can become more mainstream… which would then serve as an economic boon to the region.

Driving Junk
A Fleischmanns junk yard operator was arrested recently for fraudulently insuring cars that he then registered for undocumented and unlicensed workers in Delaware and Ulster counties, according to the state Insurance Department. William Hrazanek, 61 of Old Route 28, Fleischmanns, was charged with felony insurance fraud and offering a false instrument for filing. He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if convicted, the Insurance Department said. He was arrested by the Insurance Department’s Fraud Bureau, with assistance from state police.
Hrazanek, who owns a major car junkyard right in the center of the historic village he calls home, is accused of fraudulently providing insurance and auto registration for 40 used vehicles with high mileage sold to unlicensed drivers. Under state law, only citizens or legal residents with Social Security cards can apply for driver’s licenses. Investigators said none of the individuals had Social Security cards.
Hrazanek may have collected as much as $30,000 a year in fraudulent insurance and registration sales. The alleged scam occurred over a period of four years. Hrazanek’s insurance company, American Transit Insurance, calculated their premium loss for 40 vehicles over that span at $522,823. Authorities are working with the state Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the invalid registrations. Police would be able to impound the vehicles if they are driven again without valid insurance and registrations.
Hrazanek was arraigned in the Delaware County Court and released on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to return to court in March.

Sacred Artist?
The Reservoir United Methodist Church on Rte 28 in Ashokan is inviting all artists in the community to submit framed or free-standing art work for its inaugural art exhibition, “Seeking the Sacred.”
“The Reservoir congregation wants to welcome the community into our new facilities, connected to the beautifully renovated church sanctuary, in a special way. In gratitude for the gift of this space and the natural beauty that surrounds us, we want to extend hospitality to the community where we live. With all the talented artists in these mountains, we hope to host an art exhibit filled with sacred beauty, depth of expression and divine inspiration,” said Rev. Lucy Jones, pastor of the Reservoir UMC.
The exhibition will run from March 29 through May 3, with an opening reception on Saturday, March 29th from 3-5 pm. Artists may submit work that is ready to hang or is free-standing, on Tuesday March 25, from 12-5. For more information, please call 657-2326 or 657-5107.

Want A Rebate?
If you want one of those recession-busting rebates, you’ll have to file a tax return… or so goes the official word from the Internal Revenue Service. This could be confusing to seniors who do not ordinarily file tax returns because their income is either so low or could include seniors whose main source of income — or only source of income — is Social Security or certain types of veterans’ benefits. If you’re in that category — whether you live in your own house, in an apartment or in government subsidized housing — you may not have filed a return in a number of years. But now know this: You won’t receive a rebate automatically; you’ll have to file a Federal Income Tax return first. You won’t have to actually pay any tax. But by filing a return, you’ll give the IRS the information it needs to issue you a rebate — such as your name, address, Social Security number and the amount of your income for 2007. Remember that you generally need at least $3,000.00 of “qualifying income” for 2007 to be eligible for a rebate — and “qualifying income” includes Social Security benefits as well as certain types of veterans’ benefits. You will be able to obtain free tax preparation and tax filing service by contacting any of the various AARP Tax Aide sites throughout the county for an appointment. Further information can be requested by calling the Ulster County Office for the Aging at 845-340-3456 or toll free 1-877-914-3456.

Drug Arrests…
Police claim to have broken up a multi-state marijuana distribution organization in which hundreds of pounds of pot were transported from the state of Arizona to Kingston via the New York State Thruway. Members of the URGENT task force executed seven search warrants in recent weeks, six in Ulster County and One in Greene County. The investigation was begun by Illinois State Police in Moline, Illinois, where Troopers stopped two vehicles on I-80 and arrested four Ulster County residents who were in possession of over 120 pounds of marijuana. Police contacted the URGENT task force, which flew members to Moline to interview the individuals. That revealed several locations where cash and marijuana were being sold and stored leading to raids at two addresses in Kingston, two in Rosendale, one in the town of Ulster and one in the Town of Catskill. URGENT members seized over 10 pounds of marijuana, 200 ecstasy tablets and about $17,000 in cash. The investigation revealed the organization was selling between 40 and 50 pounds of marijuana a week in Ulster and Greene counties. Members would fly to Arizona up to four times a week, buy pot and then ship 15 to 75 pounds at a time to safe houses and drops using various shipping companies. They would also occasionally drive larger loads from Arizona to Ulster County in rental vehicles.
Also on the drug front, a West Hurley man accused of distributing crack cocaine in Ulster County was so combative in court that he had to be arraigned while sitting in a holding cell at Kingston police headquarters. Police investigating crack cocaine trafficking in the northeastern part of Ulster County arrested alleged Bloods gang member James “Jab” Mosley, 31, of 1472 Route 28, West Hurley, in Uptown Kingston, where a search of Mosley’s 2004 Honda revealed crack cocaine and marijuana. After inspection by a Kingston police dog, members of URGENT dismantled the vehicle’s dashboard and located 40 additional grams of crack cocaine hidden in the vehicle, they said. A search of Mosley’s residence revealed a loaded .38-caliber handgun, marijuana and drug packaging materials, police said.
While in holding at police headquarters, Mosley became violent and caused damage to his cell. He was later transported to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.

