2/1/2007
Election Ready?
Shandaken Supervisor Robert Cross Jr. is up for re-election
this year, but despite being asked his intentions, the
two term Republican won’t reveal whether he’s
going to run again.
At the same time, the town’s Democratic Party is
still considering candidates to challenge Cross, or whomever
it is the Republicans put up, and are not ready to reveal
any names.
When asked about his plans in a recent telephone interview,
Cross said that he had already made up his mind but just
didn’t want to reveal the decision. He would not
say he is running, but he also refused to say he is not
running.
“I’ve been running for my life for the past
three years,” he added.
Cross, who referred to 2007 as an important political
year, first took office in 2004 after appearing on the
scene as a political novice and defeating Democratic incumbent
Peter DiModica in a close race. In 2005 DiModica reappeared
as the challenger and was defeated again by a slimmer
margin.
His time as Supervisor has often been the subject of controversy
and Cross has frequently said that he is under attack
by both constituents and the media.
He first ran in hopes of “bringing the town together”
after seeing the community divided over development issues,
mostly surrounding the Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park,
which remains under review.
During his administration he negotiated a settlement with
the State of New York, over the assessment of State land
in the town, which brought more revenue to Shandaken.
He also saw the completion of a water filtration system
in Phoenicia and was instrumental in creating more humane
quarters for stray dogs that are picked up by local animal
control officers.
But Cross also got involved with increasing the assessments
of property owners that held more than 20 acres, prompting
a group of taxpayers to a file a lawsuit, which remains
active. The issue led to an alleged fistfight in front
of town hall last year between Cross and Peter Vinci,
the president of the Shandaken Landowners Association.
Both simultaneously called the police to the scene but
no charges were filed after each denied throwing punches
but claimed the other had. There were no witnessest.
Cross’s handling of the proposed sewer system for
Phoenicia has created problems for the Supervisor, prompting
calls for his impeachment last year because some residents
felt he was ignoring their pleas to not move forward with
the project.
Cross also prepared a lease agreement with Masterpage
Inc., in the fall of 2005, to allow the company to build
a cellular communications tower on town-owned property.
At the time Cross said it was important to get cellular
service in town as soon as possible, but critics said
the deal he reached with Masterpage was not in the best
interest of the town. Construction of the project has
not yet begun.
Doris Bartlett, Chair of the Shandaken Democratic Committee,
said Wednesday that her party was still in the process
of fielding potential candidates to run for the town board.
“We welcome anyone who has an interest in running
to contact us,” she added.
Jail Probe?
The County Legislature is preparing for an investigation
into why the county’s new Law Enforcement Center
is years late and millions of dollars over budget, with
the surprise backing of three key Republicans on the Legislature’s
Law Enforcement Center Oversight Committee, which voted
4-3 last month to support the creation of a special committee
for investigative purposes. The proposal still needs the
approval of the full Legislature, set to vote on the issue
on February 14, Valentine’s Day.
The dissenting votes came from Democrats Peter Kraft of
Glenford and Richard Parete of Accord, the committee’s
chairman, as well as non-enrollee Tracey Bartels of Gardiner,
who suggested the existing committee should be in charge
of any investigations, and not a new entity.
Enviro-Probe!
The Ulster County Legislature has called on state Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo’s office to investigate the
county’s environmental management agency amid allegations
of possible fraud, waste and abuse. The 28-2 vote in favor
of the investigation followed a lengthy debate with Tracey
Bartels of Gardiner and Richard Parete of Accord, voting
against the move because of possible conflict-of-interest
issues. A recent report that raised questions pf accountability
regarding $2.6 million in state, federal and county funds
that have flowed through the agency to Lower Esopus River
Watch since 1997, supposedly funding the Learn and Serve
America outdoor educational program and stormwater management
services, has been forwarded to the state..
In the meantime, the legislature has voted to remove stormwater
management responsibilities from the environmental agency,
and to form a committee to construct a more stable, permanent
arrangement. All but one of the environmental agency’s
staff have resigned, and the County Administrator’s
Office is currently overseeing what’s left.
The newly formed committee, which will include four members
of the Legislature’s Environmental Committee and
three members of its Ways and Means Committee, is charged
with establishing a Department of the Environment.
More High End
Another 2,000 acre property in the Rt 28 corrridor has
been acquired for an apparent hotel development project.
The $10 million acquisition which was finalized in December
includes holdings in Andes, Bovina, and Delhi. The lands
whose ownership dates back to the original Hardenburgh
Patent grants, was owned for generations by the Livingston
and later the Gerry families, and most recently by Scarsdale
real estate developer Fraydun Manocherian.
