3/1/2007
Town Business...
Besides dealing with a number of big issues like cell
towers and sewers in February, the ShandakenTown Board
also tackled parking problems at town hall, tied up some
loose ends in the ambulance department, and pondered some
mysterious highway crew work done on Crossroads Ventures
land in Highmount... all as part of a hastily-called afternoon
meeting on February 22.
It was the latter of these issues that raised most of
the eyebrows in the crowded town hall, where Councilman
Rob Stanley brought it up looking for an explanation.
“Is Keith here?” Stanley said aloud to the
room, with no response coming back as he looked for Keith
Johnson, the Superintendent of Highways and therefore
the man in charge of a crew that was dispatched last month
to clear ice from a privately owned parking lot atop Highmount.
Johnson was not at the session, presumably due to more
pressing needs brought on by the big snowstorm that had
covered the town the day before. But Stanley went on to
say that he received complaints about the work from townsfolk
because it was done at taxpayers’ expense to benefit
a private landowner... in this case, that landowner being
Dean Gitter, of Crossroads Ventures fame.
Stanley said he was told that Johnson decided to clear
ice off the parking lot, which provides parking for Crossroads
offices as well as the Highmount post office, because
“it was a safety issue.”
Supervisor Robert Cross Jr. said he was not sure why the
work was done because the property is not even on a town
road. It sits, he said, on the corner of State Route 28
and the Ulster County owned roadway that leads to Belleayre
ski center.
Later in the session former Ambulance squad Chief Jerry
Pearlman asked for some follow-up information about how
the squad now handles billing. At the official February
town board meeting on the 5th, there was talk of hiring
a company to handle the billing responsibilities at a
cost of about $13,500 a year. Critics of that plan said
that Pearlman’s replacement, Peggy Vitarius, was
hired to handle those responsibilities, so it would be
double dipping to hire the company.
In response to Pearlman’s query, Vitarius said that
she was handling the billing duties.
And as for that parking issue at town hall, the board
made it official: no parking in front of the building
except for the unloading of equipment, and prisoners.
The disabled can use the space too, but because the board
believes that the former anything goes parking system
created an unsafe condition, all others including police
and employees must park in the rear of the building. That
goes for lawyers too.
Mike Miranda, a town judge and former cunty assistant
district attorney, warned that the new no parking policy
could mean the difference between life and death as it
now requires police officers to “waste precious
moments” running to their patrol cars that would
now be parked far away from their barracks upstairs in
the lower parking lot behind the town hall.
Lastly, the board set a meeting to hear directly from
the Catskill Watershed Corporation about what Phoenicia
can expect from that agency. There has been lots of talk
as to what services the CWC can offer the hamlet now that
voters have turned down the proposed sewer system.
That meeting takes place at town hall at 6pm on March
5th. Park in the back if you attend.
Coalition Trouble?
The race for seats on the Coalition of Watershed Towns
hit Ulster County last week where a write-in name on the
ballot has made the otherwise pro forma election process
an actual political event.
Last month the Coalition’s executive committee sent
a list of nominees to all the Ulster County towns that
sit within the New York City Watershed. All except the
town of Hardenburgh, that is, which dropped out of the
Coalition last year when town officials took issue with
what they see as the Coalition Executive Committee’s
taking of sides with the developer in the controversy
surrounding the proposed Belleayre Resort at Catskill
Park.
Last month the rest of the towns -Shandaken, Olive, Woodstock,
Denning, Hurley, Kingston, Marbletown, Rochester and Wawarsing
- received this list of nominees. On that list, according
to, Coalition Attorney Jeff Baker, were only five names.
Shandaken Supervisor Robert Cross Jr. was one and so was
Olive councilman Bruce LaMonda. Both are already on the
Coalition board and hope to be reelected. A third nomination
was for Hurley Supervisor Mike Shultis, but Baker said
Shultis has openly announced that he is not interested
in the position. The other two names were for alternates
to the committee, Olive boardmembers Linda Burkhardt and
Henry Rank.
With Cross and LaMonda’s seats up and one alternate
seat available, the towns have a simple task. Chose two
of the three nominees for the executive committee and
chose one name as an alternate.
It turns out there is now a surprise a write in candidate
added to the list. And not just for an Executive Committee
seat but an alternate as well. Last week the Shandaken
Town Board quietly added the name of Woodstock Supervisor
Jeremy Wilber for Executive Committee and Shandaken Councilman
Peter DiSclafani as an alternate.
