6/21/2007
Ka-boom!
A house on Creekside Drive in Shandaken was lifted off
its foundation after a leak in a propane line caused an
explosion in the crawlspace.
Firemen said a propane line that connected an outside
tank to the kitchen stove had a leak in it. The explosion
did not cause a fire and no one was hurt even though the
owner of the house, Ross Altman, was home at the time
of the blast.
Last week Altman took time out from meeting with an insurance
adjuster at his house to talk about the June 8th mishap.
“You should have seen the damage,” he said.
Altman did not allow photographs to be taken of his home,
which suffered a great deal of harm to its integrity.
While a casual glance at the premises does not reveal
much, there are signs of structural damage. The stone
chimney is now a pile of rubble on the rooftop, fiberglass
insulation is strewn all over the yard from when the blast
forced it out of the building.
The explosion occurred at about 6 p.m. when Altman turned
water on upstairs, causing the water pump in the basement
to turn on. An internal spark within the water pump's
motor was enough to ignite the propane that had been gathering
in the crawlspace.
Gary Carr Jr., chief of the Phoenicia Fire District, said
that it appears a gas line was leaking and actually siphoned
(propane) into the crawlspace of the house, and then the
water pump came on and created the explosion.
Carr added that parts of the foundation broke off from
the explosion.
Carr said Altman was not able to stay in the home Friday
night after the explosion, and that the town building
inspector would decide whether the house needed to be
condemned. Carr said all power was turned off after the
explosion as a safeguard.
Altman alleges the blast was caused due to a botched fuel
delivery in which the company filled a tank that was tagged
as being faulty.
“There are liability issues here,” he said,
not wishing to comment further.
Street Fight!
The Shandaken Police Deportment responded to multiple
911 calls for a large fight in progress on Main Street,
Phoenicia. late Sunday night, June 10, which started after
a rock throwing incident. Police state that 8 to 10 persons
were involved in a fight to which multiple police agencies
were called. After interviewing persons at the scene,
police arrested Brandon D. Grant, 21 of Mt Pleasant Road,
Mt Tremper who was charged with one count of Menacing,
a misdemeanor, and one count each of Disorderly Conduct
and Harassment, both violations. Also charged was Fred
W. Wood Jr, 20 of Palenville, with two counts of Harassment
and one count of Disorderly Conduct, all Violations. Patrick
M. Wood, 18 of Route 28, Shandaken and Vincent Grant,
48 years of State Route 28, Big Indian, were each charged
with one count of Disorderly Conduct. Brandon Grant and
Patrick Wood were both remanded to the Ulster County Jail
on $250 cash bail. The Shandaken Police were assisted
by the NY State Police and DEP Police. Police state that
the investigation is continuing and more charges are forthcoming.
Jail Probe?
Testimony given by the company Bovis Lend Lease to the
committee investigating the Ulster County Law Enforcement
Center construction project could be used against the
company in litigation, the committee’s leader has
said. Bovis was the original construction manager for
the project, and a June 11 letter to the committee from
company Vice President Mark Balling offered the company’s
“full cooperation” with the investigation
provided employees could be accompanied by lawyers and
that their answers would not be used beyond the committee
process.
“I’m not sure that we can actually make that
promise,” Committee chairwoman Tracey Bartels responded.
Bovis was hired as the Law Enforcement Center’s
construction manager in October 2000 but was fired in
2006, when the project was two years past its target completion
date and still not ready for occupancy. The center, which
houses the county jail and Sheriff’s Office, was
completed in February in 2007, nearly three years behind
schedule and tens of millions of dollars over budget.
The Albert Street complex originally was forecast to cost
$53 million, though the estimate rose to $71.8 million
by the time construction began. The cost at completion
was $95.2 million, and outstanding claims are expected
to push the total past $100 million.
The committee is looking at evidence that the county hasn't
followed a 1987 policy governing capital projects in 13
years.
"Based on an extensive review of county records,
it can be established that as late as 1994, for the so-called
Phase II renovation project at the Golden Hill jail, this
policy was being followed," committee consultant
John Mavretich wrote in a June 15 letter accompanying
a questionnaire to county legislators.