The new owner, ADG Broadlands LLC of Los Angeles, is closely
tied to one of the world’s leading high-end resort
companies, Amanresorts, which operates 18 small, generally
about 50-room, super-luxury hotels worldwide. Amanresorts
owner Adrian Zecha has reportedly visited the site a number
of times and is excited about its development potential.
Currently the company has just one other US location,
in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The town of Bovina planning
board will reportedly serve as lead agency in the review
of future plans for the property.
Bouncer Free
Former Hunter Village Inn bouncer Thomas Sebald of New
Paltz was acquitted recently of causing the February 2006
death of a patron at the Hunter bar where he was working.
The jury of 10 women and two men reached its verdict -
not guilty of criminally negligent homicide - in Greene
County Court after deliberating for parts of two days.
Sebald, 30 and a part-time Orange County teacher, was
working at the Hunter Village Inn the night of Feb. 4,
2006, when he removed Peter Shine, 45, of Oakdale from
the establishment after Shine got into an argument with
another man and wound up making physical contact with
Sebald. Sebald - who was acting as a “runner,”
not a bouncer, that night - took Shine out the back door,
and Shine was found dead later in a puddle of water at
the bottom of an exterior staircase. An autopsy concluded
Shine died from cardiac arrest due to asphyxiation and
also had suffered a fractured thyroid cartilage. He also
was found to have a blood alcohol content of .30, nearly
four times the state’s legal limit for intoxication,
and traces of cocaine in his system. Sebald testified
that he used a bear hug to remove Shine from the bar.
Prosecution witnesses gave varying descriptions about
what kind of hold Sebald used, though several testified
that Shine was limp in Sebald’s arms.
FEMA Funds
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved
more than $1.3 million to reimburse eligible local governments
and certain non-profit agencies in Ulster County for disaster
related costs from June flooding, according to disaster
recovery officials.
“Altogether,” said Federal Coordinating Officer
Marianne C. Jackson of FEMA, “we have approved $1,305,902
in Ulster County. We continue to work projects related
to the June flooding and additional reimbursements are
being processed.”
These grants are made under the FEMA/State of New York
Public Assistance (PA) Program. This program reimburses
eligible local governments and certain non-profit organizations
for disaster related costs in the areas of debris removal,
emergency protective measures (barricading a flood roadway,
for example) and restoration of disaster damaged public
infrastructure.
The FEMA grants represent 75 percent of the approved project
cost. The State pays the other 25 percent and manages
the PA Program. Altogether, FEMA has approved a total
of more than $104 million in PA grants statewide for disaster
related damaged from the June flooding. Among those grants
are about $13 million to reimburse costs of state agencies.
EPA Ruled Bad
The Environmental Protection Agency must force power plants
to protect fish and other aquatic life even if it’s
expensive, a federal appeals court said in a ruling favoring
states and environmental groups. The decision last month
by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that
it was improper for the EPA to let power plants circumvent
environmental laws - for instance, restocking polluted
water with new fish instead of paying to upgrade their
technology. It said the EPA’s decisions must “be
driven by technology, not cost,” unless two technologies
produce essentially the same benefits but have much different
costs.
The ruling drew praise from environmental groups and six
states that had sued, which included Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
They sued after the EPA published regulations in July
2004 describing how power plants must protect aquatic
life when they use water from bays, rivers, lakes, oceans
and other waterways for cooling.
Scientists say fish, larvae and eggs are killed in the
water-cooling process, which is used heavily in states
with many older, mostly fossil-fuel plants.
The appeals court previously rejected arguments that some
species are nuisances and require eradication. The court
had also dismissed the claim that other species respond
to population losses by increasing their reproduction.
Olympiad Time!
Ulster County Community College will host the 2007 Division
C Science Olympiad on Saturday, February 10 (snow date,
February 11). The tournament consists of individual and
team events designed to encourage participation among
high school students in the areas of science, mathematics
and technology. A number of the events held in SUNY Ulster’s
Senate Gymnasium and elsewhere on campus are open to the
public.
Twenty-two teams are registered at this time from the
following school districts: Arlington, Ellenville, Goshen,
Highland, John Jay (Hopewell Junction), Roy C. Ketcham
(Wappingers Falls), Kingston, Liberty, Marlboro, Monroe/Woodbury,
New Paltz, Onteora, Port Jervis, Poughkeepsie, Red Hook,
Rondout, Sidney, Spackenkill, Valley Central and Wallkill.