“That is their right to do,” Baker said.
LaMonda was shocked to learn that he was in a race all
of a sudden. He suspects Wilbur’s name was thrown
in by Cross, who was on the losing end of a battle with
LaMonda last year when LaMonda asked the Coalition to
support Olive’s efforts to get the controversial
large parcel bill shot down in the Onteora school district.
Wilbur, who supported the bill along with Cross, made
a few appearance’s at Coalition meetings in Margaretville
to try and sway the board, but did not succeed.
The ballots are to be returned to Baker by March 16. He
will tally the votes and announce the results at the March
19th meeting of the executive Board, held at 6pm in the
headquarters of the Catskill Watershed Corporation on
Main Street in Margaretville.
Casino Time?
Governor Eliot Spitzer reached an agreement with the St.
Regis Mohawk Tribe to build a casino in the Catskills
within the last news cycle, amending an existing gaming
compact with the Mohawks that grants the tribe authority
to build and operate a gaming facility at Monticello Raceway
in Sullivan County. Under the compact, the state will
receive 20 percent of revenues from slot machines for
the first two years, 23 percent for the next two years,
and 25 percent thereafter. In addition, the Mohawks have
agreed to comply with applicable tax, labor, and health
laws, as those laws relate to the Monticello casino project.
In conjunction with signing the agreement, Spitzer sent
a “concurrence letter,” as required by federal
law, to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne indicating
that use of the property for casino purposes is in the
best interest of the tribe and surrounding community.
The Governor and the tribal chiefs urged the Department
of the Interior to move quickly to take the raceway into
trust in order that the gaming facility be built and operated
in compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The
proposed $600 million Monticello casino project is expected
to create more than 3,000 full-time jobs.
Meanwhile, the Arkville-based Catskill Center for Conservation
and Development has joined the Natural Resources Defense
League and other co-plaintiffs to file a federal lawsuit
contending the Bureau of Indian Affairs should have conducted
a full environmental review of the Monticello project,
instead of a lesser study, hoping to force the greater
study – and mitigation – before the feds approve
the $600 million complex. And a number of anti-smoking
organizations have fired off a letter to Governor Spitzer
urging him to reconsider the compact and ensure the banning
of smoking in all public places there. The current compact
states the Mohawks will maintain smoke-free environments
within the facility, but it does not specify the number,
locale, size and configurations, the letter states.
Also, state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of Kingston has gone
on the record to say that he wants to ensure no further
casinos for Ulster County even though the original state
legislation creating casino availabilities allowed for
three in Sullivan and two in Ulster. He added that he
plans to reintroduce legislation to have Ulster County
taken off the list of areas where casinos may be developed…
even though his proposal hasn’t gotten much support
from the two state senators who represent the county.
The senators say the change isn’t necessary because
there doesn’t appear to be local support for casinos
in Ulster.
“Because Ulster County has not gone on record of
supporting a casino, one would not be located there,”
said Bonacic, R-Mount Hope. “We’ve always
listened to what people have said. Not one town has stepped
up and said they wanted it. So it’s a non-starter.”
Bonacic’s peer, State Senator Bill Larkin, has said
Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno’s has stated he
will not support a casino where the local government doesn’t
support it.
Ulster County Legislature Chairman David Donaldson noted
that the Legislature voted in 2005, at the urging of the
then-Democratic minority, to only support a casino if
it has support from the municipality where it would be
located. The 2005 vote was the result of the Seneca-Cayuga
Tribe of Oklahoma proposing to build a casino on the Winston
Farm in Saugerties - a plan that was opposed by both the
town and village boards.
The joint lawsuit against the current proposal, which
asks that a judge stop development plans from moving forward
until full measure can be taken of the impact on nearby
communities and the environment, will be litigated by
Whiteman, Osterman & Hannah, LLP and NRDC.
Plans for the half-billion-dollar facility, to be built
by Empire Resorts, Inc. and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe,
include 766,000 square feet of floor area – equivalent
to roughly 13 football fields — 4,200 casino gambling
positions, a 600-seat theater, and a parking lot for 4,800
cars and buses.
The Jail Opens!
Who’d have thought the opening of a new county jail
would make for good news? But now that the first inmates
have been transferred from the old to the new county jail,
three years late, everyone’s singing hosannas…
excepting the inmates. The actual move occurred on Saturday,
February 17.
