Village of Catskill candidate forum March 20

WGXC and the Mid Hudson League of Women Voters will host a "Meet the Candidates" forum at 10:30 a.m. Sat. March 20 at the Catskill Community Center for politicians running in Village of Catskill elections.

WGXC will air the forum live on an internet web stream at www.wgxc.org, and is inviting all members of the local media to cover the event. Recordings of the events will be posted as quickly as possible here and at www.wgxc.org.

For more information:
Fawn Potash/League of Women Voters, 518-929-5764, fawnpotash@yahoo.com

Basic Political Debate/Meet the Candidates Event Format

Event should be no more than 90 minutes long. Candidates need to arrive 15 minutes before start of event. Substitute speakers are not permitted. No campaign literature or materials will be allowed inside the room.

Lots will be drawn in advance to determine the order of speakers for opening remarks. Moderator will be introduced by the sponsoring organization’s spokesperson. Moderator will introduce panel members and go over the rules. Each candidate will have a 3-minute opening statement.

Audience members will be asked to silence all electronic devices. The audience will be provided with index cards/writing implements with which to write questions.

1. No statements
2. No personal remarks
3. All questions must be legible
4. The moderator will choose questions and paraphrase for clarity/appropriateness.

The candidates will have one minute (or two, depending on number of candidates and time available) to answer. The moderator will call on candidates in succeeding order to answer. The moderator has the right to rule on all questions. No one else will be permitted to see the questions before, during or after the event. [Candidates should be reminded that they may take notes and cover issues/comments they missed during the Q&A as part of their closing statement.]

Depending on time available, questions may be permitted from the floor. Questions will be limited to one minute and will be answered as above. The same rules apply as with written questions.

Each candidate may have a 2 or 3-minute closing statement.

The moderator will close the event and invite members of the audience to remain in order to have personal conversations with the candidates (must be agreed upon in advance by candidates).

SPEAKING TIME WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OTHER CANDIDATES AND THE AUDIENCE’S RIGHT TO HEAR ALL CANDIDATES SPEAK.

Candidates are encouraged to bring campaign literature. A table should be set up outside the room for the purpose of distributing the literature. Each candidate will be permitted to display a packet of flyers, position papers, and letters of endorsement or other campaign material. However, each candidate will be allowed only ONE stack of information on the table unless the organizer permits more.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Catskill Contra Dance

A co-fundraiser for the Catskill Community Center and WGXC.
Fri. March 12, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

At the Catskill Community Center, 344 Main St., Catskill, NY 12414
518-719-8244

Admission: $10 individual; $15 couple; $20 family

Performing during the Contra Dance is The Russet Trio with caller Eric Hollman. No Solutions (from Athens), Loud Youth (from Copake), and Jonathin Woodin (son of Catskill Community Orchestra Director David Woodin), all youth bands, will perform in the front room (Annex). With food and beverages, and child care also being offered. A contra dance, sometimes called a New England folk dance, is a partnered dance in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length. Eric Hollman has over 20 years'
dance experience, and is a popular swing and Cajun teacher and contra dance caller in the Hudson Valley and beyond. For more information about Eric Hollman and contra dancing in the Hudson Valley see:
http://www.cdny.org/hollman.html

ABOUT THE CATSKILL COMMUNITY CENTER
http://www.catskillcommunitycenter.org/
The Catskill Community Center is committed to providing fun, creative
and challenging programs to the youth of our community. Our goal is to
develop programs in the arts, athletics, education and recreation, as
an opportunity for all of our youth. Engaging the entire community to
contribute their ideas, talents and resources is integral to our
efforts. What benefits our youth benefits our entire community.

ABOUT WGXC
http://www.WGXC.org
WGXC is a community radio station that will go on the air at 90.7-FM
throughout Greene and Columbia counties later this year. WGXC is a
community-run media project, re-envisioning radio as an innovative
platform for local participation. Our inclusive programming connects
diverse voices, and distributes information across the public spectrum
in New York's Greene and Columbia counties.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

WGXC's "Radio, Radio" DJ dance party

DJ times for WGXC's "Radio, Radio" fundraiser this Saturday night at the former Muddy Cup storefront in Catskill, NY.:

8-8:45: DJ Dizzy
8:45-10: DJ Sam
10-10:45: The Magic Stranger
10:45-11:30: Tony Fletcher
11:30-12:15: The NRG People/Male Room
12:15-1: DJ John Deux

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Twin Counties Partnership for Arts in Education announces 2009-10 awards

The Greene County Council on the Arts, in partnership with the Columbia County Council on the Arts and Questar III, is pleased to announce the following Arts in Education grant awards for the 2009-2010 school year through the Twin Counties Partnership for Arts in Education. Awards have been given to schools that applied for matching funds to support creative, curriculum-based partnerships between a teacher and an artist or arts organization working with the same groups of students in three or more sessions. The requests reflect interdisciplinary collaborations between classroom teachers and performance, music, literary, folk arts, crafts and visual artists and provide intensive arts experiences integrated into classroom curricula for pre K – 12 students.

In Columbia County, the following awards were approved:

Hawthorne Valley School - $2,000 toward a partnership between the school and professional actor/director David Anderson of Walking the Dog Theater to produce two plays: “Harvey” for Grade 10 and “Macbeth” for Grade 12. The project involves students in casting, rehearsing and staging the productions.

Hudson Intermediate School - $2,500 toward a Bengali culture and arts project for 6th grade students called “A Culture Study of South Asia.” The program uses Bengali dance, music and culture for a total immersion experience. Students will work with Middle Eastern dancer Carolyn Kay and storyteller Johanna Shogan as well as classroom teachers in a wide variety of disciplines related to South Asia.

Mountain Road School - $850 toward a paper making workshop for students in grades K-6 turning old cotton T shirts into paper. Students will use the paper for a public wall hanging and to create personal journals about the experience.

Taconic Hills High School - $2,000 in support for “Fall Festival of Shakespeare 2009,” a collaboration with Shakespeare & Company. High School students produced and performed classic plays under the direction of a professional theater company.

In Greene County, the following awards were approved:

Catskill Elementary School - $1,500 toward “Books Alive!,” a partnership with Soup-2-Nuts Theater involving first grade students who study and perform three books by children’s author Eric Carle. Director Margo Mullein Feron coordinates the project with art and music teachers and with the school librarian.

Catskill Middle & High School - $2,000 toward “Legacy in Light,” a program with holographer Linda Law to introduce students in Grades 6 & 12 to the art and physics of holography through the works of the late, internationally famous holographer Rudie Berkhout. Twenty Grade 6 students and 18 12th grade Physics students will visit a retrospective exhibit of Berkhout’s work and then work with Law and art teacher Corie Fong to design and create holograms.

Hunter-Tannersville Middle-High School - $3,000 toward a project with students in grades 8-12 who will design a sculpture garden as part of a comprehensive landscaping project on the school grounds that involves the entire school community. Under the direction of art teacher Ritamary Vining, students will meet with area landscape artists, visit Storm King Sculpture Garden and other area sculpture gardens, learn sculpting skills and techniques from local sculptor Kevin VanHentenryck and visit foundries to learn about fabrication techniques. Student designs will be displayed locally and undergo a review process.

Funding for Arts in Education programs is determined by a panel of educators, artists and arts-in-education specialists. Successful applicants follow these basics: (1) Schools develop curriculum integrated artist partnerships which address the NYS Learning Standards; (2) Planning and implementation are conducted by school educators working directly with artists or cultural institutions; (3) Projects integrate the arts into other academic disciplines and do not solely address art curriculum and (4) Grants are used to pay artist fees, artist travel expenses and materials.

Planning for next year’s Arts in Education projects is already underway! Interested schools should contact Kay Stamer at the GCCA, 943-3400, e-mail gcca@greenearts.org. Guidelines and applications may be obtained by contacting Kay at the GCCA, Colleen Schaffernoth at the CCCA 518-671-6213, or Arlene Sampson, Arts Specialist at Questar III at 518-477-8771.