Under the 1987 policy governing "future" capital
projects, the county Legislature was supposed to create
an oversight committee consisting of the Legislature chairman,
the majority and minority leaders, the chairman of the
Public Works Committee, and one legislator from each of
the body's two political parties.
"However, during the pre-planning and early construction
stages of the (Ulster County Law Enforcement Center),
no such special committee was formed," Mavretich
said. "As a result, the requisite screening of architect
candidates did not occur in a manner called for in the
resolution, nor was there a forum to evaluate the steady
stream of warning signals available in project documentation
in 2002-2003 indicating that the project was in serious
trouble.
In other jail probe business, former Legislaturive Chairman
Ward Todd, who oversaw the entire setting up of the new
jail being investigated, has hired an attorney to field
all possible investigative questions for him. Todd, a
former Town of Shandaken Republican Committee chairman
whose wife is a town board member who has just announced
her candidacy for town supervisor, left his post in mid-2003
to become head of the county Chamber of Commerce.
The attorney he hired, David Lenefsky, was attorney for
the Modoc Tribe in 2002 when they negotiated a controversial
deal to build a casino in Ulster County following a series
of closed-door sessions with Todd and a handful of area
business leaders.
Committee members have since questioned why anyone would
insist on a lawyer answering questions for them during
the current non-criminal portion of the investigation.
Furthermore, a “tip” line is up and running.
Anyone with input that may be of use in the investigation
is asked to call 845-340-3356. All calls can be anonymous.
There is no trace or caller ID on that line.
Upper Esopus...
A watershed community meeting will be held Saturday, June
23, at 9:30 am at St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church
Parish Hall on Old Route 28 (Plank Rd.) Phoenicia. Upper
Esopus Creek Watershed residents from Olive and Shandaken
are invited to help organize stream restoration and monitoring
projects together and get involved in care of local streams.
In particular, restoration and/or maintenance of streamside
vegetative buffers will be discussed. A short stream walk
will follow the meeting, and will include observing invasive
species such as Japanese knotweed as well as looking at
previous stream restoration efforts. Activities will end
at 12:30 pm.
For more information contact Esopus Creek Stream Management
Plan at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County:
Community Educator: Michael Courtney, Email: mcc55@cornell.edu;
Kingston Office: 845-340-3990, or Cornell Cooperative
Extension - Phoenicia Office 688-5496.
Indie Endorsed...
The Executive Committee of the Ulster County Independence
Party has endorsed candidates for Ulster County Legislature
in the November election. Sixteen enrolled Democrats,
14 Republicans and one non-enrolled incumbent received
party endorsements, making for a total of 19 out of 33
incumbent legislators getting endorsements. Locally, only
Republican candidate Brian Grant, a former Shandaken Independent,
got an endorsement for District Two. In District 3, incumbent
Democrats Richard Parete, Robert Parete and Peter Kraft
all got the nod.
Watershed News
A new Catskill Watershed Corporation grant program will
offer an incentive for municipalities within the Schoharie
Reservoir Watershed to anticipate and prepare for the
impacts of potential development. The grants to create
Generic Environmental Impact Statements (GEIS) are being
provided within the CWC’s Local Technical Assistance
Program (LTAP). The Schoharie Watershed’s 13 towns
and villages are eligible for apply for funds to assess
potential environmental impacts of future build out, paying
particular attention to turbidity and infrastructure.
“This is a great opportunity for communities to
consider how best to prevent or reduce stormwater runoff
and flooding that may result from future development,”
said CWC Executive Director Alan Rosa.
Grant applications have been sent to eligible municipalities.
They can also be found at http://www.cwconline.org/, go
to Programs/LTAP. The program is one of several initiatives
that are designed to reduce turbidity through education,
stream rehabilitation, planning and water quality data
collection. The projects are funded by New York City as
conditions of a 2006 State Pollution Discharge Elimination
(SPDES) permit issued to the City for its discharges of
turbid water from the Schoharie Reservoir via the Shandaken
Tunnel into the Esopus Creek/Ashokan Reservoir Watershed.
