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.

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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.

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Olana may be open less thanks to state cuts

Governor Paterson's plan to save the state money by closing come state parks permanently or part-time includes closing Columbia County's Olana two days a week. Greene County is spared any cuts, but Rudd Pond area in Taconic State Park in Dutchess County is on the chopping block.

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Republicans may have challenger for Murphy in April

From Jimmy Vielkind in Capitol Confidential:

After meeting yesterday at the Desmond, the 10 Republican county leaders in the 20th District have set up a a time line to endorse a candidate against Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls. Prospective candidates should announce their intention to run by March 7, according to Warren County Republican Chairman Mike Grasso, and make their rounds to the individual county committees before March 31. The 10 chairs will then meet in Albany to ballot toward an endorsement, which will be determined based on the weighted vote of the counties. “We intend to have a candidate probably ready to go the first week of April. That’s our plan,” Grasso told me by phone this morning. “It’s very difficult for committees to interview a couple of people who have announced and then have other people come forward. It’s very difficult to ascertain…We’re going to ask everybody’s who’s interested to come to us by March 7, so we can then arrange during a three-week period of orderly interviews with them.” Of course, this doesn’t guarantee a candidate will get on the ballot. Unlike a statewide race, the party’s endorsement is just that: an endorsement. Any prospective candidate – irrespective of whether they’ve been endorsed by some, all, or none of the Republican leadership–can get on the ballot by securing the valid signatures of 1,250 enrolled party members in the district. Republicans who have expressed interest in challenging Murphy are John Faso, David Harper, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, Queensbury Supervisor Dan Stec and Patrick Ziegler. Christopher Gibson, an Army Colonel from Columbia County, is also considering a run, according to several Republican leaders in the district.

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Greene County ranks near bottom in state health

Columbia County ranks 45th, and Greene County ranks 59th among 62 New York counties in overall health. Nearby Putnam County ranked first in the state, Dutchess ranked 11th, Ulster County 33rd, Albany County 27th, and Rensselear County 35th. The study was by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation using data from 2000 to 2006.

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Official comment?

One of the best results from the recent redesign of the web sites of The Daily Mail and The Register-Star has been the increase in reader participation through online comments. Lately, the politicians and officials at the heart of many stories on the paper's web sites are writing their own comments. Or are being carefully impersonated in the largely unregulated world of online comments. First, Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera, or someone posing as the mayor, responded to a Feb. 11 Register-Star "My View" opinion column by Taghkanic-based activist Sam Pratt. Three days later, State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, or an online simulacrum, commented on a Register-Star article about his recent vote against making it easier to cast an absentee ballot. Bo Sacks, or someone claiming the identity of the Copake Town Councilman, also commented on that article. And if The Daily Mail mentions the Cairo Planning Board, you can bet board Chairman Dan Benoit will comment. In a Feb. 11 "My View" column by Leeds-based businessman Bob Nappa, Benoit pipes in once the chatter in the comments section gets around to Cairo. In each case, officials leave e-mail addresses and phone numbers for constituents to get in touch about whatever issue getting is being discussed. Bravo!

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Local Assemblymen vote against easier absentee voting

Francesca Olsen in The Register-Star reports that State Assemblymen Marcus Molinaro, R,C,I-Red Hook, and Peter Lopez, R,C,I -Schoharie, who reprsent Columbia and Greene counties respectively, voted “no” on a proposed bill designed to “simplify the absentee ballot process.” Five assembly members voted against the bill: Molinaro, Lopez, George Amedore, R,C-Rotterdam, James Tedisco, R,C,I-Schenectady-Saratoga, and David R. Townsend, Jr., R,C,I,WF-Kirkland. Recently in Columbia County, and Taghkanic in particular, Republicans have challenged absentee votes, targeting second-home owners. "The bill would also amend Section 8-400 of state election law so that voters would be able to vote by absentee ballot if they are absent from their residence on Election Day, unable to personally appear at their polling place because of illness or disability or because they are taking care of someone with an illness or disability, an inmate or patient at a V.A. hospital, or detained in jail for anything other than a felony," Olsen wrote.

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Molinaro won't run for Congress

The Daily Freeman reports that State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro (R-Red Hook) decided not to challenge incumbent Democrat Scott Murphy for New York’s 20th Congressional District seat, which represents Greene and Columbia counties.

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Pay raises for Columbia County employees

The Register-Star reports that the Columbia County Board of Supervisors voted for a two percent pay raise for county employees Wednesday night. Supervisors voting “yes” on the pay raise were: Chairman Roy Brown, R-Germantown; Jeffrey Braley, R-Austerlitz; Reggie Crowley, R-Copake; Deputy Chairman Larry Andrews, R-Ghent; Art Baer, R-Hillsdale; Ed Cross, D-Hudson2; William Hallenbeck Jr., R-Hudson3; Deputy Chairman Bart Delaney, R-Hudson5; Pat Grattan, R-Kinderhook; Kevin McDonald, R-Livingston; Leo Pulcher, R-Stockport; and Valerie Bertram, R-Stuyvesant. Voting against: Art Bassin, D-Ancram; Robin Andrews, D-Claverack; Ray Staats, D-Clermont; Minority Leader Jesse DeGroodt, D-Chatham; Lynda Scheer, R-Gallatin; Ed Nabozny, I-Greenport; John Musall, D-Hudson1; William Hughes, D-Hudson4; and Margaret Robertson, D-New Lebanon.

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Arts Councils announce cultural fund awards

The Greene County Council on the Arts (GCCA) and the Columbia County Council on the Arts (CCCA) announced the recipients of regrant awards through the Twin Counties Cultural Fund Decentralization Program for Columbia and Greene Counties (DEC) with 33 not-for-profit organizations awarded $48,950 for 2010.

Greene County received requests from 17 applications for requests totaling $50,855 – more than twice the amount of available regrant funds. Fifteen organizations received $22,517 for the Decentralization Program (DEC) Project Support which includes organizations that act as a conduit (fiscal managers) for artist initiated projects. They are:

Cairo Public Library was awarded $1400 for multidisciplinary arts programs.
Catskill Community Center was awarded $1000 for Self-Portrait Books, Drawing & Painting from Poetry & The Art of Jazz Community Arts programs.
Catskill Mountain Wolf Center & Joseph Capone were awarded $1700 for presentation of Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County was awarded $1125 for Little Theater in the Woods program at the Acra Forestry Education site.
D.R. Evarts Library was awarded $1000 for visual arts, dance and storytelling.
Greene Arts Foundation was awarded $2700 for a stage adaptation of O’Sullivan Stew involving teens.
Heart of Catskill Association & David Woodin were awarded $2200 for classical concerts with professional and amateur musicians.
Love ‘N Care Pet Sanctuary & Margo Muller were awarded $1800 for children’s theater project based on the Little Red Schoolhouse local landmark.
New Baltimore Reformed Church & Brian Mellick were awarded $1000 for a series of small ensemble acoustic concerts in New Baltimore.
Oak Hill Preservation Association was awarded $892 for artist presenters for Oak Hill Day.
Pleshakov Music Center was awarded $1800 for lecture/concerts at the piano museum in Hunter.
Rivertown Housing & Jeanne Heiberg were awarded $1000 for writing & collage workshops, public reading & exhibit.
Schoharie Creek Players was awarded $1800 for production of The Importance of Being Ernest.
Town of Hunter & Kevin VanHentenryck were awarded $2000 for outdoor stone carving class & demo along Route 23 in Hunter.
Windham Public Library was awarded $1100 for physical character & theater, an investigation of Calder mobiles and other workshops.