The Twin Counties Arts in Education (AIE) Partnership Grants Program is made possible with public funds from the Local Capacity Building Initiative of the AIE Program of the New York State Council on the Arts. Corporate sponsors include the Bank of Greene County, Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation, Stewart’s Shops and the Windham Chapter of the Catskill Mountain Foundation.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

WGXC_"Radio, Radio" DJ dance show Saturday in Catskill

Sat. Feb. 27, 2010: 9 p.m. – Feb. 28, 2010: 1 a.m. at the former Muddy Cup storefront, 410 Main St., Catskill, NY. $5 admission.

The Magic Stranger, Tony Fletcher, DJ Jean Deux, The NRG People/Male Room, DJ Sam, DJ Dizzy, and others perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in Catskill, in the empty storefront where the Muddy Cup coffee house used to be on Main St. Projections, lights, and other surprises. Come out and dance to bring community radio to Greene and Columbia counties. Become a WGXC Founding Member, buy a WGXC t-shirt, or donated artwork from local artists, or just enjoy the music.

WGXC is getting closer to getting on the air. We have our license. We have a matching grant from the U.S. Commerce Department for over $71,000 for all the major equipment needed for the station -- a transmitter, an antenna, and three studio consoles and equipment for spaces in Cairo, Catskill, and Hudson. Now we need to raise the other half of that, another $71,000. So far, we are 30 percent of the way there. We need as many folks in the area to become Founding Members and donate a little bit of money so we can make this goal. Can you help us?

One way is to attend this show this Saturday night in Catskill. You can sign up to be a Founding Member, dance the night away, buy a t-shirt, get your business to become a Founding Underwriter, enter a raffle for a Gibson Les Paul guitar currently on view at Musica in Hudson,

The Magic Stranger is John Cleater, an artist/architect who lives in Columbia County. He shows his work at Nicole Fiacco Gallery in Hudson and is on the advisory committee of the architecture program at Art OMI. http://www.cleater.com/

Tony Fletcher (born April 27, 1964) is a music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M.. Born in Yorkshire, England, Fletcher was inspired by the London punk rock movement and started a fanzine as a thirteen-year-old schoolboy which he named Jamming!. The magazine developed over the next eight years into an independent alternative to more established music magazines of the day such as the NME and Melody Maker. This led to Fletcher presenting TV programmes and networking with numerous post-punk figures including Paul Weller and Echo & the Bunnymen, the latter of which were the subject of his first book published in 1987. He has two children and is married to Posie. Fletcher then juggled band and record label management before moving to New York in the late 80s, where he also became involved with DJing, club promotion and music industry consultant. His first novel, Hedonism, was published in 2003. Fletcher lives in Ulster County. http://www.ijamming.net/

Conrad Kaneshiro (Machines), Giorgio Handman and Ngonda Badilla on vox make up The NRG People (Male Room), Giorgio and Connie first played together in electro punk band Split Me Wide Open and then in Male Room since the early 00s. Male Room played at NYC dance clubs,leather bars, and festivals in Mexico City and London. Male Room put out tracks on Cleopatra Complilations, Dinero Rosa (MX), ElectroWave, and have co-written tracks for underground superstars including Kenny Kenny and Tobel Von Cartier, with videos directed by Nick Zedd these two queens were unstoppable! Then Connie moved to Distrito Federal (Mexico City) for two years mastering the High Energy sound and his dance moves while Giorgio met the fabulous and amazing Ngonda upstate and they started doing shows as The NRG People. This will be the first show of The NRG People (Male Room) with all three members present, so get ready to MOVE YOUR BODY! Handman lives in Hudson, NY.

DJ Jean Deux is Dan Seward, of John Deux Books & Records in Hudson, the band Bunnybrains, and the host of "Battlefield Earth" on free103point9 Online Radio.

DJ Dizzy is Tom Roe, who lives in Acra, NY regularly hosted DJ nights in NYC at Diner in Williamsburg, and Angel in Manhattan, and performed at many underground Brooklyn venues such as Rubulad and Manhattan spaces such as The Kitchen. Roe has performed on turntables live with Daniel Carter, members of the Gold Sparkle Band (as DizzySparkle), Pierre Huyghe, and others, and recorded with Scanner, Kristin Lucas, and Matt Bua.

DJ Sam is Sam Sebren, who lives in Athens, NY and recorded two records with Menlo Park with his band Splotch. His multimedia installations have been at Protest Space in Chelsea, The College of St. Rose in Albany, and a former Ulster County Jail. Sebren's “This” comes out in March on Aboriginal Records, and his video work will be included in the Photography Triennial at the Center for Photography in Woodstock in June. Sebren also participates regularly in publications and performances with Creative Capitalism, a collective in Baltimore included in this year's Whitney Biennial.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

WGXC "Radio, Radio" DJ dance party

The Magic Stranger, Tony Fletcher, DJ John Deux, The NRG People/Male Room, DJ Sam, DJ Dizzy, and more, 9 p.m. Feb. 27 in Catskill, in the empty storefront where the Muddy Cup coffee house used to be on Main St.

The Magic Stranger is John Cleater, an artist/ architect who lives in Columbia County. He shows his work at Nicole Fiacco Gallery in Hudson and is on the advisory committee of the architecture program at Art OMI. http://www.cleater.com/

Tony Fletcher (born April 27, 1964) is a music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M.. Born in Yorkshire, England, Fletcher was inspired by the London punk rock movement and started a fanzine as a thirteen-year-old schoolboy which he named Jamming!. The magazine developed over the next eight years into an independent alternative to more established music magazines of the day such as the NME and Melody Maker. This led to Fletcher presenting TV programmes and networking with numerous post-punk figures including Paul Weller and Echo & the Bunnymen, the latter of which were the subject of his first book published in 1987. He has two children and is married to Posie. Fletcher then juggled band and record label management before moving to New York in the late 80s, where he also became involved with DJing, club promotion and music industry consultant. His first novel, Hedonism, was published in 2003. http://www.ijamming.net/

The NRG People/Male Room first performed at WGXC's New Year's Masquerade Ball, and are led by Giorgio.

DJ Jean Deux is Dan Seward, of John Deux Books & Records in Hudson, the band Bunnybrains, and the host of "Battlefield Earth" on free103point9 Online Radio.

DJ Dizzy is Tom Roe, who regularly hosted DJ nights in NYC at Diner in Williamsburg, and Angel in Manhattan, and performed at many underground Brooklyn venues such as Rubulad.

DJ Sam is Sam Sebren.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Catskill planning board votes down housing project

Colin DeVries in The Daily Mail reports on on the 3-3 vote Tuesday by the Catskill Planning Board against the 33-unit "Moonlight Ridge" senior housing development proposed for 49 Vedder Road. Members Dan Howard, Larry Federman and Jack Rivitusovoted “no;” Chairman Joseph Izzo, Vice-Chairman Harry Sacco and member Allen Uhler who voted “yes” for the special use permit. A tie vote goes to the neighbors who were vocal in their opposition to the project's manufactured home units over 18 acres, and unique wastewater treatment system.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Catskill candidates square off March 30

Current Trustee Angelo Amato and political newcomer Brian Kehoe square off in the only contested race in Village of Catskill elections March 30 at Catskill Firehouse, The Daily Mail reports. At caucuses Tuesday, current Village President Vincent Seeley was nomined by both Republicans and Democrats. Republicans also nominated sitting justice Charles Adsit, who has no challenger. Amato runs Candyman Chocolates, and Kehoe is an urban and regional planner, according to Susan Campriello's story.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