In the works since early 2000, the new jail was supposed
to open in April 2004, but construction delays pushed
the project back again and again and drove the price to
nearly double its original predictions. The new Law Enforcement
Center initially was expected to cost about $53 million.
That amount grew to $71.8 million once all the construction
bids were approved. Delays in getting the job done have
driven the cost to more than $87 million, andwell outstanding
claims that contractors have filed are expected to push
the final tally past $100 million.
“The worst nightmare in Ulster County history has
ended on a good note,” said County Legislative Chairman
David Donaldson.
The new jail can hold 402 inmates, far more than the old
jail’s capacity of 280. The extra space means the
county won’t need to “board out” excess
inmates to other counties and, instead, will be able to
accept overflow inmates from elsewhere. Counties pay $110
per day per person to house their overflow inmates in
other locations, so what has been a hefty expense for
Ulster County has the potential to become substantial
revenue.
As for the old jail’s future, the county is entertaining
several options ranging from selling or leasing the building
to a federal agency to tearing it down. In the near term,
he said, some space in the building may be used to house
Kingston’s City Court.
Meanwhile, the Ulster County Legislature was set to vote
this week to settle most of the major claims filed by
contractors over the problem-plagued Law Enforcement Center
project. Details of the settlement won’t be known
until after the legislature votes this Thursday night.
The pending settlement is with Christa Construction, the
project’s main contractor, Rotondo Weirich Enterprises,
which provided the jail cells, and several other contractors
which were involved in various components of the project.
Richard Parete, chairman of the special Law Enforcement
Center Committee, says settling with the major contractors
will help the county with its own claims against the architect
and project management firms.
“By settling with them, they become our allies.
They turn over all their information. That’s part
of the agreement. They will work with us in court to expose
everything the architect and construction manager, their
deficiencies.”
Parete concedes Ulster County itself is far from blameless,
but they believe a big portion of the responsibility for
what went wrong also lies with the architect, Krandell
Associates, and the project manager, Bovis Lend Lease.
City Fine Okayed
The US Supreme Court has denied New York Citys petition
to allow it to continue to discharge hundreds of millions
of gallons per day of sediment-laden waters from its Schoharie
Reservoir through the Shandaken Tunnel into the Esopus
Creek. The action effectively upholds a June 2006 Federal
Court decision which compels the City both to remediate
the problem and to pay the federal Treasury a $5,225,000
fine for violating the Clean Water Act.
The Court’s decision not to review the case appears
a final affirmation of victory for a coalition of fishing
and environmental groups which in March 2000 filed suit
against the City’s Department of Environmental Protection
to stop discharging its silt-polluted water into the Esopus.
According to Pace University’s Daniel Estrin, supervising
attorney for the groups challenging the City, Monday’s
action makes binding last June’s unanimous Court
of Appeals decision that “any transfer of pollutants
between distinct and unconnected water bodies is illegal
without a permit.” Estrin also indicated the City
has now exhausted its legal appeals and will have to both
pay the fine and move toward compliance.
“Not only is this a victory for the Esopus Creek
and the wild rainbow trout,” said Trout Unlimited’s
Bert Darrow, “but it is also a much bigger victory
for the Clean Water Act.”
In addition to TU, the group includes the Theodore Gordon
Flyfishers, the Federated Sportsman’s Clubs of Ulster
County, the Catskill-Delaware Natural Water Alliance and
Riverkeeper.
DEP Spokesman Ian Michaels responded to the decision only
by saying, “We have been complying with the (state-issued)
SPDES permit and we will continue to do so.”
“We think that permit is illegal in that it allows
them to continue violating state water quality statues.
In any event,” Estrin added. “They were seeking
both to overrule the laws that required them to get a
permit in the first place and to avoid the penalty for
violating the Clean Water Act and they failed to do both
those things.”
Flood Bills…
Ulster County lawmakers are considering whether to opt
into state bills that would offer revised tax assessments
to landowners significantly impacted by flooding in June
2006. An Assembly bill under consideration in Albany would
allow any landowner whose property value was diminished
by at least 50 percent because of flood damage to have
the property reassessed and receive a tax refund. The
March deadline for local participation in the bill is
being pushed back to May.
Christy Calicchia, a public information officer for the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, said 130 Ulster County
residents applied for individual assistance as a result
of the June flooding. Calicchia did not know how many
of those people would be eligible for relief under the
50 percent rule.
