Newsbriefs

6/18//2009

County Races!
Ulster County’s Democratic and Republican parties recently held caucus to decide major candidates for county-wide races, including the legislature, a judgeship, and the county clerk position. There were a number of vacancies on each party’s slate, however, with much talk as of press time of other candidates being named in the coming weeks.
Local party caucuses are expected next month, although to date the Town of Olive doesn’t seem to be witnessing any movement against its usual slate of incumbents.
At the Holiday Inn in Kingston last week, Ulster Democrats nominated Rochester Town Justice Deborah Schneer, who won election to that position four years ago, to run for a county judge position over New Paltz Town Justice Jonathan Katz and Shandaken Town Justice Michael Miranda.
Schneer got the nomination by receiving 10,376 weighted votes to Katz’s 7,461. The two had squared off for a second run-off vote after neither received a majority during a three-way race with Miranda, who got 2,880 votes.
“There has never been a women (county judge in Ulster) or a Democrat,” Schneer said. “We are going to change both of those things.’
Ulster County Democratic Chairman Julian Schreibman said the nomination did not rule out the possibility of a primary in September. Schreibman nominated Katz for the county judge position.
County Republicans picked former Ulster County District Attorney Donald A. Williams to run for the judge position the previous week.
The Democrats also nominated Saugerties resident Gilda Riccardi, who ran for the Ulster County Legislature in 2005 and lost, to run for the county clerk. Incumbent Nina Postupack has already secured the Republican nod.
Democratic candidates nominated for Ulster County Legislature included incumbents Don Gregorious and Brian Shapiro in District 2, comprised of Woodstock, Shandaken, Hardenburgh and Denning; and incumbents Roy Hochberg, Richard Parete, and Robert Parete in District 3, made up of Olive, Marbletown and part of Hurley.
Ulster County Republicans had picked Williams and Postupack the previous week while party members in Legislature District 8 dumped longtime Legislator Glenn Noonan, the body’s minority leader, in favor of a political newcomer.The annual nominating convention was held at the Kingston Holiday Inn, as well.
Williams had beat out contenders Marsha Weiss, an Ulster Town Justice, and Michael Kavanagh Jr. — whose father is a current state Supreme Court justice and former Ulster County district attorney, with 124, 56 and 23 votes, respectively.
The Ulster County bench has been vacant since Judge Michael Bruhn retired in April.
Noonan, who is finishing his eighth two-year term as a legislator, came in fourth in a race for three seats. He said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the secret-ballot vote, however, and accused political leaders of fixing the election.He added that he will launch a primary challenge for the Republican line in the November election.
In local legislature races, the GOP came forth with James Monserrate, who also ran two years ago, in District 2; and John Dittus, Shirley Paley and Arthur Bowen in District 3.

Library Break-in
The Phoenicia Library was broken-into twice over the weekend of June 6 and 7. On Friday night, library trustees have said, someone came in through the back door and stole what little petty cash that was there—about $30 — and postage stamps. Sunday night, following the institution’s successful library fair, a burglar struck again… this time, climbing up the fire escape and breaking in through a back window upstairs, then breaking down the locked door to the library director’s office in search of cash. Fortunately, all the proceeds from the fair had already been removed from the building.
“We at the library board are now having an extensive alarm system installed in the venerable old building so this won’t happen again,” said board member Holly George-Warren afterwards.
If anyone has any information regarding any of this, contact the Town of Shandaken Police Department at 688-9902.

