1/31/2008
Primary Day!
New York State’s presidential primary, which occurs
every four years, has been moved up this year to what
is being touted as Super Tuesday, taking place next Tuesday,
February 5. This gives everyone in the state the chance
to have a say alongside other large states, instead of
having to wait and ratify what in recent years have been
already decided races.
The system, though, can be arcane. In addition to voting
for the presidential candidate of your choice, be sure
and check to see whether you must also vote for specific
delegates for that candidate... including alternates.
Althopugh Republicans will only have the name of the well-known
candidates on their ballots, Democrats will have a dual
system of primary voting, with a choice of presidential
candidate and choices for that candidate’s delegates.
Any Democratic candidate winning at least 15 percent of
the total vote qualifies for individual delegates beyond
any winner-take-all break-down... hence the delegate voting
and altyernates options. To date, only Clinton and Obama
have delegatres on the ballot in all state districts.
For further information, visit http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/elections/
or call the Ulster County Board of Elections at 845-334-5470.
Senior Concerns
Shandaken Seniors continue to be a focus of interest of
late, first over the still unresolved matter of how the
senior lunch program will operate and now via concerns
that the creature comforts of the elderly tenants at Shandaken
Village Apartments are being crimped, what with complaints
of living restrictions such as residents being allowed
only one load of laundry a day and no smoking anywhere
on the grounds of the Ava Maria Drive complex.
The Apartment Complex is operated by an out of town entity
known as Lexington Management Inc, based in Greenwich
NY. At press time Lexington Management could not be reached.
And the County funded senior meals program based at the
Phoenicia Methodist Church remains suspended as officials
and community representatives try to figure the best way
to provide the meals.
Earlier this month the program was abruptly halted because
the company contracted to provide the meals complained
that people were not showing up to eat.
Several options remain under consideration, including
a plan to have the town take the program over. It is expected
to be discussed at the next town board meeting, set for
Monday, February 4th at 7pm.
Hospital Merger
The alliance plan for the coupling of the Kingston Hospital
and Benedictine Hospital in Kingston was approved last
week by the Public Health Council of the state Health
Department. The merger of the hospitals was part of the
Berger Commission report approved last year.
The approval is contingent on additional paperwork, but
it will go forward. The Public Health Council also gave
contingency approval to the Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery
Center proposal that was advanced by the joint hospital
venture. That facility would be for outpatient purposes,
said Hutton.
In order for the alliance to be worked out, the hospitals
had some serious negotiations since Benedictine is a Catholic
hospital and does not permit abortions, distribution of
contraceptives and related counseling. At The Kingston
Hospital, under the agreement, non-emergency abortions,
vasectomies and “interval” tubal ligations
will be discontinued. Those services becoming prohibited
at The Kingston Hospital (“elective” abortions,
vasectomies and interval tubal ligations) will become
available at the Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery Center, which
is to be separately incorporated and constructed in the
parking lot of The Kingston Hospital, with assistance
from a $4 million state HEAL grant. No services will be
discontinued at The Kingston Hospital until the Foxhall
Center is operational and able to offer those services.
The state approval of applications for establishment of
Health Alliance Planning and the Foxhall Ambulatory Surgery
Center represent the culmination of more than 10 years
of efforts by Kingston and Benedictine Hospitals to merge.
The first attempt, back in 1997, was dropped after significant
community outcry against the hospitals’ proposal
that care at Kingston Hospital would become limited by
acceptance of the Ethical and Religious Directive for
Catholic Healthcare Services.
Ski Wars...
Neighboring Greene County recently passed a resolution
protesting the controversial Agreement in Principal wedding
Dean Gitter’s long pending proposal to build a pair
of mega-resorts in the Route 28 corridor with long-awaited
plans for the state-owned ski center’s expansion…
right to the door of the new high-end resort. They’re
repeating what they’ve been told by their own two
top-end ski mountains, at Hunter and Windham, which amounts
to the fact that Belleayre’s growth of recent years
has been spurred by the state’s ability to offer
low cost lift tickets and thus steal skiers from the region’s
private slopes.
They pointed, in fact, to the recent Martin Luther King
weekend’s being touted as a record-breaker for Belleayre,
according to both its Superintendent, Tony Lanza, and
anyone who took a look at the crowds in attendance that
weekend.
