Election results

The Register-Star reports that Carol Weaver will become the Mayor of the Village of Kinderhook, with 77 votes to trustee Richard Phillips, an incumbent, with 69 votes, and newcomer Brian Murphy with 75 votes. In Coxsackie, The Daily Mail reports that Republican Village Trustee John Oliver received 368 votes, Republican Trustee Dianne Ringwald received 356 votes, Democrat Darryl Proper received 289 votes, and Democrat Tony D’Arcangelis got 269 votes. The Daily Mail story implies but does not implicitly say that Oliver and Ringwald will take the two seats available. The Daily Mail also reports that in an uncontested Athens vote, incumbent Democrat Trustee Herman Reinhold received 92 votes and Democrat Gail Lasher received 103 votes. The Daily Mail reports that in Tannersville, incumbent Democratic Trustee Linda Kline got 31 votes, two of which were absentees, out of the total possible of 44 for another two year term and Democrat Leigh J.V. McGunnigle, who drew 25 votes, including two absentees. There were also 16 write-in votes in the uncontested election, with outgoing Trustee Mary Sue Timpson drawing six of them, and Tannersville resident Scott Myers getting five. In Hunter, incumbent Trustee Alan Higgins, who ran on the Hunter Pride Party, took all 33 votes, The Daily Mail reported.

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.

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.

First summer concerts announced

(The Felice Brothers)

The first summer concerts are starting to be announced round these parts, and locals The Felice Brothers will open for the Dave Matthews Band at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center June 4-5. Hunter's Mountain Jam is also that weekend, and just anounced a lineup of Gov't Mule, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Avett Brothers, Les Claypool, Toots and the Maytals, Yonder Mountain String Band, Matisyahu, Dark Star Orchestra, Dave Mason, Lettuce, ALO, Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights, Elmwood, and The London Souls.


More information about WGXC or the WGXC Newsroom at links.

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.

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

Hunter Planning Board changes application policy

(Town of Hunter Planning Board Chairman Mark Hyer.)

Click here to listen to or download the Town of Hunter Planning Board meeting from Oct. 6, 2009.

The Town of Hunter Planning Board changed its application policy at its regular meeting tonight. New projects will need to apply ten days before the board meets (first Tuesday of the month), and comments to current projects before the board also need to be submitted ten days before monthly meetings. Replies to those comments need to be submitted five days before each meeting. The board only looked at two projects tonight, and spent almost two hours pushing the 92-unit Cortina Mountain Estates project toward a SEQR declaration. Planning Board Chairman Mark Hyer moved to have the project redo a line of sight assesment, but his motion failed. The board left project lawyer Jason Shaw with a few minor environmental points to clear up next meeting (on election night, Nov. 3), but failed to vote on the SEQR. "One more meeting," Ernie Reale said. "You can't say that Ernie, that might be a little premature," Hyer retorted. The board did give a conditional approval to the Petrolo subdivision, contigent on the project's two new units getting water and sewer service. Hyer also reported that the Town of Tannersville is not giving any new water hook-ups to anyone in the Town of Hunter.

Today's local headlines

Ancram ponders orphaning roads
From The Columbia Paper

ANCRAM - The Town of Ancram is considering cutting back on the maintenance or abandoning several town roads: Crest Lane Extension, Sheppard Road, Rothvoss Road, Ken's Road, School House Road, Altenburg Road, Rabbit Tail Road, Stewart's Road, Bash Road and portions of Sawchuck Road and Over Mountain Road. The Town would change the streets to "seasonal-use roads" and would not have to clear snow.

Planners to invoke independent review clause
From The Daily Mail

HUNTER - The Town of Hunter planning board will for the first time force two applicants, Cortina Mountain Estates and Twin Mountain Estates, to pay for an independent review by an engineering firm. The Planning Board choose Delaware Engineering for the work.

Seward will hold meetings with dairy farmers
From The Daily Mail

CAIRO - State Sen. James L. Seward, R-Oneonta will hold an emergency meeting soon in Cobleskill to address the crisis among dairy farmers, and will schedule other meetings in Greene and Columbia counties, according to a story in The Daily Mail about the Greene County Youth Fair.