Each team will select events to participate in from the
offerings, which include: Astronomy; Boomilever, Chemistry,
Circuit Lab, Oceanography, Entomology, Forensics, Remote
Sensing, Robot Ramble, Rocks and Minerals and Wright Stuff.
SUNY Ulster’s Olympiad is part of the National Science
Olympiad Program, which held its first National Olympiad
in 1985. The program has grown to involve all 50 states
(as well as Ontario) with over 14,000 schools participating.
The top three finishing teams on February 10 will be invited
to participate in the New York State Olympiad, the winners
of which then move on to the National Competition.
Registration for the 2007 event will begin at 8:00 a.m.
in Vanderlyn Hall on the Stone Ridge campus of SUNY Ulster.
Information about the Science Olympiad can be found on
the college’s website at sunyulster.edu and by contacting
Professor Ted Skaar at 687-5173.
Leaning Bonus!
Gov. Eliot Spitzer plans to commit $7 billion more to
improve schools over the next four years, his new education
deputy revealed this week. The whopping commitment would
be in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion extra in the upcoming
school year, and that total would be above the current
$17.8 billion. Spitzer warned, however, that he wants
to see a return on the investment or superintendents will
lose their jobs, boards of education will be thrown out
and schools will be closed.
Spitzer said the resources would include new staff and
electronic student tracking systems at the education department.
He added that education funding will be based on what
a school needs to bring up students' performance.
But with any extra money will come a system of accountability:
districts would be expected to enter into a contract with
the state that would include goals set by educators and
parents. cation commissioner could work to remove underperforming
school boards. He also suggested raising the cap on charter
schools to allow for 250, up from the current maximum
of 100. Spitzer also said there will be something in his
budget for parochial and private schools.
The education initiative, the governor said, will be coupled
with a $6 billion property tax relief program expected
to be part of an expansion of STAR, the rebate program
for school taxpayers.
No More Pork?
New State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has unveiled a
new certification process for all state grants, known
as member items, before lawmakers can hand them out. Cuomo’s
disclosure and accountability program is an effort to
crack down on a system that has bred increasing suspicion
and criticism because of its susceptibility to conflicts
of interest or corruption.
The certification requirements call for more reporting
from recipients of the “pork-barrel” grants.
Among the things they will have to reveal are connections
to lawmakers, and the public purpose of the grants.
Member items go largely to nonprofit organizations that
provide some sort of community service. The system is
controlled by the legislative leaders, who can decide
which pet projects get funding. While it reinforces the
leaders’ power, oversight of how individual members
use the grants has been spotty.
Under Cuomo’s reform, his office can block any proposed
grant, based on the information the proposed grantee provides,
or refuses to. Disclosure will be required of any business
or financial interest between the sponsoring lawmaker
and the proposed recipient. The recipient must also answer
four questions to help the attorney general judge its
standing, such as whether the recipient has violated state
contracts in the past or has felons for officers. Finally,
the recipient must declare if the grant would be used
for a public purpose. The certifications will be necessary
for any of the member items to be granted, including those
that have not yet been executed from this year’s
batch of 6,000, totaling $200 million, Cuomo said.
Meanwhile, State Senator John Bonacic, our own major state
breadwinner, has been appointed to serve as chairman of
the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community
Development. This will be his fifth term as chairman.
He was also appointed to serve on the Senate standing
committees on Banks; Codes, Commerce, Economic Development
and Small Business; Investigations and Government Operations;
Judiciary; Labor; and Local Government.
Bonacic has called on Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno
to step down from his leadership post until an investigation
into his personal business dealings was resolved.
Deadline…
Ulster Savings Bank is accepting applications for up to
15 $2,000 scholarships available to local students with
a demonstrated background of community service and a strong
academic record. Part or Full-time students who plan to
attend college locally in Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Greene
and Columbia counties are eligible. Online study at Empire
State College’s Center for Distance Learning (CDL)
is also eligible. The scholarship deadline is March 9,
2007. Scholarships will be awarded in June. Applications
are available at all eleven Ulster Savings Bank branches
as well as local high schools and colleges. Additional
information and applications can be downloaded from their
website at www.ulstersavings.com.
Drug Charges
Ulster County Sheriff’s deputies Friday arrested
a Glenford man, formerly of Shandaken, on a number of
drug charges following a traffic stop on Route 28 in the
Town of Ulster. Brian Poore was stopped by a K-9 deputy
and his partner after learning that the vehicle was suspended.