Columbia County received requests from 22 organizations totaling $60,150 – more than twice the amount of available funding. Eighteen organizations received $26,433 from the Decentralization Program (DEC) Project Support which includes organizations that act as a conduit (fiscal manager). They are:

Clarion Concerts was awarded $1500 for Leaf Peepers Series.
Columbia County Office for the Aging & Heather Martin were awarded $1433 for jewelry making & ceramic explorations for seniors.
Friends of Chatham Library was awarded $1200 for theater, paper marbling & pottery workshops.
Friends of Chatham Library & Bend the Knotted Oak were awarded $750 for a chamber music concert at St. James Church.
Hudson Area Library was awarded $500 for cultural storytelling & dance program with Elena Mosley.
Hudson Library & Diata Diata International Folkloric Theatre were awarded $2000 for Maii: The Wonder of Water! an original dance and theatrical production.
HRC/Showcase Theatre was awarded $1500 for staged readings of original plays.
Hudson Valley Choral Society was awarded $1500 for musicians for 2010 concerts.
Mental Health Association of Col/Greene Counties were awarded $1250 for theater workshops and public performance with Walking the Dog Theater.
North Chatham Library was awarded $1500 for literature & arts series.
North Chatham Library & Sheri Bauer Mayorga were awarded $2000 for Columbia County Children’s Vocal Ensemble.
Philmont Community Chorus was awarded $900 for a consultant and accompanist for their winter and spring concerts.
Philmont Library was awarded $1500 for evenings of outdoor music.
Roeliff Jansen Community Library & Robin Becker were awarded $1700 for Columbia Chamber Orchestra concerts of Indian, fusion & other music.
Roving Actors Repertory Ensemble was awarded $2500 for productions of Barefoot in the Park & Jesus Christ Superstar.
United Way of Col/Greene Counties and Amy Madden were awarded $1000 for a process based art practice workshop for teens.
United Way of Col/Greene Counties and Dara Lurie were awarded $1200 for teen writing & rhythm investigations.
Valatie Community Theater, Inc. was awarded $2500 for their Youth Theater Project.

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Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda comments solicited

Mike McCagg of ccSCOOP reports that The Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda is currently the subject of public comment. The agenda is to improve river access and preserve the environment and conserving more land in the Hudson Valley. Through Feb. 22, comments on the plan are being accepted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us (include the words "Draft Action Agenda" in the subject line) or by mail to: Action Agenda, Hudson River Estuary Program, NYSDEC Region 3 Office, 21 South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, NY 12561.

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DSS back to Ockawamick?

After months of protests, accusations, anonymous internet slander, and controversy, Columbia County's Board of Supervisors chairman Art Baer held a love-in press conference last July announcing the county was bidding on One City Centre, on the corner of Green and State streets in Hudson, to use the building for county office space and make room at two other county office buildings (401 and 610 State St.) for the Department of Social Services, allowing DSS to remain in Hudson after the county’s lease on DSS's home at 25 Railroad Ave. ends in 2011. Now we are back where we started, as the county's bid of $2.6 million was significantly lower than three other bids. “I guess the question of what happens with DSS goes back to the (county space utilization) subcommittee for further review and research,” new BOS Chairman Roy Brown (Germantown) told The Daily Mail today. Which means several supervisors will be trying to move DSS to the Ockawamick property several miles outside Hudson, which caused all the initial controversy. Brown recently would not rule out such a move in an interview with The Register-Star.

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Become a WGXC Founding Member

WGXC is trying to get on the air and bring community radio to Greene and Columbia counties. We have the license. We got a grant from the U.S. Commerce Department for half of the money needed for the transmitter, antenna, and major studio equipment. We now have to raise the other half, a little over $71,000. Above, you can see where we are so far. We need your help to get this community radio station on the air. We need you to become a Founding Member today! If you have a business, we need you to become a Founding Underwriter, and underwrite future community radio programs. We need you to go to the fundraising events Feb. 6 and Feb. 13 in Hudson at Sorted and Nicole Fiacco Gallery. We need you to go to www.WGXC.org and get involved in your community radio station.

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

Local state legislators report income

The Albany Times-Union asked all New York state legislators to disclose their household incomes. Locally, the Senators did not respond and the Assemblymen disclosed. Below is information from the senators and assemblymen representing Greene and Columbia counties:

James L. Seward, Senate, R-51
Responded: No
Reported 2009 income: Minimum of $94,000
Comments: Lawmaker declined to respond but legislative leader income is public record. Assembly pay of $79,500 plus $14,500 as Vice Chair of Minority Conference.

Tim P. Gordon, Assembly, I-108
Responded: Yes
Reported 2009 income: Up to $158,300
Comments: Assemblyman responded saying he makes his legislative pay of $79,500; $3,000, interest and dividend income of approximately $800. Wife works for Price Chopper in Schenectady for a salary of between $50,000 and $75,000 per year.

Stephen M. Saland, Senate, R-41
Responded: No
Reported 2009 income: Minimum of $92,500
Comments: Lawmaker declined to respond but legislative leader income is public record. Assembly pay of $79,500 plus $13,000 as Assistant Minority Whip.

Marcus J. Molinaro, Assembly, R-103
Responded: Yes
Reported 2009 income: $122,700
Comments: Assembly pay of $79,500 and ranking minority member pay on Election Law Committee of $9,000; $1,500 LILAC Realty Corp. sales referrals; Riding Tide Communications pay of $3,700 as associate publisher; wife is a registered nurse at Health Quest, makes $29,000.

Peter D. Lopez, Assembly, R-127
Responded: Yes
Reported 2009 income: $134,500
Comments: Assembly pay of $79,500 plus $9,000 as ranking Republican on the food, farm and nutrition committee. Spouse makes $46,000 per year as career counselor at SUNY-Cobleskill.

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Columbia County's Serpico

The New York Times profiled Frank Serpico, the New York City policeman who complained about corruption on the force, and got a movie made based on his life. The Times interviews him at a health-food store in Harlemville, near his Columbia County home where he raises chickens and guinea hens on 50 acres with no TV or internet. At the end of the story the writer, Corey Kilgannon, shows Serpico the Al Pacino-starring movie, he claims for the first time, at the Kinderhook library.

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Molinaro considering challenging Murphy for House seat

Jimmy Vielkind in Capitol Confidential is quoting Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook, saying he might run in the Republican primary for the U.S. House District 20 seat currently held by Democrat Scott Murphy. “It is not beyond the realm of possiblity for me to consider running for Congress, but in all likelihood I am very happy focused on my work in the Assembly.”