First Reformed Church of Catskill fundraiser

The First Reformed Church of Catskill, 310 Main Street holds a take-out Spaghetti Dinner Friday, Feb. 26 from 4-7 p.m. for a $10 donation (children $7). The fundraiser is part of the church's Outreach mission locally and internationally.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Catskill Village Democrats caucus Tuesday

Democrats in the Village of Catskill hold a caucus Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Doubles II (29 Church St.) bar to determine candidates for this spring's elections.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Judging the race

Seeing Greene's Dick May handicaps the race to fill the seat of Greene County Court Judge Daniel K. Lalor, who retires on December 31. In November, voters will choose a replacement, and it will not be District Attorney Terry Wilhelm who says he is not running. May reports Republicans Ted Hilscher of New Baltimore, a historian and part-time teacher at Columbia-Greene Community College and a former Assistant District Attorney and a Catskill-based attorney; Peter Margolius, Catskill Town Justice and attorney; and Charles (“Chip”) Tailleur of Coxsackie, the Assistant District Attorney will all be running. No Democrats have announced yet, but May speculates that Greg Lubow of Tannersville, an attorney and former Chief Public Defender of Greene County; Edward Kaplan, a Hunter-based attorney; Lee Allen Palmateer, attorney and Athens Town Supervisor; and Alex Betke, a partner in an Albany law firm, Coxsackie Town Supervisor, and Catskill Village attorney may all run.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Catskill business summit planned

Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley told The Daily Mail today that Catskill businesses will meet to discuss how to increase commerce in the village at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23 in the Catskill High School cafeteria. We understand that this meeting was supposed to happen last month, and guess that Tuesday's announcement from Hood & Company that the well-loved Main St. store will close spurred some action.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

NY State Sen. Seward to speak in Catskill

New York State Senator James Seward will outline his agenda for 2010 and discuss the governor’s budget proposal focusing on the impacts on local schools at the Greene County School Boards Association’s annual dinner and roundtable discussion today, Feb. 4, at Catskill Middle School, 345 W. Main St. The dinner is at 6 p.m., and the meeting is at 7 p.m.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Loni Pont performs in Catskill

Catskill's Loni Pont will perform at Bell's Café at 387 Main St. in Catskill on Saturday, February 13 to celebrate Valentines weekend. Her set, with Ray DeTone on guitar starts sometime after 9 p.m. Bell's is also offering a special menu, so call for reservations (518-943-4070).

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Catskill's Hood & Company to close

From an e-mail from owner David Miles:

"It is with regret and a heavy heart that I must inform you of our decision to close Hood & Company. The current economic climate both nationally and locally has made maintaining the store unprofitable. Starting Wednesday, February 3 our entire inventory will be on sale for 20 percent off the lowest marked price (including all clearance items already marked 20-50 percent off). Hood & Company gift cards may be redeemed for merchandise until our final day of operation, which we anticipate to be sometime in March or April. All sales will be final. Hood & Company will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It has been an honor to serve you over the past three and a half years and while Hood & Company will be leaving [432] Main Street, Catskill our hearts remain with the community."

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

1929 Catskill fiddler

Dave Ruch uploaded this video of an unidentified Catskill, NY fiddler, age 70 in 1929, from old Fox newsreel footage, posted with permission from University of South Carolina Newsfilm Library. The tune has been identified as "Boyne Hunt."

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information. Send news, tips, etc. to news@wgxc.org.

Principal out at Catskill High

From Dick May's Seeing Greene blog:

Gone abruptly and involuntarily from Catskill High School, as of yesterday: the principal, William Ball. According to sources, he has been suspended with pay after refusing to accept a Board of Education-framed choice between having the remainder of his contract bought out or facing charges having to do with willful destruction of school property (ripping out a telephone in a fit of rage). Some bits of the story were disclosed at a special meeting of faculty and staff members yesterday at 1 p.m., but attendance was spotty because, in anticipation of more bad weather, the school was closed at mid-morning. Old complaints about sexual harassment were not immediately involved. For the remainder of the school year, the principal’s duties will fall mainly to Patrick Wemmit, whose present job title is Principal of Special Learning Programs. With regard to the rumors that generated the foregoing notes, Superintendent Kathleen Farrell and Board of Education President Randall Griffin voiced the following comment: “No comment."

May also reports that Daniela Marino is being forced out of her job as Director of Tourism and Promotion for GreeneLand: "According to reliable sources, Ms Marino’s work has been exemplary but for some local honchos she has been a bit too sophisticated, too literate, too (gasp!) cosmopolitan," May writes.

Click on WGXC or WGXC Newsroom for more information.

Send news to news@wgxc.org.

Copake dairy farmer tragedy

Walking around Columbia and Greene counties this weekend, the only story everyone was talking about was the suicide of Copake dairy farmer Dean Pierson, who took his own life Thursday in his dairy barn after he killed all 51 of his milk cows with a rifle. He left 50 heifers and calves alive. The Register-Star story by cites personal issues Pierson encountered lately (and the Albany Times-Union talks to his widow), but also mentions the dire state of the dairy industry. From the story:

“The economic situation is one more piece of the puzzle,” said New York Farm Bureau Vice President Eric Ooms, who operates the A. Ooms and Sons dairy farm in Kinderhook with his father and brothers. “My father’s been a farmer his whole life. He said he’s never seen a year like this. It’s a year like no one has ever seen.”

Jamie Larson's breaking story ended with a heart-clutching quote: “It’s a hard time to be a farmer these days,” one man said from inside the fence, and The Register-Star should also be applauded for releasing the original breaking news of this story during the afternoon, rather than waiting until it usually releases its news after 2 a.m. each evening. The paper's Greene County sibling, also broke the Catskill High bb gun story this week as it happened, and it is good to see the two papers joining the 24-hour news cycle here.

See WGXC.org for more info about WGXC.

Where are the Catskill police records?

Dick May's "Seeing Greene" blog takes on the Catskill Police Department's lack of transparency as Village Police Chief Dave Darling will not release arrest reports. In the best local internet drama of the week, May accuses and lets Darling respond.

He pretends, contrary to established law, that his officers’ incident and action reports are not public documents. For his success in sustaining that fiction, Chief Darling depends on the acquiescence, if not the active support, of his employers: the Village Trustees. And for the endurance of their collusion in this law-snubbing practice, the Trustees and the chief depend on the passivity of appropriate protestors, such as publishers of newspapers and, gulp, of news blogs.

Chief Darling disputes our version of his position. When asked (on Thursday, 1/14) to respond to the preceding paragraph, he said “It’s not fair, and it’s not accurate. I never said that our reports are not public documents.” He maintained, however, that “I have no way of giving you free access to our ‘blotter’. Our incident and action reports are now done on-line; no more ring binders full of paper. Internet access to the on-line reports is restricted to authorized personnel. And I’m not going to let just anybody come into a secured area at police headquarters, and sit down for an hour or more in front of one of our computer screens reading a day’s or a week’s reports.”

See WGXC.org for more info about WGXC.

Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser Jan. 31 for Catskill Community Center

The Catskill Community Center will hold a Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser Creekside Restaurant, 60 W. Main St (943-6522), in Catskill on Sunday, January 31 from 3 – 6 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the Community Center’s year-round programming. Tickets are available at the Community Center or at the door, $10 per person (children 2 and under are free.) Call the Community Center at 719-8244 or stop by our 344 Main St. location for more information or to purchase tickets. WGXC will have a small studio in the Catskill Community Center when we go on the air later this year.

See WGXC.org for more info about WGXC.

Weekend events

FRIDAY

WGXC/Cairo Library Open Mic
at 7 p.m. at Gallagher's, 513 Main St., Cairo. Free.

Liv Carrow & The Special Feelings, The Fools, Sean T. Hanratty, A Brief View of the Hudson
8 p.m. at Spotty Dog Books & Ale, Hudson.

Abby Lappen
8 p.m. at Main Street Pub, Philmont.