In other watershed news of late, Congressman Maurice Hinchey
has formally submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) in support of the agency’s
proposal to grant a ten-year waiver that will allow New
York City to avoid using a filtration system for drinking
water taken from the Catskill/Delaware system. In his
comments, the congressman urged New York City to be a
much better partner in protecting the watershed but also
pointed out what a financial burden to the entire state
filtration would prove.
“Avoiding filtration must be the ultimate priority
for all of the Catskill/Delaware watershed stakeholders,”
he wrote.
In his comments, Hinchey praised the EPA’s decision
to expand the critical land acquisition program, which
is used to acquire land surrounding the watershed to serve
as a buffer between the water supply and any outside runoff
or pollution, while also noting that local municipalities
are adversely impacted by these land purchases because
they lose the ability to generate property tax revenue
at those locations. To address those concerns, Hinchey
wrote in his comments that, “New York City owns
no property of greater value to its residents than the
property within the watershed and they should therefore
pay an amount in property taxes that is commensurate with
the value of the land.”
Hinchey also used the formal comment period to express
his concern over New York City’s interaction with
watershed communities relating to flood protection, recreational
access to City lands and a more flexible flow management
plan.
“The City must also acknowledge that their water
system contributes to flooding in communities in and around
the watershed and they should engage themselves as much
as possible to work with the communities to better protect
against future flooding,” Hinchey wrote in his comments
to the EPA.
The EPA is expected to review all public comments and
finalize its watershed proposal in the coming weeks.
Summer Camp
The Town of Shandaken’ s Summer Recreation Program
will begin. July l0th and run through August 16th. The
program will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
from 9:30am to 4:30 pm at Pine Hill Lake. The town suggests
parents supply their camper with a bagged lunch even though
the lake has a concession stand. Applications are now
being accepted, and must be turned in by July 2nd. Applications
will NOT be accepted at the bus stops. If you have an
application to submit after July 2nd, you may still be
able to register by contacting the Town Hall at (845)
688-7165.
Participants must be at least 5 years of age (graduated
from Kindergarten to attend). The Ulster County Health
Department requires that a health history include an up
to date immunization record and must be submitted with
the registration for each child. If your child attended
the recreation program last year a current immunization
MUST be submitted this year; please attach to application.
Passport Stall
Congress has moved to postpone until June 2009 requiring
passports for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda
and the Caribbean after complaints about vacation-ruining
delays by the State Department in issuing them. The State
Department has been flooded with applications since new
rules went into effect in January requiring passports
for air travelers returning from the same destinations.
The resulting backlog has caused delays of up to three
months for passports and ruined or delayed the travel
plans of thousands of people. In response, the government
last week temporarily waived a passport requirement for
air travel, provided people can demonstrate they’ve
applied.
The Homeland Security Department is still pressing ahead
to require passports of everyone crossing into the U.S.
from Canada or Mexico beginning in January 2008 - a rule
that some experts believe will lead to a fourfold increase
in demand for new passports.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expressed
disappointment with what Congress wants to do.
But lawmakers have been besieged with pleas for help from
constituents who can’t get their passports even
though they applied up to four months ago. Last year,
Congress gave the Homeland Security and State departments
additional time to get ready for the new passport rules,
but they opted not to take advantage of the leniency.
Now, increasingly frustrated lawmakers want to mandate
the delay.
“The administration is walking blithely toward a
cliff with this program, and they’re threatening
to take millions of Americans with them,” said Sen.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. “Their competence in being
able to get this right was already in question, and when
they keep insisting they’ll be ready in six months,
so is their judgment.”
The surge in applications has doubled target turnaround
times for passport applications from six to 10-12 weeks,
and 500,000 applications have already taken longer.
Those numbers pale in comparison to what lies ahead. According
to government estimates, about 6 million Americans will
need formal documents to travel to the Caribbean, Canada
or Mexico by air or sea. The estimated need for land crossings
is more than four times that: 27 million Americans over
the next five years. Those numbers do not include the
regular year-to-year demand for passports.