When the officer approached the vehicle, he saw a quantity
of marijuana in plain view and search turned up 20 grams
of cocaine. Poore was charged with criminal possession
of a controlled substance in the third degree, unlawful
possession of marijuana, suspended registration and unlicensed
operation. He was arraigned in Ulster Town Court and remanded
to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.
Small Fish
Two election workers in Cleveland, Elections Coordinator
Jacqueline Maiden and Ballot Manager Kathleen Dreamer,
were convicted last week of rigging a recount of the 2004
presidential election. According to prosecutors they worked
behind closed doors for three days, secretly reviewing
preselected ballots that they knew would not cause discrepancies
when checked by hand at a subsequent public recount. Each
was convicted of one felony count of negligent misconduct
by an elections employee and one misdemeanor count of
failing to perform their duties. Their defense attorney
said they were following procedures as they understood
them.
While the workers actions apparently didn’t effect
the election outcome, Ohio’s electoral votes in
2004 provided President Bush’s narrow margin of
victory over Senator John Kerry.The two, who still work
for the board of elections, face a possible sentence of
6 to 18 months for the felony conviction.
Rural Soldiers
US Soldiers from rural areas of the country are dying
in the Iraq and Afghan wars at a rate 60 percent higher
than soldiers from suburbs or urban areas. That’s
the bottom line of a study conducted by demographer William
O’Hare and journalist Bill Bishop working with the
University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute,
which studies rural trends.
“We know from other research,” says O’Hare,
“that the rural young join the military at higher
rates than those from metropolitan areas...the dearth
of opportunity simply leaves more young people there with
fewer alternatives.”
Of the 3,000 plus active duty military deaths so far reported
and excluding contract personnel also killed, the highest
rural casualty rate is from Vermont.
Ulster Fulbright
Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge will host
a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence for the first time with
the residency for the spring semester of Professor Robert
Vincent of Leicester, England, an educator, school administrator
and curriculum specialist. Vincent, who is currently involved
in community unity issues in the United Kingdom, will
teach at the college, share his expertise with the public
schools of Ulster County and participate in community
outreach to a variety of local organizations during his
stay.
Vincent will teach Introduction to Secondary Education
and Teaching with Richard Cattabiani, SUNY Ulster’s
Director of International Programs. Vincent will also
be lecturing in Introduction to Elementary Schools and
Teaching; a third course, Introduction to African Literature,
will be team taught by Vincent and Professor Abdou Gaye,
originally from Senegal, who also teaches French at SUNY
Ulster. This new course, which will meet on Wednesday
evenings, is offered to interested community members as
well as SUNY Ulster students.
Leicester City, where Vincent is an educational administrator,
has a large Muslim population. Vincent has been a liaison
with that community and has worked to integrate Islamic
schools into the state school system. This topic and others
will be addressed in forums hosted by SUNY Ulster, bringing
an international perspective to the campus and the community.
Vincent will also share his experiences in a SUNY Ulster
sociology course on cultural diversity.
Several organizations in the community have expressed
interest in hosting Professor Vincent as a guest lecturer.
They include the Majid AL-UMAR (Muslim Association of
Ulster County), the Kingston Library, the Unitarian Universalist
Congregation of the Catskills and the Bruderhof. In March,
Robert Vincent will be featured in the Kingston Library
“Classics in Religion” series, at which he
will discuss William Blake’s spiritual and philosophical
poems Songs of Innocence and Experience.
Katrina Again…
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has called on Congress
to create a bipartisan commission to investigate whether
White House politics played a role in slowing the federal
response to Hurricane Katrina. Blanco’s request
was prompted by comments from former FEMA Director Michael
Brown, who told a university class in New York recently
that in the days after the 2005 hurricane, the Republican
Bush administration plotted to upstage Blanco, a Democrat,
by pressuring her to relinquish control of the Louisiana
National Guard as troops were mounting rescue efforts
and trying to restore order in the area.
“Through Michael Brown’s revelation this past
weekend, all of us were sickened to hear that while thousands
of our citizens were suffering during Hurricane Katrina,
political operatives in the White House were playing party
politics,” Blanco said in a statement. “These
individuals based key decisions of emergency response
on the gender and party affiliation of elected officials,
rather than the urgent needs of our people.”
Blanco, who is running for re-election in the face of
criticism of her performance after the storm, also urged
Congress to ensure that “political agendas”
don’t guide the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s
disaster response and to make sure there is “parity”
in recovery assistance, a reference to her concern that
Mississippi, with its Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, is
getting preferential treatment.