SATURDAY

Elliot Park ice skating grand opening
all day at Elliot Park, Catskill, until 9 p.m.

WGXC Membership Drive
1-5 p.m. at Spotty Dog Books & Ale, Hudson.

East Meets West: Tivoli Artists
opening 2-4 p.m. at Mountaintop Gallery, Windham.

Laurie Anderson
4 p.m. at MASS MoCA, North Adams, Mass.

Bears with Wings, The Emergency Empire
5 p.m. at Jason's Upstairs Bar, Hudson. $5

GEOgraphy
opening 5-7 p.m. at Greene County Arts Council Gallery, Catskill.

Birgit Blyth: Recent Work; "10 Days in Alaska" by Michael Sibilia
opening 6-8 p.m. at Carrie Haddad Photographs, Hudson.

SUNDAY

Teaching the River of Dreams Hudson River lecture
1-4 p.m. at Olana, 5720 Rt. 9G, Hudson.

MONDAY

Rally & Speak Out for Medicare For All Not War
for MLK Day at noon-2 p.m. at 7th St. and Warren St. park, Hudson.

See www.wgxc.org for more information about WGXC: Hands-On Radio for Greene and Columbia counties, NY.

Seeing Greene: breaking bad news

Dick May's Seeing Greene blog breaks several stories this week, all of them bad news:

*Catskill Mountain Foundation, in Hunter, published the "final" month of their The Catskill Mountain Region Guide monthly magazine, or is scaling back to a smaller size with shorter versions of longer web-based articles in the print version.

*InsideOut magazine (we had noticed their web site has been down several weeks) is also scaling back in Athens. "Publisher/editor Owen Lipstein feels 'uncertain' about the future but is keen to sustain the magazine, perhaps as a quarterly and an on-line periodical," reports May.

*The Union Mills condominium project on Main St. in Catskill is “eighty-five percent complete and on budget,' says Jim Cunliffe, the project’s originator and hands-on manager; but the Long Island investors have declined to commit to supplying the last quarter of projected capital," writes May. So plans there are on hold.

WGXC at Bank of Greene County

The Catskill branch of the Bank of Greene County is hosting a display of WGXC materials. If you would like to know more about community radio, stop by the bank's Catskill branch.

State Sen. Seward in Catskill Tuesday

New York State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I–Oneonta) will be in Greene County, Tue., January 12. Senator Seward will join officials with Kaaterskill Care Nursing and Rehabilitation Center along with local business officials and elected leaders for the groundbreaking of a new twenty-one unit senior housing complex. Seward will then tour Pilot Industries, a division of Ulster-Greene ARC. The facility provides specialized vocational training to people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities who face challenges to employment.
Kaaterskill Manor groundbreaking; 12:30 p.m.; 161 Jefferson Heights;
Pilot Industries tour; 2 p.m.; 311 West Bridge Street.

NY State Senator Seward in Catskill Friday

State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I–Oneonta) will be in Catskill, at 2 p.m. Friday, January 8 at the Greene County Office Building Legislative Chambers, 4th floor, 411 Main St. Senator Seward is touring his senatorial district this week to kick off the 2010 senate session and to outline his legislative agenda. Seward will highlight the need for property tax relief, state spending reductions and upstate economic development.

Closing party: Holograms and laser installations

Closing party for "Holograms and laser installations" by Rudie Berkhout this Saturday January 9, 5-8 p.m. at Union Mills Gallery, 361 Main Street, Catskill, (518) 303 4514.

Join us for a joyful celebration of the life and work of Rudie Berkhout, at a closing party in the gallery on Saturday January 9, 5 - 8 p.m. Original musical entertainment will be provided b Samuel Claiborne on a variety of instruments accompanied by John Dubberstein on sitar.

On Main Street, the Union Mills Gallery's, huge open gallery space exhibits important art work and supports the arts with literary, musical and cultural events for Catskill and the Hudson Valley. Union Mills Complex is a major green project, the adaptive reuse project of the historic 1840 warehouse on creekside, providing 25 loft style apartments.

For more information about Rudie Berkhout, see:
Play of Light Gallery
and
The Center for 4th Dimensional Arts

Linda Law, Gallery Director
460 Main Street
Catskill, 12414
845-510-8081
lindalaw@mhcable.com

Catskill WGXC Sound-Voice Benefit

An evening of poetry and music featuring Brenda Coultas + Brian Dewan + Charles Stein + Christopher Stackhouse + Coleen Murphy Alexander + Daniel Nester + Frank Cuthbert + George Quasha + Hudson Talbott + Ira Sher + Jared Handelsman + Kim Jaye + Loni Pont + Michael Ruby + Nick Flynn + Paul McMahon + Peter Head + Prana + Rachel Levitsky + Sparrow + Stephen Elliott + Studio Stu + Susan Sindall + The Unbearables + Timothy Liu + Violet Snow and many others in support of WGXC: Hands-on Radio in Greene and Columbia Counties. This special event also features works available by the Garden Goddesses, and will be held 7-10 p.m. Sat. Nov. 14 at BRIK Gallery, 347 Main St. in Catskill. $5 admission.

The "Garden Goddesses" are a group of working artists who garden in Catskill and the surrounding areas. Members have been meeting for just under a year at each other's homes, studios, and gardens. Although the artists work in various media including music, painting, photography, poetry, and sculpture. Their love of gardening and their pioneering spirits bring them together to reflect on their work, their gardens, and how they influence each other. At the November 14th benefit the Garden Goddesses will exhibit works by "the goddesses" and photos of them in their gardens, that will be for sale in support of WGXC. This installation is a glimpse into the personal worlds of the artists and the forces that drive them creatively and spiritually. The Garden Goddesses include Victoria Brill, Alice Caulfield, Sasha Chermayeff, Tasha Depp, Lex Grey, Ruth Leonard, Portia Munson, Dina Palin, Fawn Potash, Erica Potrzeba, and Cate Woodruff.

Catskill WGXC Sound-Voice Benefit is organized by Sam Truitt, Fawn Potash, and Paul Smart.

WGXC is a community-run media project, re-envisioning radio as an innovative platform for local participation. Our inclusive programming connects diverse voices, and distributes information across the public spectrum in New York's Greene and Columbia counties. This multi-faceted project will be much more than just a radio station. With studios in Catskill and Hudson, WGXC activities will include special exhibitions and events, workshops and media training for youth and adults, a news blog with writing and photography, and a local calendar of events, meetings, and other resources.

WGXC volunteers are working hard to launch a 3,300-watt community radio station. More than 78,000 people throughout Greene and Columbia counties will be able to receive the signal on 90.7-FM. WGXC received its license from the FCC and a grant from the US Commerce Dept that will cover 50 percent of our equipment needs. We now need to raise matching funds in order to get on the air. Join us on November 14 and help launch WGXC-FM.

More on election results

Columbia County provided more election surprises tonight than Greene County, with Patrick Grattan (R) beating incumbent Doug McGivney (D) for Kinderhook supervisor by 800 votes, and the Town Council in Chatham going all Republican. In Claverack, Robin Andrews (D) beat 12-year-incumbent Jim Keegan (R) by seven votes, 888 to 881, although that may change when absentee votes are counted. Austerlitz supervisor George Jahn (D) also lost his office to Jeffrey Braley, 255 to 178.

In Greene County, the Athens race for Greene County Legislature became the talk of the county last week when Brent Bogardus, the Greene County Republican Party Chairman and Republican Election Commissioner, accused Democratic candidate Chris Pfister of killing a fawn in his backyard in a cruel manner. This surprising charge may have been enough to turn a toss-up race into a 50-vote victory for Pfister over longtime incumbent Ray Brooks. Before the Bogardus charge, the Catskill legislature race was the most watched, with Heart of Catskill's Linda Overbaugh first trying for a Republican spot in the race, and then not being able to hold that line because of a filing misstep, and then running with the rest of the Republicans on a third party line. Overbaugh was initially considered a sure thing by political insiders, but she did not seem very present during the campaign, and lost tonight to incumbent Democrat Forest Cotten, while the rest of her Republican comrades (Karen A. Deyo Keith W. Valentine and Joseph F. Izzo) won. In Durham, incumbent Sean Fry won again, as Republican Elsie Allan and Grass Roots of Durham candidate Les Armstrong split the more conservative votes.