The Esopus Creek which flooded in both April 2005 and
June 2006. The 2005 flooding was catastrophic and destroyed
dozens of homes along the creek. The 2006 flooding along
the Esopus was not nearly as bad.
Art Snyder, Ulster County’s director of emergency
management, agreed the 2006 assessment relief will not
help, but he said that “even if only a few residents
could take advantage of it, it’s certainly a positive
thing.”
State Sen. John Bonacic is co-sponsoring a flood assessment
relief bill in the Senate that mandates only a 20 percent
reduction in value because of flooding.
Interpret This!
Not to be outdone by supporters of the Catskill Interpretive
Center, the promoters of a Water Discovery Center project
came to the Shandaken Town Board recently and got the
same level of backing for their project as the Interpretive
Center types did only weeks before.
The two differ considerably in that the Interpretive Center
is a government project that is planned with state funds
and the Water Discovery Center relies mostly on private
funding to be constructed. They also differ in location,
as in the Interpretive Center would be located in Shandaken
but the Water Center would not. Water Center organizers
pulled the project out of Shandaken when it seemed the
town several years ago was not going to support the project
on land that abuts the property earmarked for the Golf
Course that Dean Gitter plans on Highmount.
Gary Gailes, the spearhead of the Water Center project,
also a consultant to Gitter and the owner of the Shandaken
property previously pegged for the water project, now
has a commitment from the nearby town of Middletown, which
gave the Water Center a 43 acre home in Arkville.
Gailes was on hand February 22nd as the town board unanimously
endorsed his resolution to support the project and the
efforts to raise the $25 million needed to build it.
He and the projects Board of Directors have $212,000 so
far.
The resolution states that the town “recognizes
the significant contribution that the Water Discovery
Center could make in raising the public’s awareness
about the need to protect our fresh water resources, as
well as the significant contribution the Water Discovery
Center could make to the local and regional economy.”
The Catskill Interpretive Center was an idea forged in
the late 1980’s under the Democratic Cuomo administration.
After a decade of planning and over $1.5 million of site
preparation at the 62 acre location in Mount Tremper,
the project was suddenly scrapped when the Pataki Administration
took over. It is estimated that another $7 million is
needed to complete the project.
The Water Discovery Center began as an idea Gitter had
in the mid 1990’s. In the 1997 watershed deal, the
City of New York allocated $1 million for Gitter’s
Water Museum idea, but pulled the funding back when the
project never got off the ground. The idea was then moved
to Arkville and expanded to its present form.
More School!
Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York and Washington,
D.C. legislatures have started debating whether to lengthen
the school day or year. In addition, individual districts
such as Miami-Dade in Florida are experimenting with added
hours in some schools.
On average, U.S. students go to school 6.5 hours a day,
180 days a year, fewer than in many other industrialized
countries, according to a report by the Education Sector,
a Washington-based think tank.
One model that traditional public schools are looking
to is the Knowledge is Power Program, which oversees public
charter schools nationwide. Those schools typically serve
low-income middle-school students, and their test scores
show success. Students generally go from 7:30 a.m. to
5 p.m. during the week and for a few hours every other
Saturday. They also go to school for several weeks in
the summer. That amounts to at least 50 percent more instructional
time for students in such programs than in traditional
public schools, according to the report.
The extended-day schedule costs on average about $1,200
extra per student, with most of the extra cost going into
added pay for teachers.
The National Education Association, the largest teacher’s
union, has no official opinion on extending the school
day. But its president, Reg Weaver, said teachers probably
would support the idea if, like in Massachusetts, they
could choose whether to work the longer hours.
An important impetus for the debate around extending school
hours is the federal No Child Left Behind law. U.S. Sen.
Democrat Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate committee
overseeing education, is considering allowing schools
that fail to meet annual progress goals to extend their
day as a possible solution and also looking into putting
AmeriCorps volunteers - recent college graduates who can
help teach - into schools that adopt a longer day.
Welfare Growth…
The welfare state is bigger than ever despite a decade
of policies designed to wean poor people from public aid.
The number of families receiving cash benefits from welfare
has plummeted since the government imposed time limits
on the payments a decade ago. But other programs for the
poor, including Medicaid, food stamps and disability benefits,
are bursting with new enrollees.The result, according
to new analysis: Nearly one in six people rely on some
form of public assistance, a larger share than at any
time since the government started measuring two decades
ago.