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Brown speaks to Register-Star

Francesca Olson holds the Register-Star's annual interview with the current Board of Supervisors chairman, now Roy Brown R-Germantown. Brown wants Kohl's to get their PILOT tax break to move into Greenport; is against hiring new workers to handle the increased workload at the Department of Social Services; will not rule out moving DSS to Ockawamick; and does not have enough money budgeted to bring the county courthouse in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

More information about WGXC or the WGXC Newsroom at links.

More students, less funds at Columbia-Greene CC

ccScoop's Mike McCagg has a story about area community colleges that doesn't say much except this: Columbia-Greene Community College's enrollment rose to 2,048 students in fall 2009, a 12-percent increase over the last two years. The state gave the school $142,000 less than it would have for those students a year ago. So, like the libraries, community colleges have more customers and less funds during hard times.

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

Columbia County Dems on Taghkanic voter ruling

From The Columbia County Democratic Party:

The Columbia County Democratic Committee (CCDC), working along with Board of Elections (BOE) Commissioner Virginia Martin, the Town of Taghkanic Democratic Committee and 66 voters from the Town of Taghkanic whose constitutional right to vote had been challenged by the Columbia County Republican Committee and its counsel, John Ciampoli and Jim Walsh, scored a dramatic and decisive victory today when acting Supreme Court Judge Jonathan Nichols ordered that all 49 remaining absentee ballots be opened immediately and counted, thereby paving the way for five town races from November to be concluded and the winners sworn in.

Joyce Thompson, a candidate for the Taghkanic Town Board and a party to these proceedings, expressed the feeling of many when she commented, “Congratulations to all of the stalwart challenged voters who stood tall, were not intimidated and kept faith in the judicial system to preserve their legal right to vote in Taghkanic."

Virginia Martin, BOE Commissioner and a defendant in the original action, stated “At last, a simple process that should have been concluded fully two months ago—the counting of county residents’ legitimately cast votes—is completed. Taghkanic’s duly elected officials can finally take office and get to work doing the people’s business. This delay has cost the taxpayers dearly and has brought an embarrassing and ill-deserved cloud over this county’s electoral process. I’m enormously relieved that, at last, we can move on. We have other work to do.”

Today’s ruling was the culmination of over two months of often contentious legal proceedings between the local Republican and Democratic parties, the BOE and the candidates of the Town of Taghkanic, which included a decision on December 18, 2009 by the Appellate Division, 3rd Dept., in favor of the Democrats. That decision found, among other things, that 1) the law governing a voter’s right to choose where to vote is construed broadly in favor of the voter, and 2) the Republicans had no authority to challenge absentee ballot applications on the basis of residency once the ballots had been issued by the BOE to voters. On December 30, acting Supreme Court Judge Nichols granted the Republicans one last opportunity to challenge these ballots on grounds other than residency. At today’s hearing, the Judge reprimanded Mr. Walsh for failing to follow his specific instructions to note his objections in detail. While he limited the nature of Mr. Walsh’s objections, the Judge did allow him one final opportunity to orally specify his objections voter by voter. As it turned out, all but three of Mr. Walsh’s objections were for dual residency and the judge overruled each and every objection and ordered all of the ballots to be opened.

The result was very fortuitous for the Taghkanic Democrats as they came from behind to win all four contested races: two Town Council seats, Town Justice and Highway Superintendent.

What rankled many residents (Democrats and Republicans) in this rural county is that only Democratic-registered dual residents were challenged by the Republicans—a clear attempt to intimidate and suppress their vote.

Chris Nolan, Chair of the CCDC and a respondent in these proceedings, stated “I am extremely gratified by this decision because it confirms what we have said all along—that dual residents have the perfect right to vote from the legitimate residence of their choice. This decision has far-reaching implications for dual residents all around the state and puts a big dent in state Republicans’ plans to intimidate and disenfranchise Democratic voters this November.”

Kathleen O’Keefe, counsel for Chris Nolan, Chair of the CCDC, and the Taghkanic Democratic slate of candidates, summarized the two-month-long ordeal: “Once again, the Republican Party has decided that the way to win elections is to suppress the votes of people deemed unsupportive of their plans, in this case, in Columbia County. Unfortunately for them, a brave contingent of local people rallied to defend the right of voters to vote in Columbia County. Hopefully, this case will discourage similar efforts to illegally disenfranchise voters throughout New York State. We can only hope that that is the case."

The respondents are indebted to their legal counsel, Kathleen O’Keefe, and Dan Burstein, of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, for conducting a brilliant legal campaign that resulted in this momentous decision.

"We are pleased that the Supreme Court has joined the Appellate Division in reaffirming the established voting rights of dual residents and recognizing that these challenges were entirely frivolous," said Burstein, who represents Commissioner Martin. "This is a victory for voting rights and a rejection of this attempt to do through misinformation, intimidation, and abusive litigation what could not be done through the law: disenfranchise dual residents."

This decision follows on the heels of another ground-breaking decision last Thursday by Supreme Court Judge Patrick McGrath in favor of a citizens’ group in Taghkanic (several of whom were involved in this lawsuit) which permanently enjoined 1) Taghkanic resident Alan Wilzig from paving or using his mile-long, 40-foot wide racetrack, and 2) the Town of Taghkanic, its various town, planning and zoning boards, and other local enforcement officials, from issuing any kind of permit, certificate or approval allowing the racetrack.

There, as here, ordinary citizens had to do the job that local town and county officials should have done on their behalf.

Final vote totals from ccScoop:

SUPERVISOR
Elizabeth Young 335
Loretta Hoffman 320

TOWN JUSTICE
Jeffrey Tallackson 32
Raymond Dalrymple 312

TOWN COUNCIL
Joyce Thompson 320
Lawrence Kadish 318
Erik Tyree 314
Thomas Kiely 310

SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAY
Thomas Youhas 33
Edward Waldron 307

WNYT.com's report includes this:

"Results of the ballot opening show Republicans did a good job of analyzing who wasn't supporting them. The votes were almost completely Democratic. Jeff Tallackson came from 32 votes behind to win his race for town justice. Tom Youhas blitzed back from 13 down to capture the highway superintendent post. The two Democrats running for Town Council, Larry Kadish and Joyce Thompson, came from 41 and 39 votes behind to win their races. All four candidates prevailed on the strength of challenged ballots from relative newcomers who are changing the demographics of Columbia County."

The Register-Star story, a day late, boils the entire Republican battle to disenfranchise voters to this:

"Walsh later dropped his objections to one of those three ballots, then argued that the two ballots remaining belonged to “zig-zag” voters, who used their New York City addresses to vote in 2006 and 2008, and their Columbia County residences to vote in 2007 and 2009."

WGXC t-shirts for sale

Buy WGXC t-shirts and help bring community radio to Greene and Columbia counties! WGXC stands for Greene x Columbia, and getting the station on the air will bring community access to the airwaves in this area. Help support community radio with a new t-shirt, with the WGXC logo in silver/grey/white on a black t-shirt. Sizes: adult male L, M, S; adult female L, M, S; child L, M, S. T-shirts $15 in Greene or Columbia counties; $20 outside those counties.
Click below to purchase with credit card via Paypal:

residence

live in Greene Cty $15.00 live in Columbia Cty $15.00 live outside the area $20.00

WGXC t-shirt any size

Become a WGXC Founding Member!