Last year, the State Department processed 12.1 million
passports.
Few Teen Jobs
The summer job outlook for teenagers is beyond bleak.
A modest 157,000 jobs were added to the nation’s
payrolls in May. But teen employment fell for the fifth
consecutive month, an ominous trend as we head into the
summer months when millions of additional teenagers join
in the hunt for jobs.
From January through May, according to the Center for
Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston,
“the national teen employment rate averaged only
33.1 percent, tying for the lowest employment rate in
the past 60 years.”
Years ago the federal government played a major role in
bolstering job opportunities for teenagers. There was
substantial bipartisan support for both year-round and
summer employment programs. But that important commitment
vanished with the conservative onslaught of recent years.
The result was inevitable. As the center has reported,
“Far fewer youth across the nation are gaining exposure
to the job market and to the real world of work than in
the late 1980s and 1990s.”
Funded To Help
CASA: Advocates for Children of New York State (CASANYS)
has just been awarded a $49,000 grant from the National
Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association. These
funds will be used to expand advocacy for abused and neglected
children throughout the state. Currently, there are local
CASA programs in 35 New York counties.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are highly trained
and supervised volunteers who are assigned by Family Court
judges to gather information and monitor court cases involving
children who are abused, neglected or at risk. The CASA
mission is stability for children in safe and permanent
homes.
Currently more than 900 CASA and volunteer guardian ad
litem offices exist across the country. One hundred and
eighty-one of these programs received funds this year
from a $6.1 million allocation from the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department
of Justice, as authorized under the Victims of Child Abuse
Act of 1990. CASANYS began in 1979 as a grassroots effort
in New York City and Monroe County. As CASA success stories
spread, programs grew up around New York State, and local
program directors began to identify a need for communication,
consistency, and a presence with state policy makers.
They formed a State Association in 1991 to provide support,
training and technical assistance to their network and
assist in the start up of new programs.
For more information, contact CASANYS Executive Director
Robin Robinson at 518.426.5354 or email CASANYS at mail@casanys.org.
Katrina Aid…
The cash-strapped city of New Orleans is turning to foreign
countries for help to rebuild as federal hurricane-recovery
dollars remain slow to flow. Kenya Smith, director of
intergovernmental relations for Mayor Ray Nagin, said
city leaders are talking with more than five countries.
He wouldn’t identify the countries, saying discussions
were in the early stages. But he said the city is “very
serious” about pursuing foreign help.
“Of course, we would love to have all the resources
we need from federal and state partners, but we’re
comfortable now in having to be creative,” Smith
said. He did not know if the city would have to overcome
any obstacles if it got firm pledges for aid, but “we
want to make sure we’re leaving no options unexplored.”
As of June 8, the city said it had received just over
half of the $320 million FEMA has obligated for rebuilding
city infrastructure and emergency response-related costs.
The city has estimated its damage at far more than that
- at least $1 billion. And that doesn’t include
other improvements - such as raised neighborhoods - meant
to help build the stronger city promoted by Nagin and
his recovery director.
Discussions with foreign representatives have been occurring
off and on since the storm, but Smith said the city became
re-engaged after a news report in April that millions
of dollars in aid offered by foreign countries after Hurricane
Katrina went unaccepted. It wasn’t clear how much
of the $854 million in aid originally offered remained
on the table. In Katrina’s wake, Cuban President
Fidel Castro’s proposal to send more than 1,000
medical personnel to New Orleans was among the offers
of aid.
The federal government accepted about $126 million from
foreign sources and encouraged some countries to give
instead to private groups such as the Bush-Clinton Katrina
Fund, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice told a congressional
committee last month. Nagin said city officials are now
trying to skirt the Bush administration and contact foreign
governments directly “to see if we can get some
of those dollars coming here.”
Alz-What?