Gillibrand vote defeats Thune amendment
From The Albany Project

WASHINGTON - New New York Senator Kirstin Gillibrand cast her most important vote so far Wednesday, defeating the Thune amendment, which would have allowed individuals who are licensed to carry concealed weapons to carry those same weapons in other states that allow for the possession of such weapons. Gillibrand has been attacked by the left-wing of her party as too permissive on gun legislation, and is facing several primary challengers. "It is simply wrong for the federal government to overrule a state's ability to enact reasonable, constitutional gun laws designed to prevent criminals and other violent and dangerous persons from carrying guns in city streets," she said on the Senate floor.The vote was 58-39 to attach the legislation to a defense spending bill, just short of the necessary votes.

Businesses in Catskill close
From Seeing Greene

CATSKILL - Dick May reports that Harold Hanson's Verso gallery is closed (though the Hudson store remains open), and that Valley Dry Cleaners in Catskill will close at the end of August. He also reports that efforts are under way to open the 280-seat Orpheum Performing Arts Center in Tannersville, in the old Orpheum Theater.

Today's local headlines

Senior housing draws neighbors’ fire
From The Daily Mail

CATSKILL - Everyone wants local development in this area, but no one wants to live next to it. A plan to change a 18-acre site at 49 Vedder Road in Catskill from 10 mobile homes to 33 manufactured homes geared toward retirees aged 55 years and older called Moonlight Ridge is drawing opposition from the neighbors. Most opposing the plan quoted in a Daily Mail article are named Vedder. The engineer working on the project, Ewald Schwarzenegger, is opposing a new business next to his house in Cairo. A second Catskill Planning Board public hearing about Moonlight Ridge will be held at 7 p.m. July 28 in Catskill Town Hall, 439 Main St.

Town, IDA to tackle wind project
From The Daily Mail

HUNTER - The Town of Hunter and Greene County Industrial Development Agency will split the cost of a wind turbine to power the town's landfill, and eliminate that cost and help the environment.

Appellate Division lifts Ravitch injunction
From Capitol Confidential

ALBANY - Tuesday a judge put on hold Gov. David Paterson's appointment of Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor. Wednesday, The Appellate Division, Second Department, lifted the preliminary injunction preventing the appointment.

Today's local headlines

Carolyn Maloney is now getting some push-back from the press for her decision to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from New York. PolitickerNY has a profile of Maloney headlined that she is "all over the place" and that implies she is a bit difficult to work with. The Albany Project compares Maloney and Gillibrand political positions and finds that while Maloney charges Gillibrand with being too conservative for New York, she doesn't exactly have a progressive voting record. "As Swing State Project revealed back in March, Carolyn Maloney is among the top 30 Democratic members of Congress whose records are significantly more conservative than the voting patterns of their districts," the site says. For instance, Maloney believed the Bush nonsense and voted for the Iraq war and The Patriot Act; she also voted to repeal part of The Glass Stegall Act, which many observers think led to much of the current financial mess; she criticizes Gillibrand for being anti-immigration but voted for the silly Mexican border fence; and voted to formalize long-term trade with China, despite their many human-rights abuses.... The Ancram Town Comprehensive Plan Committee completed its work Monday and will present the finished Comprehensive Plan to the Town Board at its Thursday meeting, according to The Columbia Paper.... The Daily Mail reports Republicans in the Town of Hunter endorsed Dolph Semenza for a board seat, incumbent James Volker for Town Justice (beating Hunter businessman Paul Solodar 59-21), incumbent councilman Daryl Legg, who last ran on the Democratic ticket, for the second seat on the council, and Democrat John Farrell, the incumbent Highway Superintendent.... The Daily Mail also reports that the Catskill Village Board approved a new, two-year $1,051,000 contract with the Catskill Police Department Monday night, though the story fails to mention whether this is an increase or decrease.

Today's local headlines

BOS hears plea to keep Pine Haven in Philmont
http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2009/06/12/news/news03.txt

HUDSON - Al Wassenhove, head of the Save Pine Haven group, presented the county Board of Supervisors with more than 3,000 signatures opposing any plan to move the Pine Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center out of Philmont, at the board's meeting Wednesday. "I invite each of you to search the recesses of your conscience and stand on the side of Pine Haven remaining in Philmont as a county-operated and -owned home," Wassenhove said.

