| 
Lambs
and daffodils... everything's bursting forth and those without
farm friends, head over to the Sanctuary on Van Wagnen Road in
Willow. They're open again after the long winter!
How
Webb Summons Wind
Onteora Starts Going Alternative With New Energy Turbine At
Bennett School
4/8/2010
By Violet Snow
While out on the windy playground with their
students, teachers at Bennett Elementary School used to joke
that there ought to be a wind turbine on the site. Now that
jest has become a plan.
Parents, students, and teachers at Bennett have raised $13,000
to build a wind turbine in honor of science teacher Webb Leonard,
who died last February. The one-kilowatt turbine will power
a learning center within the school, carrying on Leonard's
legacy of educating students about the environment.
Continue>>>
Homegrown
Tea Party?
Talks About What's Angering Folks Leads To A Repeat Of Property
Rights Angst
4/8/2010
By Paul Smart
A Shandaken/Olive/Woodstock Tea Party chapter is being initiated
with a first introductory meeting set for the Phoenicia
Rod & Gun Club along Route 28 next Wednesday evening,
April 14, starting at 7:00 PM.
I met recently with the key organizers of the effort, an
offshoot of the Kingston Tea Party that's been operational
for a year now. Mitchell Langbert and Glenda McGee, seated
in the local Starbucks, noted how Chris Johansen the one
working the organizational details involving who'd be joining,
when and where meetings would be occurring, and how the
new local Tea Party effort would operate. All three live
in Olive.
Working
A Budget Down
Onteora Board Asks Administration To Start Cutting At Its
Own Expenses
4/8/2010
By Lisa Childers
The Onteora district board of education added an extra hour
for an informal budget discussion at its April 6 meeting at
Bennett Elementary. Superintendent Leslie Ford and Assistant
Superintendent of Business Victoria McLaren presented a 3.9
percent tax levy increase - or a .31 overall budget increase
- for the 2010/2011 budget, as requested by the board. Additional
cuts came under administrative spending in order to obtain
that goal. Overall budget reductions now total $2,358,403.00.
|
LUCINDA
KNAUS has been a quiet mainstay of the local art
scene for years, based in Shady next door to Elena
Zang. She'll be the focus of the next show opening
at Cabane Studio and Gallery at 38 Main Street in
Phoenicia on April 17, then teaching watercolor
classes come May. For further information call 688.5490
or try visiting cabanestudios.wordpress.com
Patience
Is Waning
State Sends Town Sewer Warning
As CWC Ponders Phoenicia's Intentions
4/8/2010
Phoenicia Times Staff
Proposed
cuts to the 2010/2011 Onteora
district budget brought
out high emotions at the
school board's last two
meetings on March 16 and
March 9.
At a special budget forum
in the central office at
the Middle/High School on
March 9, Superintendent
Leslie Ford announced that
a new state formulation
had revealed $845,525 less
in Federal funding for Onteora
over the coming 2010/2011
school year. This is on
top of a $658,000 less in
State aid and a projected
loss of $100,000 in income
interest revenue. If the
board maintained their target
of a four percent levy,
Ford noted, they would now
face a $2.3 million budget
shortfall instead of initial
projections around $1.5
million.
The district would still
receive $434,643 in federal
stimulus money, but that
money runs out after the2010/2011
school year. This is coupled
with a loss of gap funding
between State and Federal
Government, Ford said.
Continue>>>
Blocked
Because Of Prices?
Gitter Land Sale In Comptroller's'Sights
As
Aim Gets Taken At Exorbitant State Deals
4/8/2010
By Paul Smart
The New York Post, of all publications,
has broken a story regarding our region,
albeit in the context of the Adirondacks.
According to their veteran Albany reporter
Fred Dicker, in a piece that ran Monday,
April 5, plans for the state's purchase
of 1,200 plus acres of Big Indian lands
from Crossroads Ventures, a key element
in the "Agreement In Principal"
brokered between a host of national, state
and regional environmental organizations,
the New York City Department of Environmental
Protection, and developer Dean Gitter,
is currently "being blocked"
by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli "out
of concern that Albany is preparing to
spend 'millions more' than the property
is worth."
Continue>>>
Holding
Up The Economy
Catskill Watershed Corporation
Sees Many Benefits To Communal
Actions
4/8/2010
By Paul Smart
The Catskill Watershed Corporation
held its annual meeting at its
offices in Margaretville Tuesday
afternoon, April 6, reelecting
incumbent members from Delaware
county and its existing board
and passing a couple dozen resolutions
without any real discussion.
Although the crowd in attendance,
for an informal luncheon get-together
as well as the meeting, included
a half dozen members of the
public and two press representatives,
the room was crowded with CWC
employees and representatives
from all the major governmental
agencies within the Catskills.
Continue>>>
|
|