Flu Season
The flu season is getting worse, and U.S. health officials say it’s partly because the flu vaccine doesn’t protect against most of the spreading flu bugs. The flu shot is a good match for only about 40 percent of this year’s flu viruses, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now saying.
44 stateshave reported widespread flu activity this season, and the number children who have died from the flu has risen to 10 since the flu season’s official Sept. 30 start. This past month, one such tragedy occurred in
Each winter, experts try to predict which strains of flu will circulate so they can develop an appropriate vaccine for the following season. They choose three strains- two from the Type A family of influenza, and one from Type B. Usually, the guesswork is pretty good: The vaccines have been a good match in 16 of the last 19 flu seasons, but the vaccine’s Type B component turned out not to be a good match for the B virus that has been most common this winter. And one of the Type A components turned out to be poorly suited for the Type A H3N2/Brisbane-like strain that now accounts for the largest portion of lab-confirmed cases.
In recent weeks, the World Health Organization took the unusual step of recommending that next season’s flu vaccine have a completely different makeup from this year’s. H3N2 strains are treatable by Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs, but the other, H1N1 Type A strains are more resistant. Of all flu samples tested this year, 4.6 percent have been resistant to antiviral medications. That’s up from fewer than 1 percent last year.

Know The Signs
Only about 1 in 4 Americans know the warning signs of a heart attack, U.S. health officials in Atlanta say. Most are also unaware that the first thing to do is call 911. Doctors with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the level of public awareness is alarmingly low.
The warning signs include shortness of breath; pain in the chest, arms or shoulder; a feeling of weakness; and discomfort in the jaw, neck or back. Each year more than 900,000 Americans suffer a heart attack.

LGBTQ Prevails!
The Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center has prevailed in a legal battle with the City of Kingston over its proper status as a non-profit concern that is eligible for property tax exemption. In March 2007 Kingston’s assessor denied The Center’s application, claiming the Center was primarily a social organization. The Center appealed to the Board of Assessment Review, but the Board denied that appeal. Saddled with a tax bill of $9,000, the Center filed suit in court to compel the City to recognize that its activities entitled it to the exemption.
Through the efforts of the Center’s attorneys, the City recently acknowledged that the Center’s activities meet the legal requirements for a tax exemption, and the parties stipulated to a court order saying so.
The Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center was founded in 2005 to advocate and educate on behalf of the LGBTQ community in the Hudson Valley. Since that time, the Center has attracted more than 1,100 dues-paying members and is creating programs to empower the LGBTQ community to achieve their maximum potential. LGBTQ refers to the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of the community served: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. To learn more about the Center, visit www.lgbtqcenter.org.

Info Sought
Area historian Diane Galusha, who is preparing a book on the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and its work in the Catskills region, is seeking memorabilia, information and photographs about the 1930s-era New Deal camps. Camps were located at Margaretville, Tannersville, Breakabeen, Boiceville, McClure and Masonville. Images are especially sought of CCC enrollees working on Woodland Valley, North Lake, Beaverkill and Devil’s Tombstone State Campgrounds; on Simpson Memorial Ski Slope in Phoenicia; and on Mt. Utsayantha, Page Pond and Rock Rift fire towers. CCCers also planted millions of trees, built hiking trails, fire access roads, and stream improvements, and battled area forest and brush fires. They also helped area communities recover from floods and dig out when blizzards struck.
If you have a story to tell, or photos or information to share, please call her at 845-586-4973, or email her at cybercat@catskill.net.