“Typically, this weekend is one of the biggest all
year for us, and conditions are ideal. But I can tell
you right now, the numbers are down from what they should
be,” said Russ Coloton, president of Hunter Mountain.
His dour statement was seconded by Tim Woods, general
manager and president of Windham Mountain.
Over the last 12 years, the two said, Belleayre has gone
from 70,000 ski visits a season to 175,000, while Hunter
and Windham have declined by about the same total number.
That’s because Belleayre, as a state-owned and operated
facility that pays no taxes or insurance and taps into
the state’s general fund for all its capital improvements,
can and does operate at a loss without any penalty. Over
the recent MLK weekend, for example, Belleayre was able
to match the standard $52 per day lift ticket cost at
Hunter, and $48 amount at Windham, with a base cost of
$38 per day… and special $15 cost on Friday.
With the millions in upgrades included in the governor’s
AIP, Coloton and Wood say, Belleayre will grow to be bigger
than either Hunter or Windham, making it impossible for
the privately-owned ski centers to compete. Especially
when one factors in the rising costs of making snow necessitated
by climate change. Given that the two ski areas represent
Greene County’s biggest employers, Greene County
recently augmented protest letters from Coloton and Wood
to the Governor and state Department of Environmental
Conservation with resolutions of their own. Combined with
petitions to get the state Senate and Assembly alerted
to the private/public battles brewing, as well as Hunter
and Windham’s actions to get various private ski
industry associations to censure the state’s plans,
the picture gets even more complicated. “All we
want is fair competition,” Coloton insists. “We
pay our bills. What they’re complaining about is
not our fault, but their own,” said Lanza recently.
“And even if built out to plan, we won’t be
bigger than them. Remember, what they’re about isn’t
just skiing but real estate.” Stay tuned…
Sewer Talk?
The Town of Hamden recently assumed control of the new
DeLancey Septic Maintenance District in which 59 residential
septic systems in that hamlet will be regularly pumped
and maintained. The project is the second to be completed
under the Catskill Watershed Corporation’s (CWC)
Community Wastewater Management Program (CWMP). The first
was a community septic system in Bovina, completed in
December 2006.
Hamden town officials on January 11, 2008 received a check
for $1,589,558 from the CWC to invest and utilize for
DeLancey district operations and management. The funds
represent the balance of a $2.2 million block grant that
had been allocated for the DeLancey project. $630,441
was spent setting up the district, pumping and inspecting
all on-site septic systems, and replacing 16 of them which
were determined to be substandard. An Operation and Maintenance
Manual outlining district management procedures was also
prepared by Lamont Engineers, coordinators of the CWMP
program for the Catskill Watershed Corp.
The Town, through the District they established, will
now be responsible for scheduling regular inspections
of DeLancey systems, and contracting for their repair
when necessary. The hamlet of Hamden is also slated for
a CWMP project, but it will differ from Delancey in that
it will consist of a community septic system enhanced
with a sand filtration unit. Bids are expected to be let
for that project this spring, with construction anticipated
later this year.
Other CWMP projects are in the planning stages for Bloomville
in Delaware County, where construction is also slated
to begin this spring; Boiceville in Ulster County and
Ashland in Greene County.
Phoenicia, which had been slated for a full sewer system,
has to date been the only town in the Catskills to reject
a wastewater project funded by New York City. At present,
it remains the largest local community still operating
with individual septic systems.
For more information about this and other CWC environmental
protection, economic development and education programs,
go to www.cwconline.org, or call 845-586-1400.
Trans Fats
The movement to ban artery-clogging trans fats from food
has a new venue: cooking schools. The places that train
the people who will someday be feeding the rest of us
are cutting back or eliminating artificial trans fats
from their classrooms, saying they have a responsibility
to teach students how to cook healthy foods. And they’re
taking their lead from our region’s own CIA –
the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, which
banned trans fats from nearly all its classes and restaurants
in 2005.
Artificial trans fats are often found in oils used to
deep-fry foods such as french fries and in baked goods.
Bakers like to use shortenings with trans fats because
cakes stay fresher longer, frosting is easier to use,
and they cost less than butter. Trans fats are created
when hydrogen is added to liquid cooking oils to harden
them. Along with saturated fats, they raise levels of
so-called bad cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart
disease.
New York City banned cooking oils with trans fat from
all restaurants last year, and several states and cities
have debated similar measures. A number of fast-food restaurants
chains are making the switch to trans fat-free cooking
oils.