Durham moms question board’s teacher moves
http://www.thedailymail.net/articles/2009/06/12/news/news3.txt

CAIRO-DURHAM - The Cairo-Durham Board of Education moved some teachers between the district’s two elementary schools, to the consternation of some Durham parents. The story in The Daily Mail by Jim Planck does not say why specifically the teachers were moved, though C-D Superintendent of Schools Sally Sharkey is quoted saying, “The students will benefit from this,” said Sharkey, adding that the teachers bring “a lot of strengths” with them. The story implies that parents were upset because they first heard rumors of the teacher reassignments before the school told them.

Senate Coup On Hold
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/06/11/news/doc4a317bfd31476804809490.txt
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=809187&category=REGION

ALBANY — An appeals judge has issued a temporary restraining order to prevent a new coalition from taking control of the New York Senate at least until Friday afternoon. Democrats want to block any change in Senate leadership after Republicans and two rogue Democrats launched a power struggle Monday. The ruling late Thursday afternoon by Appellate Division Justice Karen Peters blocks Sen. Pedro Espada, one of the dissident Democrats, from acting as Senate president. A five-judge panel is scheduled to consider arguments Friday afternoon on whether to let that stand. Peters is a former trial-level Supreme Court judge who sat in Kingston. She also formerly served as an Ulster County Family Court judge. Meanwhile, attorneys are set to argue Friday morning before State Supreme Court Justice Thomas McNamara in Albany on who legally is in charge of the Senate.

Scenic Hudson wins approval for new Hudson River park
http://www.ccscoop.com/news/09june/10-scenichudson/scenichudson.html

STOCKPORT - The Stockport Town Planning Board on Tuesday approved the creation of a park that developers claim will have one of the best views of the Hudson River and the rolling hills of Greene County anywhere in the region. Following an hour-long public hearing and review, the board approved a proposal from Scenic Hudson for a six-acre park to be located off Rod and Gun Club Road in the hamlet of Stottville. The park will be located on the former Saurasitis Farm. -- CCscoop.

Hunter Phys Ed Director Suspended For Improper Relationships
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/06/12/news/doc4a31d434ceaec624720118.txt

HUNTER — A longtime physical education teacher in the Hunter-Tannersville school district has had his teaching and administrative certificates suspended for a year because of relationships he had with two female students about 20 years ago. A state Education Department hearing panel ruled on July 25, 2008, that Randy A. Mudge lacked the necessary moral character to teach in public schools in New York and should have his certificates suspended. Mudge appealed the decision, but the appeal was dismissed last month by state Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills. In his decision, dated May 18, Mills said the record established during the original hearing showed Mudge had improper relationships with the two female students and had groomed them for physical relationships while he was their teacher and coach. Those improper relationships occurred during the spring of 1989 and the spring of 1992, and each girl in question was a senior at Hunter-Tannersville High School at the time, according to Education Department records....

Big Blue To The Rescue?
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/June09/12/IBM_future-12Jun09.html

POUGHKEEPSIE - IBM unveiled initiatives Thursday that will help keep the Hudson River vital and alive. here are plans to create a supercomputer named Watson that is supposed to play Jeopardy and be able to correctly answer a question in three seconds, and IBM wants to make the medical industry more efficient and create technologies that will better manage our energy grids. IBM has been doing research for nearly a decade in the region on these applications, but as Big Blue looks to future, it does so competitively by making changes in its workforce, laying off workers in the region, and causing those over 50 to worry, fearful of losing their jobs.

Stations Turn Off Analog Signals as Digital TV Deadline Arrives
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/stations-turn-off-analog-signals-as-digital-tv-deadline-arrives/?hp

Across the United States today, television stations will power down the analog signals that have sent TV shows into homes for six decades. Friday represents the deadline for the country’s transition to fully digital television broadcasting. Throughout the day, TV stations are switching off analog and in many cases moving to new positions on the channel dial. In Albany, Ch. 6 TV is one of the few stations around the country allowed to continue with an analog signal. That means you will still be able to hear CBS programming on 87.7-FM, at the very bottom of your FM dial.

LIVE TONIGHT:

RiP: A Remix Manifesto: Screening of the documentary about remix culture and copyright law. A talk, led by Paul Rapp, will follow @ Carrie Haddad Photographs, 318 Warren St., Hudson, 7-10 p.m., 518.828.7655.[;