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 U.S. Commerce Department that will cover 50 percent of our equipment needs. We now need to raise matching funds in order to get on the air.

We need folks to step up now and create a local community station. Become a Founding Member and get WGXC on the air and community radio will be beaming into your radio by the end of the year. We are very close to making a giant difference in the community, airing live town meetings, and giving citizens a voice with their local government officials. We are very close to bringing media training to local youth, who will then report on what is going on in the schools for WGXC. We are very close to airing live performances, festivals, and events on WGXC, and being a central information source for local farmers, artists, history buffs, and fans of interesting music. Together we can get that all and more on WGXC if you become a Founding Member.

3,300 watts at $25/watt = 82,500 & WGXC-FM IS ON THE AIR!

Founding member levels:

ELECTRODES = 1 watt ($25-49)

CAPACITORS = 2-4 watts ($50 - 124)

CIRCUITS = 5-9 watts ($125 - 249)

TRANSISTORS = 10 - 20 watts ($250 - 524)

TOWERS = 21 - 40 watts ($525 - 1,024)

ANTENNAE = 41 - 100 watts ($1,025 - 2,524)

TRANSMISSIONS = 101 - 200 watts ($2,525 - 5,000+)


DONATIONS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW.

Stimulus spending in Greene and Columbia

ProPublica reports $4,891,384 in stimulus spending in Greene County and $5,301,605 in Columbia County. That's $100 per capita in Greene and $86 per capita in Columbia, well below the $616 per county average in New York State (which is skewed because of New York City). Hudson Opera House, Columbia-Greene Community College, Columbia Opportunities, and Kenneth W. Boynton are among the recipients in Columbia, while Columbia Greene Beauty School, Mountainview Housing, Dockside Grill, and Sophia's Pizza were among the loans and grants in Greene County. Click on the links for a full list.

Local state senators vote against same-sex marriage

Local New York State Senators Jim Seward (who represents Greene County and other areas) and Steve Saland (who represents Columbia County and other areas) both voted "No" today on the Same-Sex Marriage vote in the New York State Senate. The measure failed, 38-24. In May, local Assemblyman Tim Gordon, D-108th, voted “yes” on the bill, while Pete Lopez, R-127th, voted “no”, and Marc Molinaro, R-103rd, was absent.

Buy tickets to the WGXC New Year's Masquerade Ball

Brown Paper Tickets are selling the online tickets to the WGXC New Year's Masquerade Ball at Basilica Industria 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. New Year's. Click here to buy tickets online with Paypal/credit card, $25 plus $1.99 service charge. Tickets will soon also be available through businesses in Columbia and Greene counties.

More election notes

Incumbent Town Councilwoman Alice Tunison got 192 write-in votes in Cairo, in a losing effort to retain her seat. Tunison publicly stated she was not going to run until the very last minute, when she asked the local Democrats for their endorsement. They said it was too late, so she tried a write-in campaign....In the Claverack contest for Supervisor, where Robin Andrews leads incumbent James Keegan by seven votes, there are 182 issued absentee ballots, 147 of which have already reached the Board of Elections....Both the Columbia and Greene County boards of election must receive civilian absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 by Nov. 10, and military ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 by Nov. 16. Full vote totals should be announced that week, and must be certified by Nov. 23.

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.

Election day

Voting goes on all day in Greene and Columbia counties, including here at the Lutheran Church in Cairo. WGXC will have complete results tonight.

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

Kinderhook candidate forum

Click here to hear The Town of Kinderhook candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters 7-9 p.m. Tue. Oct. 27 at Ichabod Crane Middle School.

WGXC hosted a live webcast of this candidate forum for the Town of Kinderhook in Valatie, and has the archived recording above for listening or downloading. Town supervisor candidates Douglas K. McGivney and Patrick M. Grathan; town board candidates Patrice A. Leader, Helen G. Schneider, and Todd D. Grigoli; and justice candidate Lisa M. Mills attended. File will not play in Internet Explorer, use another internet browser. Your computer must have Quicktime Player to listen and Quicktime Player Pro to download

Chatham candidate forum

Click here to listen to or download mp3 audio recording of Chatham, NY candidate forum held Mon. Oct. 26 from 7-9 p.m. at Chatham Town Hall live in WGXC.

In Chatham on Monday, candidates for town board (Donald W. Hegeman, Maria C. Lull, Henry Swartz Jr., and Bob Balcom); assessor (Daniel Horst and James F. Forster); and town clerk (Landra B. Haber and Beth Anne Rippel) all spoke at the Chatham candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and WGXC. The Chatham Courier had a story about the forum here.

Rep. Murphy in Clermont Sunday

Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20) will hold a Congress-On-Your-Corner meeting with town officials and local citizens in the Clermont Town Hall Sunday, Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. Murphy take questions from local residents. Clermont Town Hall is located at 1795 Route 9, Clermont, in Columbia County.

Columbia County ArtsWalk 2009

The 15th annual Columbia County Council on the Arts event runs Oct. 9-18 in various Hudson locations. WGXC is official radio station of the ArtsWalk, and will provide several live web streams of ArtsWalk events, and make other recordings including interviews with artists, and others involved. Tune in at www.wgxc.org

WGXC WEB STREAMS

Fri. Oct. 9 at Spotty Dog
6 p.m. Millay Colony writers Melissa Sandor and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi; visual artists Sabeen Raja, Darren Floyd; and composer Thomas Smith /8:30 p.m. Yukari Roja, Jackson Emmer & Trevor Wilson.

Sat. Oct. 10 at Cannonball Factory
1:30-4:30 writers Philip Gefter, Dave King, Karen Schoemer

Sat. Oct. 10 at Jason's Upstairs
4 p.m.-midnight Slinky Armadillo Art and Music Kids Show; Tommy Sharp; Experiencing Echo with Chelle Mayer and Andrew Joffe; UpStage Productions presents an exerpt from "Gypsy"; Robin O'Herin; Cathy Johanson; Chavisa Woods; HVAPA Belly Dancers & Steve Collins; NoBody Parts (Damara & Ngonda); Hudson City Ramblers; DJ Dizzy

Sun. Oct. 11 at Cannonball Factory
2-4 p.m. with Bindlestiff Circus

Thu. Oct. 15 at Spotty Dog
7 p.m. Hudson Talbott reading/Frank Cuthbert performing from "River of Dreams"

Fri. Oct. 16 at Cannonball Factory
5:30-6:30 p.m. Abby Lappen, Barbara Cobb, Peter Tenerowicz

Fri. Oct. 16 at Marianne Courville Gallery
6 p.m. literary reading incl. Sam Truitt, Irene Mitchell, Mary-Beth Hughes (if internet connection)

Sat. Oct. 17 at Musica
noon-4 p.m. Ngonda Badilla, Damara Rose

Sat. Oct. 17 at Cannonball Factory
1-7 p.m. Carole Maso, Kate McLeod, HVAPA Ballet, Ampersand

Sat. Oct. 17 at Savoia
5-9 p.m. bands by Musica Evan Randall, Mama Lama, Yukari Roja, Bella’s Bartok