Jail, Again…
Is the Ulster County Jail the news item that never stops giving?
What with the various harassment charges brought against it’s officers and the county Sherriff’s department, a pair of competing resolutions aimed at figuring out why information did not flow quickly about workplace complaints at the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center, and to set policy for future dissemination of information, have been sent back to committee in the Ulster County Legislature for fine tuning following a heated debate at the monthly county legislature meeting last week.
One resolution would authorize the chairman of the legislature to engage the state Commission on Corrections to investigate the determinations, issued last November, by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission. The other resolution, presented initially as an amendment to the first, calls for creation of a special subcommittee of the Criminal Justice and Safety Committee to review the dissemination of information, and to then issue a report and recommendations.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found last year that evidence supported claims by the female corrections officers that they were subjected to sexual harassment, discrimination and a “hostile” work environment in the jail. Three current and two former female corrections officers have filed lawsuits that claim they were subjected to sexual jokes, solicitation, taunts, music with sexual lyrics and innuendo from male superiors and co-workers, as well as the use of the plaintiffs’ cell phones to take and store photographs of male genitalia. The lawsuits also claims the plaintiffs were subjected to the display of pornography on county computers.
It seems the Ulster County Attorney’s Office failed to inform county lawmakers about the federal agency’s findings, said new County Attorney Beatrice Havranek, who took over from recently suspended attorney Josh Koplowitz after he admitted to irregularities handling a case for a relative in recent years.
“It was an oversight,” said Havranek, who was first assistant county attorney when the findings were issued in November by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She noted that on Nov. 28, the County Attorney’s Office received a fax stating the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had determined that, in four instances, there was sufficient evidence to support the claims of four women that they were subjected to sexual harassment by male co-workers at the jail.
Havranek said the fax was placed in a file, and “it just stayed there.”
County lawmakers first learned of the agency’s determinations when the women filed a lawsuit last month against the county, Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum, former Sheriff Richard Bocklemann and other people connected to the jail.
Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, who was county administrator in November, said he was not told of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s findings when they were issued because the county attorney didn’t answer to him at the time. Until the end of 2008, the county attorney answered to the Legislature. Since January, when Ulster County’s new charter took effect and Hein took the reins as the county’s first elected executive, the attorney’s office has been answerable to Hein.
Hein said he since has directed the County Attorney’s Office to provide the Legislature with monthly updates of all lawsuits filed against the county as well as any future findings by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission involving county departments.
Meanwhile, Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach has said that in light of the women’s, he is ratcheting up his call for adoption of a county whistleblower law.
Hein recently added that he had no idea of the pending litigation against Koplovitz when he took the Kingston lawyer on as county attorney three years ago.
Koplovitz retired as county attorney on May 1, after the Appellate Division Third Department suspended Koplovitz’ law license for mishandling a trust fund established by his late uncle. But the court stayed that suspension, meaning Koplovitz and his brother Sholom, an attorney in Florida, can continue practicing law.

iPod Stabbing
An 18-year-old Ashokan man was stabbed about 3:00 PM. on Friday, June 12 in Midtown Kingston after a confrontation over an iPod, city police said, noting that the victim was visiting people on Prospect Street there when he and two friends were approached by a group of four young men in their late teens or early 20s, one of whom attempted to take the victim’s iPod. When he refused to give up the iPod, a fight ensued, and one of the young men stabbed the victim twice in the side and once in the back, police said. The victim was taken to Kingston Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police did not provide the names of the people involved or say whether any charges were filed.

Garden Tour!
A Shandaken Garden Tour set for Sunday, June 28 will showcase the renowned garden of garden designer, Dean Riddle, author of “Out in the Garden: Growing a Beautiful Life” among other local oases featuring fabulous shady woodland gardens, unusual organic vegetables, colorful cottage gardens, waterscapes and gardens with fantastic views.
Gardening in Shandaken certainly is challenging. In addition to the usual garden wreckers the deer, woodchucks, rabbits and the pest insects; Shandaken gardeners tackle steep slopes, odd micro-climates, too little and/or too much rain, relentless sun or deep woodland shade. Nevertheless, yearly optimism prevails and you’ll always find a bevy of beautiful and diverse gardens in these mountains.
The Shandaken in Bloom Garden Tour will take place from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Sunday June 28th, with map pick-up and directions at the Catskill Rose Restaurant, Route 212, Mt. Tremper. Tickets will be also available the morning of the tour and in advance at Tenderland Home, Main St. Phoenicia.
Get out and enjoy the early summer! For more information call 688-2893 or 688-7493
The event is a benefit for the Shandaken Democratic Committee.

Gag Order?
The minority leader of the Ulster County Legislature, who recently was defeated within his own party for another term at office, is now saying lawmakers should act to rescind a policy that prevents county department heads from speaking about their jobs without first getting approval from the county executive.
Glenn Noonan, R-Gardiner, raised the issue during a recent meeting of the Legislature’s Human Development and Personnel Committee. He said County Executive Michael Hein’s enforcement of a so-called “gag order” that dates to 1985 prevents the free flow of information.
Department heads were reminded of the policy by Hein during meetings in January pertaining to the county’s transition to a new form of government. The voter-approved county charter that took effect in January puts the elected executive in charge of department heads. Prior to January, department heads answered to the county Legislature and the body’s chairman.
Hein called Noonan’s proposal a “disservice” and “highly politically motivated rhetoric.”
Legislator Donald Gregorius, D-Woodstock, who chairs the Human Development and Personnel Committee, said Noonan’s proposal could be taken up by the committee in July.