For the first time, scientists are targeting what they
believe may be a root cause of Alzheimer’s: brain
damage from clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid. New
drugs are testing three approaches: enzyme blockers to
stop the amyloid from forming; a drug called Alzemed to
stop the amyloid from clumping and vaccines to help the
immune system clean up the amyloid.
“We could be quite close to slowing or stopping
the progression of disease,” said Dr. Paul Aisen
of Georgetown University said.
There’s other promising news: Improvements have
been made in diagnosing the disease through brain scans
and blood tests.
“Early diagnosis matters a lot because you want
to catch the disease before it destroys brain cells,”
said Dr. Murali Doraiswamy of Duke Medical Center.
Doctors believe they will one day approach Alzheimer’s
the way they do heart disease — by identifying who
is at risk and prescribing drugs and lifestyle changes
to keep them healthy.
“We are very close to doing for the brain what we
are already doing for the heart,” said Doraiswamy.
There are about three dozen Alzheimer’s drugs in
the development pipeline.
College $$$
Ulster County Community College has been awarded a $397,506
federal grant to help students meet academic performance
goals and keep them from dropping out. The grant was awarded
under the U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening
Institutions Program.
“This is great news for Ulster County Community
College,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said
in a press release announcing the grant. “By addressing
the specific needs of the student body, Ulster County
Community College will increase the level of student success
and retention, ensuring the future stability of the college.
It is essential that our schools have the resources they
need to help students succeed in higher education,”
the senator said.
The college will use the money to address low rates of
retention and persistence among students. Those rates
are measured in terms of academic performance, completion
of coursework, withdrawals within a term, persistence
between terms, academic progress and probation rates,
and degree completion and graduation rates.
The college plans to develop a framework to ensure each
department meets its expectations.
Roster Change
Rock legends Dr. John and Los Lobos have been added to
the Belleayre Music Festival’s 2007 lineup. Dr.
John returns to the Belleayre stage on Saturday, July
14 at 8 p.m., four years after he thrilled a packed house
with his Cajun-flavored hits, including “Right Place
Wrong Time” and “Such A Night.” Dr.
John graciously agreed to fill in for Mary Chapin Carpenter
who was scheduled to play Belleayre but was forced to
cancel her summer tour at the last minute due to back
surgery. Los Lobos will close on the 2007 season on Labor
Day weekend with what promises to be a high-energy show
on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. The band was added to the
Belleayre lineup when scheduling conflicts forced the
cancellation of the Blues Traveler show.
The 2007 Belleayre festival opens on Saturday, June 30
at 8 p.m. with a show titled “Mozart in the Mountains
with Fireworks.” Maestro John Covelli will guide
the Belleayre Festival Orchestra and Richard Tucker will
conduct the Community Chorale of the Catskills for this
special event. The evening will be topped off with a huge
fireworks display.
“Doo-Wop Legends” the Cornell Gunter’s
Coasters, The Platters and Beary Hobbs’ Drifters
will all perform on Saturday, July 7 at 8 p.m.
To purchase tickets for all shows during the 2007 summer
concert season at the Belleayre Music Festival, call,
800 942-6904, ext. 344 or visit: www.belleayremusic.org
or www.ticketweb.com. The festival’s e-mail address
is: festival@catskill.net.
Poor Attendance
With the exception of county staff, two legislators, and
a few reporters, no Ulster County residents attended the
county’s first ever regional public budget summit
held June 18 in the Town of Lloyd, a first of four scheduled
dates to help the public give more input during the early
stages of the budget process.
County Administrator Michael Hein set up these summits
to let county residents get their feet wet in the budget
process four months earlier this year than any other before,
usually set in late October when all departments have
already reviewed and presented their tentative budget
to the oversight committees.
Hein said that regardless of whom or how many residents
show at these summits, the county will do its best to
present the components of the budget and address the issues
of the residents.
Hein said he wants to concentrate on the real purpose
of these summits, not how many people come.
“We look at something like this as essential to
opening up government. That’s what this is all about,”
Hein said, noting the lack of public turnout. “Instead
of waiting until October 30th when the opportunity for
the public to come in is really late in the process, this
is very early in the process making it a wide open process
for the public. What we really care about is producing
the best possible budget for the people of Ulster County.”