Sun. Oct. 17 at Cannonball Factory
1-3:30 p.m. music

Sun. Oct. 18 at Spotty Dog
7 p.m. reading with Rebecca Wolf, Wayne Koestenbaum

For more information:
http://www.artscolumbia.org/artswalk2009.html

Columbia County final primary election results

Columbia County final primary election results from Columbia County Board of Elections:

OFFICIAL Columbia County Primary Election 2009 Results
9/24/2009
City of Hudson
Ward 1 - District 1
Alderman
DEM
1A
Geeta Cheddie
44
3
47
***
(vote for 2)
DEM
2A
Sarah H. Sterling
51
4
55
***
DEM
3A
Carole Osterink
42
4
46
Total Votes
137
11
148
Ward 4 - District 1
Supervisor
IND
1C
William Hughes (write-in)
2
1
3
***
Total Votes/Voters
2
1
3
Supervisor
CON
1D
Samuel Santiago
1
0
1
CON
1D
William Hughes (write-in)
2
0
2
***
1D
Geraldine E. Nero (write-in)
1
0
1
Total Votes/Voters
4
0
4
Town of Canaan
District 1 and 2
Supervisor
IND
1C
Richard Keaveney
13
0
13
***
IND
1C
Gary Flaherty (write-in)
2
0
2
Total Votes/Voters
15
0
15
Supervisor
CON
1D
Richard Keaveney
8
0
8
***
CON
1D
Gary Flaherty (write-in)
1
0
1
Total Votes/Voters
9
0
9
District 1
Committee
REP
2B
Susan C. Johnson
27
0
27
(vote for 2)
REP
3B
Jo-anna R. Michalek
49
0
49
***
REP
4B
Gary Flaherty
33
0
33
***
Total Votes
109
0
109
Town of Copake
District 1 and 2
Twn Justice
IND
1C
Brian J. Herman
19
0
19
***
IND
2C
Wil iam Kane
17
0
17
Total Votes/Voters
36
0
36
Assessor
IND
3C
David Gordineer
14
0
14
IND
4C
Loredana Delventhal
16
0
16
***
Total Votes/Voters
30
0
30
Town of Livingston
District 2
Committee
REP
1B
Geoffrey T. Bagnal
32
0
32
(vote for 2)
REP
2B
Donald R. Kline
80
0
80
***
REP
3B
Benjamin Scrodin
65
0
65
***
Total Votes
177
0
177
Town of Taghkanic
District 1
Supervisor
IND
1C
Elizabeth L. Young
2
5
7
IND
2C
Loretta Hoffmann
13
6
19
***
Total Votes/Voters
15
11
26
Twn Clrk/Tax C
IND
3C
Cheryl E. Rogers
5
5
10
IND
3C
Audrey Koran (write-in)
9
5
14
***
Total Votes/Voters
14
10
24
Twn Justice
WFP
4E
Raymond Dalrymple (write-in)
1
2
3
***
4E
Jeff Tal ackson (write-in)
0
1
1
Total Votes/Voters
1
3
4
Twn Council
IND
5C
Tom Kiely
3
5
8
(vote for 2)
IND
5C
Joyce Thompson (write-in)
9
6
15
***
IND
6C
Larry Kadish
13
5
18
***
6C
James Romaine (write-in)
0
5
5
Total Votes
25
21
46
Twn Council
WFP
5E
Joyce Thompson
0
1
1
(vote for 2)
WFP
5E
Tom Kiely (write-in)
1
2
3
***
WFP
6E
James Romaine (write-in)
1
2
3
***
6E
Larry Kadish (write-in)
0
1
1
Total Votes
2
6
8
Hwy Super
IND
7C
Edward E. Waldron
3
6
9
IND
7C
Tom Youhas (write-in)
9
5
14
***
Total Votes/Voters
12
11
23
Hwy Super
WFP
7E
Edward Waldron (write-in)
1
2
3
***
7E
Tom Youhas (write-in)
0
1
1
Total Votes/Voters
1
3
4
Committee
DEM
8A
Diane M. Rodriguez
96
2
98
***
(vote for 2)
DEM
9A
Cheryl E. Rogers
29
1
30
DEM
10A
Gary L. Stoller
100
3
103
***
Total Votes
225
6
231
L:\2009 Primary Election\PE09 Results
4:34 PM

Columbia County primary election results

UNOFFICIAL Columbia County Primary Election 2009 Results
9/15/2009

UPDATE: Note Taghkanic votes have been corrected. Board of Elections officials provided different totals at first, now corrected.

City of Hudson
Ward 1 - District 1
Alderman
DEM
Geeta Cheddie
44
DEM
Sarah H. Sterling
51
DEM
Carole Osterink
42
Total Voters
137
Ward 4 - District 1
Supervisor
IND
4 Wiliam Hughes
IND
0
Total Voters
4
Supervisor
CON
Samuel Santiago
4
CON
1 Wiliam Hughes
Total Voters
5
Town of Canaan
District 1 and 2
Supervisor
IND
Richard Keaveney
13
IND
OTB
0
Total Voters
13
Supervisor
CON
Richard Keaveney
8
CON
OTB
0
Total Voters
8
Canaan District 1
Committee
REP
Susan C. Johnson
27
REP
Jo-Anna R. Michalek
49
REP
Gary Flaherty
33
Total Voters
109
Town of Copake
District 1 and 2
Twn Justice
IND
Brian J. Herman
19
IND
Wiliam Kane
17
Total Voters
36
Assessor
IND
David Gordineer
14
IND
Loredana Delventhal
16
Total Voters
30
Town of Livingston
District 2
Committee
REP
Geoffrey T. Bagnal
32
REP
Donald R. Kline
80
REP
Benjamin Scrodin
65
Total Voters
177
Total Voters
177
Town of Taghkanic
District 1
Supervisor
IND
Elizabeth L. Young
2
IND
Loretta Hoffmann
13
Total Voters
15
Twn Clrk/Tax C
IND
Cheryl E. Rogers
5
IND
OTB
9 (originally was told 10) Audrey Koran
Total Voters
14 (originally was told 15)
Town Justice
WFP
OTB
(originallly was told 1 Tal ackson)
WFP
OTB
1 Raymond Dalrymple
(originally told 1 Joe Romaine)
Total Voters
1 (originally told 3)
Twn Council
IND
Tom Kiely
3 (originally was told 12)
IND
Joyce
 Thompson
 write‐in
9 (originally was not listed at all)
IND
Larry Kadish
13 (originally was told 14)
IND
OTB
0
Total Voters
26
WFP
Joyce Thompson
0 (originally was told 9)
WFP
OTB
1 James Romaine
1 Tom Kiely
Total Voters
2 (originally was told 11)
Hwy Super
IND
Edward E. Waldron
3 (originally was told 14)
IND
Tom 
Youhas
 (write‐in)
9 (originally was not listed)
OTB
0
Total Voters
14
WFP
OTB
1 Edward Waldron
WFP
OTB
10 Tom Youhas
Total Voters
11
Committee
DEM
Diane M. Rodriguez
96
DEM
Cheryl E. Rogers
29
DEM
Gary L. Stol er
100
Total Voters
225
L:/Columbia Co. Candidates 2009
10:50 p.m.