Shokan Arrest
A Shokan woman has been arrested on charges that she stole and activated New York State Instant Lottery tickets valued at $42,000 from her employer, state police at Ulster said. They charged Susan Smith, 48, with grand larceny in the third degree and falsifying business records in the first degree, both felonies.
The thefts reportedly occurred from February 2008 to January of this year while Smith worked at Olive’s Country Store and Café in Shokan.
Smith was released pending a court appearance.

Swine Flu?
The H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu, officially a pandemic that continues to infect people around the globe, now has confirmed cases in Ulster, Delaware and Sullivan Counties.
Last week it was reported that on June 4th the first documented case of the virus appeared in Ulster County. County health officials refused to identify the victim or where the person lives in the County. This week two more cases were reported, bringing the total to three infections, with at least one being located in the Kingston area.
In Delaware County there is one confirmed case. Nearby Roscoe, in Sullivan County, has one confirmed case as well, although it is said to be the same case – a student that lives in Delaware County that attends the Roscoe Central School District in Sullivan County.
H1N1 influenza has many of the same symptoms as seasonal flu, including fever, headache, body aches, fatigue, sore throat, cough, chills, vomiting and diarrhea. Precautions recommended by health officials include covering your mouth when you cough, sneezing into a tissue, washing hands often, staying away from people if you are ill and avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
In neighboring Woodstock, recently, town supervisor Jeff Moran suggested local folk start storing up three weeks of supplies in case there is a major outbreak in the autumn, as occurred in 1918 with the great Flu Epidemic that killed hundreds of thousands in the nation, and illions worldwide... and forced the closing of local roads between towns.
In other local health news, Ulster County Public Health Director Dean Palen was placed on administrative leave and replaced by an interim health director, Nereida Vaytia, while the county’s health office shifts from one run by administrators to one headed by a county physician.

Boating Here?
The NYC Department of Environmental Protection has launched its first full boating access on Delaware County’s Cannonsville Reservoir, set to run on a trial basis for three boating seasons from Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day weekend, sunrise to sunset. Several different types of watercraft, including kayaks, canoes, rowboats, sculls and small sailboats, may now be used and launched from several specified sites around the reservoir. Previously, only fishing boats with proper permits were allowed on the reservoir.
A new grass roots has meanwhile started in the Route 28 corridor to gain similar boating rights for the Ashokan. Look for petitions from the Ashokan Boaters League or call 679 8668 for further information.
In other recent DEP news, the city agency recently reported that an underwater vehicle has completed a successful inspection of the Rondout-West Branch Tunnel portion of the Delaware Aqueduct under Delaware, Sullivan and part of Ulster counties. The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, a self-propelled and navigated torpedo constructed by engineers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, was launched at the beginning of the tunnel and floated down its center for the entire 45-mile length, taking a set of photographs every eight feet while gathering other data, such as sound. The vehicle was captured 14 hours later by a Remote Operated Vehicle and brought to the surface where the data will be extracted and analyzed for the next several months.

Lawsuits Filed
Ernest Fudge of Phoenicia has filed two lawsuits in US District Court, Northern District of New York seeking monetary damages in conjunction with his arrest and incarceration last year. Both suits allege civil rights violations, resulting from charges brought against him, and how his run-ins with the police were reported. The first seeks $4.7 million in damages and names former DA Donald Williams and three staffers, along with three Shandaken Police officers. A second suit seeking $1.5 million names the Phoenicia Times and its publisher and editor, the Ulster County Townsman and its publisher and editor, and Shandaken police officers. Responses from all named parties are expected this summer.