Greene County election results

Greene County election results


STATE WIDE RACES
52 of 52 (100%) machines reporting (52 total districts)
PROPOSAL #1
Vote for 1
PROPOSAL #1 YES
3540
PROPOSAL #1 NO
1848
PROPOSAL #2
Vote for 1
PROPOSAL #2 YES
3766
PROPOSAL #2 NO
1546
COUNTY WIDE RACES
52 of 52 (100%) machines reporting (52 total districts)
STATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE 3RD JD
Vote for 1
Jill Dunn 5336
James P Gilpatric 4237
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 009 RACES
2 of 2 (100%) machines reporting (2 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 9
Vote for 1
Sean P Frey
385
Elsie S Allan
353
Leslie C Armstrong
176
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 008 RACES
7 of 7 (100%) machines reporting (7 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 8
Vote for 2
William B Lawrence
916
Harry A Lennon
830
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 007 RACES
7 of 7 (100%) machines reporting (7 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 7
Vote for 1
Larry F Gardner
549
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 006 RACES
5 of 5 (100%) machines reporting (5 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 6
Vote for 1
James W Hitchcock
801
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 005 RACES
4 of 4 (100%) machines reporting (4 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 5
Vote for 1
James E VanSlyke
690
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 004 RACES
3 of 3 (100%) machines reporting (3 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 4
Vote for 1
Kevin R Lewis 835
James P Mulligan 496
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 003 RACES
4 of 4 (100%) machines reporting (4 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 3
Vote for 1
Chris H Pfister
674
Ray C Brooks
617
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 002 RACES
6 of 6 (100%) machines reporting (6 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 2
Vote for 2
Charles A Martinez
1,203
Wayne C Speenburgh
1,146
COUNTY LEGISLATIVE 001 RACES
14 of 14 (100%) machines reporting (14 total districts)
COUNTY LEGISLATOR DISTRICT 1
Vote for 4
Keith W Valentine
1,367
Joseph F Izzo
1,328
Karen A Deyo
1,307
Forest Cotten
1,038
Linda H Overbaugh
1,003
C Robin DePuy
592
ASHLAND RACES
1 of 1 (100%) machines reporting (1 total districts)
ASHLAND TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Richard E Tompkins
132
ASHLAND TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Leslie C Holdridge
134
ASHLAND TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Dennis E Mattice
131
Thomas H Soule
130
ASHLAND TOWN CLERK
Vote for 1
Justine L Koehler
130
ASHLAND SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
Larry R Tompkins
129
ASHLAND TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Virginia C Arturi
129
ATHENS RACES
4 of 4 (100%) machines reporting (4 total districts)
ATHENS TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Lee Allen Palmateer
628
John F Lubera
609
ATHENS TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Constance J Pazin
753
ATHENS TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
April Paluch
617
Phyllis Dinkelacker
556
Charles J Dagostino
550
Paul Hasbrouck
445
CAIRO RACES
7 of 7 (100%) machines reporting (7 total districts)
CAIRO TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
John M Coyne
845
CAIRO TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Leland E Miller
772
CAIRO TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Douglas L Ostrander Jr 929
Raymond J Suttmeier 709
Alice Tunison (write-in) 192
CAIRO TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Emily A Feeney
920
CATSKILL RACES
14 of 14 (100%) machines reporting (14 total districts)
CATSKILL TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Robert G Carl
1,407
CATSKILL TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Kevin C Lennon
1,354
Robert C Antonelli
1,043
Joseph M Leggio
1,000
COXSACKIE RACES
6 of 6 (100%) machines reporting (6 total districts)
COXSACKIE TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Alexander L Betke II
934
COXSACKIE TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Richard H Roberg
1,150
COXSACKIE TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Jeffery R Lewis
926
Patrick B Kennedy
735
COXSACKIE TOWN CLERK
Vote for 1
Bambi L Hotaling
1,137
COXSACKIE SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
Michael J Tighe
889
John B Garland
822
COXSACKIE TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Linda J Wilkinson
1,128
DURHAM RACES
2 of 2 (100%) machines reporting (2 total districts)
DURHAM TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Gary J Hulbert
564
DURHAM TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Karen J Tirpak
602
DURHAM TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Jodi L Wood
585
William A Carr Jr
554
DURHAM TOWN CLERK/COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Chris Kohrs
622
DURHAM SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
Wesley I Moore
620
GREENVILLE RACES
3 of 3 (100%) machines reporting (3 total districts)
GREENVILLE TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Paul J Macko 851
Peter L OHara 464
GREENVILLE TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Richard P Schreiber 955
GREENVILLE TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Richard Y Bear 864
Kenneth M Stern 771
Kathleen A Whitley Harm 482
Wayne A Nelsen 466
GREENVILLE TOWN CLERK
Vote for 1
Ronnie J Campbell 979
GREENVILLE SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
Richard B Hempstead 839
Terry L Williams 503
GREENVILLE TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Mary Yeomans 1042
HALCOTT RACES
1 of 1 (100%) machines reporting (1 total districts)
HALCOTT TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
A Innes Kasanof
46
HALCOTT TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Chris DiBenedetto
48
Alan S White
46
HALCOTT TOWN CLERK
Vote for 1
Stacey L Johnson
49
HALCOTT SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
Russell C Bouton
50
HALCOTT TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Ruth A Kelder
53
HUNTER RACES
4 of 4 (100%) machines reporting (4 total districts)
HUNTER TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Dennis M Lucas Sr
247
HUNTER TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
James A Volker
331
HUNTER TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Dolph J Semenza
327
Daryl E Legg
317
HUNTER SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
John G Farrell
331
JEWETT RACES
1 of 1 (100%) machines reporting (1 total districts)
JEWETT TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Carol A Muth
185
Georgette E Krauss
155
JEWETT TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
William C Trach
209
Steven C Jacobs
199
Marianne Romito
131
Frank P Steinherr
93
LEXINGTON RACES
2 of 2 (100%) machines reporting (2 total districts)
LEXINGTON TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Greg T Cross
193
Dixie L Baldrey
161
LEXINGTON TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Robert A Basil
332
LEXINGTON TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
John W Berger Jr
208
Glenn E Howard
165
Mary T Cline
156
Maurice Nelson
111
Susan Jo Falke
29
LEXINGTON TOWN CLERK/COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Rose M Williams
337
LEXINGTON SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
Frank G Hermance
172
Larry M Cross
147
Larry G Falke
27
NEW BALTIMORE RACES
4 of 4 (100%) machines reporting (4 total districts)
NEW BALTIMORE TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Susan K ORorke
587
Arthur A Byas
573
NEW BALTIMORE TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Joseph F Cosenza
675
NEW BALTIMORE TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Barbara M Finke
623
Michael T Meredith
577
James E Coe
531
Lee A Davis
531
NEW BALTIMORE TOWN CLERK
Vote for 1
Janet A Brooks
764
Paula A Rebusmen
404
NEW BALTIMORE TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Lynn Taylor
681
PRATTSVILLE RACES
1 of 1 (100%) machines reporting (1 total districts)
PRATTSVILLE TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
Kory P O'Hara
151
Richard E Morse
130
PRATTSVILLE TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Robert J Blain
176
PRATTSVILLE TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
James M Thorington
184
Steven H Oliver
138
Lisa L Hamilton
118
CJ Rion
87
PRATTSVILLE TOWN COUNCILMAN UNEXPIRED
Vote for 1
Patrick T Mattice
234
PRATTSVILLE TOWN CLERK
Vote for 1
Kathleen D Sherman
168
Switlana Breigle
80
PRATTSVILLE SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
William C Sutton
211
Stanley R Vanhoesen
60
PRATTSVILLE TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Jody M Briggs
142
Anita Creazzo
129
WINDHAM RACES
2 of 2 (100%) machines reporting (2 total districts)
WINDHAM TOWN SUPERVISOR
Vote for 1
T Patrick Meehan
297
WINDHAM TOWN JUSTICE
Vote for 1
Christopher Mattiace
276
WINDHAM TOWN COUNCILMAN
Vote for 2
Robert J Pelham
297
Wayne E VanValin
226
WINDHAM TOWN CLERK
Vote for 1
Carolyn J Garvey
299
WINDHAM SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS
Vote for 1
Thomas F Hoyt
283
WINDHAM TAX COLLECTOR
Vote for 1
Dawn L Hitchcock
314

Tune in to candidate forums

Click on links to listen to archived recordings of local candidate forums sponsored by the League of Women Voters in Columbia and Greene counties.