Officials stressing One City Centre purchase

Check out that headline in The Register-Star by the usually smarter writer Francesca Olsen. If you read deep down in her story you see why the officials are stressing a future building purchase: they don't want you to think about the tax increase they just passed. Five paragraphs in Olsen mentions "Local laws renewing an additional half-percent of mortgage tax and an additional $2 per $1,000 of additional transfer tax on real property were also enacted." Finally, seven paragraphs in, Olsen quotes Rick Rielly, president of the Columbia-Greene Board of Realtors, saying, “These are taxes, any way you look at it.” Olsen doesn't even dare to say who voted for the tax, only that, "The renewal of taxes passed, with Supervisor John Musall, D-Hudson 1, abstaining, Supervisor William Hughes, D-Hudson 4, voting no on the additional transfer tax, and Supervisor Ed Cross, D-Hudson 2, voting no on the renewal." Cross voted no on both taxes.

UPDATE:
Here is who voted for the mortgage tax:
Ancram's Thomas Dias; Canaan's Richard Keaveney; Chatham's Jesse DeGroodt; Claverack's James Keegan; Clermont's Raymond Staats; Copake's Reginald Crowley; Gallatin's Lynda Scheer; Germantown's Roy Brown; Ghent's Lawrence Andrews; Greenport's John Rutkey Sr.; Hillsdale's Arthur Baer; Hudson's 4th Ward-William Hughes, 5th Ward -Bart Delaney; Kinderhook's Douglas McGivney; Livingston's Philip Williams; New Lebanon's Margaret Robertson; Stockport's Leo Pulcher; Stuyvesant's Valerie Bertram; Taghkanic's Elizabeth Young. The same group voted for the transfer tax, except for Hudson's William Hughes, who voted against.

Today's local headlines

Brown replaces Scheer as deputy on county board
From Parry Teasdale in The Columbia Paper

HUDSON — Chairman of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Art Baer (R-Hillsdale) shuffled the leadership of the board, with Germantown Supervisor Roy Brown (R) replacing Gallatin Supervisor Lynda Scheer, as a deputy chairman of the board. Baer’s announcement of the move Friday said that Ms. Scheer resigned from the post “for personal reasons.” Brown stood with Baer on his controversial plan to buy the Ockawamick School building on Route 217 in Claverack and, initially, move much of the Department of Social Services there from Hudson. The change takes effect September 1.

Copake board finds ways to agree except on the deficit
From Diana Valden in The Columbia Paper

COPAKE - This is the sort of amazing story about local town meetings that is almost never written 'round these parts. Instead of deciding one of the night's actions constituted a story and the rest did not, Valden bullet points 10 items that the usually contentious-across-party-lines town board agreed on last week. Then she writes how Councilman Bob Sacks, who has advocated cutting the town's police force to cover the recently discovered large deficit, reported he was told by the Sheriff's Office that patrols from that office cover Copake and all of Columbia County 24/7. Sacks also quoted the supervisors of other towns saying they could not afford their own police force and had no need for one because of coverage by the Sheriff's Office and State Police. Copake Town Police Commissioner Jeff Nayer, then shouted, “Other towns don't set what we do!” Mr. Nayer said that the Police Department had offered to cut 17 percent of its budget to help the town deal with the deficit, while other departments offered nothing.

New parties make ballot for November
From Jim Planck in The Daily Mail

Have A Voice candidates Karen Deyo, Keith Valentine, Linda Overbaugh, and Joseph Izzo will appear on the November ballot, as will Grassroots of Durham candidate Les Armstrong. The Have a Voice folks are Republicans, joining fellow GOPer Overbaugh in this bid to stay on the ballot for the four Catskill Greene County Legislature seats, after errors in her previous petitions kept her off the Republican line. Likewise with Armstrong, a Republican attempting to primary against Elsie Allan but now facing Allan and Democrat Sean Frey for the Durham seat on the legislature. Overbaugh and Armstrong's third-party bids went unchallenged by opponents.

State parks in Columbia County fare better than most
From Mike McCagg in ccScoop

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation shows attendance at parks in the Taconic Region of the state park system, which includes Columbia County, is down 3.7 percent in the period from July 2008 through July 2009. Across New York, park attendance is down 4.5 percent, to 27.2 million visitors. Attendance dropped at the Clermont State Historic Site 18.5 percent to 43,456 visitors, at the Clermont State Historic Site 4.1 percent to 61,896 visitors, at the Olana State Historic Site 14.1 to 61,896 visitors, and at Lake Taghkanic State Park, 5.2 percent, to 95,862. At Taconic State Park in Copake attendance was up 12.9 percent to 13,313, and in Copake Falls attendance rose 5 percent to 73,066 visitors.

Farmland Protection on the way
From Francesca Olsen in The Register-Star

Last Tuesday the Planning and Economic Development Committee passed a resolution to apply for state grant funding for developing a Farmland Protection Plan, with matching funds to be provided by the Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), as Columbia County is one of the few in the state without such a plan. The Columbia County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board submitted drafts of a plan to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, but was not approved.

Mario’s moves forward with new warehouse
From Paul Crossman in The Register-Star

VALATIE — Mario’s True Value Home Center is planning a new 20,000-square-foot lumber supply warehouse, and hopes to have closed on the new location by sometime in early September, with winter construction.

Today's local headlines

Seward complains about driving costs
NY.Sen.James.Seward_Cost%20to%20Drive%20-%2008-11.MP3
Starting September 1, 2009 registration fees are scheduled to increase 25 percent for passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, trailers, taxis, busses, motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, construction vehicles, motorboats and custom vehicles. Fees for drivers licenses fees will also go up by 25 percent. In total, the fee hikes will create an additional cost to New York drivers projected to be almost $152 million over the next two years. New York State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I- Oneonta) comments on those rising cost in the above audio clip you can click on to listen to or download.

Polling places not ADA accessible
From The Register-Star

COLUMBIA COUNTY - A survey of polling places in Columbia County currently underway could not find one polling place that is compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act checklist for voting sites or with standards outlined in the 2002 Federal Help America Vote Act. The survey was taken by Project HAVA, run by The Catskill Center for Independence, based in Oneonta, and funded by a grant from the New York State Commission on Quality Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.

Budget cuts put art gallery in jeopardy
From The Daily Mail

WINDHAM - The Greene County Council is considering closing the Mountaintop Gallery in Windham Jan. 1, or keeping the gallery running with the help of artist volunteers, Executive Director Kay Stamer told the Greene County Legislature Wednesday. The arts council’s general operating budget was cut by 11 percent this year, while decentralization — the Council’s funding that is redistributed to other arts groups across the county — was reduced by five percent, and arts and education programming remained at 2008 levels.

Seeley proposes full-time village manager
From The Daily Mail

CATSKILL - Village Board President Vincent Seeley wants to eliminate his job and put in a business manager or administrator to oversee department heads but be answerable to the Village Board. The article is unclear what, if any, role Seeley would have under that scenario. Catskill Trustee Patrick McCulloch said the Village Charter would require modification before any managerial position could be created, and any changes would be put before voters in a referendum.