Fatal Fall
Kaaterskill Falls, a popular but dangerous tourist destination, was the scene of a grisly death this weekend when a hiker took an eight story fall from the trail that leads to the top of the falls. Authorities said that Jeremy Mullins, 32, of Savannah, Ga., was hiking down from Kaaterskill Falls on Saturday with one other person when he slipped on loose shale and mud and fell,
The Georgia man was hiking in dress shoes on the narrow, slippery trail, according to Police.
Haines Falls rescue personnel reported to the scene after receiving two or three 911 calls at about 4:30 p.m. They reported that Mullins and his girlfriend were hiking off the established trail in a damp and dangerous area, and that, in combination with Mullins’ wearing dress shoes, may have led to his fall.
Mullins was reportedly dead when they reached him, and they carried his body from the scene.
His body was taken to St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany where an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be multiple trauma due to the fall, state police said.
Kaaterskill Falls, located in the Greene County Town of Hunter, has been the site of many rescues over the years, mostly during summers when people venture into the woods and canyons.
Last September the state Court of Claims threw out a legal action against the state filed by a Putnam County woman who survived a 120-feet fall from the Kaaterskill Falls in 2004. Clarissa Marino of Patterson was flown to Albany Medical Center Hospital after a friend had taken Marino to the falls as a 20th birthday surprise. The duo were hiking on a remote part of the Laurel House trail when Marino slipped on a rain-slickened rock, the court papers say. She landed in a stream where she remained for about 90 minutes before rescue crews could get to her.
At the time, Marino, by her own admission, had on flat, rubber-soled slip-on shoes with no tread.

Gas Drilling…
Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-C), Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO), and U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) recently introduced legislation in the House and Senate to protect drinking water supplies from harmful chemicals often used in natural gas drilling. The FRAC ACT — Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, would close a loophole created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which Hinchey voted against, that exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. The FRAC Act would also require the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals they use in their hydraulic fracturing processes. Currently, the oil and gas industry is the only industry granted an exemption from complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking,” is used in almost all natural gas wells. It is a process whereby fluids are injected at high pressure into underground rock formations to blast them open and increase the flow of fossil fuels. This injection of unknown and potentially toxic chemicals often occurs near drinking water wells. Troubling incidents have occurred around the country where people became ill after fracking operations began in their communities. Some chemicals that are known to have been used in fracking include diesel fuel, benzene, industrial solvents, and other carcinogens and endocrine disrupters.

Rock Snot…
University of Colorado researchers have found a way to scale back the slippery algae — known as “rock snot” — that pesters tubers, fishers and native insects in more and more creeks, including our own Esopus. CU Professor Diane McKnight says heavy creek flow keeps the didymo, as the algae is more scientifically known, in check, and controlled flow releases from reservoirs during summer could limit the impact of this nuisance species. The high flow destabilizes rocks, which move in the streambed.
The didymo research projects are funded by the National Science Foundation, and the team’s research was published this month in Hydrobiologia, an international journal of aquatic sciences.
CU’s McKnight said James Cullis, a CU-Boulder doctoral candidate studying water resources engineering, will continue the research over the summer to develop a two-dimensional model to predict how much water flow it would take to create movement in the stream bed at given points in the creek.
McKnight, a fellow at CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, said the research can help slow didymo growth before it gets out of control, as it has in New Zealand, where it has taken over streams and rivers.

Seeking Members
The Onteora CSD Board of Education is currently seeking new members for its state-mandated Advisory Audit Committee. Collectively, the Advisory Audit Committee must possess the requisite knowledge necessary to understand technical and complex financial reporting issues. Qualifications for ideal candidates are: Members of the audit committee should collectively possess knowledge in accounting, auditing, financial reporting, and school district finances. They should have the ability to communicate with auditors, public finance officers and the school board .They should be knowledgeable about internal controls, financial statement audits and management/operational audits. Participation begins in July. The Advisory Audit Committee is scheduled to meet monthly. Please contact the District Clerk at (845) 657-6383 or districtclerk@onteora.k12.ny.us.

Retrial?
A state appeals court last week overturned one of three criminal convictions against former deputy town clerk Annette Rose of Rochester, who was accused of stealing $1,158 from the town and falsifying business records to hide the theft. She was convicted in March 2006 of two counts of official misconduct, a misdemeanor, and falsifying business records in the first degree, a felony. But in a June 4 ruling, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court reversed the felony conviction, saying the jury in the case was improperly instructed by state Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanagh.
The court let stand the official misconduct convictions, but sent the case back for Rose to be retried on the charge of falsifying business records.
Following her conviction, Rose was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay a $1,150 fine. The judge in the recent case said the official misconduct convictions would stand because the verdicts were supported by evidence during the trial.