MP3 audio plays in Quicktime Player in any browser except Internet Explorer. They will not play in Internet Explorer, use another browser. You can download the mp3s with Quicktime Player Pro. You can click on links or cut and paste urls into your media player.

ATHENS Thu. Oct. 22, 7-9 p.m. at Athens Community Center.
http://archive.free103point9.org/2009/10/Athens_candidate_forum_WGXC_102209.mp3

CLAVERACK Thu. Oct. 22, 7-9 p.m. at A.B. Shaw fire house.
http://archive.free103point9.org/2009/10/Claverack_candidate_forum_WGXC_102209.mp3

CATSKILL Sat. Oct. 24, 10 a.m.-noon at Catskill Community Center.
http://archive.free103point9.org/2009/10/Catskill_candidate_forum_WGXC_102409.mp3

COPAKE Sun. Oct. 25, 1-3 p.m. at Copake Grange Hall, downtown Copake. Sorry, WGXC did not get a recording.

GREENE COUNTY LEGISLATURE Sun. Oct. 25, 4-6 p.m. at Union Mills Lofts in Catskill.
http://archive.free103point9.org/2009/10/Greene_County_Legislature_UnionMills_WGXC_102409.mp3

CHATHAM Mon. Oct. 26, 7-9 p.m. at Chatham Town Hall.
http://archive.free103point9.org/2009/10/Chatham_candidate_forum_WGXC_102609.mp3

KINDERHOOK Tue. Oct. 27, 7-9 p.m. at Ichabod Crane Middle School.
http://archive.free103point9.org/2009/10/Kinderhook_candidate_forum_WGXC_102709.mp3

Greene County Legislature candidate forum

Click here to listen to or download mp3 recording of the Greene County Legislature community forum Sun. Oct. 25 at Union Mills in Catskill.

Candidates for the Greene County Legislature gathered at Union Mills in Catskill from 4-6 p.m. Sun., Oct. 25. In attendance were William Lawrence (Cairo), Sean Fry (Durham), Kevin Lewis (Greenville), Jim Mulligan (Greenville), Chris Phfister (Athens), Robin DuPuy (Catskill), Joseph Izzo (Catskill), and Forest Cotten (Catskill). Click on the above link to an mp3 file you can play in Quicktime Player, or download in Quicktime Player Pro. Listening or downloading does not work with Internet Explorer. The Daily Mail wrote a story about the forum that is linked here.

Catskill candidate forum

Click here to listen to or download Greene County Legislature candidates forum from Oct. 25, 2009 at Union Mills in Catskill.

Candidates for local and county offices in Catskill gathered at the Catskill Community Center from 10 a.m. to noon Sat., Oct. 24. In attendance were Forest Cotten, Robin DePuy, Joseph Izzo, and Keith Valentine (Greene County Legislature); and Robert Antonelli, Joseph Leggio, and Kevin Lennon (town council). Click on the above link to an mp3 file you can play in Quicktime Player, or download in Quicktime Player Pro. Listening or downloading does not work with Internet Explorer. There is an article in The Daily Mail about the forum here.

Greene and Columbia County candidate forums

Tune in live candidate forums this week

THURSDAY: Claverack and Athens
SATURDAY: Catskill
SUNDAY: Copake and Greene County
MONDAY: Chatham
TUESDAY: Kinderhook

WGXC will have live web streams of each candidate forum for everyone to listen to. In addition, WGXC will post archived recordings of these candidate forums as soon as possible at www.wgxc.org

More details below.


((((( CANDIDATE FORUMS )))))

Columbia and Greene County candidate forums

The League of Women Voters of Greene County and Columbia County are sponsoring seven "Meet the Candidates" forums for politicians running for various offices this fall. Invitations to the events have been mailed to all candidates.

In cooperation with the League, and as a service to all local media and voters, WGXC will air all forums live on an internet web stream at www.wgxc.org if internet access is available, and is coordinating members of the local media to cover the event. Recordings of all events will be posted as quickly as possible at www.wgxc.org and archived for future reference.

To listen live:
Either go to www.wgxc.org and click on the links for each candidate forum, which will open a web stream in your computer's media player (iTunes, etc.) or will also play on your cell phone (iPhone, etc.)
or
Paste this link into "open url" on your computer's media player:
For Columbia County forums:
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/election.mp3.m3u
For Greene County forums:
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/greeneelection.mp3.m3u

Where and when are the candidate forums?

Thursday, October 22, both at 7-9 p.m.
CLAVERACK
Town of Claverack candidates' forum at A.B. Shaw firehouse on Route 9H in Claverack. Listen at:
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/election.mp3.m3u

ATHENS
Athens forum, for candidates for Town Council, Town Justice, and Athens Legislature representation will be at the Athens Community Center, 2 First Street, Athens.
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/greeneelection.mp3.m3u


Saturday, October 24, 10 a.m.-noon
CATSKILL
The Catskill session for candidates for Town Council, Town Justice, Catskill Legislature representation will be at the Catskill Community Center, 344 Main Street, Catskill.
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/greeneelection.mp3.m3u


Sunday, October 25 1-3 p.m.
COPAKE
Town of Copake candidates' forum at Copake Grange Hall, downtown Copake.
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/election.mp3.m3u


Sunday, October 25, 4-6 p.m.
GREENE COUNTY LEGISLATURE
The forum for all Greene County Legislative candidates will be at Union Mills Lofts, 361 Main Street, Catskill.
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/greeneelection.mp3.m3u


Monday, October 26, 7-9 p.m.
CHATHAM
Town of Chatham candidates' forum at Chatham Town Hall.
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/election.mp3.m3u


Tuesday, October 27 7-9 p.m.
KINDERHOOK
Town of Kinderhook candidates' forum at Ichabod Crane Middle School.
http://comm.free103point9.org/8000/election.mp3.m3u


Journalists confirmed attending:
Melanie Lekocevic, Greene County Local Courier (Athens and Catskill forums)
Colin Devries, The Daily Mail (Athens forum)
WGXC reporters: Tom Morini, Debra Kamecke, Kaya Weidman, Tom Roe


WGXC will post recordings of each candidate forum as soon as possible at www.wgxc.org.