Today's local headlines

Deluge causes states of emergency in 4 towns
From The Columbia Paper

The Columbia County towns of Kinderhook, New Lebanon, Stuyvesant and Chatham all declared States of Emergency after a long downpour late Wednesday and early Thursday. Travel within those townships is restricted, and the rain returned on Friday which will cause more problems. About 40 roads in Columbia County have been closed due to flooding or other rain-related problems. The Daily Mail reports Coxsackie saw the worst of the rain in Greene County.

NYCLU blasts Cairo for seeking fees from plaintiffs
From The Daily Mail

CAIRO - In May, The New York Civil Liberties Union decried a resolution passed by the Cairo Town Board as “chilling.” The Cairo Town Board passed a resolution April 15 to try to recover more than $13,000 in attorney fees from plaintiffs in a recent Article 78 lawsuit against the Town Ellsworth “Unk” Slater, the Cairo Township Taxpayers Association and Cairo First. The lawsuit was dismissed in March but is currently being appealed. Councilman Richard Lorenz, who offered the resolution, Councilman Raymond Suttmeier and Town Supervisor John Coyne voted for the resolution. Councilwoman Janet Schwarzenegger voted against the resolution. Councilwoman Alice Tunison abstained from the vote because she wanted to discuss the matter with Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea before making a decision. “We believe that there is no legal provision for the recovery of the fees from the plaintiffs, and efforts to recover fees from them would be illegal,” wrote Melanie Trimble, of the NYCLU.

WRIP celebrates a decade of broadcasting on the mountaintop and beyond
From Windham Journal

WINDHAM - Excellent Windham radio station WRIP (97.9-FM) celebrates its 10-year anniversary in and old airport hangar that had been converted into a bowling alley.

CSEA endorses Gillibrand
From The Albany Project

The largest public employees union in New York, CSEA, endorsed New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate in the 2010 elections. "Senator Gillibrand is an important ally for CSEA members and other working people," CSEA President Danny Donohue said. "She understands the pressures that our members experience on and off the job and she has consistently worked with us.

‘Taking Woodstock’ premieres in Chatham
From The Register-Star

CHATHAM - Oscar winning director Ang Lee’s new film "Taking Woodstock" premiered Thursday at the Crandall Theater in a fundraiser for the Chatham Film Club and the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

Today's local headlines

Committee in possible violation of state open meetings law
From The Register Star

I don't understand the word "possible" in that headline: The Columbia County Building and Facilities and Public Works/Waste Board of Supervisors committees met July 22 at Kozel’s restaurant in Ghent without public notice. That is a violation of the Open Meetings Law. They met after a tour of county facilities -- which was announced -- but no mention of the meeting appeared on the county's web site or in the Public Notices section of The Register-Star. No one in the article contradicts those facts.

Ethics panel to investigate allegations against supervisor
From The Daily Mail

JEWETT - The Ethics Committee will investigate Town Supervisor Michael Flaherty, who is accused by Jewett highway superintendent Robert Mallory of for failing to secure a building permit for a project at his home. “I have attended board meetings in this room for 15-plus years. Anyone attending only a few meetings would know that a building permit is required for anything outside of a four-foot fence," said Mallory. “Supervisor Flaherty knew a permit was needed and [for] whatever reason failed to obtain one."

'Twenty tires, three batteries and a ton of scrap metal'
From Unmuffled

HUDSON - The good news: there are not two fuel dumps buried next to M.C. Smith Intermediate School in Hudson. The bad news: it cost $10,000 to find a lot of junk. George Keeler, the Hudson City School District Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, told to the Board of Education about the buried treasure at the Board's meeting Monday.

Kinderhook GOP loses line on Conservative ballot
From The Register-Star

KINDERHOOK - Four candidates the Columbia County Conservative party endorsed to run for Kinderhook town offices will not be appearing on the Conservative line on the ballot at the November Election for failing to to file a certificate of authorization. The candidates are Patrick Grattan, nominated to head the slate as town supervisor, and newcomers Patsy Leader and Glenn Smith for seats on the Town Board, and Incumbent Highway Superintendent John Ruchel, Jr. for a second term in office. Lisa Mills, the Republican candidate for town justice will still be listed on the Conservative line, as candidates for the justice position are not required to fill out the authorization forms.

Today's local headlines

New Department of Social Services proposal?
From The Register-Star

"There will be a press conference at 4:30 p.m. today in the Supervisors' Chambers at the county office building on 401 State St., Hudson, on the future placement of the county Department of Social Services. Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, the Board of Supervisors, the Hudson Common Council, and Mayor Richard Scalera will discuss the future of a new home for the DSS staff and facilities."

Nonprofit's report cites lack of slaughterhouses in New York
From The Register-Star

Andrew Amelinckx writes an excellent story based on a report by Washington D.C. based consumer watchdog group Food and Water Watch that finds not enough slaughterhouses in New York state and blames federal policies that, it says, favors larger operations. There are two USDA certified slaughterhouses in Columbia County, Van Wie in Stockport and Hilltown Pork, Inc. Robert Beckwith of Hilltown Pork says he is backed up with animals until 2010. “People want to know where their meat is coming from,” he said. “There aren’t enough USDA facilities to meet the demand.”

Murphy plans steps to help dairy farmers
From The Columbia Paper

With milk prices falling to 1979 levels and New York dairy farmers expected to lose $650 million this year, new U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy plans to introduce legislation to help. The proposed legislation would further subsidize dairy farmers, and create a herd retirement program meant to curtail supply. “This proposal works two-fold, by providing immediate relief to our struggling dairy farmers today, and stabilizing the dairy industry for tomorrow. Before more small farmers are forced out of business, we need to bring fast relief and stability to the industry.”

Lates poll: Maloney 33% Gillibrand 27%
From Rasmussen Reports

In a very early poll, New York City congresswoman Carolyn Maloney leads appointed Senator Kristen Gillibrand with 33 percent of the vote to 27 percent and nine percent preferring some other candidate. Thirty percent are undecided.

OPEN CALL: Columbia County Council of Arts ArtsWalk

Organizing for this year’s 15th Annual CCCA ArtsWalk is already underway. The CCCA would like to take this early opportunity to inform its artist members of its plans in order for them to have advance notice of the criteria for submission, if they intend to participate. Download the PDF application here.

THE MEMBERS OPEN SHOW will include a minimum of 1 piece to be shown from any member artist submitting. Each member will be represented provided that the guidelines for submission have been met.

MEMBERS’ OPEN SHOW
1. Artist must be a current member of the CCCA.* (No artist has ever been excluded from ArtsWalk for lack of ability to pay.)
2. All work submitted should have been created from 2006 to the present.
3. Work should not have been shown in the previous ArtsWalk exhibits.
4. SUBMISSIONS FOR CONSIDERATION MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN SATURDAY, JULY, 25 2009. NO EXCEPTIONS!
5. Artists may submit representations of up to 6 pieces of painting, photography, sculpture, video, installation or original works on paper in the form of digital / photographic prints, or CDs .
6. Each submission should be marked with artist's name, title of work, framed size, medium, price, and date.
7. All work MUST BE WIRE HUNG AND READY for installation, and sale.
8. CCCA charges a 30% commission on sales for all work shown during ArtsWalk
8. Artists are responsible for delivering selected artwork to their designated exhibition location by, drop off deadline, to be determined, sometime in September. Artists are also responsible for the timely pickup of work after the Exhibition closes.