Charter School…
Plans for the county’s first Charter School, to be situated at Tech City outside Kingston with a possible 2010 opening, have been inching along despite some setbacks of late.
A recent public hearing on the effort in Kingston witnessed supporters speaking of the need for new approaches to education while opponents said the proposed facility would siphon money from local school districts to fund unproven methods of learning. Approximately 70 people attended.
Russell Richardson, executive director of the nonprofit Indie Program, which engages Onteora school district students through film, questioned whether The Charter School of Tomorrow, if approved, would serve the region’s most at-risk students, as proposed, or become “an elite school.”
Others spoke for the need to offer the area’s students fresh alternatives.
A special focus of the school, which would initially serve 345 students, would be arts and technology. The school would combine traditional face-to-face learning with online courses to provide a range of course options not available at any public schools in the area, as well as a strong role for mentoring in the school. The charter school’s academic year would last 200 days, instead of the typical 180, with each school day would 71/2 hours long.
According to the application filed with the State University of New York Board of Trustees, The Charter School of Tomorrow expects about 40 percent of its students, totaling 138, to come from the Kingston school district, in which the school would be located.
School organizers noted, however, that school districts could get reimbursed for most of their costs with government aid for the first three years the school is in existence.
Heading up the effort for the proposed Charter School of Tomorrow at TechCity is Andrew Taylor, a former Rondout Valley school district administrator and current chief executive officer of the nonprofit Learner First, which tutors about 1,500 low-income students around the state, including those from several regional school districts. The effort’s board includes James Butterworth, a former New York state assistant commissioner of education; Bonni Landi, program director for YouthBuild; Colleen Dempsey Mountford, president of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ulster County; Allison E. West, supervisor of education technology at Ulster BOCES; Ellen M. Clewis, assistant vice president at the Ulster Savings Bank; Randy Conti, executive director of the New York Conservatory of the Arts; Louis Spina, president of Second Chance 4 Me, Inc.; and Robert Carelli, a senior manager at Phillips Healthcare.

Education Grants
Twenty-eight education grants totaling nearly $150,000 were recently approved by the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) Board of Directors. The awards will go to schools and non-profit organizations serving school-age students in the Catskills and in New York City. In other education news, the Board on June 2 authorized a contract with the Watershed Agricultural Council to bring WAC’s forestry bus tour grant program and funds to the CWC, where a Watershed Education Grants Coordinator will administer both the WAC bus tour and CWC education grant programs. A full-time coordinator is expected to be hired this summer to run the programs from the CWC offices in Margaretville.
Recipients of CWC Education Grants this year include, from the Watershed: Jefferson Central School, Hunter Elementary School and Gilboa-Conesville Central School (all with two awards); the Arc of Delaware County (Arkville center); Onteora Middle School; Phoenicia Elementary School; Walton and Fallsburg Central Schools; Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County; Catskill Center for Conservation & Development; Mountaintop Historical Society; Zadock Pratt Museum; Pine Hill Community Center; Northern Catskills Occupational Center and the Ashokan Center.
New York City-based recipients are South Street Seaport Museum, Alley Pond Environmental Center, Council on the Environment of NYC, Neighborhood School PTA, Friends of PS 166, Central Park East II Elementary School, Horticultural Society of New York, University Settlement, Earth School, and Trout Unlimited.
For more information, go to www.cwconline.org, or call toll-free 877-928-7433.

Ashokan Interns
Cornell Cooperative Extension is looking for students to sign up for its Summer Internship Program for the Ashokan Watershed. The internship is open to all young people in grades 7-12 who live in the Ashokan Watershed or attend Onteora School. This 12 session program will begin Monday, June 29 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Phoenicia office located at 6375 Rt. 28. Internship dates include Mondays and Fridays through August 10, plus some later dates to be determined. Most meetings will take place from 9:00am to 12:00pm, but programs may be longer on days when field trips are scheduled. Registration is encouraged immediately with applications to be accepted on an on-going basis until the program is filled. For more information or to pre-register call Kristen Wilson at 845-340-3990 or email kew67@cornell.edu.

Summer Jobs…
Applications for the 2009 Summer Youth Employment Program are now available. This program will provide approximately 300 eligible youth in Ulster County with summer work experience. The program is scheduled to begin on July 6th and run for approximately 6 weeks. Youth will be paid $8.00 per hour for approximately 28 hours per week. Jobs will be at public and private and not-for-profit worksites throughout Ulster County. To be eligible for the program, youth must be Ulster County residents, between the ages of 14 – 24 and have family income that is at or below 200% of Federal poverty income standards. Additionally, certain public assistance programs and/or disabilities may qualify youth whose family income is above these standards. Applications are available at the Onteora High School Guidance Office, all Town, Halls, the Pine Hill Community Center, Marbletown Teen Center, Ulster BOCES in Port Ewen, Community Action in Ellenville, and other county offices and youth-oriented sites around the county. Additional information is available by calling the Office of Employment and Training Summer Youth Employment Program at 340-3173 or 3170, or either 334-8275 or 8277.