Hein noted some major components of the budget this year
will be the increased costs of Medicaid, renovations to
the 30-year-old Golden Hill Healthcare Center, “unfounded
and under funded mandates”, and additional costs
associated with the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center,
including mandated staff increases, and further litigation
costs.
Three other public budget summits were scheduled for Tuesday,
June 19 at the Accord Fire District Building in the Town
of Rochester; Wednesday, June 20 at the Woodstock Community
Center; and Thursday, June 21 in the Ulster County Office
Building in the City of Kingston, all starting at 7 pm.
EMS Benefits...
The Administrative Services Committee of the Ulster County
Legislature have voted to grant volunteer firefighters
and EMS workers a five percent deduction on their income
tax bill. The measure is now subject to full legislative
support.
Committee Chairman Brian Cahill said lawmakers feel it
is a way to say “thank you” to the dedicated
volunteers.
“The impetus that we hope to do is get the towns
and school districts to come along with us to give them
a significant exemption from their property tax,”
he said. “The county tax alone is not a whole heck
of a lot of money, but it what it does is it sends a message
to the towns and school districts that these people need
to be acknowledged.”
Right now, the volunteers are eligible to a $200 deduction
from the state. If the county approves their proposal,
volunteers would have to choose between the state or county
plans. The county would offer up to a $3,000 maximum deduction,
said Cahill.
Vitamin Scare?
There's more worrisome news about vitamins: Taking too
many may increase men's risk of dying from prostate cancer.The
study doesn't settle the issue. But it is the biggest
yet to suggest high-dose multivitamins may harm the prostate,
and the latest chapter in the confusing quest to tell
whether taking various vitamins really helps a variety
of conditions - or is a waste of money, or worse.
Government scientists turned to a study tracking the diet
and health of almost 300,000 men. About a third reported
taking a daily multivitamin, and 5 percent were heavy
users, swallowing the pills more than seven times a week.
Within five years of the study's start, 10,241 men had
been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Some 1,476 had advanced
cancer; 179 died.
Heavy multivitamin users were almost twice as likely to
get fatal prostate cancer as men who never took the pills,
concludes the study in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute.
But here's the twist: Overall, the researchers found no
link between multivitamin use and early-stage prostate
cancer.
The researchers speculate that perhaps high-dose vitamins
had little effect until a tumor appeared, and then could
spur its growth.
While similar but smaller studies have suggested a link,
too, more rigorous research is needed, caution the National
Cancer Institute scientists. This newest study involves
men who voluntarily took vitamins, and those most at risk
- perhaps because they had a family history of the disease
- may have been more likely to take the pills in hopes
of avoiding their fate.
Still, "the findings lend further credence to the
possibility of harm associated with increased use of supplements,"
Dr. Christian Gluud of Copenhagen University Hospital
and Dr. Goran Bjelakovic of Serbia's University of Nis
wrote in an accompanying editorial.
Mental Health...
Ulster County’s Wellness and Recovery Steering Committee
has added a comprehensive Family and Children Services
component to its website that provides a quick overview
of services and offers an easy way to access the right
service for a family’s specific needs.
The website is located at www.wellnessrecovery.org
“We have worked hard to build a comprehensive continuum
of care for both children and families in Ulster County,"
says Cheryl Qamar, Children Services Program Director
at the Ulster County Mental Health Department. As a result,
it can be overwhelming for families and providers to navigate
the system.
The website functions as a single point of access for
the myriad of children and family services available.
It organizes the choices by categories, such as Case Management
and Day Treatment, and provides links for more detailed
information.
The Ulster County Wellness and Recovery Steering Committee
consists of representatives from the following Ulster
County agencies: Mental Health Association in Ulster County,
PEOPLe, Inc., the Resource Center for Assisted Living,
Gateway Industries and the Ulster County Mental Health
Department. The committee’s mission is to promote
health and wellness with an emphasis on recovery within
the mental health community.