Critics of the welfare overhaul say the numbers offer
fresh evidence that few former recipients have become
self-sufficient, even though millions have moved from
welfare to work. They say the vast majority have been
forced into low-paying jobs without benefits and few opportunities
to advance.
“If the goal of welfare reform was to get people
off the welfare rolls, bravo,” said Vivyan Adair,
a former welfare recipient who is now an assistant professor
of women’s studies at Hamilton College in upstate
New York. “If the goal was to reduce poverty and
give people economic and job stability, it was not a success.”
Proponents of the changes in welfare say programs that
once discouraged work now offer support to people in low-paying
jobs. They point to expanded eligibility rules for food
stamps and Medicaid, the health insurance program for
the poor, that enable people to keep getting benefits
even after they start working.
Major changes in welfare were enacted in 1996, requiring
most recipients to work but allowing them to continue
some benefits after they started jobs. The law imposed
a five-year limit on cash payments for most people in
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or
TANF. Some states have shorter time limits.
About 44 million people - nearly one in six in the country
- relied on government services for the poor in 2003,
according to the most recent statistics compiled by the
Census Bureau. That compares with about 39 million in
1996. Also, the number of people getting government aid
continues to increase, according to more recent enrollment
figures from individual programs. Medicaid rolls alone
topped 45 million people in 2005, pushed up in part by
rising health care costs and fewer employers offering
benefits. Nearly 26 million people a month received food
stamps that year. And those figures don’t even start
to take in Disability payments, which average between
20 to 40 percent of our Upstate rural population’s
income.
Cash welfare recipients, by comparison, peaked at 14.2
million people in 1994.
Slope of Fame?
Belleayre Mountain has announced the names of the first
inductees to its newly formed Belleayre Mountain Hall
of Fame. The five chosen will be honored at the Hall of
Fame Dinner and Awards Ceremony at Belleayre Mountain’s
Overlook Lodge on Friday, March 30, 2007.
The class of 2007 includes: Art Draper, the first Superintendent
of Belleayre Mountain; Dot Nebel, the first Ski School
Director and designer of Belleayre’s original ski
trails; Vincent Quinn, the owner of the first ski shop
at Belleayre Mountain; Joe Kelly, the Chairman of the
Board of the Belleayre Music Conservatory and founding
member of the Coalition to Save Belleayre; Ralph Combe,
Assistant Ski School Director at Belleayre Mountain for
decades; and Robert & Valerie Konefal, owners of the
Pine Hill Arms and founders of the of the Pine Hill Arms
Triathlon and Midweek Race Series.
For more information about the Hall of Fame Dinner and
all of the upcoming events at Belleayre Mountain, visit
their website at www.belleayre.com.
Snow Tragedy
An employee at the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort was killed
when his clothes got caught and he was pulled into the
moving blades of a six-foot wide snow blower. The accident
occurred on Monday, February 19 at about 8:30 p.m. when
Greene County 911 received a call of a fatal industrial
accident at the ski resort. Police said that Walter Rion,
63, an employee of the resort, was attempting to close
the overhead garage door while standing between the door
and the running snow blower. His clothes became caught
in the moving blades and he was pulled into the machine.
Rion lived in Prattsville and had worked at the ski center
for over 20 years..
Judge’s List
A list of 11 potential candidates to fill the vacancy
created when Justice Vincent Bradley, of the Third Judicial
District, died last Nov. 24 is currently making the rounds,
with county Democratic chairman John Parete hoping to
discuss the pending appointment with Governor Eliot Spitzer
in the coming month. Spitzer’s appointee will serve
until the end of this year. The 14-year position then
will be on the November ballot.
Bradley’s death, coupled with the promotion in November
of state Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanagh to the
court’s Appellate Division, has left Ulster County
with no Supreme Court justices, resulting in a bottlenecking
of court cases.
Parete hopes the governor will chose an Ulster County
resident to fill the vacancy, but the new judge could
come from any county in the Third Judicial District, which
also includes Greene, Columbia, Albany, Rensselaer, Schoharie
and Sullivan counties.
The Ulster County Democratic Committee solicited applications
for the position earlier this year. A 10-person screening
committee, headed by County Attorney Joshua Koplovitz,
vetted the applicants. Koplovitz said the committee consisted
of five attorneys, including himself, and five members
of the community.