For more information:

Fawn Potash/League of Women Voters
518- 929-5764
fawnpotash@yahoo.com

Or

Paul Smart/WGXC.org
518-943-4224
paulsmart@aol.com



Basic Political Debate/Meet the Candidates Event Format

Event should be no more than 90 minutes long.
Candidates need to arrive 15 minutes before start of event.
Substitute speakers are not permitted.
No campaign literature or materials will be allowed inside the room.
Lots will be drawn in advance to determine the order of speakers for opening remarks.
Moderator will be introduced by the sponsoring organization’s spokesperson
Moderator will introduce panel members and go over the rules.
Each candidate will have a 3-minute opening statement.
Audience members will be asked to silence all electronic devices.
The audience will be provided with index cards/writing implements with which to write questions.
1. No statements
2. No personal remarks
3. All questions must be legible
4. The moderator will choose questions and paraphrase for clarity/appropriateness.
The candidates will have one minute to answer. The moderator will call on candidates in succeeding order to answer. The moderator has the right to rule on all questions. No one else will be permitted to see the questions before, during or after the event. [Candidates should be reminded that they may take notes and cover issues/comments they missed during the Q&A as part of their closing statement.]

Depending on time available, questions may be permitted from the floor. Questions will be limited to one minute and will be answered as above. The same rules apply as with written questions.

Each candidate may have a 2 or 3-minute closing statement.

The moderator will close the event and invite members of the audience to remain in order to have personal conversations with the candidates (must be agreed upon in advance by candidates).

SPEAKING TIME WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OTHER CANDIDATES AND THE AUDIENCE’S RIGHT TO HEAR ALL CANDIDATES SPEAK.

Candidates are encouraged to bring campaign literature. A table should be set up outside the room for the purpose of distributing the literature. Each candidate will be permitted to display a packet of flyers, position papers, and letters of endorsement or other campaign material. However, each candidate will be allowed only ONE stack of information on the table unless the organizer permits more.

Lopez meets public in Catskill

New York State Assemblyman Pete Lopez (R, C, I - Schoharie) holds a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thu. Nov. 5 at the Catskill Senior Center, 15 Academy Street in Catskill. All residents are invited and encouraged to attend.

Seward answers questions from public in Catskill

Click here to listen to the Oct. 6, 2009 town meeting with NY State Senator James Seward. Mp3 file will not play in Internet Explorer browser. You need Quicktime Player Pro to download file.)

New York State Senator James Seward (R/C/I-Oneonta) held a public meeting at 7 p.m. Tue. Oct. 6 at the Catskill Middle School Auditorium, 345 W. Main St. WGXC's Debra Kamecke was there with a recorder to post the mp3 audio file above

Local notes

Dick May (pictured) knows his Town of Catskill. His Seeing Greene blog has two exemplary commentaries lately, looking deeper into the Catskill audit, and taking apart a Daily Mail report about a court decision affecting the election of Catskill's Greene County legislators. In "The Awful Audit" May explores how lax supervision, tardiness, raiding, poor control, inertia, and insecurity, all led to the blistering audit of the Village of Catskill. "'Poor planning,' 'unrealistic budgeting' and other 'inadequate management practices' have depleted the Village’s operating funds” and its 'ability to operate effectively' for its 4400 residents according to the report (2009M-53,“Fiscal Oversight and Internal Controls Over Selected Financial Activities”) from the Albany office of State Comptroller’s Division of Local Government and School Accounting." May writes. That report, "come(s) on the heels of an equally stinging report (2004M-11,Village of Catskill) that was issued in 2005," May writes. "The Village of Catskll [may be] too small financially to sustain professional business management," and the consolidation with the larger Town of Catskill might be in order. His earlier "Doing the News" examines Melanie Lekocevic's Sept. 23 story in The Daily Mail, "Court hands ballot spot to Voice party." May explicity lays out partiality, gross omission, an "insidious half-truth" and inaccuracies in the story about the New York State Supreme Court dismissing a case to block the Have a Voice political party from the ballot this year.....The Register-Star reports that the Stockport Town Board unanimously approved a new town law Wednesday creating a planned development district and paving the way for Holmes Estates at Columbia County, a 112-unit subdivision that's been discussed for five years....Cairo Planning Board member Tony Puorro said at the Planning Board meeting Wednesday that the town's new Zoning plan will go before the Town Board in January.

Second Annual Catskill Artist Studio and Gallery Tour

Paul Smart from WGXC will be wandering around Catskill with a digital recorder interviewing folks Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Second Annual Catskill Artist Studio and Gallery Tour. This year’s program includes artists’ studios open from noon to 5 p.m. in the surrounding area of Catskill as well as the Village itself and include the following: Terence Barrell, Dina Bursztyn, Julie Chase, Sasha Chermayeff, Tasha Depp, Jared Handelsman, Jim Holl, Philip Howie, Edith Marcik, Patrick Milbourn, Lee Anne Morgan, Portia Munson, Fawn Potash, Susan Wides. Participants must sign up to receive a button and a map of tour sites at:
Cedar Grove, The Thomas Cole National Historic Site, 218 Spring Street or
The Greene County Council on the Arts, 398 Main Street in Catskill.

All studios and galleries will be marked on the map and signed with small flags or numbered signs. Some sites may not be handicapped accessible. It is not necessary to sign up for the gallery openings or evening events.

Participating galleries are open from noon to 8 p.m. Visitors are invited to join CGA galleries and special Main Street locations for a street-long post-tour reception. Enjoy refreshments and conversation with area artists as you visit exhibitions and special installations. Participating galleries include: M Gallery, Union Mills, Brik, The Greene County Council on the Arts, Terenchin Fine Art, Day and Holt, The Catskill Community Center, Gallery 42, and the Galleria Catskill. The tour is free.
Information: www.catskillgalleryassociation.com

Greene County candidate forums

WGXC is working with the League of Women Voters of Columbia County to "Meet the Candidates" forums for politicians running for Greene County Legislature seats, as well as local posts in Athens and Catskill.

WGXC will air all forums live on an internet web stream at www.wgxc.org, and is inviting all members of the local media to cover the event. Recordings of the events will be posted as quickly as possible here and at www.wgxc.org.

The Athens forum, for candidates for Town Council, Town Justice, and Athens Legislature representation will be Thursday, October 22, 2009 from 7-9 p.m. at the Athens Community Center, 2 First Street, Athens.

The Catskill session for candidates for Town Council, Town Justice, Catskill Legislature representation will be Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 10 a.m.-noon at the Catskill Community Center, 344 Main Street, Catskill.

The forum for all Greene County Legislative candidates will be Sunday, October 25,2009 from 4-6 p.m. at Union Mills Lofts, 361 Main Street, Catskill.

Journalists confirmed attending:
Melanie Lekocevic, Greene County Local Courier (Athens and Catskill forums)
WGXC

For more information:

Fawn Potash/League of Women Voters

518-929-5764

fawnpotash@yahoo.com

Or

Paul Smart/WGXC.org

518-943-4224

paulsmart@aol.com



Basic Political Debate/Meet the Candidates Event Format

Event should be no more than 90 minutes long.

Candidates need to arrive 15 minutes before start of event.

Panel may consist of up to 8 members (more if cleared with the moderator).

Substitute speakers are not permitted.

No campaign literature or materials will be allowed inside the room.

Lots will be drawn in advance to determine the order of speakers for opening remarks.

Moderator will be introduced by the sponsoring organization’s spokesperson

Moderator will introduce panel members and go over the rules.

Each candidate will have a 3-minute opening statement.

Audience members will be asked to silence all electronic devices.

The audience will be provided with index cards/writing implements with which to write questions.

1. No statements
2. No personal remarks
3. All questions must be legible
4. The moderator will choose questions and paraphrase for clarity/appropriateness.

The candidates will have one minute (or two, depending on number of candidates and time available) to answer. The moderator will call on candidates in succeeding order to answer. The moderator has the right to rule on all questions. No one else will be permitted to see the questions before, during or after the event. [Candidates should be reminded that they may take notes and cover issues/comments they missed during the Q&A as part of their closing statement.]

Depending on time available, questions may be permitted from the floor. Questions will be limited to one minute and will be answered as above. The same rules apply as with written questions.

Each candidate may have a 2 or 3-minute closing statement.

The moderator will close the event and invite members of the audience to remain in order to have personal conversations with the candidates (must be agreed upon in advance by candidates).