Flood Controls
The House Appropriations Committee has approved $200,000 for the Delaware River Basin. Congressman Maurice Hinchey of Hurley, a member of the committee, secured the funding for the continued upgrade and enhancement to the basin’s flood warning system.
“Given the severe and repeated floods throughout the Delaware River basin in the past several years, it’s critical that we take every step necessary to prevent the loss of life and minimize property damage from future floods,” said Hinchey. “Improving and updating the basin’s flood warning system will help communities better prepare for flooding and reduce flood damages through improved planning.”
The measure still has several legislative steps to go, but having the funding included in the original version of the bill is considered a critical step in the process.
Now, for the Esopus basin’s protection…

No More Wind?
The great gusting winds of the Midwest may be dying, and with them hope for America’s most promising source of green energy, according to a new report. A study to be published in August in the Journal of Geophysical Research suggests average and peak winds may have been slowing across the Midwest and eastern states since 1973. The findings are preliminary, but measurements by wind towers raise the possibility of yet another side effect of global warming.
“We noted some periods in the past ... where there was a pretty substantial decrease in wind speed for 12 consecutive months,” Eugene Takle of Iowa State University and one of the authors, told the Guardian. “We suspect it’s some large scale influence we don’t yet understand.”
Areas of the Midwest have seen a 10% drop in wind speed over the decade. Some places have seen a jump in days where there was none at all. Takle said climate modelling suggested a further 10% dip may occur over the next 40 years. “Generally we expect there’ll probably be a decline in speeds due to climate change.”
The US is the world’s largest producer of wind power; investment hit $17bn last year, and turbines are now a common sight in many parts of the country. The American Wind Energy Association had no immediate comment, but a 10% fall in peak winds could translate into a 27% cut in energy, Takle said.

Climate Concerns
The Hudson Valley Watershed Alliance has been making copies of a recent Nature Conservancy study on the region’s possible effects from climate change available, as well as the focus of a growing number of key regional events. Of key importance will be a September 29-30 conference to be held at the FDR Library in Hyde Park entitled “State of the Hudson River Watershed: Ecological Status of the Waters of the Hudson River and its Tributaries” being co-organized by the Hudson River Environmental Society, the Estuary Training Program of the NYSDEC Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the U.S. Geological Survey, Clearwater, The Nature Conservancy, the Hudson River Estuary Program of the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Scenic Hudson, Hudson Basin River Watch, the National Park Service, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
With a central focus on indicators of the “state of” the resource, the conference will also look at some indicators of pressure on natural resources, and of policy and management responses to those pressures. Who Should Attend? Public officials, Environmental policy-makers and managers, Watershed activists, Conservation interest groups and the general public.
Three studies this year have made newly worrisome forecasts about life along the Atlantic over the next century. While the rest of the world might see seven to 23 inches of sea-level rise by 2100, the studies show this region might get that and more -- 17 to 25 inches more -- for a total increase that would submerge a beach chair.
The Nature Conservancy’s Rising Waters project has evaluated 80 specific ideas for improving the Hudson Valley region’s adaptive capacity with recommendations to:
Improve community planning, communication and preparedness for extreme weather and local climate change threats. Identify ways to incorporate climate change information into hazard mitigation plans.
Conduct community outreach campaigns on the local threats posed by climate change, and what can be done in response to maintain interest and momentum and prepare communities for the future impacts of climate change by incorporating expected changes, such as more frequent flooding and heat waves, into all land-use decision-making processes. Encourage counties and large municipalities to integrate climate change considerations over a 20-year time span into their land-use planning efforts.
Guide future development out of flood-prone areas to reduce and minimize future losses.
Create financial incentives to avoid development in flood-prone areas and require “No Adverse Impact” standards to ensure that activities do not change the floodwater storage capacity of wetlands and floodplains and do not increase the flow velocity of streams, especially during floods.
Establish a state funding mechanism to help communities enforce floodplain zoning and flood-related land-use and building codes.
Require all state agencies to conduct flood audits of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, important road crossings and wastewater treatment plants
Apply cost-effective green technologies and use natural systems to reduce the vulnerability of people and properties to flooding and heat waves.
Increase development setbacks from streamsides to 300 feet to protect people from flooding and to reduce property damage and identify the places most at risk of flooding by modernizing floodplain maps to reflect not only historical but likely future flood patterns.
Establish climate change adaptation funding to help communities reduce loss of life and property damage both in advance of extreme weather and in disaster response.
Gain support for passage of Green Jobs Bond Act, slated for November 2009 ballot, by adding at least 10 new organizations to the existing coalition and create a state climate change adaptation fund to support the actions outlined above, many of which have been incoprorated already in the state’s pending review of the Belleayre Resort project.
Visit www.hudsonwatershed.org for more information.