THE PERFORMING ARTS AT ARTSWALK are being expanded this year; the Performing Arts Showcase will be back as well as other theatrical, dance and music offerings. Proposals and questions concerning The Performing Arts at ArtsWalk may be directed the same as visual art submissions. For more information and to be considered, please contact ArtsWalk Co Chairs Chad Weckler and RobRoy MacGregor at chadweckler@earthlink.net or kweetak@yahoo.com.

For more information, contact CCCA at 518-671-6213, info@artscolumbia.org or the office and gallery at 209 Warren Street in Hudson.

*A “hanging fee” of $30 or three-hours of volunteer time during ArtsWalk is also required. This is not a “fee”, but a correction of a situation in which some artists have donated uncountable hours of work and others have not. Some artists happily opt to pay the fee rather than to work. This allows us to hire youngartists desirous of work to help out with the enormous logistical task of mounting ArtsWalk.

Today's local headlines

Town meetings to air on public access channel
CAIRO - The Cairo Town Board extended Mid-Hudson Cable's contract at their regular board meeting last night. At the public hearing about renewing the company's franchise agreement before the board meeting, Cairo Supervisor John M. Coyne and council member Janet Schwarzenegger both advocated recording town meetings for Mid-Hudson's public access channel. Schwarzenegger said Mid-Hudson recently gave the town a camera to record any meetings, and Coyne said, "We would like to have somebody volunteer to run that camera so that these meetings can be videotaped and can be played on their public-access channel" and a man in the audience volunteered.

Columbia County Conservative Party backs candidates
http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2009/06/18/news/news03.txt

County-wide — Sheriff, David W. Harrison Jr.; Coroner, Angelo M. Nero.
Ancram — Supervisor, Thomas R. Dias.
Austerlitz — Supervisor, Jeffrey Braley Sr.; Town Council, Matthew Verenazi and Carol Pinto; Clerk, Sue Haag; Highway Superintendent, Robert Meehan, Jr.
Canaan — Supervisor, Richard Keaveny; Town Council, David Patzwahl; Clerk/Tax Collector, Charlotte L. Cowan; Highway Superintendent, Bernhard Meyer.
Town of Chatham — Highway Superintendent, Joseph M. Rickert.
Claverack — Supervisor, James Keegan; Town Council, James S. Folz and Michael S. Johnston; Clerk/Tax Collector, Mary J. Hoose.
Clermont — Highway Superintendent, James Potts Jr.’ Clerk, Mary Helen Shannon.
Gallatin — Supervisor, Peter Arnone
Ghent — Supervisor, Larry Andrews; Town Council, Larry Van Brunt and Linda Schlegel-Hess; Clerk, Rose Elliot; Highway Superintendent, Michael E. Losa; Town Justice, David W. Harrison Sr.
Germantown — Highway Superintendent, Richard Jennings.
Greenport — Supervisor, Edward Nabozny; Town Council, Glen Graziano; Town Justice, Robert Brenzel; Highway Superintendent, Richard Otty; Clerk, Sharon Zempko.
Town of Kinderhook — Supervisor, Patrick Grattan; Town Council, Patrice Leader; Town Justice, Lisa Mills.
Hudson — Mayor, Richard Scalera; Supervisor (1st Ward), John Musall; Supervisor (2nd Ward), Tracy Decker; Supervisor (3rd Ward), William Hallenbeck Jr.; Supervisor (4th Ward), Samuel Santiago; Supervisor (5th Ward), Bart F. Delaney Jr.; Alderman (1st Ward), Geeta Cheddie; Alderman (5th Ward), Richard Goetz
Livingston — Supervisor, David Fingar; Town Council, James Guzzi and Joseph Leto; Town Justice, Robert Moore; Highway Superintendent, David Lyons.
Stockport — Town Council, Joseph Salvatore.
Stuyvesant — Supervisor, Valerie Bertram; Town Council, Brian Chittenden and Edward Scott; Clerk, Melissa Naegeli; Town Justice, Joseph Bruno; Town Justice, Carrie O’Hare; Highway Superintendent, Bernie Kowalski.
Taghkanic — Supervisor, Elizabeth Young; Clerk, Cheryl Rogers; Highway Superintendent, Edward Waldron.

Regional Economics Better Than Most
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=810991

A new study released today by the Brookings Institution says this region is faring better than most of the nation's metropolitan areas during the downturn. Foreclosures? We barely have them. The Brookings report says the Capital Region has the second-lowest percentage (0.58 percent) of homes owned by banks. Only Syracuse is better, among the nation's 100 largest metros. Dramatic job cuts? Not here. Brookings says the Capital Region lost 0.5 percent of its employment base during the first three months of 2009. That doesn't sound great, but it's 14th best. (Detroit, by contrast, lost 3 percent of its jobs, the worst rate.)

Today's local headlines

Linda Mussmann from TSL in Hudson and the Bottom Line Party is organizing a rally at the County Supervisors Building at 401 State Street, Hudson, at 10:30 a.m. today. Mussmann says there will be an announcement from the County Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer regarding the Human/Social Services in Columbia County. Baer has been trying to move the Department of Social Services six miles out of Hudson, even though 65 percent of folks who visit DSS live in Hudson....Former Cairo Town Supervisor Joseph Calcavecchia and former Deputy Supervisor Gerard Aprea are in the Daily Mail today defending their past administration after a recent Comptroller's Office audit. They say they asked for the state audit in 2004, though it didn't happen until 2007. They also seem to blame Cairo Town Clerk Tara Rumph. Rumph does charge WGXC reporters different amounts for the same Freedom of Information Act requests....The Daily Freeman reports that the New York State and federal monies are funding ferry service across the Hudson River between Tivoli and Saugerties, as well as replacing a railroad overpass and a 2.5 acre park along the Hudson near Tivoli. The story hints that there is still talk of high speed rail on both sides of the river.

OPEN CALL: Grant for Columbia County-based artists

The Boschen Fund For Artists, which supports visual and performing artists and arts groups in the tri-state area, is accepting grant applications through July 1. Applicants must live in Berkshire County, MA; Columbia County, NY; northeast Dutchess County, NY; or northwest Litchfield County, CT.

The Boschen Fund for Artists supports artists working alone or in collaboration, as they advance to the next level of their development or in the presentation of their work in innovative ways. The fund, which was established by photographer Martha Boschen Porter of Salisbury, CT in 1987, accepts applications from visual artists, writers, craftspeople, installation, new media and performance artists, as well as interpretive artists working in dance, music and other areas of performance. Applicants must have been full-time residents of the Berkshire Taconic region for two years prior to applying or demonstrate significant connection to the area.

The Boschen Fund is a fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Guidelines and applications are available online at www.berkshiretaconic.org/grantseekers or by calling 413.528.8039.