SPEAKING TIME WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE OTHER CANDIDATES AND THE AUDIENCE’S RIGHT TO HEAR ALL CANDIDATES SPEAK.

Candidates are encouraged to bring campaign literature. A table should be set up outside the room for the purpose of distributing the literature. Each candidate will be permitted to display a packet of flyers, position papers, and letters of endorsement or other campaign material. However, each candidate will be allowed only ONE stack of information on the table unless the organizer permits more.

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION NOTES:

Candidates should be sent invitation letters. Those who accept must be sent an outline for the evening’s program and the rules (above information or organizer’s preference). The moderator should be supplied the name/contact information of a person to call with questions (from sponsoring organization). Candidates who choose not to attend will be noted at the event (possibly by a name sign at an empty chair). Events that feature missing candidates may not be recorded or televised (per LWV rules). Write-in candidates may not participate in these events (per LWV rules).

Inform moderator of any contentious issues or anticipated difficulties.

Correct pronunciation of candidate’s names and titles are requested by the moderator (phonetic if necessary).

Those who participate, as well as the facility staff and anyone else who were particularly helpful should be sent thank you notes as soon as possible after the event (within 2 weeks).

Name signs should be made (tented full sheet of index card stock works well- we have a template) for each candidate and placed where they are legible and visible to the audience. Names should be printed on both sides of the sign so that the moderator can see them as well.

Questions may be ‘planted’ with audience members to get things started for the Q & A.

The moderator should be provided with a podium and informed of the use of other equipment, such as microphones or television cameras. Microphones are always a good idea.

All speakers should be provided with drinking water.

Local film project captures WWII memories of Greene County veterans

A free public screening of the film WWII oral history project “They Answered the Call” will be held 5-9 p.m. November 7, 2009, at the Washington Irving Senior Center in Catskill

The NYS Division of Veterans’ Affairs estimates that there were 315 Greene County WWII veterans older than 85 years at the time of the 2000 census. Project Coordinator Cindy Putorti of Catskill initiated this effort in 2007 after a conversation with WWII veteran Dr. DuBois Jenkins (retired longtime Catskill veterinarian). “He casually mentioned that he had worked on a secret chemical research project during WWII,” said Putorti. "I was astounded when he described a joint effort between the American and Canadian militaries in which anthrax was one of the chemical agents being developed at his installation.” Putorti thought that there must be other such stories to uncover in Greene County.

Putorti contacted local independent filmmakers Lisa Thomas and Margo Pelletier of Thin Edge Films in Catskill who agreed to provide the technical equipment, expertise, and mentoring to capture the wartime stories of Greene County veterans. Student filmmakers volunteered from the Catskill, Coxsackie-Athens, and Cairo-Durham school districts. “We also have a SUNY Binghamton film student participating,” said Putorti

Putorti applied for a Decentralization Program grant from the Greene County Council on the Arts and was awarded a small grant to support the effort. The project was also supported by the Catskill Community Center, the Catskill Senior Center, The Fortnightly Club and private individual contributions.

Six Greene County World War II veterans volunteered to share their wartime stories with the student interviewers. “In addition to Dr. Jenkins, we also interviewed Robert Darling who served in an anti-tank unit in Europe. Jack Rivituso was a courier in the Signal Corps in Europe and the Philippines. Stanley Maltzman served as a signal man on the USS Centaurus in the Pacific theater. Irving Hendricks served in an engineer battalion in Europe. Coleman Duncan, a B-24 bombardier, was a Prisoner of War in the Stalag III prison camp, the one depicted in the film ‘The Great Escape.’ Sadly, Mr. Duncan passed away in June one month after our filming. But shortly before his death, he was able to fulfill his dream to travel to England to view his lost prison camp diary that was recovered by a British serviceman and safely installed in a military museum in England,” said Putorti.

Veterans were allowed to discuss whatever they deemed appropriate to share. “We were sensitive to their reluctance to describe their combat experiences,” said Putorti. “We encouraged them to discuss whatever was important to them to share.” In addition to describing combat experiences, veterans discussed their training, buddies, work, good times enjoyed and hardships endured.

All uncut footage will be submitted to the “Veterans History Project” (VHP) authorized by the U.S. Congress in 2004 and administered by the Library of Congress. The mission of the VHP is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

Students used Apple Computer equipment and Final Cut Pro editing software at the Catskill Community Center (purchased specifically for this project) and the Catskill High School to complete their documentaries. Catskill Middle School teacher and director of the Catskill Independent Film program Bill Maouris volunteered to mentor student filmmakers.

Portions of the six short films of 30-60 minutes each (one for each veteran’s interview) will be presented to the public free of charge at the Washington Irving Senior Center at 5 p.m. on November 7, 2009. Student filmmakers Joey DiStefano, Nicole Lacy, and Emily Sprague of Catskill and John Robert Hammerer of Coxsackie will be available to answer questions. (Robert Handel of Cairo and Sarah Sullivan of Catskill also participated but are now at college and will be unable to attend). Local photographer V. James DiPerna offered his services to create portraits of each veteran. These will also be displayed at the screening as parts of collages of photos and memorabilia of each veteran’s wartime experiences created by Palenville artist Ellen Mahnken. Light refreshments will served.

Seward hosts town hall in Catskill

New York State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I-Oneonta) holds a fall town hall-style meeting in Catskill at 7 p.m. Tue. Oct. 6 at the Catskill Middle School Auditorium, 345 W. Main St. At the meeting, Seward will visit with constituents, discuss current state issues and take questions. For the first hour, Seward and area residents will discuss state issues with others who are present. Later, Seward will be available to talk privately with those who have a particular state-related problem or would like to meet with him personally. “My decisions and thinking on various issues more accurately reflect the people of my senatorial district when I visit the folks I am honored to represent,” Seward said in a press release. “I schedule these meetings each fall so that the off session can be spent listening and interacting with people.”

Hudsonic Series, No. 5

Hudsonic Series, No. 5 by Sam Truitt
The Point, Catskill, Greene County
September 18, 2009, 4:43 PM
1.5 MB (1:11 minutes) MP4 A dog barks, and a Dutchman conducts a crowd in song as music plays.
Hudsonic%205.mp3


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Hudsonic Series, No. 3

Hudsonic Series, No. 3 by Sam Truitt
Walmart, 265 West Bridge Street, Catskill, Greene County
09.13.09 (03:52 minutes)
4.36 MB, MP4
The microphone lies behind a flower pot (daisies) on a rack. Cars and carts pass variously, a person speaks, and a car door opens and closes.

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Audit finds problems in Village of Catskill

From Mid-Hudson News Network:

ALBANY - State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced his office completed an audit of the Village of Catskill – Fiscal Oversight and Internal Controls Over Selected Financial Activities.

According to the report, the village board and president did not effectively oversee the village’s financial operations and failed to address significant weaknesses, identified in our previous audit, in budgeting, accounting, reporting, cash management, and claims processing. These inadequate management practices have contributed to the deteriorating financial condition of the village’s primary operating funds, perpetuated a reliance on interfund transfers to maintain cash flow, and placed the village at risk of fiscal stress that could jeopardize its ability to operate effectively.

For example, due to poor planning and unrealistic budgeting, the total fund balances of the village’s main operating funds (general, water, and sewer) decreased by $933,727 (58 percent) over the three fiscal years 2004-05 to 2006-07. At the end of 2006-07, these three funds had a combined operating deficit of $574,876, or 36 percent of their total fund balance at the beginning of the 2004-05 fiscal year.

Hudsonic Series

Hudsonic Series, No. 2

Hudsonic Series, No. 2 by Sam Truitt

Cohotate Preserve, off Route 385, Catskill, Greene County

09.10.09 4:32 pm (01:58 minutes)

The microphone lies on a rock beside the Hudson River. Waves lap, and a boat passes.

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