Garden Hotline
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardeners will help anxious gardeners prepare for the 2008 growing season by re-opening their Horticulture Hotline on Monday, March 3 for the season. Experts at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardener office located at 10 Westbrook Lane in Kingston will be available to answer home horticulture questions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00am to 12:00noon through October. The phone number is 340-3478 (DIRT).
The Horticulture Hotline offers free, unbiased, research-based information and advice to more than 1,000 home gardeners annually. Master Gardeners are volunteers trained by Extension experts in the art and science of gardening and also available in the office for soil testing and plant and insect identification. The cost is $5 for plant and insect identification and $3 for soil testing.
For more information call Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Dona Crawford at 845-340-3990 or visit http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/ulster.

8 Days A Week?
Onteora has used up seven of its alloted 6 snow days, as of press time. From here on in, officials say, the district will be losing first it’s post-Easter Monday holiday, March 24, and then start eating into what would have been a week’s Spring Break beginning March 17.
Let’s hope we’re not in for a White Easter... and that Global Warming doesn’t look like this from here on in!

Watch The Pot
Smoking a joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer risk, scientists in New Zealand have found, as they warned of an "epidemic" of lung cancers linked to cannabis.
Studies in the past have demonstrated that cannabis can cause cancer, but few have established a strong link between cannabis use and the actual incidence of lung cancer.
In an article published in the European Respiratory Journal, the scientists said cannabis could be expected to harm the airways more than tobacco as its smoke contained twice the level of carcinogens, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, compared with tobacco cigarettes.
The method of smoking also increases the risk, since joints are typically smoked without a proper filter and almost to the very tip, which increases the amount of smoke inhaled. The cannabis smoker inhales more deeply and for longer, facilitating the deposition of carcinogens in the airways.
The researchers interviewed 79 lung cancer patients and sought to identify the main risk factors for the disease, such as smoking, family history and occupation. The patients were questioned about alcohol and cannabis consumption.
"While our study covers a relatively small group, it shows clearly that long-term cannabis smoking increases lung cancer risk," wrote team leader Richard Beasley, at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.
"Cannabis use could already be responsible for one in 20 lung cancers diagnosed in New Zealand," he added. "In the near future we may see an 'epidemic' of lung cancers connected with this new carcinogen. And the future risk probably applies to many other countries, where increasing use of cannabis among young adults and adolescents is becoming a major public health problem."

Dam Changes
On February 13, officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation proposed new regulations requiring more dam inspections, regular maintenance, and better recordkeeping and emergency planning.
According to DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis, ”These draft regulations increase DEC’s enforcement authority, bring New York’s program in line with federal standards, and make clear that dam safety is foremost the responsibility of the dam owner.”
That same subject of safety also appears high on the priority list for the big dam owner in the Catskills, NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Six weeks ago, DEP officials announced a 5-year, $583 million reconstruction project for the imperiled Gilboa Dam on Greene County’s Schoharie Reservoir. While emergency stabilizing work on that structure was finished nearly a year ago to alleviate fears of its catastrophic failure, the final engineering solution, a near-full reconstruction, will take until 2013 to complete, at a cost more than twice earlier estimates.
Included in that project are plans to make mechanical and architectural improvements to the Shandaken tunnel intake chamber which sometimes moves over 500 million gallons per day into the upper Esopus Creek. That discharge which is responsible for the creek’s generally red color, is something the City is under court order to fix, while it continues to challenge the $5 million fine levied against it for allowing the problem to continue.
Turbidity of the water in the Ashokan is an ongoing issue, posing potentially significant health risks to City residents, and compelling its treatment with enormous quantities of alum in the Kensico Reservoir, prior to reaching city faucets. Whether the scale of planned improvements at the Schoharie will significantly solve the problem in the Ashokan basin is yet unclear.

Scouts’ Weekend
Cub Scout and Boy Scout Badge Weekend will be held Friday-Sunday, March 14-16 at Frost Valley YMCA in Claryville, NY. The outing provides scouts the opportunity to earn merit badges for a number of accomplishments. In addition to the scouting activities, participants will be welcome to use Frost Valley's low ropes course, indoor climbing wall and other facilities.
Scouting Weekend is for both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Programs will be geared towards meeting badge requirements for both Cub and Boy Scouts, though it is unlikely that all badge work will be completed during the weekend.
Specific program information for the Cub Scout and Boy Scout Outdoor Weekend will be posted at www.frostvalley.org.For more information call (845) 985-2291, ext. 205.
eservations@frostvalley.org or visit: www.frostvalley.org. Frost Valley YMCA Camp and Conference Center is located at 2000 Frost Valley Road, Claryville, just over the mountain from Big Indian.
YMCA is a 6,000-acre facility offering summer camping for children, environmental education, year-round activities for families and conference and retreat facilities for groups and businesses.