Yummy 25th…
Bread Alone Bakery & Café, the Boiceville-based organic bread bakery that just celebrated its 25th Anniversary, has launched a unique Farmers Market E-Club to help celebrate the vitality and importance of its presence in Farmers Markets around New York City. When customers join, every month they will receive four weekly coupons for a different loaf of free bread that can be redeemed at any of the 50+ New York area Farmers Markets that Bread Alone participates in. Customers go to www.BreadAlone.com to sign up for the E-Club and in addition to getting the weekly bread coupons, Bread Alone will also send E-Club members information about upcoming events at the Farmers Markets, organic bread baking tips, recipe ideas and more. Bread Alone has also just launched its Facebook page so that it can alert customers and fans about events as well. For further information, please contact Sharon Burns-Leader at 657-3328, EXT 12. Or stop on by their fabulous shop and bakery on Route 28…

RR To NYC?
Officials broke ground recently for a third tunnel into New York City that will provide a one-stop ride for commuters in Rockland and Orange counties, and possibly the entire West of the river part of Upstate we inhabit. The $8.7 billion project is expected to be completed by 2017.
Once completed, the rail service “will allow Hudson Valley commuters to spend less time on the train and platforms and more time with their families, at work and enjoying their life,” said Senator Charles Schumer.
At the present time, Rockland and Orange commuters taking Metro-North and New Jersey Transit West of Hudson trains must transfer at Secaucus. Instead, the trains will go directly to an expanded Penn Station in Manhattan.

Call For Artists
This July, Roxbury Arts Group (RAG) will decide on their 2010 fine art exhibitions for both their downtown Roxbury galleries: the Walt Meade Gallery in the Roxbury Arts Center and the Old Bank Gallery in the Roxbury Arts Group office building on Hwy. 30. The Gallery Committee comprised of Board members and curator Maggie Cullen will review artist submissions and decide which shows will be shown starting January of 2010 and extending throughout the calendar year. The duration of most exhibitions is about six weeks, however, some are shorter and others longer depending on the scheduling of RAG events. All shows feature an opening reception wherein we like the artist to prepare and deliver a brief prepared statement about their show (under 5 minutes). Entries must be originals works that have not been exhibited within a 30 mile radius of Roxbury within the last year. With the exception of film, all art forms are eligible. There are no submission fees. Artists chosen to exhibit in the 2010 season will be notified via email or phone and given further details. Artists may submit their website link for the committee to view art work, or email 2 to 3 images of actual work to mcullen@roxburyartsgroup.org, or mail a cd of images to: ATTN: Maggie Cullen, Roxbury Arts Group (RAG), PO Box 93, Roxbury, NY 12474. For all submissions, include your name, bio, name of pieces with their dimensions, type of medium, and price. Please include a stamped addressed sachet if you wish your submission to be returned. Artists submissions must be received by July 10th to be considered for the 2010 season.

Fire In The Vly?
A three-story house on Vly-Atwood Road that was being renovated for use as a bed and breakfast suffered heavy damage from an electrical fire on June 1. Andrew Nilsen, the assistant chief of the Vly-Atwood Fire Department, said firefighters were called to the wood-frame house at 300 Vly-Atwood Road at about 3:05 p.m. and arrived to find the second and third floors aflame. Vly-Atwood firefighters began fighting the blaze from the exterior, while their counterparts from the Stone Ridge and Olive fire departments went inside. The blaze was under control within 40 minutes and firefighters remained on the scene until 8 p.m., Nilsen said. The fire, traced to an extension cord on the second floor, was ruled accidental. Vly-Atwood firefighters were assisted on the scene by the Stone Ridge, Olive, Kripplebush and other fire departments.