Trans fats are banned at the CIA, except in advanced cake
decorating classes where students work with trans fat-based
shortening. But no one eats the cakes once they’re
decorated; they’re thrown away.
Chamber Support
For the second time, the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce
has thrown its support behind the planned Belleayre Resort
at Catskill Park, calling the deal brokered last fall
by Gov. Eliot Spitzer an “excellent compromise.”
At a recent meeting, the chamber’s board of directors
asked its more than 1,300 members to “join an online
effort to support this opportunity to build a strong economy,
create jobs and enjoy the benefits of an increase in tax
revenue that will go towards our local governments and
school districts.”
Chamber of Commerce board Chairman John Eickman, of Saugerties-based
Horse Shows in The Sun, said: “It appears to us
this is still a beautiful project, one that results from
an excellent compromise between government officials,
environmentalists and others.”
Five years ago, the chamber endorsed the proposed resort
when it was to be substantially larger. In December 2003,
Ward Todd, as chairman of the Ulster County Legislature,
sponsored a resolution that voiced support for Belleayre
project, then resigned from the Legislature in mid-2004
to become president of the chamber.
Total signatures for the pro-resort Partners for Progress
petition have to date totaled just under 1,000 names;
those signing anti-resort petitions have topped 2,200.
Word, now, is that there is a move among some Chamber
members to resign membership in the county organization
due to its stance in what many still consider a controversial
political issue facing the region.
Biathlon Winners
The annual Shandaken Primitive Biathlon, which took place
at the Upper Esopus Fish & Game Club in Oliverea on
Sunday, January 20, has just announced its winners. In
the Youth Category of competitors age 12to 16, winners
were Katlyn Johnsmeyer. Matthew Wikham and Blake Searle.
In the Age 17 to 40 category, winners were Doug Brayman,
Jacob Lefferts and Tim Byron. For the 41 to 59 year old
category, winners were Robert Reed, Philip Byron and Tom
Devens. Finally, in the 60 pluscategory, winners were
Nicholas T. Bruck, Kevin Roosa and James G. Maines. Overall
winner for women was Johanna Byron, and for men, Nicholas
Bruck.
The approximately one mile course used by the Biathlon
is wooded, mountainous terrain containing four shooting
stations spaced along the course. Each shooting station
has two targets at varying distances which are shot with
a patched round ball. Firearms must be carried unloaded
between shooting stations. Primitive dress is desired
but not required, but one minute will be deducted from
over all time for full primitive dress. The tomahawk competition
involves five throws at a standard playing card.
Talk about living history!
Film Commission!
The Hudson Valley Film Commission has been awarded a $50,000
grant from the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency.
The funds are to be used to generate film development
in the county. The work of a local film commission is
of vital importance to attract the industry to Ulster
County, comments accompanying the award noted. Film studios
need experienced professionals on the ground doing the
location scouting, lining up extras, working with the
local municipalities for permits and so much more.
The Commission has attracted film productions to the region,
including “War of the Worlds” by Paramount
Pictures, “The Human Footprint” for National
Geographic, Robin Williams “The Night Listener”
in the Route 28 corridor, as well as other top notch productions.
The award givers noted that they anticipate the film industry
to be “part of the economic turn-around in Ulster
County.”
Passport Fair
As a convenience to postal customers, the Postal Service
will host a Passport Fair and accept passport applications
Saturday, February 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the
Shokan Post Office, 3110 State Route 28, Shokan. As of
January 1, 2008, travelers to and from the Caribbean,
Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada must have a passport
or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter
the United States by air and sea as well as for land border
crossings. The fee for first time applicants for adults
(16 years of age) is $100.00 (photo not included). Two
payment transactions are required: $75.00 to the Department
of State and $25.00 to the United States Postal Service.
The fee for a passport renewal is $75.00. Passports will
be mailed to the customer in four to six weeks after application.
Call 845 657-7326 for information or to schedule an appointment.
Additional information on passport applications, procedures
and fees can be obtained on the World Wide Web at www.usps.com.
click on the “Gov’t Services” link at
the bottom of the home page, and then click on “Passport
Application Information.
Conservation Kids
Outflanked by iPods and Xboxes, state environmental officials
are introducing a new youth magazine aimed at reconnecting
kids with nature and the outdoors. "Conservationist
for Kids" features information and activities to
encourage young readers to explore the outdoors.