In a speech Friday, Brown told a graduate class at Metropolitan
College of New York that after Katrina devastated the
Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, he urged President Bush to
assert federal control over troops throughout the 90,000-square-mile
region. With communications knocked out and confusion
over who was in charge, Brown said he suggested “federalizing”
the National Guard forces in Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama to better coordinate what everyone agreed had
been a haphazard response.
But, he said, some in Bush’s team saw a political
opportunity in Louisiana.
The White House denies his claims.
Global Warming…
Global warming is destined to have a far more destructive
and earlier impact than previously estimated, the most
authoritative report yet produced on climate change has
warned. The new Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change shows the frequency of devastating
storms - like the ones that battered Europea last month
- will increase dramatically. Sea levels will rise over
the century by around half a metre; snow will disappear
from all but the highest mountains; deserts will spread;
oceans become acidic, leading to the destruction of coral
reefs and atolls; and deadly heatwaves will become more
prevalent. The impact will be catastrophic, forcing hundreds
of millions of people to flee their devastated homelands,
particularly in tropical, low-lying areas, while creating
waves of immigrants whose movements will strain the economies
of even the most affluent countries.
“The really chilling thing about the IPCC report
is that it is the work of several thousand climate experts
who have widely differing views about how greenhouse gases
will have their effect. Some think they will have a major
impact, others a lesser role. Each paragraph of this report
was therefore argued over and scrutinized intensely. Only
points that were considered indisputable survived this
process. This is a very conservative document - that’s
what makes it so scary,” said one senior British
climate expert of the new report.
Meanwhile, at press time it was learned that the Bush
Administration was pushiong for inclusion of a clause
into the report that would essentially push the world's
scientists to develop technology to block sunlight as
a last-ditch way to halt global warming. It was to say
that research into techniques such as giant mirrors in
space or reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere would
be "important insurance" against rising emissions.
The US has also attempted to steer the UN repor away from
conclusions that would support a new worldwide climate
treaty based on binding targets to reduce emissions. It
has demanded a draft of the report be changed to emphasise
the benefits of voluntary agreements and to include criticisms
of the Kyoto Protocol, which the US opposes.
Scientists have previously estimated that reflecting less
than 1 percent of sunlight back into space could compensate
for the warming generated by all greenhouse gases emitted
since the industrial revolution. Possible techniques include
putting a giant screen into orbit, thousands of tiny,
shiny balloons, or microscopic sulfate droplets pumped
into the high atmosphere to mimic the cooling effects
of a volcanic eruption. But the IPCC draft said such ideas
were "speculative, uncosted and with potential unknown
side-effects."
The US submission also complains that overall "the
report tends to overstate or focus on the negative effects
of climate change." It also wants more emphasis on
responsibilities of the developing world.
Ladies’ Weekend
Ladies looking to learn how to ski or snowboard or to
just brush up on their skills are invited to join Belleayre
Mountain for their upcoming Women’s Weekend, Feb.
3 & 4, 2007. Women of all ages can bring their girlfriends,
sisters, mothers or daughters to spend the day on the
slopes together and receive a buy one - get one free lift
ticket, group lesson and rental packages.
This special discount for ladies includes a full day lift
ticket, a one and a half hour group lesson for any level
skier or rider and a full day rental. In addition to the
special deals for ladies, all skiers and riders are invited
to participate in the “Race for Fun” to benefit
the American Cancer Society on Saturday, February 3. Pre-register
with the Margaretville Telephone Company at 845-586-3311
or Belleayre Mountain at 845-254-5600, ext. 428 or 306.
For more information about Women*s Weekend and all of
the upcoming events at Belleayre Mountain, visit www.belleayre.com.
New Comptroller?
An independent panel has released a list of three recommended
state comptroller candidates that included no members
of the state Assembly, setting the stage for the first
major political battle between New York's two top Democrats.
The move was seen as an initial victory for Gov. Eliot
Spitzer, who has made it clear he did not want a legislator
to succeed former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who resigned
last year after pleading guilty to a felony fraud charge
for using state employees as aides for his wife. Furthermore,
the absence of any Assembly members on the list after
five of them interviewed for the comptroller's post earlier
this week was a blow to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver,
D-Manhattan, who repeatedly said he wanted one of his
colleagues to get the job.
The state constitution gives the 212-member Legislature
the power to select Hevesi's replacement. Between the
Senate and the Assembly, the Democrats hold a majority
of the legislative seats, so they control the vote.