The names submitted include Ulster County Family Court
support magistrate John Beisel, Gardiner town justice
Bruce Blatchly, Christopher Cahill, former law clerk to
state Supreme Court Justice Vincent Bradley, Kingston
attorney William Cloonan, Marbletown town justice Claudia
Davenport, Kingston attorney Rod Futerfas, Kingston city
judge James Gilpatric, New Paltz town justice Jonathan
Katz, Kingston attorney Philip Kirschner, former Shawangunk
town justice James McCarl, and Rochester town justice
Deborah Schneer.
The Ulster County Republican Committee is not submitting
a list of nominees because the party does not expect Spitzer
to select someone from his opposing party..
Paraguay Bush?
A government office forbidden by law from disseminating
information domestically, the State Department’s
USINFO Counter- Disinformation/Misinformation Team, was
the mouthpiece of choice for the administration to deny
rumors that the Bush family purchased thousands of acres
in a remote portion of northern Paraguay.
Specifically, the agency has said that it is untrue that,
“Former President George H.W. Bush owns 70,000 hectares
(173,000 acres) in the Chaco region of Paraguay;”
that “Current President George W. Bush owns 40,000
hectares (98,842 acres) in the same region, or “Timothy
Towell, former U.S. ambassador to Paraguay from 1988 to
1991, administers the 70,000 hectare ranch on behalf of
former President Bush.”
Meanwhile, the vice president of the Republic of Paraguay,
Luis Castiglioni, admitted indirectly that an agreement
with Washington had already been reached, and that the
arrangements had been confirmed during last year’s
visit to the country by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld. “We have showed our firm intention to
make the region much safer, much more stable, and much
stronger democratically,” he said. “They [Washington]
have made the decision to fortify relations with us because
they say this government could be a good example of stability,
development and prosperity for the region.”
Paraguay became known in the latter half of the 20th century
as one of South America’s worst dictatorships, as
well as a home to top Nazi generals who had fled Europe
following World War II looking for asylum.
Autism Update
A massive international effort led by Canadian scientists
has homed in on the genes behind autism - a breakthrough
that could revolutionize how the mysterious and surprisingly
common condition is both detected and treated. Touting
it as the most significant advance in the field in 30
years, researchers say the landmark project has put within
reach a DNA test to identify children with autism early
enough to counter the condition’s worst effects.
Doctors currently rely on psychological tests to diagnose
autism spectrum disorders in children at age 2 or 3. But
a DNA test could identify those affected as babies, or
perhaps even before they are born. The findings, based
on the largest autism DNA collection ever assembled, could
also allow parents who have children with autism to learn
through genetic screening their chances of having another
affected child.
Using new genome scanning tools, researchers have found
that several different autism-related genes can play a
role in different families. This helps to explain why
no two children - not even identical twins - have identical
symptoms. The researchers have pinpointed at least five
areas of the genome that harbor genes linked to autism
susceptibility, including those crucial for brain function.
They have also found a genetic mutation tied to the disorder
in girls - who are four times less likely than boys to
develop autism disorders. The work has also highlighted
how autism can spring from genetic quirks not seen in
either parent - suggesting that a genetic glitch has randomly
emerged in the sperm or egg cells of the father or mother
prior to conception.
Autism disorders have only recently been recognized as
the most common serious developmental condition of childhood,
affecting roughly one in 165 children. Experts refer to
it as a spectrum because the complex neurological condition
can range so widely in severity. Some suffer severe cognitive
impairment, others are savants. Many battle gastrointestinal
problems and show a strong preference for strict routines
and repetitive behaviors. But social deficits are its
hallmark, impaired language, communication and the ability
to interact with others. A;lso, although once considered
rare, autism disorders seem to have risen dramatically
over the last two decades. But experts believe the increase
can largely be explained by greater awareness, different
diagnostic criteria and the specialized resources often
made available to those with an ASD compared with another
form of developmental condition.
Despite the growing awareness, autism’s causes have
stumped experts. Many suspect environmental triggers -
prenatal hormones, toxins, food allergies and infections.
But experts have long known genes play a major role. Autism
disorders tend to run in families; if one identical twin
has an ASD, there is a 65- to 92-per-cent chance the other
will also develop the disorder. Doctors also see subtle
forms of autism in parents that may not have been diagnosed.