The 8-page magazine targets 9- and 10-year-olds and will
be distributed free to New York's 8,500 fourth-grade classrooms
in March.
A limited run of the magazine is being evaluated in about
500 classrooms statewide. Copies of the pilot issue also
were sent out in December to the 92,000-plus subscribers
of "The Conservationist," the state's 62-year-old
outdoors magazine.
The inaugural issue encourages readers to "Become
A Winter Wildlife Detective." There's a page on how
to properly keep a field journal; a two-page spread on
recognizing common winter tracks; a section on identifying
animal droppings; and another with tips on finding places
where animals feed.
"Conservationist for Kids" will be published
three times a year to coincide with schools' fall, winter
and spring semesters.
Climate change will be the subject of the spring issue.
On the Net: Conservationist for Kids: http://www.cforkids.org
On The Roof
A 69-year-old Accord man, Norman G. Depuy, was recently
arrested after climbing onto a neighbor’s roof to
steal his phone line in the neighboring town of Rochester,
resulting in charges of misdemeanor criminal tampering
and trespassing, a violation. Police received a call from
the caretaker of a private residence stating that there
was a man on the roof and that he had cut the phone line.
Responding deputies arrested Depuy after discovering that
he had spliced into the victim’s phone line and
ran his own phone line from the residence to his makeshift
camp in the woods behind the residence. Depuy has deeded
access to the victim’s property via right of way,
which means that he is allowed to cross it to reach his
own property. Depuy was arraigned in the Rochester Town
Court and was released on his own recognizance. He is
scheduled to reappear in court at a later date.
Babe Ruth Time
The Onteora Babe Ruth Baseball League will be holding
pre-season clinics on Saturday February 9 and Saturday
February 16 from 12:00-1:30 pm at the Onteora Middle School
gym. There is no cost for these clinics. There will also
be two more clinics on Saturday, February 23 and Saturday,
March 1 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at the Parisi Gym on Route
9W in Kingston. These clinics will be $8.00 per child.
All clinics are open to children whose birthdays fall
after May 1, 1992 and before May 1, 1995. Registration
forms will also be available. For more information, please
call 657-8027.
Thruway Fees…
Governor Eliot Spitzer said this week that he rejects
any proposal to raise tolls on the Thruway. He said while
he has had questions about the plan all along, his concerns
were proven out by a recent audit by the state comptroller,
which said no hike was necessary.
“We support the Comptroller’s recommendations
that the Authority undertake an in-depth review of spending,
prioritize its capital budget, and review and justify
its borrowing practices,” said the Governor. “Especially
in this time of economic uncertainty, the Authority must
prove it is responsibly spending funds before it asks
New Yorkers to pay more. We thank the Comptroller for
shining light on many of these persistent questions. The
Authority should now turn its attention to resolving these
issues.”
Protest Rights
New York City must disclose its arguments about why documents
on police surveillance of protesters before the 2004 Republican
National Convention should be kept confidential, U.S.
Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV recently ruled.
“Permitting the submission of secret argument is
antithetical to our adversary system of justice,”
Francis wrote, ruling that a revised statement by a police
intelligence officer must be submitted publicly.
The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing on behalf
of some of more than 1,800 people arrested at the convention.
City Police said in the declaration dated Dec. 7 that
some information ordered disclosed by Francis in August
could reveal the identities of undercover officers and
confidential informants. It could also disclose methods
of operation that would undermine law enforcement, the
City argued.
Francis said in his ruling that the City could refer to
secret documents without revealing sensitive information,
since the magistrate judge has viewed the documents himself.
NYCLU lawyers have noted that, “If the NYPD wants
to rely on its political-surveillance operation to defend
its tactics, the department must disclose the details
of that operation.”
The NYCLU is seeking police records for the lawsuits stemming
from the four-day convention at Madison Square Garden,
where President Bush accepted his party’s nomination
for a second term in office. The NYCLU said the arrests
violated the protesters’ civil rights.
Heating Help
Congressman Maurice Hinchey recently announced the release
of $82,315,613 in increased federal funding that will
assist low-income New Yorkers pay for heating costs. The
assistance was included by Congress as emergency contingency
funding included in the Omnibus Appropriations bill for
FY2008.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
helps pay the winter heating bills or summer cooling bills
of low-income and elderly people on fixed incomes. Since
two-thirds of the families receiving LIHEAP assistance
have incomes of less than $8,000 a year, the program clearly
helps the people who need help the most. The Consolidated
Appropriations bill for FY2008 contained $2.57 billion
in funding for LIHEAP, including $590 million in contingency
funds to be released at the president’s discretion.