The screening panel tapped New York City Finance Commissioner
Martha Stark; Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman
and William Mulrow, a Bronxville financier who lost the
2002 Democratic comptroller's primary to Hevesi. All three
picks are Democrats.
The screening panel is made up of former New York City
comptroller Harrison J. Goldin and two ex-state comptrollers,
H. Carl McCall and Ned Regan. The three and members of
the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees
publicly interviewed 18 comptroller candidates. The process
of hearing from everyone interested in the $151,500-a-year
post took more than 17 hours.
Gay New Ulster!
A new gay community center, expected to open this weekend
in Uptown Kingston, is the recipient of a $75,000 loan
to help finance the purchase of the former Well Seasoned
Nest building at Wall and John streets. The Hudson Valley
LGBTQ Community Center is required to pay off the loan
during a 10-year period. The group, with a membership
of over 700 already, has also closed on a private loan
with Ulster Savings Bank. All total, the loans are for
$560,000.
On Saturday, February 3, an official ribbon cutting opening
ceremony is set to be held at the new facility, where
a new Board of Directors, with Kingston resident Ginny
Apuzzo as center president and Jan Whitman of Walker Valley
as vice president, along with other members Ted Hayes
of Stone Ridge, Nicole Ressa of New Paltz, and Kingston
Alderman Michael Madsen, will be introduced.
The initials for the group stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and queer individuals.
Bad Taxpayers
As the 2006 tax season approaches, the federal government
is still trying to recover nearly $3 billion from its
own employees who failed to file income tax returns for
2005. More than 450,000 active and retired federal employees
did not voluntarily comply with federal income tax requirements
for the 2005 tax year, according to documents obtained
by WTOP through the Freedom of Information Act. The total
balance owed is $2,799,950,165.
The documents show that every federal agency has employees
who failed to comply with federal tax laws. Seventy-one
employees in the Executive Office of the President, which
includes the White House, owe $664,527 in taxes for 2005.
About 20 of those employees have entered into an IRS payment
plan, bringing the EOP balance down to $455,881owed by
50 employees.
The White House did not respond to repeated requests for
comment.
The federal agency with the highest number of delinquent
taxpayers is the United States Postal Service, where 56,652
employees owe more than $320 million. So far, about 22,000
of those employees have agreed to a payment plan. The
agency with the best compliance rate is the Department
of Treasury, which includes the IRS. Fewer than 2 percent
of Treasury employees failed to pay their taxes. About
3,000 Treasury employees owed $13,489,683 — 1,437
of those feds also have made payment plans.
The IRS tracks the compliance rate of federal employees
each year in an effort to increase compliance. Agency
directors are made aware of their department’s compliance
rate and then memos are sent to staff encouraging them
to file their taxes.
Identity Theft
Andrew and Cynthia Bugna, the owners of Lock 31 in Ellenville,
were surprised to find their restaurant’s name on
the Internet not only at their own Web site, but at another
site named lockthirtyone.com. They checked it out, and
found that lockthirtyone.com immediately linked visitors
to the site of Aroma Thyme Bistro, another Ellenville
restaurant. Bugna, who formerly had a small business creating
Web sites, did some research, and found that the offending
Web site is owned by Marcus Guiliano, owner of Aroma Thyme
Bistro and several other “more generic sites.”
Brugna calls it cyber-squatting. Guiliano said he was
shocked to hear it has become a major issue, and doesn’t
understand the fuss. “I’ve never been approached
by them about this,” Guiliano said. “I own
approximately 20 different domain names, names like Chef
H and Vegan, and some with Ellenville in the name…
As a local person interested in business development,
I promote lots of other businessea. I never meant to cause
conflict. I’m trying to create a viable community,
and it’s beneficial to give everybody as many choices
as possible.
At The Library...
Cupid’s helpers are busy at the Phoenicia Library
crafting handmade cards for St. Valentine’s Day.
On Mondays and Thursdays, through February 8th . Children
of all ages have been creating masterpieces with materials
including flowers, glitter, ribbons, feathers, and doilies.
Like snowflakes, no two are the same. Our Valentines may
be purchased at the Phoenicia Library and at most local
businesses for just $1.00 or a donation.
Thanks to a library patron’s generous contribution,
we now offer the Sunday New York Times.
Our NEW hours are: Monday: 1-6 pm; Tuesday: 10-4 pm; Wednesday:
1-6 pm; Thursday: 2-6 pm; Friday: 1-6 pm; Saturday: 10-3
pm
You can contact the library at 688-7811 or phoenicialibrary@hotmail.com.