Locally, families impacted by autism have turned to several
resources. Originally founded over 30 years ago by two
teachers from Woodstock, Susan Buckler and Jamey Wolff,
The Children’s Annex (with its main site in Kingston,
NY and a satellite program in Ellenville, NY) has evolved
into the premier center in the Hudson Valley region for
children with autism. With its goal of transitioning its
students back into the regular school districts, and helping
them meet their greatest developmental potential, The
Children’s Annex has served as a model program and
has been recognized as such. A similar program at Onteora,
ASPIE, lost its local funding several years ago.
Because of the influx of students in need of its services,
The Children’s Annex has been engaging in a “30th
Anniversary Campaign” to raise $1 million for a
major capital improvement project. At the core of the
expansion will be a new “Autism Support Center”
that will house a new diagnostic and consultation program
that was created in response to a need for evaluations
to be performed by trained clinical psychologists using
the most current diagnostic measures.
The Children’s Annex accepts referrals from all
public schools and counties in the Hudson Valley. To obtain
more information on programs and services at The Children’s
Annex, or to make a gift to the 30th Anniversary Campaign,
please call 845.336.2616 or e-mail: info@childrensannex.org.
New At UCCC
A celebration to mark the grand re-opening of the newly
renovated John C. Quimby Theater will take place on Saturday,
March 10, at 8:00 p.m. on the Stone Ridge campus of SUNY
Ulster, the county community college. The program will
feature a performance by the Hudson Valley Philharmonic
String Quartet and will include a welcome by college president
Donald C. Katt and a dedication of the new stage to Marti
and Jack Lawson, long-time directors of college theater
productions. The theater re-opening will be followed by
a reception in the Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge, which
has also been refurbished.
Quimby Theater has been a busy performance space since
it was built in the 1960s. It was named after John C.
Quimby, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ulster County
Community College from 1966-1969 and former supervisor
of the town of Marlboro. For nearly 30 years, faculty
member Jack Lawson and his wife and assistant, Marti Lawson,
produced over 100 shows with student and community casts.
Funding for the update was obtained from the Ulster County
and New York State legislatures in March 2006, with construction
beginning in late May and completed in February 2007.
To attend the Quimby Theater Re-opening Celebration and
Concert, reservations must be made by calling (845) 687-5262.
Women-Owned
Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed an executive order creating
an Executive Leadership Council and Corporate Roundtable
to promote opportunities for Minority and Women Owned
Business Enterprises. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson
will chair both the Council and the Roundtable. The MWBE
Executive Leadership Council will seek to improve the
participation of MWBE businesses in the state’s
procurement process through recommendations made by executives
in state agencies and public authorities that award business
contracts to the private sector. The MWBE Corporate Roundtable
will seek to do the same through recommendations made
by corporate executives in the private sector.
Bauers’ Pledge...
Lawrence E. Bauer, class of ’90, and Joan Lawrence-Bauer,
class of ’93, and both of Big Indian, have pledged
$10,000 to the School of Business at the State University
of New York at New Paltz to support a wide variety of
new student-centered programs.
Mr. Bauer, who earned a Master of Arts degree in Literature
and Mrs. Bauer, who earned a Bachelor of Science Degree
in Communication and Media Studies, have been longtime
supporters of a wide variety of SUNY New Paltz activities.
She is a member of the School of Business Advisory Council
and the chairperson of its Outreach Committee, as well
as a former faculty member, who was inducted into the
School of Business Hall of Fame in 2004. He is a retired
businessman and former teacher at Onteora High School
who served as national sales manager for Head Ski Company
and the owner of Puckihuddle Products manufacturing,
To acknowledge their generous gift, the School of Business
will dedicate one study area in van den Berg Hall in the
name of Mrs.Lawrence-Bauer and Mr. Bauer.
For more information about the School of Business, visit
www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofbusiness.
Video Grilling
The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office has
received a $50,000 state grant from the state Division
of Criminal Justice Services to be used to buy equipment
to video record the interrogation of certain defendants
charged with serious crimes. The equipment, which will
be installed in up to seven police departments in the
county, will allow investigators to video record suspects
of violent crimes, as well as certain targeted felonies,
such as domestic violence, child abuse, sexual offenses
and gang related crimes.
The county DA’s Office will help fund the initiative
through its state Operation Impact.
Generals To Quit
Some of America’s most senior military commanders
are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military
strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence
and intelligence sources. Tension in the Gulf region has
raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly
likely before President George Bush leaves office. Up
to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather
than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.
“There are four or five generals and admirals we
know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on
Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence
said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the
Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an
attack would be effective or even possible.”