The administration agreed to release about $450 million
in LIHEAP emergency contingency funds after much pleading.
Home heating prices are projected by the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) to reach almost $1,000 this year
for the typical family, a figure almost 80 percent higher
than the average cost of home heating during the winter
of 2001-02. As a result of these skyrocketing energy prices,
thousands of families with children and seniors on fixed
incomes could be left freezing this winter, especially
in cold weather states used to seeing the temperatures
go down below zero for extended periods of time.
Quadricentennial!
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
has announced more than $1.7 million in Hudson River Estuary
grants for 41 projects in the watershed and the appointment
of two people to lead the Hudson-Champlain Quadricentennial
Commission activities as the state begins building up
to the 2009 commemoration.
“These grants will help protect natural areas, support
river education and provide access for boating, fishing
and hiking. We are creating new opportunities to connect
New Yorkers to the natural wonders of the Hudson in time
for the Quadricentennial,” said DEC Commissioner
Pete Grannis, who will be addressing the New York State
Asociation of Towns convention in New York City in the
coming weeks.
The grants are for the first of dozens of projects expected
to be announced during the next two years as part of the
Legacy Projects portion of the Quadricentennial. Two leaders
have been appointed to the Quadricentennial Commission
to date: Robert E. Bullock, from Saratoga County, has
been named commission director; and Tara Sullivan, from
Dutchess County but originally from Woodstock, where as
Tara Roberts she served as a town councilwoman and a county
legislator, has been named executive director of the commission.
Sullivan, who has a long career in community relations
and public policy, previously served as Governor Eliot
Spitzer’s Hudson Valley regional representative
and as director of community relations and internal affairs
at Bard College.
The Quadricentennial Commission is responsible for planning
the commemoration of landmark passages in New York State’s
history—the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s
exploration of the Hudson River aboard the Dutch ship,
Half Moon; Samuel de Champlain’s expedition to Lake
Champlain, also 400 years ago, and Robert Fulton’s
maiden steamship journey up the Hudson in 1807—all
to be celebrated in 2009.
Two hundred $1,000 grants will be awarded to schools and
communities in both the greater Hudson Valley and the
Champlain Valley areas to prepare for the commemoration.
The grants can be used for projects, events and programs
that embody the theme, “Explore 400 years of Progress
in the Environment, Energy, Innovation and Education.”
Visit the Hudson River Estuary Grants Program web page
on DEC’s site for more information about these grants
and how to apply for them.
Paul’s Request…
The Ulster County Sheriff’s Department is asking
the legislature for seven new vehicles for their fleet
this year to replace older cruisers and two Department
of Corrections vans, which, according to Sheriff Paul
Van Blarcum, have already been appropriated in this year’s
budget. Six marked cars and one unmarked car currently
in fleet all have over 120,000 miles on them; at least
one has more than 140,000 miles, both far more than the
typical odometer readings on municipal police vehicles.
It would cost too much to repair those vehicles, the sheriff
said.
A replacement SUV and transportation van for Corrections
are also requested. Both of those current vehicles also
have been in commission past normal operating mileages,
sheriff’s officials said.
The total cost of the seven cruisers amounts to roughly
$185,000; equipment from the old cars will be installed
on the new ones to save the county taxpayer’s money.
Cost of the two Corrections vans equals roughly $35,000.
Van Blarcum said all decommissioned vehicles are given
back to the county and sold at auctions.
False Statements
A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found
that President Bush and top administration officials issued
hundreds of false statements about the national security
threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist
attacks. The study concluded that the statements “were
part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized
public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to
war under decidedly false pretenses.”
The study, posted recently on the Web site of the Center
for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence
in Journalism, counted 935 false statements in the two-year
period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews
and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated
unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or
obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.
“It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess
any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties
to al-Qaida,” according to Charles Lewis and Mark
Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism
staff members, writing an overview of the study. “In
short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on
the basis of erroneous information that it methodically
propagated and that culminated in military action against
Iraq on March 19, 2003.”
Named in the study along with Bush were top officials
of the administration during the period studied: Vice
President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza
Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary
of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz
and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott
McClellan.
Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq’s
links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only
to Powell’s 244 false statements about weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.
Rather Savvy…
A judge said recently that he was leaning toward allowing
Dan Rather’s $70 million lawsuit over his being
fired by CBS to proceed. The judge did not issue a final
ruling on CBS’ motion, but he suggested the parties
try to agree on the scope of pretrial discovery - just
in case - and told them to return to court for a conference.
Rather, whose last months at CBS were clouded by a disputed
story on President Bush’s Vietnam-era military service,
says his employers made him a “scapegoat”
to placate the White House after questions arose about
the story. The lawsuit names CBS Corp., former CBS parent
Viacom Inc., CBS President Leslie Moonves, Viacom Chairman
Sumner Redstone and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward.
It seeks $20 million in compensatory damages and $50 million
in punitive damages.
“Allowing the case to go forward with discovery
will put us on the road to finding out what really happened
involving big corporations and powerful interests in Washington
and their intrusions into newsrooms, which is the reason
I’m here,” the 75-year old news legend said.
“That is the red, beating heart of this case.”
The network’s attorney said CBS bosses had “a
right to use Mr. Rather as they saw fit as long as they
paid him. The (contract) language is crystal clear.”
Rather was removed from his “CBS Evening News”
post in March 2005, six months after he narrated a report
that said Bush disobeyed orders and shirked some of his
duties during his National Guard service. The report also
said a commander felt pressured to sugarcoat Bush’s
record.
TU’s Review…
Trout Unlimited has completed an extensive review of the
interim Flexible Flow Management Program (FFMP) for the
Upper Delaware River and three Catskill reservoirs that
provide drinking water to New York City. As a result,
Trout Unlimited and its New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania
councils have determined that while the concept behind
the FFMP is indeed the best way to manage the river’s
flows, the actual water release schedules in the plan
will continue to damage the ecosystem of the Delaware
River.
The interim flow plan was voted on in September by the
Delaware River Basin Commission and would govern water
releases from three New York City reservoirs in the Catskills—the
Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink. These reservoirs
provide drinking water to over five million New York City
residents. New York City, New York state, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Delaware all are parties to the legal
agreement that governs the river’s flows.
“The water release schedules in the interim FFMP
will continue to adversely affect the trout fisheries
in the Upper Delaware’s main stem due to lethal
rises in water temperatures and loss of habitat,”
said Ken Undercoffer, Chair of the Pennsylvania Council
of Trout Unlimited.
Over the past 10 years, actual New York City water diversions
from its three Catskills reservoirs were only two-thirds
of the amount that was used to model the water release
schedules in the interim FFMP. This means that more water
is available for environmental benefit downstream of the
reservoirs.
“It is well documented that more than enough water
exists within the Upper Delaware River watershed for healthy
aquatic habitat and New York City’s drinking water,”
said Ron Urban, Chair of the New York Council of Trout
Unlimited.
Trout Unlimited recognizes the extraordinary efforts that
are necessary for the equitable apportionment and management
of the Upper Delaware watershed. The organization also
recognizes that management needs for these rivers will
remain dynamic and require constant assessment.
“We support the concept of the FFMP and believe
it is the right way to manage the Delaware River’s
flows,” said Elizabeth Maclin, Trout Unlimited’s
Vice President for Eastern Conservation. “But we
need to secure more water within the release schedules
to adequately sustain the Delaware’s trout fisheries.”
One of the results of the recently announced Belleayre
Resort Agreement in Principal, from New York State Governor
Eliot Spitzer, is to divert all runoff from the project,
and increased snowmaking at the state-owned Belleayre
Ski Center, into the Delaware Basin.
Snoring…
People who snore are more likely to develop chronic bronchitis,
the hacking cough most often associated with cigarette
smoking or breathing polluted air, Korean researchers
have reported. The report, published in the Archives of
Internal Medicine, covered 4,270 men and women between
2001 and 2006. Of the group, 314 came down with chronic
bronchitis.
After taking into account whether those in the study smoked
or were otherwise at risk for bronchitis, the investigators
concluded that people who snored five nights a week or
less were 25 percent more likely to develop bronchitis
than those who never snored. The risk was 68 percent higher
for those who snored six to seven times a week.
It could be that snoring vibrates the upper airways, stressing
them and leading to inflammation, the researchers said.
